YouTube is an amazing platform for viewers to find entertainment and information resources. It’s also an amazing platform for creators to earn revenue from ads run against the entertaining and educational content they upload. But what if revenue from AdSense isn’t an option?

, a fitness instructor with over 2.3M subscribers on YouTube. Caleb is passionate about the content he makes - hugely popular workouts set to some of the biggest tracks around.

, he can’t generate revenue from AdSense against those videos, but instead uses YouTube to earn money from other successful business ventures built around his brand. In this podcast you will learn:

How you can turn any hobby into YouTube content

How to make a business out of that hobby on YouTube

How to grow your business away from YouTube

How to leverage your YouTube brand to grow other successful ventures

Subscribe to TubeTalk: The Video Marketing Podcast!

TubeTalk has been informing video creators and marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode! You can find vidIQ's TubeTalk at:

How to Make Money With YouTube When AdSense is Not an Option: Podcast Snapshot

Liron Segev: Tell us how you got started. What happened when you picked up your camera and you decided, okay, YouTube is the place for me. How did that journey start?

Caleb Marshall: It was really by accident. I wish I could say that it wasn't but before I started my channel. I didn't watch YouTube, I didn't know anything about YouTube. I had just grown up playing with cameras and iMovie and I loved making little home videos but I really was never immersed in the YouTube culture.

However, I was teaching these dance fitness classes at my college as a hobby, and I recorded myself. I just had a lot of fun in the creative process and I threw those videos up on YouTube and I just kept doing that every couple of weeks or so. Within eight months I had 100,000 subscribers. It was then I decided to get more serious.

I was happy with my content, but I didn't know exactly how I wanted to shoot it or present it. But I did have a brand behind it and a vision and I think having that vision is what allowed me to keep going. Because it was less about the little details and having every shot perfect or having multiple cameras. It was just using what I had in the moment and just having a vision of where I kind of wanted it to go.

Liron Segev: The whole thing with YouTube is that yes, a lot of people do this as a hobby and at a certain point you tend to go, Oh, hold on, this is actually a thing. I'm actually getting some traction. People are loving what I'm doing. You went in with a vision, you had an idea and you said, "Well, it doesn't have to be perfect. I just want to produce my content, put it online and see where this leads and then turn it into a business. Get it out there."

Caleb Marshall: I've been doing the same format of videos for five years but always improving on the production values. The goal is to get everybody up and moving, no matter what level you are, you should be able to play the video and follow along.

You should laugh, you should be having fun. It should be something that adds value to your day or takes the stress away. That's my goal is really just to bring joy into people's lives through easy to follow along with the dances.

Making the move from Indiana to LA was the smartest thing I've ever done for YouTube. I know you can really do it anywhere but with me not monetizing any of my videos, I really had to count on making those connections and real relationships out in the industry.

Liron Segev: Okay, Whoa. You have videos with millions of views, like this one where you do a routine to Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too” but you don’t earn revenue from them?

Caleb Marshall: I haven't made a dime off those videos. Actually I've had to pay.

Liron Segev: Okay, you're going to have to break it down for us. Why is that? We know that we want to make videos on YouTube and hopefully and that's going to bring us money. You have 26 million views on a video and you're not making a cent? What's going on?

Caleb Marshall: No, and that's the problem. I started the channel but just out of passion. It was never started as a business and when it became something that I could leverage, something I really wanted to invest all my time in.

Then I had to get creative and figure out how I could do what I love and make money because everyone's first suggestion to me is, just don't use copyrighted music but that wouldn't make me happy and therefore I wouldn't want to be doing this.

As I've gone on, I've had to find a balance and now we do like YouTube memberships and that's been really awesome because I can give people hour long workouts instead of just one song at a time and I can find a way to monetize my audience there. We can go on tour but I've had to get really creative and it's been an uphill battle.

Four months ago we had a label contact us and we had to remove almost 50 videos. The Megan Trainor one, the Sia one. I mean those were all gone. All my views were gone and I mean the labels were just coming for us really hard and were upset that we were using their songs.

It's confusing because then I have other record labels coming to me and saying, "Hey, will you please use my music? We'll pay you to use my music." It's very confusing but monetization isn’t turned on for any of my videos unless there's been a deal with the record label.

Liron Segev: Copyright music is obviously quite a big pain at this stage because it makes sense you to use the latest and the greatest tracks that are out there, but now you have a problem because the labels are saying forget it. They are either they're telling you to take it off or that telling you that if you are monetizing, we going to earn that revenue.

Caleb Marshall: I don't want to work with labels who don't support me. I don't want to support people who don't support creators and so I've just made a choice that I'm never using music from that label again, whether they want me to or not, I just want to focus on working with people who see me as a value, see me as a marketing tool because really that's what my YouTube channel is. It's a marketing tool for music.

Liron Segev: You've mentioned you do memberships, which is your one form of revenue but then you did also say that you go on tour. Tell me about the tour part.

Caleb Marshall: Yes. Well that's my favorite thing. That's what I started doing in college was teaching live classes. YouTube was always just a way to kind of get out there what I was already doing. Doing the YouTube videos allows me to sell tickets for basically a “cardio concert” and we rent out concert venues.

It started out like local YMCAs, your local gym but now we're renting out concert venues and doing live shows there. We have lights and sound and we'll have little skits in between.

There's like a 15 song playlist and it's all the songs from our channel and so people know that dance is kind of already when they come but I'm instructing and everyone's following along and it's like a big sweaty, sexy church service. It's amazing.

Liron Segev: How do you use your social media?

