Just like you who are standing in the present but looking ahead at the people they can impact, inspire, entertain, educate, and influence. The future for you can take on a variety of different video types, production levels, and audiences. That is the magic of YouTube. There is an audience for everybody and every topic; they’re just waiting for you to create, share, and engage.

The crazy thing is despite the incredible opportunity on YouTube, so many creators and business owners just aren't taking action. They aren't taking advantage of this chance to change their livelihoods, businesses, and lifestyles for good. So we wanted to bring some clear data to the forefront to show exactly why you NEED to finally take action on YouTube this year. At Think Media, we are on a mission to help one MILLION purpose- driven YouTube creators earn over $500 per month—or more—making videos around their passions and interests. This foundation of income can be a great start to building momentum for more freedom, purpose, community, learning, and impact for video creators around the world.

For all these reasons and many more, the team is thrilled to provide you with your copy of The 2023 National Study of Aspiring YouTube Entrepreneurs.

  As Sean always says, “It's time to punch fear in the face and just start!”

NATIONAL STUDY’S OVERVIEW

Emerging entrepreneurship trends and breakthrough opportunities have always accompanied and are usually led by technology change, innovation, adoption, and influence. This is particularly true with YouTube as it has emerged as the go-to resource for learning, answers, entertainment, and engagement around the world. Even better: YouTube is basically free for its billions, yes billions, of viewers every month.

The combination of free access to videos around the world, ease of search and following, as well as ease of video posting from any smartphone with an Internet connection make YouTube the ideal destination for multiple generations to search, follow, comment, like, and engage. This also makes it ideal for creators looking for a platform that can lead to consistent income, whether that is some extra spending money, enough money to cover an apartment or house payment, or enough money to quit a job and make YouTube a career.

The good news is that the experience and opportunity exist for you right now, it’s just up to you to act on it. But what actions should you take? What is holding you back? What would push you forward?

Answering these questions and many more was the purpose of this unique national study. The goal was to uncover the underlying insights you need to confidently start, build momentum, and begin to create the opportunity that is possible for you on YouTube. What makes this study unique is the sample, the topics covered, and strategies that you can take to be prepared to drive greater results as you explore and jump into the YouTube income opportunity.
The national study included 1,000 U.S. participants ages 13-65 who are current digital video content creators. These creators have not yet earned their first dollar in revenue from YouTube or a YouTube-driven business. These creators are also open to or are interested in earning money as a digital video content creator. The study was weighted to the 2020 US Census for age, gender, geography, and ethnicity.

DISCOVERY 1:
RECOGNIZING THE TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY RIGHT IN FRONT OF US

The value and opportunity that YouTube represents continues to grow in awareness and acceptance. In the early days of YouTube, there was both excitement and likely skepticism of YouTube as a way to generate meaningful income let alone achieve wealth. The rise of influencers and the promotion of their incomes as an example of success has shown the world that significant income can be generated from YouTube and that it continues to be generated for those that work at it consistently.

However, you may be wondering if there is still skepticism that YouTube is a viable, long-term wealth creation opportunity for digital video creators. Maybe you’ve seen or felt that skepticism when you shared your desire to make money as a creator on YouTube? This was an important emotional aspect of being a digital video content creator that we wanted to explore through the national study.

Do people really believe that YouTube represents the opportunity that it appears to have?

  What drives the excitement around YouTube as a platform to create significant income and potentially significant wealth for digital video content creators? There are likely many underlying factors, such as well- known Influencers whose incomes are published online, but less talked about important factors including flexibility of schedule, creative freedom to become your own boss, and clearly seeing through earnings that there can be a path to financial freedom through YouTube.
In fact, Goldman Sachs, the second largest investment bank in the world by revenue, says that the creator economy could approach half-a-trillion dollars by 2027 "As the ecosystem grows, the total addressable market of the creator economy could roughly double in size over the next five years to $480 billion by 2027 from $250 billion today" Goldman Sachs Research expects their share of the creator universe to stay steady even as the overall ecosystem expands.
In addition, emerging generations have come of age seeing YouTube creators build brands in a variety of niches that have highly engaged audiences, such as YouTube food channels, makeup channels, video gaming channels, parenting channels, technology channels, and so many more. Viewers also see a common denominator behind each of these channels: an individual who grew their passion into income with the power of online video content creation.

DISCOVERY 2:

READY-TO-TAP ENTHUSIASM FROM THOSE NOT YET EARNING MONEY ON YOUTUBE

The impact, excitement, and potential of YouTube continue to grow as millions more people join the platform already used by billions of people around the world. At the same time, economies are changing, the workforce is changing, education is changing, and careers are evolving. Some of this was fast-tracked due to the pandemic but other trends have been going on for a long time—such as the adoption of smartphones—and that trend line continues day after day as more people get their own smartphones and connect to the Internet.

As the Internet has become the resource for finding information, entertainment, connection, tools, and community, so has a rethinking of it as a potential platform for extra money and potential careers.
But how big is the excitement and interest around YouTube from those who have not yet earned their very first dollar as a creator on the platform?

The national study dove into this question and experience to determine the true level of interest, excitement, and pent-up demand from creators who want to earn money on YouTube. In a huge, shocking finding, a whopping 71% of aspiring digital video content creators would quit their job if they became a successful digital video content creator. 71%!

That is a big finding because it shows the amount of enthusiasm and influence that being able to transition to become a successful digital video content creator represents. This also shows that if you’ve been thinking about, considering, or exploring becoming a successful digital video content creator but haven’t yet earned your first dollar you are not alone and your enthusiasm for this income pathway is right in line with the vast majority of those in your exact situation.

