Am I the fool here or is everyone else dishonest?
Guys, I need to get something off my chest.
Since the beginning of my channel I've always been honest to you guys which videos are sponsored and which not. Basically I always told that in the video itself.
A lot of things changed amongst YouTubers. I see that every YouTuber right now does NOT include in the video if it's sponsored and this is something I really have difficulties with. Not with the other YouTubers but how people look at it. I know that all these YouTubers get paid for doing all or almost all the ICO reviews they do. There are even channels that only do ICO reviews and you can be sure that close to 100% of their reviews are paid for.
Am I the fool here? I mean, I really lose subscribers on videos where I mention that it's sponsored because of the fact that I mention that. Do people want to know that? Or do they not want to know it and are totally okay with it then? I'm really wondering and considering to stop mentioning this in videos that are sponsored.
What I also want to say about this is that it's not the YouTubers fault, but it's simple: if you want to do an ICO review, it can be paid for, whatever ICO review you want to do. 95% of the ICOs around are reaching out to YouTubers, so you can simply choose the best ones and get paid for reviewing them.
Also it speaks for itself that YouTubers accept the payments. If you can choose whatever ICO you want and have the option to do it for free or get paid, who would NOT take the payment?
So, I don't think YouTubers that do sponsored videos are dishonest, not at all. I think it's better for everyone not to mention it, like all the other YouTubers do. People somehow lose trust in you and even unsubscribe. The days I make a sponsored video I see the amount of unsubscribtions spike. This happens every single time... Coincidence? I don't think so.
We, as YouTubers, receive 100 or more request every month from ICOs wanting us to cover them. We can simply choose which ICOs we want to review and which ones we like the most. Does making a (sponsored) review about that ICO change a thing about the honesty of the YouTuber? Not really. The other YouTubers still pick the ones they like the most and the ones they truely believe in and they get paid for it, without telling it to their audience.
What should I do? This is such a hard thing which really bothers me a lot lately. Seeing that I got punished for saying when it's sponsored is really hard, especially when I see that other YouTubers are paid for their ICO reviews as well, but don't tell it, and their audience is totally fine and don't even ask questions about it.
I really think it will depend on the audience you would like to have. I personally really like it if someone is honest about being paid by someone as you need to handle the informations in a different way. Thus as a viewer, I will always assume that someone is being paid for it, but only these who are open with this will gain some trust over the time. These viewers who don't care after all are likely not good investors either as they just watch out for the next moon rise.
So what kind of viewers would you like to have? I think that's basically the question.
In the long term game you will win. Trust me. You are doing the right thing.
Well. your honesty is the reason why I keep subscribing you. others tubers, although they don't explicitly say that they are sponsored, but we can tell. then I don't bother to watch them. Viewers are not fool. Please keep this way. It's ok if you are paid or sponsored but please make sure to "pick" right one for you and for us. thank you ~~~~ ^^
I think you have two options. Either promote only the ICOs you like and you would invest in yourself, or don't promote any. In the #1 you would have clear conscience, and could make extra money.
In my opinion you should be rewarded for the time and effort you put in your channel.
That's exactly what I do. I have 100 request or more every month. I pick 2-3 every month which I like the most and do a review about it. But still, I uploaded a review 4 days ago while the one before was more than a month ago and the top comment was "do less paid reviews" while this was the first one in over a month... I see other YouTubers doing 2 ICO reviews every week and you can be sure it's ALL paid for because it's always released a week after I also received an e-mail from this particular ICO. So yeah, people in the comment section over there are just enthusiast and don't even talk about it possibly being sponsored. While on my ICO reviews that are sponsored, nobody comments and if they comments it's most of the times about the video being a sponsored one and how bad it is. You know? I can also still do the same thing without mentioning it and still do the same thing (pick 2-3 best ones every month and review them).
I think just doing what you're doing now is fine. I don't think you need to worry about disclosing whether you get paid for an ICO review or not if you're getting negative feedback for it. As long as you keep your honesty and integrity that's the most important thing.
I concur.
Actually, I don't care if it's sponsored or not, as long as it's not a scam. :)
Everybody should make their own decisions at their own risk.
Yup, you're doing just fine I think.
I know Coin Bloq, and he does great ico reviews, and he doesn't get paid for it, in fact many of those get butchered by him. I'm sorry to tell you, but if you make paid reviews, it is honest to do the right thing, and saying the you're getting paid, but it is also normal for a subscriber thinking that you are advertising a product, like a girl on the beach drinking Pepsi, this is regardless the amount of offers you receive per month.
Now, if you want to be a great content curator, you need to be unbiased, so you should stop getting paid because nobody wants to hear a promotional message, that's why we change channel when a commercial appears on tv, or we hate jingles and ryan air lotteries during a flight. We all hate commercials and advertisements!
On the other hand, you can keep reviewing and not saying it is a promotional message, nobody will believe you anyway.
At the end of the day you have two options:
a) You aim for having as many suscribers as possible and being one of the the top crypto youtubers, and you don't do commercials.
b) You become an ICO testimonial , you make more money and you have less views.
I disagree with your conclusions. I watch youtubers that are either not paid at all to promote and/or analyze ICOs (Coin Bloq, Crypto Jack) or they put a disclaimer that this is a paid ICO review (Crypto Bud, Crypto Crow and you for that matter). Also, Crypt0 News, Box Mining. Crypto News and Data Dash (well...with the little exception in the beginning of his channel) are also honest guys and I belive that they are not paid to promote ICOs. As you can see, you are not so alone in this space.
You're a smart young man...hell if you lived on the East coast id make sure we'd offer you an internship in our firm (you have a sharp eye for analysis)
You have a solid future ahead of you....and are incredibly honest hence why i've kept subscribing to you throughout this downturn.
Id say pick one day a week that you do a sponsored ICO...that way if those who dont like paid reviews wont watch it.
And also pick ICOs you honestly think will do well in the future.
Too many shitcoins in this market,quality over quantity.
It's great to know you're on STEEMIT, because in all honestly i think this platform will help you YouTubers being hurt by its recent de-monetization.
Mate, I am a crytpo youtuber aswell. Do what you are doing, in a long term it's a win-win situation. I fucked up once when I started a channel, I made some ICO reviews but it wasn't sponsored stuff, more like a bounty and I was super honest in those. And you are one of the guys I would love to cooperate because you are not a shady shiller of a shitcoin. Keep on going :)