Caleb Marshall: I really think it changes. I love Instagram - I feel like that's kind of my homepage. I feel like Facebook used to be that for me. Facebook used to drive all of our ticket sales. It was our driving factor of our business model and then when the algorithm shifted overnight, we just stopped selling tickets to tours.

People stopped seeing my content. It was crazy and immediately you internalize all that and you go, Oh my God, people hate me now. But then I talked to other people and everyone's like, no. The same thing happened to me. I use TikTok but that's just to make me smile.

Liron Segev: You understand when things are going right and you understand when things are going wrong. Almost like it's a real business. That's the message I'm trying to drive a lot home into people that your channel is a business and whether you started out that way or you didn't start out that way.

At a certain point you realize that your channel has expenses, you have to travel to events, you have to buy equipment, that things cost money and as soon as you start making that conversion from how it's a hobby too, oh wow, this is actually a business. That's exactly what you've done consciously, which is great and therefore you're able to stay that are one step ahead.

Caleb Marshall: I also think it's also a unique place for me since I am not monetizing the videos, I'm more conscious about how I use this to help my other business models that are making money, or how to use this to direct people to my YouTube memberships. It's a weird blessing that I don't have to be so concerned with monetizing a quick viral video.

It’s also a myth that a viral video will take a creator and carry them to the promised land. That’s just not the case.

Liron Segev: You'll get your bump, you'll get your exposure but it's your channel that delivers and that's what I love about your channel is that you don't rest on the one video. Every video is you putting your heart and soul into it. You can see the energy jumping off the screen and I dig that. It’s awesome that you're appealing to such a wide community and that's the power of the internet.

If people want to find you, they want to follow you, they want to get into everything that you have to offer, where can they track you down?

Caleb Marshall: They can track me down on YouTube at 

. Most importantly I just launched a new podcast with one of my now best friends and ex-girlfriend, Hayley. It's called 

 is a podcast and we talk every week and it's very funny and exciting and a new adventure so go check it out.

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level and 

 then make sure to download vidIQ. Join over 1 million other users and use vidIQ to help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

And if you’re really serious about growing your YouTube views and subscribers, sign up for exclusive access to the 

 and learn how to launch a successful YouTube Channel in just 30 days.

vidIQ TubeTalk branding with confused young man on blue background for video content.

If generating AdSense revenue from your content isn't an option, there are still plenty of ways you can use YouTube to build a successful and lucrative career. Find out more on this episode of TubeTalk.

How to Make Money With YouTube When AdSense is Not an Option: TubeTalk 206 with Caleb Marshall

During the coronavirus crisis, YouTube has confirmed that health and safety is its number one priority. To ensure that, a lot of its employees will be working away from the office, and the platform is relying a lot more on 

machine learning and A.I to judge potentially harmful video content

. You can read real-time updates from YouTube regarding COVID 19 and the 

But a possible increase in takedowns may not be the only YouTube process to impact creators right now.

Coronavirus & The Impact on YouTube Monetization

Right now, fewer humans are maintaining and running the YouTube platform. Applications to the 

 require a manual review so it’s highly likely this process is going to be affected too.

Usually, if there are no problems with your YouTube channel, the application process takes about a month. But if you're applying for the YouTube Partner Program today, expect it to take significantly longer, as confirmed by YouTube itself:

Of course, there are going to be exceptions to this general statement. Some may find that their channels are still monetized within days. Others may find their channel not being monetized for six months. Unfortunately, in this current climate, we're going to have to accept that these types of things are going to happen.

A question that keeps coming up is if YouTube is sending its workforce home to do their jobs, why can't they do what they usually do if in the office? And that is a good question, and the team at 

, a YouTube channel made by YouTube employees, was on hand to give us a good answer:

"Many of our reviewers are working through outside companies that are working onsite where they're reviewing these videos and sensitive material in onsite locations. Now as those sites have actually been shut down to protect the workers, the workers don't necessarily have all the equipment at home".

In order to address this, YouTube is actually shipping thousands of laptops to those workers in those countries. However, that's not going to work in all circumstances. Keep in mind that there are going to be some types of policies where people won't be able to work on them from home due to the sensitive nature of the content.

Two words come to mind at this point. Patience and understanding. Your application 

YouTube to Creators: Spread the #StayHome Message

Now of course if you are engaging in this new practice we're all becoming familiar with - social distancing - you're probably reading this at home. Which is YouTube's latest initiative to make sure that we're all doing the right thing. Spread the word to stop the spread.

If you choose to use YouTube to share content urging people to stay home, consider videos that are helpful, fun, and informative, and tag them with #stayhome and #WithMe. Read more about 

YouTube’s request to creators to spread the word about coronavirus

YouTube: Capping Internet Bandwidth in Europe

Of course, since all of those people who are doing the right thing are staying at home right now, a lot of them are going onto the internet and in particular, video, to keep themselves entertained. That means usage of such video platforms as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Facebook, and of course, YouTube, are going through the roof.

And in order to make sure that all of these people watching video don't break the internet, YouTube are capping their bandwidth in Europe. Now what that actually means is that if you are in Europe, you watch a YouTube video, the default quality will be set lower than you may usually expect. That doesn't mean that you can't up the quality if you really need to, but for the majority of people, they're just going to press play and they're going be happy with whatever quality is pushed out to them.

Of course this restriction may be pushed out to the rest of the world, and they may even cap video quality in the future, But going forward, I don’t think creators should change their attitude to uploading videos. If you do want to publish in 4K, make sure you do so, so in months to come, people will be able to watch your videos at the best quality.

There is no doubt that the Coronavirus is going to continue to impact the YouTube platform for weeks to come, so do check out our 

Green dollar sign symbol with red stamped text "DELAYED" on blue background.

