From a Blogger to Youtubers: Don’t *just* Depend on Ad Revenue
I have been a blogger for almost 13-years now. This is my tech & business blog, but I also have a lifestyle blog. Ads have been an important source of income almost throughout my blogging life.
That’s why I want to say this to Youtubers – While ads are a good way to monetize your content properties, don’t depend on ad revenue alone. DIVEST your sources of income while the going is still good.
Youtubers are at the peak of the content consumption curve today. Youtubers are what bloggers like me were years ago.
Like you, I too thought things will never change, and ad revenue will keep coming.
Don’t mistake me. Even today I have ads on my blog and I get revenue out of ads. But my ad revenue today is probably ten times less than what I was making during the peak revenue period of this blog – sometime around 2013/14.
Since I saw the downturn quite early, I stopped blogging full-time sometime during 2016/17. So that should have also contributed to the lower pageviews and income today. However, I have been creating content on my blogs regularly as I am unable to abandon writing, my first love!
Beware of Competitors – I am not talking about other blogs/channels
Competition from other blogs was something I anticipated even before I became a full-time blogger. Since I was blogging in a narrow niche, this competition did not affect me much. [If you are creating content on a broader niche & trending topics, beware of competitors from other youtube channels too.]
But what I didn’t anticipate was the competition from other forms of content – The rise of social networks initially, and then the rise of Youtube. The latter was especially a huge factor in the decline of blogging.
People prefer watching videos over reading. A simple fact that I didn’t realize earlier.
The second factor was the decline in the CPC – Cost per Click. When too many content creators (on multiple platforms) are vying for the same audience, the ad revenue is bound to be split and reduced for everyone.
The cost per click (in my case – revenue per click) reduced tellingly during the last few years. When the barriers to creating content and earning revenue through advertising are drastically reduced, more content creators are bound to appear. After all, for Youtube, even a website/laptop is not required – just a mobile phone will do!
As a result of increased competition, I found myself having to work harder and harder to earn the same revenue. After a point, it was clear to me that I either had to employ others to create content at scale or have to quit doing this full-time and manage it part-time. I chose the latter because I didn’t have the confidence that ad revenue will pay back the investment.
After a few years, I was struggling to find topics to write on. Another factor that I did not anticipate upfront.
How did I manage the Crisis?
During 2016/17 when I quit full-time blogging and started to learn video creation – I had two options. I could start a Youtube channel and create content for myself or become a freelancer and create videos for others. I chose the latter.
I am not saying that the content creation business is not good. There will be challenges in whichever business you choose. Even in my freelance video creation business, I face stiff challenges from other video creators who quote very less.
But just don’t think that since your situation is good today, it will always be good. It won’t. Get ready for the unavoidable eventuality when you are still able to.
What can you do?
Consider your ad revenue as one of your sources of income. Develop other income sources quickly. For example, you could create a product or service and sell it to your audience. Or you could network with advertisers and promote their products/services on your property directly (influencer marketing). Or you could become an affiliate for a popular product in your niche. Or you could develop your talent and start doing freelance work.
Think creatively and come up with appropriate monetization methods other than ads.
This is difficult. But eventually, if you want to survive, you’ll have to do difficult things anyway. So it’s a good idea to start while the going is good.
