Preface
I’ve tried dozens of side hustles, but only YouTube has ever made over $100 a month.
The others are meager, barely enough to cover breakfast. If I relied on other side hustles, I’d have starved to death.
Currently, the main ways to make money online are TikTok live streaming, YouTube videos, WordPress blogs (for commissions), and personal websites (e-books).
YouTube accounts for 7:3, or even 9:1.
youtube short video
Short videos have been YouTube’s primary focus in recent years.
Since their emergence, traffic to long videos has plummeted, and many long-video bloggers have stopped updating.
To be honest, I don’t like short videos. They lack substance, quality, and are even a bit noisy.
The reason they still exist, and even have a larger market share than long videos, is because advertisers believe they’re more effective. Short videos display more ads, and some even insert ads into short videos themselves, or even serve as advertisements themselves. Short videos are simply another form of advertising.
I usually shoot short food videos.
Beautiful women, food, pets, and children are the top trends on the internet, especially in the video field.
No knowledge is needed; simply relying on their unique characteristics can generate hundreds of millions of views.
As for short video play data, my short videos only have the official default traffic. It stops growing after 1k, and generally has at least 500 views, which is the official default.
Based on basic traffic, if I upload 10 short videos a day, I can earn about $0.20-$0.50, or $1 on a lucky day.
But it’s a huge waste of time and not cost-effective.
youtube long videos
That’s why I prefer long videos.
Long videos offer higher quality and higher returns.
I also choose food for long videos because food is truly captivating, and you can switch things up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Whether you eat out, cook at home, have it delivered, or have it as a snack, there’s always something new to eat.
Even a simple bowl of instant noodles and an egg can be a late-night treat.
However, the traffic for long videos is steadily declining.
The more carefully crafted a long video is, the fewer people watch it. Meanwhile, crappy short videos attract a lot of viewers.
youtube live
I’ve tested live streaming without human input.
I’ve also tested food live streaming.
I can only say that compared to TikTok, TikTok live streaming is more reliable.
Comparing video types on YouTube, long videos outweigh short videos, and short videos outweigh live streaming.
This is YouTube’s priority relative to me.
tips
Summary
My primary source of income and revenue now is YouTube.
Of the three main video formats on YouTube, I prioritize long videos, followed by short videos, and only then will I consider livestreaming.
I’ll also combine technical YouTube videos with WordPress blog posts.
The YouTube video description document will link to the WordPress blog post from Google. Traffic from the YouTube video will be directed to the WordPress blog.
Because the blog post is a supplement to the video content, for example, if I create a video on building WordPress with Docker, I want users to be able to copy the code directly. Instead of typing the code word by word from the video, users can open the blog post link from the YouTube video description and copy the Docker code with one click.
Secondly, some people prefer search engines to search for answers rather than YouTube. In this case, a WordPress blog can generate traffic naturally, and I’ll also include YouTube videos within my WordPress blog posts.
If users find the blog text too simple, they can watch my YouTube videos, which walk you through the step-by-step instructions for setting up Worpdress with Docker, ensuring they can see every detail. This is the advantage of videos, and they complement the written content.
Both YouTube and WordPress have official referrals, allowing them to drive traffic to each other. They both use Google Ads, and you can also set up commission-based promotions.
If you’re looking to make money online as a side hustle, passive income, or become a digital nomad,
I recommend starting a YouTube channel and setting up a WordPress blog. The sooner the better.