YouTube is responding to the current health crisis with new guidelines around application reviews to its Partner Program. If you are waiting for your channel to be monetized, it may take a little longer than usual.

YouTube Creators: Expect Delays to Monetization Requests [Coronavirus News]

Let's talk about merchandise and the opportunities around it for YouTube creators. And not just the big YouTubers, even smaller channels can offer merch to their subscribers.

But what kind of products should you be selling? Do all products work or do some work better than others? Which merchandising platform should you use? Are they all created equally or do some offer better products and services? These are your merchandise questions. We have merchandise answers on today's episode of TubeTalk.

Our guest on this episode is someone who is going to help us navigate through these treacherous waters. Davin “Dave” Higashi is the Co-Founder and CEO of 

, a premier merchandise service company for YouTube creators. Previous to founding Crowdmade, Dave grew his career in e-commerce at eBay as a corporate finance professional working across multiple business units including eBay, Paypal, and Stubhub. In this episode you will learn:

Why building engagement and a community is the key to merch success

How to get started selling the kind of merch that sells

How to avoid expensive merch design & production mistakes

Subscribe to TubeTalk: The Video Marketing Podcast

Don't forget to leave us a review if you love the show!

How to Make Money from Selling Merchandise on YouTube: The Full Transcript

 Dave, welcome to TubeTalk. Okay, so since you've teased us a little bit, and I've also teased everybody a little bit, can you tell us who are some of your creators that you work with?

 Oh, sure, we have a lot. Some of my favorite ones are Jackfilms, it seems like many people know who he is. Simply Nailogical. In recent days we've been working with a lot of top tier animators like GingerPale and Tabbes and Emirichu. Just amazing names, and we're so lucky to work with them.

 So let's start kind of right at the top. There's a reason that a lot of these top tier creators have literally millions of subscribers in some cases, and yet, they're still turning around and saying, hey, I want to do this merch thing. Why are creators turning to merch?

 They have different reasons at different stages of their careers. In earlier stages, a lot of them are trying to establish their brand. And merchandise is just an incredible way to connect with fans in a more physical fashion. Later in their career as they get larger, so it can be a significant source of income for some of them. And this is what Crowdmade is about. Is about making sure that we work with them at all stages to identify what their goals are, and do our best to help them get there.

 So it's goal orientated, but there isn't a magic number, there isn't when I hit a certain number of subscribers, I must do this merch thing. Some people never do it. Some people do it much smaller. Is there a way for us to kind of look at our own channels? Is there any signals that we would look at to say, okay, the time has come to take that step?

 Great question. Obviously we have limited resources, so we're not able to work with every single YouTube creator there is, but we do our best. So we tend to look for three major signals. The first being size, if you're not of a certain size, it's really tough to make meaningful amounts of sales. And again, it depends on your goals. But for it to be a meaningful number, normally around 100,000 subscribers is about the place where merch is more meaningful, it doesn't mean it's not useful for the business, but it is more meaningful. The second thing we look for is engagement. Engagement is a really clear indicator of how deeply the fans care about that channel, or how well that creator has been at activating their audience to do things, which is just a wonderful way of looking at things. So they might not have the most views or the most subscribers, but they have just an incredible level of engagement as a percentage of their views. That's a really important metric.

And then the last one that I think is discounted by not just the creators, but also the industry players out there at merchandise, is how good is that creator promoting. And this is the wild card. If they are a huge, huge creator, and we've worked with some in the double digit millions who have had trouble selling significant or meaningful numbers of units. Because the promotion wasn't good. And we've had very small creators who just absolutely astounded us, because their promotion is incredible. And thus, it's the wild card, and we are always trying to decide when we're working with the creator, can we help them improve their promotion, because that will help at every stage of their career. So for us, the big three are size, engagement, and promotion.

 Okay, I'm trying so hard not to make a size doesn't count joke. It's just so difficult. But I'm resisting. But at the end of the day, what you're saying is true, it's that you could have a million subscribers, but there's no community feel, people are there just for the content, but they aren't really connecting with you. That's going to perform very differently to maybe a much, much smaller channel, maybe even at 50,000 who have got such a great audience. And they hang on to every word, they comment, and they reply, and they have entire conversations with the creator. That's going to way outperform someone who's ... Well it's just another revenue stream. I'm not even going to bother to do anything about that.

Okay, so now let's put ourselves into this mindset. I've got my channel, I've got a community, I'm starting to get some traction, they're loving kind of what I'm doing, I want to give back to the community. Where do I start to kind of thinking along the merchandising game? Do I start with something small, like a coffee mug? Or is there a limit? Maybe when somebody approaches you, and they say, "Hey, I'd really like to work with you." Where do you start?

 The answer to that would really depend on where they're looking for and what they're hoping to do. So with some of the other players in the industry, like the self-serve platforms, like Teespring, it's probably a really good example. They're really good at what they do, if we're honest. And they can print shirts, they can do a handful of things. And there are some creators out there who prefer to try things on their own and test things. And it's not a bad place to do it.

But the thing I always tell creators, the first thing when I have my first call with them is that it's really, really, really easy to do bad merch. There's just so many things that can go wrong. So when they are first getting started with us, we have to make a call and decide, okay, based on what we know about your channel, and your goals and what you're trying to do, what is the scope of recent ability of what we can do because Crowdmade can make almost anything. There are no limitations on what we can make. We've made some very strange things in the past year.

