As I'm nearing retirement, I have an idea for a Youtube channel. Anyone ever done this? Any tips? Yes, it will be in the firearms space, but I haven't found anyone else doing exactly the same thing.

Best of luck, I never got far enough to look into the monetized part, but also considered a YT channel for a bit, but on the automotive side, back when I had more connections.
Challenge was that my idea was pretty similar to a large swath of established channels, so I never pursued it.

Plus the startup costs of getting proper equipment.

Please don't take this the wrong way but haven you tried searching YouTube?

One of the cruise channels I watch did a video about how it works and how he makes money.

Here are the minimum requirements to monetize your YouTube account:

Subscribers: You need to have at least 1,000 subscribers on your channel.

Watch Time or Shorts Views: You must have either:
4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months.
10 million valid public Shorts views in the past 90 days.

AdSense Account: You need to have an active AdSense account linked to your YouTube channel.

Two-Step Verification: You need to enable two-step verification on the Google account associated with your YouTube channel.

Follow YouTube Guidelines: You must follow both YouTube's Channel Monetization Policies and Community Guidelines.

Eligible Location: Your channel must be based in a country where the YPP is active.

Start making content, monetization comes later.

You could search on YouTube for videos on how to monetize YouTube videos. No joke.

I did at one time but firearms stuff if tricky, if you post something that violates the rules they will shut you down. Like stated before, start getting followers and monetize once you have a following.

Do not make a YouTube channel with monetization being the goal. You'll be setting yourself up for failure. Getting your name out and getting views is extremely difficult. Make the videos for informational and self entertainment purposes, and you fall into a niche category that starts getting views and growing your channel, then start there nking about sponsorships and monetization.

My YouTube channel has been my main source of income for the past 10+ years and I make so little money most people here would absolutely not consider it a job.

quote:

Originally posted by Jester814:
Do not make a YouTube channel with monetization being the goal. You'll be setting yourself up for failure. Getting your name out and getting views is extremely difficult. Make the videos for informational and self entertainment purposes, and you fall into a niche category that starts getting views and growing your channel, then start there nking about sponsorships and monetization.

My YouTube channel has been my main source of income for the past 10+ years and I make so little money most people here would absolutely not consider it a job.

If you don’t want to share that’s cool, but if you let us know your channel, I imagine a bunch of us would be willing to subscribe? I know I would,just to help out a fellow SIGforumite.

I wouldn't have the foggiest idea. But I wish you all the best of luck. Many channels also have separate Patreon accounts and Discord channels. Not a easy task these days, especially with regards to firearms. What's your specific grift/angle?

You might ask these guys

Thanks all! I'm getting ready to retire with a comfortable nest egg, so this will be one of a few hobbies I'd like to try, mainly because I want to know the information that I'll be gathering for the channel. I thought, while I'm gathering that information, I might as well be making it available for the public, and if people are interested, I could make a few bucks on the side, and it would occupy my time. And it would be a fun little project.

I have already done some research into the project, but thought I'd reach out to the SIGForum community to see if anyone has done it.

I'd also post on X and any other platform (except Facebook) where I could get views, just so long as it's not violating the terms of service of any of the major platforms.

I would have some startup costs, but nothing I couldn't handle. And I certainly know I'm not going to get Hickok45 money ever, ha ha.

I figured I'd start out with about 10 videos or so and then start trying to promote it. And yes, I will absolutely post here when I get the channel up.

All of the Gun related channels I watch complain constantly about YouTube stifling their distribution because it’s about guns. And they always complain about losing lots of money because it’s about GUNS.

* Edit *

never mind it looks like I was confused

Part of the challenge is just getting the algorithms to have your videos presented.

Automotive channel I've followed for years, with more average views than the IndyCar YT channel, but the system keeps it from being at the top.

Not sure how that part works, to get into the flow of having your videos show up more readily without having to be searched for.

Yeah, I've considered just going the Twitter/X route instead. But I know it would get the most eyes on YouTube. Stupid commies.

Although, some of the lawsuits against YouTube and Google may change some things, but I'm not counting on that.

quote:

Originally posted by ruger357:
All of the Gun related channels I watch complain constantly about YouTube stifling their distribution because it’s about guns. And they always complain about losing lots of money because it’s about GUNS.