I don't know about peace and harmony but I'll settle for rent money so I can keep making the movies I want to make! Hi, my name is Tyler, and I'm a sellout. I've been selling out since 2000 when - realizing that even artsy insurrectionists need to eat - I first launched my website http://www.boneland.com . I bear the scars of dealing with suits of all kinds (legit and no-so-much) and am pretty handy at this point with contracts and legal speak. Oddly this hasn't deterred me from continuing to seek new ways of selling out but if any of my mis-adventures can be of help to the novice sellout, then I'd be happy to help destroy your hopes and dreams... Or at least help lessen the blow.

Um Wee Tah Did

Kevin - don't leave your computer unattended when kids are around! Spencer, did you type that comment??? Classic...

Previously Kevin Nalts wrote:

Um Wee Tah Did

I wish I could animate, Tyler. I would suspect demand to increase for your talents. Especially if you can crank 'em out as funny as they are and quickly. From the looks of 'em, though, quick may not be realistic.

It was Charlie drunk again

Previously Dylan's Couch wrote:

Kevin - don't leave your computer unattended when kids are around! Spencer, did you type that comment??? Classic...

Previously Kevin Nalts wrote:

Um Wee Tah Did

Tyler- you should be able to command $2Kish for one of these if it's sponsored. Especially if you have a built audience. Have you tossed your collection on YouTube (to build a subscriber audience)?

I must admit I'm just a little perplexed at the way sponsored viral video appears to be heading. I'm all for video sponsorship but I just can't picture myself running around with a giant packet of menthos? It seems like we're heading into the realm of being 'no budget' advertisement creators rather than original content creators? Thoughts anyone?

Not everybody would promote a product the same way, though. There are some incredibly creative commercials out there. We made a few for XLNTads.com and it was kind of fun to try to think of something that got across the message and also was worth watching. I wouldn't want ads to be the only content we created, though.

What do you all think of the ads that some creators run before a video? Like smosh (I think it was smosh!) recently ran a brief animation that advertised the new Simpson's movie at the bottom of the intro to one of their vids. And the Ask a Ninja guys have done that for a long time. Woud you do something like that???

Previously TET wrote:

I must admit I'm just a little perplexed at the way sponsored viral video appears to be heading. I'm all for video sponsorship but I just can't picture myself running around with a giant packet of menthos? It seems like we're heading into the realm of being 'no budget' advertisement creators rather than original content creators? Thoughts anyone?

Tyler -- I just watched "instructional aptitude test" on boneland -- hilarious! this stuff reminds me of the glory days of icebox.com. when did you start animating?

Hey - I'm new to the world of video creation, just the last couple months. I've also been working on some XLNTads stuff and it's been really fun. I've also won a few other contests. This crew is a great idea and I think some great content can come out of it.

Animation is costly - whether it be money or time. I hate doing it because I have a life, too. If it were my job, it would be great.

I've resorted to all of my cartoons never having mouths that move right. That kind of helps.

There are certainly some very creative ads - no question about it. If video creators want to make ads that is fine too. Post roll and pre roll ads are okay, whether they are added in by the video creator or by the video network host (e.g. Revver). All are fine options for monetizing videos. TheResident on YouTube has started doing paid commercials at the end of her videos - which is okay except the last one I saw she was advertising remote control airplanes (poor choice of product for her viewers I thought).

What I'm getting at is that it seems like video creators are rushing to associate themselves with any sponsor that pays (like an advertising agency) . Seagulls clamoring for food. How will this affect our credibility and ability to leverage better contracts for our work? Are we selling our audiences too cheaply already? Our videos have the potential to go big globally - for a couple of hundred (or even thousand) bucks that's a sponsor smiling (for weeks) all the way to the bank.

Previously Dylan's Couch wrote:

Not everybody would promote a product the same way, though. There are some incredibly creative commercials out there. We made a few for XLNTads.com and it was kind of fun to try to think of something that got across the message and also was worth watching. I wouldn't want ads to be the only content we created, though.

What do you all think of the ads that some creators run before a video? Like smosh (I think it was smosh!) recently ran a brief animation that advertised the new Simpson's movie at the bottom of the intro to one of their vids. And the Ask a Ninja guys have done that for a long time. Woud you do something like that???

TET- good point about the need to be selective. I've tried to sellout only to stuff that doesn't hurt me (turned down stupid stuff like fly-by-night websites). And I've definitely decided I'm selling too cheap. $1000 isn't much money when you spend hours and hours iterating (and then also pollute the channel).

how do you go about finding the sponsors or do they come to you once you build an audience?

Nalts would probably answer this better but I'll have a go. Your audience is an asset. Generally the bigger the better but I would imagine the response rate to audience size would be a big factor in your audiences value to advertisers. (i.e. small audience with high response to advertising is better than big audience with little or no response to ads). Advertisers want value for money and especially a high response rate.

My observation is, once you have an audience you can then think about approaching sponsors that you think your audience would respond well too (no point promoting meat products to vegetarians for example). If you can find one that'll take a chance and you can track the results, you're on your way.

If all goes well, now you've got an audience and a track record in advertising to them. The value of your asset just went up a notch. Ideally the more success you have the more likely it is sponsors will approach you but initially you will need to put the word out that you're looking to get sponsored.