So we need to decide what is the best approach. And so depending on the stage of their career, do they have experience with merchandise? Let's say they don't. And they're just starting out, we are just kind of eclipsing at 40,000 sub-range and okay, it might make a lot of sense to do some merchandise now. Tell me what you're trying to accomplish. That is actually the first goal. And if it is branding, then the way to approach it is, do I have design, or do I not have design and how do I work through that? And working with Crowdmade if you don't have design that is something we work on with you. We have a lot of design experts. And we found that, that's kind of the primary bottleneck for our creators, is the design. And having great design, because just because you have a good design doesn't mean it translates well to a print on a shirt.

 Oh well, that's very, very important. I think we got to reemphasize that point. Just because you got a cool design doesn't mean it's wearable on a shirt. Okay, so I've got this really funky logo, I think it's awesome, people tell me they love it, do some things just simply not translate well to a shirt.

 Yes. And there are actually two dimensions to that translation to a shirt. One is the wearability, which we have done this for a long time. And we have a good feel for the YouTube audience. But the other is actual printability. There are a lot of providers out there who will take any piece of art that you give them, and they will print it, but most of them do not sample it. And even though most of us use essentially the same technologies, knowing how to adjust the piece of art so that the hot pink that you put in, that neon glowing sign, actually prints because the answer is it doesn't, is what we do as well to make sure that we can maintain very high quality standards. Because the worst thing that could happen is that a creator puts something that they're really happy about and what the fan actually gets is very different, and they're disappointed by that. That is a complete mess on all parts, and we make sure that we never do something like that.

 Okay, because at the end of the day, the fans could be young, they could be saving their pocket money, they could be a Christmas gift that they've been kind of dying to get. And this thing arrives in the mail, they're so excited. And then it goes south very, very quickly, whether it's bad print, bad quality, too long, too short, just they're disappointed and nothing is worse for a creator than to disappoint their fans.

 Yes, absolutely. And so we take it really seriously.

 Okay, so I have a design, I have an idea, do I work with your designers to kind of bring it out to life? Or do I have to supply you with exactly what I'm looking for, and you'll kind of say, yes, this will work or not?

 It can be one of either of those. Again we're not a self-serve platform, we are working with the creators to find out. Some of them are more particular, and they have very capable design skills. It's not common, but we do have, especially in the animation community, have some incredible designers.

 That's what they do, and our job at that point in time is to, okay, let's see what we can translate this into. Because if I look into your audience, maybe people look to you because of the detail quality of your art, in which case, maybe it's best for us to go towards something like a notebook or a poster, right? And how do we translate that art that you've given me into a product like that? Or let's say you want to make a plushie, which is something we also have done. How do we turn that piece of what they have into that? So that's one side. And then the other side is, I just have an idea, in which case you'll work with us and then we try to do our best to translate those ideas into really incredible art that we know is going to print or be manufactured really well.

 And do you find that people are more of the former or the latter. In other words, people come and say, "Hey, this is what I want." Or do more people come to you and say, "Look, I think I kind of want this kind of thing. It's going to have blue with spikes and things, make it work."

 I would say the latter because the type of clientele who really get the most value out of working with Crowdmade care about working with a person who's going to help them. And that's what we're about, if they knew exactly what they wanted, and they understood the print industry, then they would do something more self-serve. Because the gratification is instant in that situation versus we are very hands on, and we work directly to support the creator to get them to the point in which they're going to be really happy because they just don't know how to do it.

 Alright, so I think at this juncture, let's kind of just explain, if you don't mind, the two different type of system. You said, one is self-service, and one is very much working with you and your team.

 A self-service platform like Teespring is you go in, you log into their site, you upload your art, and you're essentially on rails that take you to an ends page that allows you to sell something to your audience. It's fast, it's convenient but there are no checks, meaning they're not going to stop you from trying to make something. And if it doesn't come out well, that's your fault. That's not anybody else's fault, but your own. So there are quite a few of those platforms, I would say Teespring, Redbubble, spreadshirt, there's quite a few of those.

Then on the other side, you have us who are very full service content and the ideas. We are there to devise a merch strategy, right? Not research. That's really what they got. It's comprehensive from designing something to figuring out what is the product assortment that we're going to do, to how are we rolling and launching this to your fans, to training you to promote properly, so you can get the most sales. And then following up to talk about performance and understanding what can we do better next time? Because that's the big question that I think a lot of creators deal with, is, I'm not so sure if this is going to do well. And if it sold 100, is that good or is that bad? And how do I get better. And that's where we really drive a ton of value. Is making sure that we guide them through the entire process, give them a strategy, and then reiterate every single time to get better and better.

 Cool, okay. If it goes right, well done. If it goes wrong, well, it's down to you. Nobody's going to stop you from printing something that maybe you're not even allowed to print, like copyrighted materials, things of that nature. We've seen a lot of that in various stores. But then on your side, it's very different. It's very hands on, the process is slower and then the value is all about a strategy rather than, hey, let's go print 50 shirts at your local FedEx store. Right?

 Yeah, it's about strategy and equality, that's really what it's about.

 And then it’s kind of circling back to the whole, I don't want to disappoint my fans. But do you like the idea that you did mention earlier, which is, it's okay to test. Maybe you've got a logo, maybe you've got a little character, maybe you got a sign, test it with an undermanned print kind of service. Maybe your audience doesn't actually care. Maybe they do. Maybe they sell lots of that, in which case, it's a good indicator to say, okay, this could be a revenue spinner if I do this correctly, let me get ahold of crowd mate, and let's maybe see if we're able to work together.

 We definitely want to make sure that we help creators come from all angles and all levels and experience when it comes to merchandise as well as the growth of their channel. And we do run into situations where the Creator is nervous. And I think the way YouTube has been designed has really created a lot of anxiety to the growing aspiring YouTube creator of making a mistake, right? We also coach our creators into saying, like, look, sometimes we don't know what the right design is going to be, especially when the creator is a little bit more ambivalent.

