Only doing Youtube videos for your source of income?
Is this Advisable for Overlander and Car Campers?
Many sources point to the highly competitive nature of YouTube. Studies suggest that the vast majority of channels (estimates range from 95% to 97.5%) don’t generate enough income to reach the poverty line in their respective countries.
Whether relying solely on YouTube videos for income as an overlander or car camper is advisable depends on several factors:
Challenges:
- Highly Competitive Niche: The overlanding and car camping YouTube video posts are saturated on YouTube. This at the same time is making it difficult to stand out and attract a large audience for the YouTubers.
- Time Commitment: Creating high-quality, engaging videos requires significant time investment in filming, editing, and promotion.
- Uncertain Income: Building a successful YouTube channel that generates substantial income can take a long long time, and success isn’t guaranteed.
- Monetization Thresholds don’t guarantee income going forward: You need to meet specific criteria (watch hours, subscribers) to enable monetization through ads on YouTube. The number of views for each video and the duration of views also matter in monetization from YouTube going forward.
- Travel Content rates lower on Youtube: Travel content monetization rates on YouTube tend to be much lower compared to other content categories.
Reasons for lower monetization:
Here’s a breakdown of the reasons for lower monetization rates for travel content. It is simple Lower CPM (Cost Per Mille):
- Travel Niche Saturation: The travel content space is highly competitive, leading to lower ad rates for creators. Many viewers might be using ad blockers, further reducing revenue.
- Advertiser Targeting: Advertisers might be more willing to pay a premium for specific niches like finance, gaming, or technology compared to travel, where targeting viewers for specific products or services can be trickier.
Collaboration & Influencer frauds:
There are lot of cases of Youtube and other social media platform collaborators and influencer frauds. So be aware, if you paying for your views to collaborators as they might making money in the name of helping you.
Collaboration and influencer fraud are real concerns on YouTube (and other social media platforms, especially for new creators. Here’s how to stay aware and avoid getting scammed:
Types of Collaboration Fraud:
- Fake Engagement: Collaborators might offer inflated view counts or engagement metrics achieved through bots or click farms. These views are useless and can hurt your channel in the long run.
- Empty Promises: Some “collaborators” might guarantee unrealistic subscriber growth or engagement in exchange for payment. Be wary of such claims.
- Hidden Costs: Collaborations should be mutually beneficial. Be clear about expectations and avoid paying for basic promotion or views.
Content strategy is not Overlanding Car Camping Meets / Events:
Youtubers trying to make money by doing meets/events to manage their expenses doesn’t guarantee viewership or subscribers for budding YouTubers.
The worst part is when the upcoming YouTubers think that the meets/events content can help their channel survive in the long run.
Content strategy and uniqueness are very important for creating your own identity and getting YouTube viewership with stickiness.
Question to ask yourself:
Here are some questions to consider before your venture into a full fledge Youtube journey:
- What are your financial needs and goals?
- How much time and effort are you willing to invest in creating YouTube content?
- What makes your overlanding experience in India unique and valuable to viewers?
Points to ponder:
Relying solely on YouTube for income as an overlander or car camper is a high-risk strategy putting you and your family in jeopardy.
Please do overlanding and car camping in India if you have a passion for it and not for the sake of making YouTube videos.
