It seems like there's a bit lapse in communication at the time with everything happening between the community team and leadership. Would you mind elaborating what has happened? Everyone is confused and it seems like nobody has any direct answers. Also, I've seen many people join Freedom and then ask how Freedom is supposed to help. All they want to do is promote and they kind of get lost in the crowd. I feel like the community is very weak and we do a bad job at communicating what Freedom is here for and what they're supposed to help with. Is there any way that we can work to start fixing our problems and being a community instead of letting everyone float and fail as soon as we network them?
Ahh, so there are a lot of issues going on here but let me start with saying that the social climate of YouTube is different today than it was in days past. it used to be that like minded people worked together because it was fun, and they enjoyed socializing. These days everyone asks "What's in this for me" before actually committing to serve their audience and content so getting people to work together is harder than it used to be. I wish we could go back to 2010 YouTube so people could see the loving and fun atmosphere of collabs at that point. It was never perfect but there was much less of this quid pro quo crap that makes larger creators feel entitled to only work within certain ranges and smaller channels feel they have nothing to offer. The state of things is sad but it's not hopeless.
The key to fixing this situation for yourself is two fold imagination and sales. Start working with anyone and everyone you can, try to figure out what you offer that might be of use to others. for me this is offering channel strategy insight and my voice. I may not be a huge YouTuber but I've voiced 20-30 different characters on popular animation channels over the years. I've also shared what I know in 4-5 hour skype conversations with creators who shal remain nameless (because this isn't about bragging) that turned things around for them and helped them boost from as low as 10k to over 2 milion in some cases. I use my "Value Proposition" and I suggest you do the same. Networking, and I mean REAL networking is about forming bonds and relationships to connect two points. so you might have to work with 20 or 30 random people before something happens. that's ok. I have 3 friends who I started my gaming channel with. we were all little nobodies then because I had abandoned my previous channel 6 months prior and let it die. but check this out.
Guy 1 Guy 2 Guy 3 There were others but we all got serious at about the same time... We had 3 different methods, three different channels, but managed to do favors for one another because we were friends. None of us did it for the money so we could have as much fun as we wanted. Be like us and you'll find more people like us... Does that make sense?
There's no amount of posting "wanna collab?" that will work out in the long term. If you want the benefits of networking make a resume, work on a few projects that JUST show off your skills put that into an unlisted playlist called "Portfolio" and start emailing people your size or smaller saying things like
"I noticed that you said you were looking for advice on (topic) I've done (topic) before and I'd like to swap experiences"
"you mentioned in your video (link) that you were looking for someone to edit your videos, man I know that grind, but hey I was wondering if you've thought about doing a group series with shared footage, that might lessen your work load a bit"
"your mic sounds good but I noticed when you yell it clips, I've got experience with working with mixers and could help you get the most out of your equipment if you're up for a quick call"
"i'm putting together a Q&A series and need someone to ask a silly question and a mean one, which would you be up for submitting?"
"May I do (fan project of your choice)? it involves remixing your content"
Notice how I never said "I know you're busy" "i'm smaller than you" "you've got so many subscribers" Just follow this format ALWAYS
- Find an in, this is sort of a "pick up line" but for YouTubers
- prove your value
- this can be done through an offer but is more effective if you target something they know is lacking that you can help with.
- if you have an example in your portfolio playlist hyperlink it
- Don't paste it in like this h.ttps://w ww.youtu be.c om/watch?v=hz5lRgkePcE&list=PLxS032qd4jvOLP701GRJxGlefmHXihPzW&index=1 That's annoying and pretentious...
- Never seem needy, treat these people like people... you're not a beggar, they're not gods. you're just people.
- Be prepared for them to never message you back, or for them to respond badly. it's also not uncommon for people to respond 6 months later or need multiple messages before swapping skype details. Much of that depends on your salesmanship of yourself.
So there's a rant on that subject... one that I honestly wish the whole Freedom Family read and understood. I also feel the need to bluntly say this even though I'm sure people will try to make me regret it... IF YOU'RE NOT COLLABORATING THAT'S ON YOU. Sure Freedom can do more to help people meet and whatnot and I plan to try to add more things like this in the future but by understanding the above you'll never have to wait on me again. I have a lot on my plate and I'm just one dude but I try VERY hard to keep things glued together. I hope you're one of those who prefers to learn skills rather than having others do on your behalf... I hope that because those people in my experience help themselves, and others succeed on this and other social platforms.