So we suggest testing. And we're like, look, let's just go out there and do this. Let's find out what is resonating with your audience. And the next time we do this we'll revise, we'll do it better, we'll promote better, we'll have a design that is better in aesthetic, that makes sense. But we absolutely encourage testing at all times.

 This is good advice because you're right. I mean, we are all scared of YouTube. We are scared to post something new, let's be honest. We've heard horror stories of people trying new thumbnails or new titles, new ideas, and it just goes horribly wrong. In which case, testing this kind of almost frowned upon, even though we know that you really should. So this is a good litmus test? Do people like it or not? And then being able to really kind of take it to that next level. And is it possible to take it to that next level? In other words, can you make some good, good money off your merch?

 Yes. The ones who really nail this formula, do very, very significant numbers. Much larger than their sponsorship sometimes.

 Whoa, much larger than like a brand deal or sponsorship?

 Yes. We recently did one for a large creator, and he did very well.

 I love this whole NDA thing that you kind of trying to skirt around. But we appreciate it, we do appreciate you being here, and kind of sharing openly as much as you can, don't want to get you into trouble, of course. And you know, we just want to understand this kind of world, because for many people, this will be new.

Many people obviously have seen some of their kind of really big creators and they're loving what they're doing. And we've all felt that whole, well, let me support the creator by buying that shirt, buying the hoodie. And at least I've got a part of him or her that I feel more connected to, to that channel. But also I know that I'm contributing to help that creator really make more content, which I love. So we all have been on this side of the equation. But now, do you think there's any kind of red flags that would suggest, look, we just don't think this is going to do well. Do you ever walk away from deals which is just not right?

 Yes, all the time. I don't want to give away too many secrets. We absolutely believe in the development and the investment in our creators. There was a time when Crowdmade only worked with the very, very largest YouTubers, and I mean, double digit million YouTubers. And we only had a handful of clients. But over the years, we've just found so much gratification, I think it's probably the best word, on working with aspiring channels. And again, none of them are small right? If they're in the 10s of thousands of subscribers, but it's very meaningful to us to work with these growing creators and to see them grow because it is just amazing how fast some of them grow. But we pride ourselves on developing relationships with our creators, real ones.

We will walk away from deals where it is too transactional, because the only thing they care about is the money. And that is a recipe for disaster in your business. We'll walk away from those heavily transactional relationships, we will walk away from relationships, or we just won't start them with those who aren't willing to communicate. Because again, I said it's really, really easy to do that merch, and the first way to put it on a bad path is not being open to communication. So I won't say how I make those decisions but do we do turn down creators, some of them very large, just because those kinds of situations. Well, it won't be good for the creator, it won't be good for us, and it definitely won't be good for the fans. So we just won't except that kind of situation. So that's on the Crowdmade side.

For the creator who's trying to see if there's a red flag, right? We asked this question a long time ago, why are you trying to do merch? And once the big red flags was when he just said, to make money. Because at that point in time, you strip away a lot of the creativity and the fun. And when you really focus on doing something great for your fan, it'll reciprocate, right? So one of the red flags is looking at things like you're really just trying to make money out of this. And oftentimes, I really only hear that from the smaller channels, I rarely get that from the larger channels. I asked every creator that we work with, I want to know how they got started. And none of them have ever said for money. Not a single one.

And you know, it's self selecting the kind of creative team to with us, right? But they all say it was because I wanted to be better at building a skill. You know, I was an introvert and I really wanted to try get out of my shell, or I needed an outlet for creativity. And the next thing you know, here I am. But I don't think it was so accidental, because these people are so focused on just doing the best content they can. And the money just follows after. They're not money first. And I think that's why a lot of the creators we work with have such deep engagement, right? Again, it's very self selecting, and are also successful, because they care about those things first.

 Do you have these certain niches or industries that maybe do better, like a gamer would perhaps do better than animator? Or does it really just depend on each individual's community?

 Great question. Well, these are really pointed. We've worked with creators from all walks of YouTube over the years, and I would say it's less about the subject, and it is more about the relationship that the creator as a person or a character has with their audience. And let me give you a good example. There are really great how-to channels on YouTube. But a lot of them for their massive sides, there is no connection with the person making the content, because sometimes it's just like, you see some hands and there's no voice. So it's more about that connection with a person or a character. So animators, they have great characters, right? And you've got some wonderful personalities for daily vlogging, comedians like Jack where they are relating to him, or her and that person more than the content itself. And that's really kind of a big key to merchandise.

 It's about making that connection. But you bring up a very interesting point, that maybe a utility channel or how-to channel, if you have a how-to channel, how do I unblock my toilet, this is my favorite example. The odds of someone buying your hand in the toilet, t-shirts not so much. But then we have a problem. Like I have a tech channel as you know, we talk about the latest phones and gadgets. But there's no worst kind of subscribers are going, the views are great, and we could have signed to build this community. At the end of the day people are there for an answer. I am stuck. I don't know if I should buy this phone or not. I don't know how to do this thing on the computer. Can you help me? It's very difficult to build a community who will buy something outside of that. It's just different mind set. You're not there to be entertained, you're there to learn. Maybe a phone case, maybe would make more sense, in my case, than something like Jack who maybe his phone case doesn't make sense in his case. Would you find that to be correct?

 Yeah. There's a lot of, I would say cooking channels, they are entertainment, but they're in that how-to category, but they have some personalities there. And those personalities are very powerful.

Thinking in tech, we could talk about channels like Linus Tech Tips, or Marques Brownlee, these guys are personalities. Marques is incredible because of his style, right? People will buy to be like that creator, and to be associated with that creator, because they have very strong personalities. But it's primarily review to get views, unless that person particularly stands out, you're right, it is a little bit more difficult for a how-to channel.