This is a new area too... there are many potential sponsors out there that may need the seed of viral video advertising planting in their marketing campaigns.

Previously john griffin wrote:

how do you go about finding the sponsors or do they come to you once you build an audience?

As a regular viewer of your channel I think you've chosen well. Even your sponsored videos deliver virtually the same kind of entertainment that I subscribed to your videos for in the first place. Which is something else to be mindful about if content creators don't want viewers to click away because their ads aren't entertaining or informative like their original content.

Previously Kevin Nalts wrote:

TET- good point about the need to be selective. I've tried to sellout only to stuff that doesn't hurt me (turned down stupid stuff like fly-by-night websites). And I've definitely decided I'm selling too cheap. $1000 isn't much money when you spend hours and hours iterating (and then also pollute the channel).

Previously Kevin Nalts wrote:

Tyler- you should be able to command $2Kish for one of these if it's sponsored. Especially if you have a built audience. Have you tossed your collection on YouTube (to build a subscriber audience)?

Previously Alexandra Delyle wrote:

Tyler -- I just watched "instructional aptitude test" on boneland -- hilarious! this stuff reminds me of the glory days of icebox.com. when did you start animating?

Previously TET wrote:

I must admit I'm just a little perplexed at the way sponsored viral video appears to be heading. I'm all for video sponsorship but I just can't picture myself running around with a giant packet of menthos? It seems like we're heading into the realm of being 'no budget' advertisement creators rather than original content creators? Thoughts anyone?

To be honest I probably would too - but only if the sponsor approached me. It's not the kind of sponsorship I'd go looking for. Which is one reason why a lot of these advertising competitions just don't interest me.

I think audiences would get tired of a one for one system unless your original 'for art's sake' content was just so good that they'd put up with the sponsored content. There's a real negative sentiment amongst viewers when it comes to advertising in online videos.

Previously Tyler Gibb wrote:

I'd run around with a giant packet of Mentos if it meant I could afford to make my next project the way I want. If I could get a "one for them, one for me" system working I'd be happy! And I think the audience is bright enough (or unconcerned enough) to know the difference between when you're affiliating yourself with a product/service vs when you're making something for art's sake. But that's just me... And I'm unemployed.



T

Hey - I agree with what you guys are saying. Audiences have expectations - sometimes our YouTube audience complains if we change things up even just a little. When we make even small changes, we can predict ahead of time what people are going to say! And we haven't even tried advertising yet! lol.

Quick question - have any members of this crew seen this - www.changeadvertisingforever.com ???

It seems a lot like XLNTads.com.

Previously Tyler Gibb wrote:

TET,

I hear what you're saying about the downside of the one for one concept if your audience is one and the same but I think there's plenty of room online for different collections of content. Maybe the arts for arts sake works are part of one collection while the commercial collection is part of another. Two different audiences. One accepts advertising the other not so much.

Of course the arts for arts sake collection is easy enough to build, I'm sure we've all got them, its finding those ready to subsidize the commercial collection where I hit road blocks.

Personally I've been advertising my web site in all my videos from day one - final web site credit at the end. People don't seem to mind that at all and it has been quite successful for me. Not in terms of revenue but in terms of people subscribing to my web site newsletter. I saw a massive spike in newsletter sign ups within my first month of creating videos (I'm talking a spike of more than 1000 sign ups). It's not reflected in my YouTube subscriptions though where I'm still to break the 100 subscriber mark.

Whilst there is probably good money to be made in creating sponsored advertisements I believe there is also a good opportunity for people to earn a decent income from alternative avenues of creativity (for example - I promote my own art in my videos without actually advertising my artworks are for sale).

Just wanted to say hello and join the fray. I don't much consider making money to do more projects sellings out, but I'm all for the rebelliouness of the crews title

When you guys speak of approaching an advertiser, how specifically is that done? What level of audience would you need?

I have yet to break youtube gold, but get about 5-10k an episode between my site and Itunes. So far, I use Brightcove, so get pre-roll ads, have yahoo text ads and merchandise to sell as well.

http://www.drawnbypain.com

Any thoughts are appreciated,

-Jes

Correction: 5-10k Watchers not dollars!

(*the edit button no worky)

How do you make money from iTunes? Via Brightcover? I haven't scratched that yet and I don't know why.

As for advertisers- mostly they come to me. I wouldn't want to be cold calling them. But I also refer a lot of stuff to other people so I'll check out your site, Jes. It's obviously good content if you've done so well on getting paid for your entertainment. That's a lot in my book!

Previously Jesse Cowell wrote:

Just wanted to say hello and join the fray. I don't much consider making money to do more projects sellings out, but I'm all for the rebelliouness of the crews title

When you guys speak of approaching an advertiser, how specifically is that done? What level of audience would you need?

I have yet to break youtube gold, but get about 5-10k an episode between my site and Itunes. So far, I use Brightcove, so get pre-roll ads, have yahoo text ads and merchandise to sell as well.

http://www.drawnbypain.com

Any thoughts are appreciated,

-Jes

Thanks man!

I dig your site and really believe that if we put all our heads together (as the people who create the content) we can figure out something that will benefit us all (and not just the portals).

-Jes