My Take On Sponsorships

Everyone has their own opinions and takes on sponsorships on YouTube and social media and most of them are bad. There is a stigma on sponsors because of past influencers that took things the wrong way or too far. There are also a TON of misinformed and uneducated people who instantly throw a horrible label on anyone who does sponsors because of other misinformed influencers that tell  you things they know nothing about on sponsors or their own assumptions. This is MY personal opinion and take on sponsors. Coming from someone who knows NOW a lot about them and the behind the scenes with working with sponsors etc. Click the Read More tab to read the full article. 

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When I first started my YouTube channel, I was so against sponsors. I thought all sponsors were lies and the people doing them were fake. I thought this because of certain YouTubers that I watched that preached this same thing. I was a sheep. I did not do any research, I had never even done a sponsor and also knew nothing personally about them myself. I heard horror stories and heard multiple people complain about purchasing these said sponsored items and hating them. I also never thought my channel would grow to the point of ever doing sponsors so, there was also a bitterness there along with being uneducated and thinking someone's opinions were facts. Don't do that. It makes YOU look stupid along with the person your listening to. ALWAYS do your own research. 

 The one thing I learned right away when first doing sponsors was that each persons experience with even the SAME sponsor is completely different. One person can have to sign a contract while the other will say no to that and make different rules and stimulation with the sponsor. Some will get paid more and others will get paid less. People will work out different deals with the same sponsors and they will not always be the same. Some will just get the product to review for free while others want cash payments. So, if you see your favorite YouTuber claiming they got paid X amount for a sponsor or had X happening behind the scenes with said sponsors, the next YouTuber you see doing the same sponsor could have something completely different happening behind the scenes. I personally labeled so many YouTubers the SAME way when I saw them doing sponsors for audible.com or nume wand etc, not knowing these facts at all that some of them were not even sponsored or they were not even getting PAID to talk about them. I thought if one YouTuber had an issue with a company that ALL YouTubers had those same issues and that is just not the case. Everyones experience is different online depending on what the YouTuber themselves wants. Making another valid point to the stigma on sponsors. Sponsors are NOT bad or lies. Its the person behind them and how THEY decide to present the sponsors or deal with them. 

 When I finally got into the world of sponsors, it was like a smack in the face that everything I thought as a viewer or as a small YouTuber or was told by other creators was WRONG. It was their opinions and not good ones at that. I still thought, however, that doing sponsors was BAD and my viewers would hate me for them. I felt uncomfortable even while filming them because I thought my viewers would label me a sell out or a liar just for talking about a product I genuinely liked or thought THEY would genuinely like. I now know this is complete and utter bullshit but back then, I was terrified. I also under sold myself to companies and did not know my worth making all that stress and time I put into the sponsors not even worth the money I got in return. Sponsors rarely happened at this time anyway because my channel was too small so, I would constantly preach about the YouTubers who did TOO MANY sponsors and how fake they were. I didn't think sponsors were horrible at this time but, I thought if you did too many, you were just in it for the money. That may be true for some but, I feel very different about that now. 

 Now, I am still small but, big enough to work with multiple companies doing multiple things. I know so much more about the business side of sponsors and making money on YouTube and social media. I learned that it is not the sponsors or affiliate links or making money that is the problem. Its the people doing it. You can choose to lie to your subscribers and do sponsors about anything and everything just to make money and honestly, that is ok too. There is an audience out there for everyone no matter how bad others think it is. I personally do not choose to be that person but i also have no problem doing multiple sponsors and making as much money online as possible and let me tell you why. 

 Because I AM HONEST. Some may think different merely on the fact of how many sponsors I do but, I know who I am and that I am being honest and that is truly all that matters. YouTube has grown so much and companies are seeing it now as an amazing way to promote their products which has brought thousands upon thousands of companies to our channels looking for influencers. This means, there are TONS of amazing products and companies to share and talk with you all about. Most of them are not bad and worth talking about. So, it would be beyond easy to do a sponsor every video or multiple ones in ONE video. I do NOT do a sponsor every video and even if I did, I would not have a problem with it as long as I truly liked that product and I thought my viewers would too. It takes a lot of time and effort to make videos especially to the degree that I do and Google Adsense does not pay you squat what your worth (they take half of everything). So, sponsors for the people who are not lucky enough to be rich before YouTube is the only way to get money and continue to do what you love on YouTube. I know there are MANY people out there who believe YouTubers do not deserve to get paid and its not a real job (blah blah blah) but, I challenge them to try this for themselves and see how far they get before that tune they are whistling changes really quick. Just like mine did. You have to self teach yourself how to be a photographer, a film director, a camera man, an editor for multiple softwares that are complete gibberish and spend countless hours on a video that comes out to be less than five minutes that multiple assholes dislike within seconds. You have to learn business management and website design and so many more things. Its like a crash course on multiple college degrees. Your viewers demand more and better constantly and you want that as well but, so many do not think its a real job or that youtubers deserve to get paid. We can do sponsors, just not TOO many or we are fake. Why? If your job ran off how many of some thing you did, would you do a lot of those things to bring in a good pay check? Why yes, yes you would. 