 And maybe on the smaller ... I mean, Marques and Linus Tech Tips, these guys are huge. And they've brought a huge community, which kind of respects them, they've obviously earned it, nothing came easy, contrary to popular belief. Then the community appreciates them and wants to support them, in which case it's fine. So I guess my point is that then maybe even with in the how-to genre, then maybe a differentiation, based on your size, based on your community, your engagement, that maybe even starting out, you might be kind of struggling at the moment, but don't rule merch out all together, just because you're a how-to channel, it could come at a point that makes sense.

 We work with a lot of creators who started in one thing and through the trial and error and tribulations of YouTube, they found something else over the years, and then it really took off for them. So I wouldn't say rule it out, I would say make sure you understand what your expectations are. That's kind of the big thing.

 Good and maybe put on a roadmap that maybe start with a shirt in point A. But as you get bigger and more engagement, maybe then you start transitioning into something more. Where do we kind of look at the overall categories within the merch, is anything that sticks out that sells more than others. What do you sell more than, I don't know, pencil case. Do even people even have pencil cases? Not sure.

 We make them. The answer are black t-shirts, black unisex t-shirts. So everything and absolutely huge margin.

 Kids at the insider information rocked it. Make black shirts, put your face on them. And now, kind of you talked about earlier about the creator actually coming along for the ride and really understanding that it is up to them to promote their own material. I mean, I know it sounds obvious when we say it out loud. But it's amazing how many people just do not understand that as a concept. Can you give us some examples of people who are doing it really well, maybe not people, just kind of maybe the idea of what they're doing to promote their own material, obviously don't want to put you in an awkward position. But something that say, hey, this works really well, when created as A, B and C at an event, this works really well, things like that.

 Okay, The real answer is short and concise. Direct to the point where we tell our creators because they are very creative people, and they're trying to oftentimes spin things or do something really interesting for you. And we'll talk about some other issues that they often have. With contents if you do a 10 second mention at the beginning of your video, you just say, "Hey, I've got this new product that came out, it's only going to be available for a little while, if it's going to be a limited item, go check it out before it's gone."

Literally, that's it, and then you go on to your regular content, that outperforms everything by just a massive, massive margin versus the creative stuff we've seen over the years. The other thing is, we have the data to show that a promotion at the end of essentially, a seven or 10 minute video almost has the impact of not having it at all. When our creators don't have a clear path to what they want to do, we always guide them into short and simple. It's really effective. It's worked time and time again and there are a handful of cases of creators who've done other things really successfully. But they also have very unique audiences. But that would be the key advice. Short, simple, with a clear call to action.

 As creators, just the definition of that word is, you don't want to keep it simple. You want to create, you want to create a story around and then you overthink it. And guess what people, just want to know what you have and how cool it is. And where they can buy that call to action is so powerful. And say, "Hey, you want a shirt just like the one I'm wearing? This is what you are going to do." And that just works. Because guess what, people just want a shirt just like that.

 It's so short and simple. It's perfect. Creators are oftentimes very surprised, they're very surprised to hear that. And we have many situations where there are a handful of opportunities where a creator will do multiple video promotions in the same campaign. And we will convince them to do something short and sweet versus their big rollout that took them half a day to film or edit. And then they will see the results. And it is so surprising to them almost every time. So that to me, by far the best advice you can have.

 Great. So keep it short. Keep it simple, clear call to action, black shirts, okay? That's what we need to know. I kind of jokingly refer to copyrighted materials early on. Are there anything that we shouldn't be putting on kind of merchandising something that absolutely does not work under any circumstances, stay away from that you will get into trouble.

 Disney stuff. There are a handful of brands out there who are very, very litigious. And we don't run into this issue because we have, we either do the art in-house, or we work with the creator to make sure that we're looking at the art. That there's no obvious infringement. And there's a fine line between infringement and parody, right? And so that's always a difficult thing. But I would say if you're using somebody else's character or, in any way, you need to stop and ask somebody if it's okay.

Because the likes of companies like Disney will absolutely send cease and desist orders and there's just so many counterfeits out there. We deal with it all the time too, where are our creators get counterfeited. And it's such a painful thing to go through for a creator. And we spend time making sure we can take down some of these things. But I do feel for the brands. So yes, if it has to be really direct to Disney stuff stay away. And anything related to that kind of stuff. But in general you know when you've taken something from somebody else, and you have to ask somebody if it's okay.

 And get it in writing. Chats at a bar after 13 tequilas is probably not the best time. Get it in writing, so you got something to fall back on. And then guys, if you think about it, if somebody ... You might think well, Disney's got all the money in the world, why should I care if I make a couple of bucks? Well, it's not about that. It's about imagining that you get that big, and somebody takes one of your characters that you worked so hard to develop, and they slap it on a shirt, and they make a couple of bucks of your work. It's just not right. They don't own it, they shouldn't do it. You don't own it, you shouldn't do it, which is why we never encourage pirated software - how can I get this video editing suite for free? Forget it, pay some money, some developer has worked really hard to get it out there. This is just not yours to take. And it's literally is stealing. So simple, simple as that. What's got you really excited kind of about the whole merch industry, this game?

 For us, Crowdmade has always been ... We've always looked at ourselves as a company that supports our creators to create and connect. And nowhere in there, do you hear the word merchandise. We are best known for our merchandise but this year, we are working on adding some really strong value add services to our creators because they've asked them, asking these things from us. And so they're going to come out sometime this year. I can't talk about them yet. I think it's going to be great. We want to change the way the support industry for YouTube creators works. And I think we've got these incredible relationships with our creators who are so open and honest with us. And how do we bring these services to life? What do they look like? How are they really helping creators? So I'm really excited about that.

