This subject comes up on here quite a bit so I thought I would share a video in which I explain what I have found actually works and the struggles of having a hunting channel on YouTube. I give a lot of details here that most people don't share about their channels, but here goes.

When only 1% of the population hunts it does not take much from the other 99% for someone to email a bls-bla-bla to the y-channel something they don't like.
for example the shot cams of ducks being hit = de-monatoorization ASP

spelling has been changed so Mr Dootle does not pick up on it

I bet you a beer the net time I see you; this clip get the stage staff hook

I do not think that Tree Hugging PETA should ba allowed any Meat or Protein in their Diet. They all look sick anyway.

We'll see. I already know they hate me.

If I had the charisma of a professional actor I would have a channel. There is a guy in NV making money with short clips asking women on the street about their sexual preferences. Clips last 4-5 minutes.

I watch alot of youtube, in fact its about all I watch anymore.

I'll throw out some of my thoughts

I hate when a creator has an intro, whether its 10-15 seconds or more, no thanks, I know who I'm watching I don't want to watch even 5 seconds of an intro.
I saw a thread on a forum started by a guy who was starting a youtube channel. He spent all sorts of time making an intro for his channel. It ran about 30 seconds long. He was really proud of his film work and editing. Unfortunately for him he got petty much nothing but comments that nobody wants to watch intros. He wasn't happy about it at all. Just start talking and go.

as far as info based videos, keep the info short and sweet, don't ramble on for a couple of minutes about some tangent. Don't think that you have the only way or the best way to do something. Nothing worse than a know it all.


as far as entertainment, yes, personality really helps these kinds of video, not super important but it helps. Its all about the content if its for entertainment.

I think alot of guys fall into the trap that they think they need to do all sorts of editing and special effects of fancy camera work. Not at all. Bernie makes a good example in his video about it. His example of the time needed to do shots of him on his bike. Even if the video is about bikes for hunting I don't get anything out of seeing this stuff Bernie. Sorry just the way it is. Tell us your experiences with the bike, what you'd do differently, pros and cons and so on really don't need anything else.
I can see editing to chop the dead or repetitive stuff out or speed it up so 5 minutes goes by in a minute. But again, if it ain't informative and entertaining don't put it in in the first place.

Well if you look how Hook-line-chill expanded with all his viewers..( 90% male) with a young sweet thing in front bow.....now he has been de-monitized because of the 18 year old clause of viewers.
Putting something out on a timely matter is also important...like they had for Saturday morning views.

I think most of your opinions expressed here are common among people who watch a lot of YouTube, especially the part about long intros. Most people just skip through them.

Your illustration about the bike, though, try to think of it this way: Most people just don't want to sit and watch a guy talking. That's why I take the time to shoot so much of that type of video, people call it "B Roll" or "Cutaways". When the video of the bike going by was on the original video about Electric bikes for hunting, I was explaining the attributes of the bikes and rolling this type of video while I was talking, so you didn't just have to watch a talking head explaining things. My belief is to "show, don't just tell." If a guy just wants an explanation, he can listen to the radio or a podcast. The beauty of YouTube, is that you can see the things a person is talking about while he is talking. If you watch the original video you'll see what I mean. Here it is below. This video has 315,000 views.

Don't know about others, but I only watch videos that educate and inform. If they are entertaining, even more better, but entertainment is not what I'm after. Having said that, considering the number of videos that feature scantily clad women, entertainment must be high on the mind of others.

I have placed about half a dozen videos on youtube and all were put there when I couldn't find the same thing.......so I made one myself. One has been up 14 years now and has 115,000 views. Back then, it was the only one like it showing that content. Now there are hundreds, so it shows up about 100th down the list. But boggles my mind that there was that much interest in it.

