How can a creator make money on the same content twice (or three times, or more…)

When starting a YouTube channel, the influencer seems to accept the fact: now they have an employer (YouTube and Google) and a salary (respectively, from Google). The creator invests in their channel and only in their channel, so that the employer pays them more. Even if there are payments from other sources, it is usually still associated with working on YouTube, here we are talking about advertising integrations in videos. It looks like some kind of YouTube monopoly.

Only it doesn’t really exist.

This does not mean that if a creator wants to earn more on other platforms, then they need to be torn apart by creating unique content for a dozen different video platforms. The problem can be solved much easier. The magic word here is “distribution”.

More money for the same work

The creator made a video, posted it on YouTube and even got paid for it, great! But this means that the video has already served to the maximum and will not bring as much revenue as the newer videos. Does this mean that you need to upload videos every day or several times a day to increase your earnings?

There is a more efficient way. Content that was initially created for YouTube can just as well (and in some cases even better) “take off” on other platforms: from Yandex.Efir and Odnoklassniki to Chinese Bilibili and Youku.Xigua, Toutiao.

Distribution here is called distribution in relation to the creator’s YouTube channel, because first of all the videos are placed there. Next, you can use any other relevant video platforms that also has monetization, similar to YouTube: no one forbids creators to distribute their own videos all over the Internet and receive more payments for it.

As explained by Anna Borodovskaya, head of distribution at the mediacube partner network, this approach allows an influencer to earn passive income without making any effort at all. Firstly, all the content is ready; secondly, all the issues of distribution and management can be transferred to the shoulders of specialists by signing a contract with them. As a rule, you must give experts a certain percentage per the contract, which is discussed with the creator individually. As a result, you only need to get additional money every month, that’s all the extra actions.

Where do you find gold mines?

That is, where is the best place to post your videos, other than YouTube?

Here it depends on the content that the creator makes. Different platforms have different audiences. Using the example of Russian viewers, Anna Borodovskaya said: the audience of Yandex. Efir is older (on average-33–34 years) compared to the audience on YouTube. This means that they will also like more serious content. “The specifics of Yandex.Efir are interesting because, for example, niche content, like gardening or knitting, on YouTube may not attract a large audience and not get enough responses, and may have, for example, 3 thousand views per month. And on Yandex.Efir, on the contrary, the audience is interested in this content,” says Anna.

Are there any examples of how a YouTuber started earning money somewhere else?

One case from mediacube’s work is the distribution of OLEZHE content. The creator makes parodies on various music videos and videos of other creators. On YouTube, he now has 3.34 million subscribers and more than 760 million views. Despite the fact that his figures are more modest on Yandex.Efir, it is from this platform that he earns 39% of the money that YouTube pays him. Let us remind you that no additional effort was made by OLEZHE for this.

Sometimes the content still does not work with foreigners for various reasons. For example, mediacube also had such a case: localization of a Russian-speaking creator-challenger to a Chinese platform. It didn’t take off, it was unlucky: perhaps the content seemed too conventional to the Asian audience, and therefore not catchy enough. Perhaps the fact is that the popularity of challenges is declining, and in Asia they are quite specific.

It turns out that you can just upload your videos to all platforms and earn more?

You need to invest your time and effort rationally so that they pay off. First, you need to analyze the content and all available platforms, your target audience and users of different sites, and only then understand where and to what markets you should come with your content so that it brings money.

This is one of the main advantages of working with experts: they constantly monitor video platforms, already cooperate with more than ten different sites, track their trends, know everything about different audiences, and determine exactly where a creator should give his best, and what is not worth wasting time on.

The second advantage is that managers make the income really passive. If you do everything yourself, you will have to spend time researching and analyzing data, and then regularly pay attention to your accounts on all platforms, upload videos there, track statistics and solve technical problems. This is a big chunk of work that can negate all the benefits. Distribution managers remove all these issues at once.

Localization is often added to the distribution: the creator’s content does not just appear on different sites in its original form, but is translated so that native speakers of different languages can understand it. The experts usually help with localization too. In mediacube, for example, localization is carried out along with distribution and some additional services: video transcription, translations, creating subtitles, or selecting a suitable voice actor from native speakers. And only after that, the videos are uploaded to the selected platforms.

And what else can you get besides money?

Worldwide fame, of course! Well, to begin with, the regional fame first, not worldwide. Yes, YouTube is one of the most popular video platforms. But it is not the only one and it is not watched by everyone and not in all countries. In China, for example, YouTube is completely blocked, so there are several other competitive platforms. Distribution to other sites is an opportunity to show your content to a completely new audience that does not care about YouTube.