And the other thing, I think, on a high level that I'm really excited about is the future of creators. And I've been doing this for a half of years now. And the shift in the way people look at YouTube in whether it is the people consuming the content and every day there are more people cutting the cord with traditional cable and watching this kind of short form digital content, but also the creators themselves. And what makes me super excited about that are the number of children who now look ... Not just children, but young adults who look at YouTube as a real viable career path. So the number and the types of creators that will be coming over the next few years I think it's really exciting. I think we're going to see things that we've never seen before. As this generation grows up and who are immersed in this culture, as well as being able to support them along the way. Whether it be education or coaching or merchandise or any one of these things. That's what has me super excited over the next few years.

 Well, that definitely sounds like something we want to be watching. Dave thank you for spending some time with us.

 then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

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Did you know? Selling merch can be even more lucrative for a YouTuber than a brand deal? Find out more on this week's episode of TubeTalk.

How to Make Money from Selling Merchandise on YouTube: TubeTalk 172 with Dave Higashi

Somewhere along your YouTube journey, you're going to encounter this concept called a brand deal. This is when you and a brand work together in some sort of way, whether it's a free product or whether it involve some sort of a campaign. Now we all want those opportunities because this allows us to transition into a full-time career on YouTube.

But how do you go about getting those brand deals? How do the brands actually find the influencers that they want to work with? What actually happens behind the scenes once you reach out to a brand? 

All these questions will be answered on today's episode of TubeTalk, the YouTuber podcast

This week we talk to an industry insider willing to spill the beans on brand deals. 

 is the VP of integrated media at Weber Shandwick, which is a global public relations firm. She deals with brands and influencers and has lots of tips and tricks to share with us.

The New Influencer Marketing: The Consumer Holds the Power

Komal confirms there has been a dramatic shift in marketing over the past few years. And this is where YouTubers can benefit. The power that brands used to hold is starting to change and now consumers really hold the power. They've got access to the internet and all sorts of social media platforms in their back pocket. As brands continue to stay relevant and look to be top of mind to consumers, they're realizing that their tactics need to evolve with these changing trends. Marketing itself, if you break it down into its fundamentals, it's ultimately about engaging with consumers where they naturally gravitate. As people start to shift where they're spending their time, marketers are starting to pick up on that.

Consumers are now spending more time on social media and brands are trying to figure out how to cater to consumers on those platforms. But there's always this tug of way between consumers and brands - consumers don't necessarily want to be marketed to and marketers really want consumers to buy. The shift in marketing is now more of an authentic relationship where brands are trying to give consumers what they need, when they need it, and are trying to make it easy for them to make purchasing decisions, or decisions on what type of services to use. It's about developing a relationship rather than just speaking at somebody.

What Do Brands Look For in YouTuber Influencers?

Komal confirms that it truly depends just because each marketing campaign is so different. The needs of each industry vary, and while influencer marketing is the most common in the CPG, fashion, and retail sectors, there are a lot of industries ranging from banking to B2B companies who are looking to leverage the power of influencers. A lot of them may not know how to do that because influencer marketing is starting to evolve. It's not just about paying customers anymore. It's about relationship building.

it's all about building those authentic relationships between influencers and their communities. Consumers can smell an ad a mile away, and they know when they're being targeted. It comes down to a brand being able to communicate to a consumer the way they need to and it comes down to authenticity.

At one point, brands were looking for ROI in famous influencers, and they were reaching out to people who had these huge social followings. Now those may not be those authentic relationships, because it's not about just broadcasting your message but it's finding those individuals that have followings that may even be in the hundreds, maybe in the thousands, which are so much more smaller but they reach out to their niche communities. The reason they're small is because they're having that one on one relationship with their audience. That's what's so important to brands.

If brands are going to spend dollars to connect with an influencer and really be able to have them market on behalf of the brand, they want to make sure that they're reaching the right person. That targeted approach really lends itself well to building those authentic relationships. In fact, today 70% of teens trust influencers more than traditional celebrities!

Brands also want to spend their dollars with people that are already maybe avid fans of that product or service. Creators that maybe aren’t even looking for compensation, they just . love the brand so much that they would post about it. There isn't anything more authentic than someone who naturally loves a brand, a product or service. Marketers will lean into that to work with them, because the community already knows that if they put sponsored behind something it's not because they're getting just paid to do it, but they already really enjoyed that product or service. That just goes such a long way.

TubeTalk has been informing video creators amd marketers since 2014, and is one of the most respected and listened to podcasts in the online video industry. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode! You can find vidIQ's TubeTalk at:

If you want to take your YouTube channel to the next level then make sure to download vidIQ. It will help you research YouTube, analyze videos, audit your own channel, and take actionable steps 

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A huge number of YouTubers are partnering with brands to promote products or services online. But what are brands looking for? We tell you in this week's TubeTalk podcast.

How You Can Get MORE Brand Deals as a YouTuber: TubeTalk Episode 163

Tax Day is April 15th if you are resident in the US, and If you're lucky enough to make any kind of income from YouTube you have just a few days left to file your personal income tax return including your Schedule C for any self-employed earnings you received in 2019. If you haven’t filed yet, we confirm 10 types of expenses you can deduct if you are a YouTuber in the USA.

We spoke with Devin Weber the VP of Operations for 

. Devin is a Certified Public Bookkeeper and Enrolled Agent with the IRS. She has managed the finances for Braille Skateboarding for 6 years and is one of those rare people who enjoys preparing taxes.