So next thing I notice.......again, for me, it's content driven. What is horribly frustrating for the viewers is when somebody is a content expert........has an important message to share, but the video quality is so bad you can't stand to watch it. Experts at what they do, cut rate amateurs at making videos. Bad cameras, shaky cameras, bad sound, horrible editing, if any. I've often wondered if somebody couldn't make a business out of running a recording studio for these experts. Help them with setup, scripts, lighting, recording, editing, so they get a professional product that gets the point across while getting the point across quickly.

Last thing I would mention is when you are on the fringe of any type of controversial content, is dealing with youtube itself. Last video I put up was how to setup electric fences to repel varmints......specially keeping coons out of places you don't want em. Other than showing a coon's reaction to getting zapped by an electric fence, no coon was harmed. To the contrary, intent was to show folks like those with chickens how to deal with varmints so they didn't have to harm (kill) them. Google age rated it to adult content. Haven't posted one since.

Different folks have a different outlook on Youtube videos. I make mine, so I don't have to explain the same thing to a bunch of folks that ask me " What have you been doing since I last saw you ??" and for myself as i am forgetful and I treat is as a sort of diary. I find it strange that some folks ask to " like and share " their vides, sometimes even before they start into the content. How can i like something or want to share it with others before I have even seen it ?? In reality I don't care one way or the other if people like my videos. If ya don't, don't watch them. Its that simple. If you find them entertaining or informative, by all means share them with your daffy aunt and she may get to like them. I don't know. I have a day job, so am not after making money with the things I share on youtube. The flip side of that is that I am not going to invest thousands of dollars in video equipment to make professional grade videos or the crap i get up to.

There is a an ex-cop that has a YouTube channel called Donut Operator that has over 4 million subscribers. It constantly shows cops shooting bad guys. In this world of anti-cop and guns, he sure has a lot of subscribers. He is funny and entertaining.

BTW, forgot to thank Bernie for putting all that together.

Does google have a place to go to learn all that or is it mostly self taught from school of hard knocks?

Nuther question........has anyone switched to alternatives like Rumble? I like their politics better, but when I go looking for content, it isn't there.

Totally from my personal experience and others in the same situation I have talked to that are experiencing the same things. Google has no interest in allowing people to know what they promote and what they don't, they live and breathe by suppressing free speech and are very guarded. They do not even publish exactly what they are paying or sharing with you with ad sales.

With Regard to Rumble, I started a channel and uploaded a video and... Crickets. Maybe someday Rumble will be worth doing, but not yet.

So the youtuber has no control or say in the ads? Where they get inserted or how many, or for what?

You can choose to not have ads at certain times, but it does affect how much money you make. I just let Google Adsense decide where to run them for maximum visibility.

You have no control over the types of ads, because youtube tracks the viewer and shows them ad they think will interest the viewer. So for example if a viewer has been searching for several videos on how to hang drywall, and then they decide to watch one of my hunting videos, they are probably going to see ads for Home Depot, Lowes or Menards during my hunting videos.

Just saw a first (for me). Guy in video started doing his own commercial for black rifle coffee in the video itself. Wasn't something google cut in. Is that allowed?

I have a buddy that literally lives off YouTube. He has a few sponsors, but his “job” is hunting and making videos. He may have some other small gigs, but doesn’t have an 8-5 job.

Yes you can do that but you must identify the video as including paid promotions. It's another way the bigger channels make money, by having paid promotion in the video itself. For the most part, you'll need probably 100k subscribers before that happens.

If you notice, sometimes Dude Perfect will say their video is sponsored by NERF or something like that. Big bucks in that, probably half a million for something like that. Mr. Beast admits the most he ever got for a video sponsorship was $3 million. Yes for one video.

Robert Arrington has a lot of sponsored videos, his channel Deer meat for Dinner has over 3 million subscribers. I'm sure he's getting at least $100k for each.

These guys are at a whole different level. Jimmy (Mr. Beast) said he spent $94,000 producing a video one time and he just didn't like the finished product so he just scrapped it. Never even put it on YouTube.