 Of course, I am not denying there are YouTubers out there that are straight up lying to you and use their subscribers count merely as a cash cow. They were wealthy before YouTube and are bluntly greedy. My only opinion on this is to know the difference and not watch YouTubers you think are like this if you are against it. The bottom line of everything is just because someone wants to make money doing what they love does not make them a fraud. Just because you buy something a person recommends and do not like it does not make them a liar. Things work differently for every one single person and everyone has different likes and wants and needs. There are a million different channels so, there is something for everyone out there. Do not watch people who make you bitter or do things that make you angry on YouTube. Find someone who makes you happy and that you trust and you feel happy when you know they are growing and making money while still being genuine. 

 YouTubers start from nothing and their brand is THEM. They work their asses off for pennies. They made a bold choice to do something they love and try to make a career out of it. YouTube IS a job and anyone who doesnt think so, well....they just are not educated enough or not a YouTuber and know nothing about it. Its a hobby for most but, when you are offered the opportunity to make it a job, 99% of us will take it. Its not an easy job but, its also an amazingly fun job too! That fact tends to piss people off and they make assumptions on why YouTubers need to get a "real" job and stop scamming their viewers with sponsors. I hope these people don't watch TV, or listen to the radio, or read magazines etc which we know they do or they wouldn't be online complaining. I think anyone who decided to make their channel a job as well as their hobby is a brave and hard working individual who deserves respect. I now know everything that goes into it and the stigma honest youtubers have to fight against every day and the ridiculous guilt you feel for making a small paycheck that is well deserves because so many people harp on you that what your doing isnt "good enough" or a "real job". I've worked many "real jobs" that I did ten times less than I do now so, I do not understand how it can be labeled as not a real job. Who are these people to judge what a real job is especially when they have never worked the said job they are judging. Do NOT be that person. To not judge people and what they decide to do with their channels or their time or life. Watch who you trust and believe in and be happy for those people no matter what they do on their channels. 

It's an impossible job to try to make thousands of people happy at one time. Add on haters and bullies and harassing people on top of it and well.... we honestly deserve to get paid a lot more than we do. YouTube IS a job and a damn hard one at that. Its emotionally hard, physically hard, and mentally hard. We NEVER stop working for you all and still constantly get told its not good enough. We work longer hours than most jobs and still get told what we do is not good enough to be respected as a "real" job. Be kind to people. Respect what ANYONE does for a job as long as its not hurting you or others around you. EDUCATE yourself and do your own research! Do not put blame on a youtuber if you buy something and its not what you want. That happens every day on commercials and the radio etc. As long as the YouTube is disclosing those sponsors in the description box, thats all that matters. No one should even worry about whether a video is sponsored or not if they trust and like who they are watching. 

I am proud of how far I have come all while being true to who I am and honest. People may think I have changed or am a sell out etc but, that is NOT how I see it or how people who are educated about it or care for me see it. I am able to get paid like a REAL job for INFORMING, not forcing, my viewers on products and services. It allows me to get new equipment to make my channels quality better, it allows me to buy new things to review on my channel, it allows me to host multiple giveaways to give back to viewers constantly and it allows me to feel good about myself and doing something to make money for my family WHILE STILL being a stay at home mother and raising my children how I want to. I am able to save my viewers money with coupon codes that people outside of YouTube do not get. So, I keep asking myself... why is this wrong? Why is this bad? 

There are bad sides to this of course but, I know I am not one of those people. No matter how many sponsors I do, I am honest and always will be. I have denied many sponsors that were throwing hundreds of dollars at me because I knew the item did not match my viewers wants or needs but, I also deserve to make money and be paid for my hard work. Yes, I said WORK. Just because I love what I do doesn't make it less of a job. It doesn't make me unworthy of being paid. As long as I am honest and I know I am, that is all that matters. No matter WHO thinks differently. Sponsors are not the problem and I truly hope people start to see that and understand it. 

Understand MORE, ASSUME less and just relax and watch your favorite YouTubers! 

Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on sponsors! 

You can always contact me with questions on my Contact Page! 

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