 This post is intended as purely informational. You should always consult a professional tax attorney or CPA if you are unsure about your tax filings.

3 Essential Things to Know About Filing Taxes as a US-based Video Creator

Before we dive into the expenses you can claim as tax-deductible let’s take a look at some essentials that every YouTuber or video creator that’s making a living online should know:

The bottom line is if you earned more than $400 from YouTube in 2018 you need to declare that to the IRS. If your income from YouTube was more than $600 in 2018, Google is legally required to provide you with a 1099 form (

). If you’ve worked with any brands or sponsors as part of a YouTube collaboration or promotion, and you earned more than $600 from those sources, each brand or sponsor will also need to provide you with a 1099 form. Even if they do not provide you with a 1099, you know you earned that money and you should report it as part of your total receipts.

#2 There is No Gray Area for the IRS When it Comes to Declaring Income

According to Devin, far too many people claim tax deductions are a ‘gray area’ but when it comes to the IRS there are absolutely no gray areas, to them it’s “black or white" and while you as a contractor might believe you can slip questionable expenses through, the IRS is not here to play. You better be 100% confident that, if you got audited, you could argue and win the case for that expense. If you don't and you feel like you're getting away with something, don't take that chance.

An IRS audit will shine a spotlight on every part of your financial history, and uncover every penny of unreported income, and every penny of expenses that were really personal rather than business use. That is something you really, really want to avoid.

However, the IRS understands that it costs to live and to run a business as a freelancer, so there are so many deductions they allow you. At the end of the day, it’s foolish to keep any income hidden, as, in most cases, you legitimately can find deductions to balance out the majority of that income.

#3 You Can File an Extension (On Paperwork not Payment)

Filing taxes in the US can be an overwhelming experience and the 

IRS does offer the option to file an extension

 if you need it. However, if you believe you will owe the IRS money on 2018 earnings, you will still need to submit that payment on April 15th 2019 - the extension is simply an extension of time to file, not an extension of time to pay.

10 Tax Deductible Expenses for US YouTubers

For the IRS to recognize a legitimate business expense that qualifies as tax-deductible, it must be classed as both ‘ordinary’ and ‘necessary’. You can find out further information regarding these rules on the 

For any YouTuber, the process of video creation is going to come with some kind of cost, especially if that creator wants to publish content with higher production quality. Even if the creator films with an iPhone (more about that in section 4), the chances are they might progress to a dedicated camera and microphone as well as other hardware. Keep the receipts and as a dedicated video creator, you can absolutely claim back these expenses as tax-deductible.

It’s a super talented creator that can upload every video they make to YouTube without any tweaking or editing. If you invest in a computer that you use to edit and upload, you can claim that purchase as part of your tax-deductible expenses - as long as the main use of that computer is for your business. Yay.

If you create or edit video content from home and have a specific area dedicated to that pursuit (i.e. a desk or a corner of the living room or bedroom), then the IRS will allow you to claim a percentage of your home costs (rent, utilities) against that.

However, it takes some working out to understand what percentage you can claim against. A very simplified example is ff your home is 1,000 square feet and, the space that you use is 100 square feet, well then 10% of all the costs of your home are going to count against your home office. You can find out more about writing off home office expenses in this 

You can legitimately claim against Internet and cell phone costs - but only the business portion of the usage. If a YouTuber buys an iPhone for $1,200 and they use it for personal stuff 40% of the time, and they make and edit their videos and upload them and answer comments 60% of the time then, they can only take 60% of that cost as an expense, not the 100%.

So many business owners make the mistake of taking 100% and that is not correct You will, if you get audited, owe money. Find out more from this 

Running any kind of freelance business carries its own supplies costs, and it’s no different for YouTubers. For instance, alongside cameras, mics, green screens, etc, a science channel may have a legitimate reason to purchase a microscope or lab equipment, while a beauty blogger might need to invest in the latest Jeffree Star palettes or Kylie Jenner lip kits as part of the reviews they upload to YouTube.

Braille Skateboarding not only invests in skateboarding equipment, but they also claim expenses for any props or extra equipment they use in shoots (

For any serious YouTuber, the process of video creation can be costly. However, different creators will have different expenses depending on...almost everything. Luckily, the IRS will let you write off supplies directly related to your business if they are ‘necessary’ and ‘ordinary’ which means that YouTubers shouldn’t be held back in purchasing equipment if it directly relates to them earning a living. Just keep every receipt and confirm on every receipt the video that particular supplies relate to. If you're unlucky enough to be ever audited and the IRS discovers a claim for, say, $300 worth of mascara, you can provide evidence via that video you created around the best mascara brands of 2018 that generated 1.2M views. The IRS will think that’s acceptable.

Office supplies also fall under this category so go ahead and claim that printer and ink, those folders and binder clips, that dry erase board, and that desk and chair.

No matter how talented a video creator you are, there will be some skills you are going to need help with as part of your YouTube journey. You may take on an assistant, or outsource help with editing, social media, costume design, bookkeeping, or 100 other things, and the chances are those businesses or individuals will require payment for their services. The good news is that you can claim against those expenses!

However, just as any company or individual you work with on a freelance basis should legally provide you with a 1099, you need to do the same for your subcontractors if you have paid them over $600 in 2019. Those individuals can then report the income on their own taxes.

Anyone you pay money to as part of being a YouTube creator is a tax-deductible expense for you, but reportable income for them (via a W9 form from them which confirms their name, address, and SSN). Remember, the IRS wants those taxes no matter who it is so if you deduct it and it goes to another person, they better report it.

10 last-minute tax filing tips for US YouTubers - make sure you claim all your deductibles!

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