Scott Mitchell has become convinced that YouTube will make him rich.
Mitchell, 33, got the idea last year from a video promoting a course on how to build a so-called cash cow channel, created through a process called automation on YouTube.
So he bought one course, then another. He also paid for mentorship services. Mitchell spent about $15,000 on his YouTube venture, but he ran into setbacks every step of the way. audience growth tactics That got him into trouble on YouTube.
“I tried three courses and one expert and all I got was an empty wallet,” Mitchell said.
YouTube automation has created a cottage industry for online influencers providing tutorials and quick money opportunities.But as is often the case when an online business promises to make a lot of money quickly, YouTube’s automated process is not suitable for aspiring internet entrepreneurs and magnet for poser Selling useless services.
It’s not hard to find videos that fit YouTube’s automated model, but it’s hard to determine how many videos have been created. They usually have an invisible narrator and catchy headlines. They share news, explain topics, and provide top 10 lists about celebrities and athletes. They often collect material such as video clips and photos from other sources. Copyright rules can also cause problems.
The term “YouTube automation” is a bit misleading. This usually means outsourcing work to freelancers rather than relying on automated processes. it’s hardly a new idea Still, it’s something that’s been growing in popularity lately. Outsourcing the work allows people to run multiple channels without the time-consuming tasks of writing scripts, recording voiceovers, and editing videos. And this process is marketed as a foolproof way to make money. How-to courses and video producer fees are required to get started.
The course directs people to find video topics that their audience craves. They are told to hire freelancers from online marketplaces with independent contractors. Fiverr and Upworkoffers to manage a channel and produce videos that cost from under $30 to over $100, depending on the freelancer’s fee.
A cash cow channel with a large audience can make tens of thousands of dollars in monthly advertising revenue, while a less popular channel makes nothing.Youtube distribute advertising revenue With the channel owner after the channel has garnered 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of viewing. Monetized channels earn 55% of the revenue their videos generate. YouTube declined to comment on the automated process.
Last summer, Mitchell paid $500 for a course titled “Tube Mastery and Monetization,” taught by Matt Par, who says he earns $30,000 a month from YouTube. rice field. He said successful students earn $20,000 a month.
This course featured videos on various aspects of YouTube automation. This includes choosing the most profitable subjects, outsourcing the work, and using keywords to make your videos discoverable on YouTube. Parr also explained how YouTube’s algorithm works.
But the course had gaps, Mitchell said, lacking the information to create quality videos with good scripts. He and other students also complained in his private Facebook group about the free availability of Parr’s course content on his YouTube page.
“We’re basically selling dreams,” Mitchell said. Parr did not respond to a request for comment.
Mitchell, who asked the New York Times not to disclose his residence, last fall launched Bounty Lux, the first channel about wealth and celebrity. He paid a freelancer he found on Fiverr $2,000 for his 20 videos. YouTube removed one of his videos about Dwayne Johnson that featured content stolen from another channel, sparking a controversy with a freelancer. Bounty Lux didn’t make money and struggled for its audience, so Mitchell abandoned it.
He then purchased a $1,500 course and spent over $3,000 learning from Pivotal Media influencer Victor Catrina. He also paid his $3,000 to have Katrina’s team create the video, but he said the idea and script came from other channels.
After the freelancer went missing for five days, Mitchell decided to stop investing in unprofitable channels. If Katrina finds her team paraphrasing other people’s scripts, she will replace them, she said.
“I’m far from perfect, and neither is the program,” said Catrina. “And I have been honest and willing to offer refunds to those who have struggled financially or thought the program was not up to par.”
Alexandra Faslo and her cousin of Fort Myers, Florida spent $20,000 on YouTube’s automation program. caleb box In March 2021. Instead, Boxx’s team Faslo, 29, and produced videos over 6 months. However, she said there were quality issues and the video didn’t get many viewers. Boxx did not respond to a request for comment. The channel made her less than $10 a day, so when it came time to pay for a new batch of videos, she stopped doing it.
“That’s what makes automation worthless. You invest a lot of money upfront,” says Fasulo.
He said many of his students put up five figures a month on YouTube, but he didn’t know the exact number.
Nikolic’s YouTube video highlights how much money he’s made and how much viewers can expect to make. His Instagram account features writing about travel destinations, Rolexes and Porsches, and building a YouTube business. But Nikolić said his life “wasn’t all glamorous”.
“I spend close to 15 hours a day on the computer,” he said.
One of the keys to making money from automated YouTube videos is feeding the internet’s obsession with tech billionaire Elon Musk.
Jelline Brands in Urk, the Netherlands, launched the Elon Musk Rewind channel last fall. Some of its content is incorrect, such as a recent video announcing the introduction of Tesla smartphones. Still, Brands said he has made $250,000 since inception. (The Times could not confirm this number.) Her channel contained news, rumors, and speculation about upcoming Tesla products.
She also offers how-to courses, and many students in her courses have also started mask channels. She even competes with her sister who has a channel dedicated to millionaires.
The business model is “going downhill because the competition is so high,” says Noah Morris, coach of Brands’ course, Cash Cow Academy Holland.
Brands started offering the course in December 2020. A few months after he paid $1,000 for a YouTube tutorial. She said she had 1,700 students of hers, most of whom paid her €1,000 for her courses. She tells her that 100 to 200 of them make money on YouTube.
“I love my job,” she said. “I don’t even think of it as a job. It’s like a hobby for me. It’s like a game.”
Still, she’s not immune to YouTube’s capricious algorithms. Her monthly income for her Musk channel is said to be €7,500, down from €50,000 (about $50,000) in November. Her former students have also seen her income drop, she said. Recently, in order to stabilize her business, she created her 16 channels in her one week.
Difficult circumstances have led some of Brands’ students to offer their own courses.
Yuri van Hofwegen, a 21-year-old Dutch creator known online as Yuri Automation, said some people have unrealistic expectations of success on YouTube.
“They want to pay $200 and make $20,000 by next week,” he said. “No secret, magic operation. It’s just doing the job.”
The course caused problems for Mr. Mitchell. A freelancer in the guru’s Facebook group told him to buy a money-making channel from a company that got fake viewers from bots, Mitchell said about 60 years ago about making money online with cryptocurrencies. gave a freelancer his $5,000 to produce a video for the book.
YouTube quickly took away the ability to monetize one of the channels. Another struggled for months to find an audience before someone uploaded three bootleg videos of him. YouTube has removed the following channels Copyright infringementThe freelancer claimed someone else posted the video in sabotage.
But Mitchell is still considering financing to buy the $30,000 YouTube channel.
“This is my last strategy,” he said. “I need a little more time.” And Mr. Mitchell may offer his own courses and manuals when it comes to what to teach.