DISCOVERY 3:

THE GLOBAL REACH AND IMPACT FOR POTENTIAL YOUTUBE CREATORS

  The research clearly shows that there is enormous interest in creating an income stream and potentially a full-time career for digital video content creators on YouTube. But how big is the attraction or influence of YouTube for those that are watching? Will this trend continue? These are important questions to explore to understand the potential audience and market for all aspiring video content creators.

In the national study, we particularly explored how much the emerging generation is spending time on YouTube in relation to other options, such as television. This is important to uncover because the emerging generation, Gen Z, is the trendsetter for technology usage and the best indicator of potential tech adoption of previous generations as well as a preview of future generations. What did the national study uncover? The study found that more than 7 out of 10 members of Gen Z, ages 13 to 26, in the study watch more YouTube than television! That’s right. Of the study participants, 73% spend more of their time watching YouTube than traditional TV.

This is a big deal because it shows the connection, power, influence, and engagement of YouTube for the emerging generation as they enter adulthood and shape consumer trends.

As a digital video content creator, this means that now is the right moment to explore and find your place in the video content creator economy. This finding also shows that traditional media is at more risk than many assume and that your own TV consumption or viewing habits may not match that of the emerging generation.

This also means that you have a large, built-in, rapidly emerging audience that is on YouTube for extended periods of time looking to be entertained, learn, and pursue their own interests and passions.

Exploring the interests and passions you want to share with those who are relying on YouTube translates to you potentially being the missing messenger of insights, how-to, stories, and inspiration that can benefit a large generation that is on their mobile phones daily. In addition, if you’re exploring YouTube as a potential long-term career, this emerging usage also underscores the potential stability of the platform as a business- building outlet.

Said another way, an opportunity to reach tens of millions of people using only your smartphone and reaching them on the smartphone they carry everywhere reveals the sheer size and timeliness of this as a potential business. In fact, a video-based global platform like this has not existed before and this creates an unprecedented opportunity to reach a new generation at the time they are emerging through the channel they most prefer—even over TV! The best part: you can start engaging them immediately. There is no delay or lag time. As soon as videos are posted publicly, they can be viewed, enjoyed, and lead to a variety of meaningful outcomes for digital video content creators.

DISCOVERY 6: 

RECOGNIZING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BRANDS, SMALL BUSINESSES, AND PRODUCTS

  The national study has explored a lot of the underlying motivations and mindsets that inform and influence the opportunity that YouTube represents to aspiring digital video content creators. But how does YouTube directly drive growth for brands, small businesses, and those creating or marketing different types of products? Great question! The research team wanted to explore the impact on consumers to understand the connection between digital video content creators and its connection to people directly spending money because they watched a video. What did the study uncover?

The national study revealed that video has a significant impact on consumers and their buying habits and patterns.

How big of an impact? A staggering 75% of aspiring video content creators say they are more likely to purchase a product after watching YouTube videos about it! 75%.

The result is that when a creator endorses or offers a product to sell there can be stronger trust in that endorsement or product because of the connection the creator has built with their audience. This connection is often seen as a personal recommendation that has a lot more influence because of the trust built, the expertise the creator has shown, and the track record of their work as a creator.
Additionally, content creators often have a niche audience that they cater to, meaning that their audience is more likely to be interested in the products they talk about and promote.

YouTube is an ideal platform for this connection because the creators make the products more relatable and understandable by showing the product in action, highlighting its features and benefits, and providing honest feedback. This can be more persuasive than a traditional ad. As a result, people may be more likely to buy a product after seeing a content creator advertise it because they perceive the content creator as a trusted advisor and are more likely to believe that the product will meet their needs and preferences. This not only means you as an individual are creating the opportunity to provide or endorse products to your potential audience, but any small business owner that has products or services to sell has a big, immediate opportunity to unlock the power of YouTube to grow their business.

DISCOVERY 7 :

WHAT IS HOLDING PEOPLE BACK FROM UNLOCKING THEIR YOUTUBE POTENTIAL

  With the proven, massive, and still growing potential of YouTube clearly uncovered through the study, what is holding aspiring content creators back from taking the leap and starting to make money on YouTube? This is a central question to growing not only YouTube but the entire creator economy.

Understanding the many layers of answers to this question is complex, so the research team asked it several different ways to reveal the top barriers holding back aspiring digital content creators.

Understanding and then overcoming these barriers is the key to ascending from aspiring digital content creator to a content creator that has earned their first dollar on YouTube with a goal, plan, motivation, and momentum to make many more dollars.

Let’s start with the biggest fear...

In the national study, we asked aspiring digital video content creators to list the fears that were most holding them back from creating content. There was a range of choices from which they could choose to match their own fears and situation. Across the entire national study, one fear stood out amongst all the others, and it may not be the fear the general public would guess.

It turns out that more than any other fear holding back aspiring digital content creators, the #1 fear was not being successful with the content you create. Why is this fear so powerful and such a blocker for content creators? Because content creators want to have an impact, they want to be successful, and they want to know that their work connects with others.

At the same time, creators want to feel like the effort they are putting into something is worth it and will achieve some sort of outcome, whether that is inspiring joy, entertainment, or education from their viewers to directly driving revenue and engagement. The idea of failing as a digital video content creator is a powerful fear that can cause people to not take action or talk themselves out of taking action.
However, at Think Media, we think an even more important insight is that not taking action to share your digital content not only keeps you from achieving your lifestyle and income goals, but it keeps the world from being impacted and inspired by you. Our courses focus on exactly how to overcome your fears of failure, embrace the learning that comes from trial and error, and recognize that failure is a part of the journey that can help you to find success even faster. In fact, our first course is completely free specifically for this reason. You can access it at FreeYTClass.com and watch it on demand.

In addition to the clearly understandable fear of not being successful, the national study dug further into specific technology challenges that keep potential digital video content creators from being successful.

These technology challenges can be real or perceived, but either way, they keep digital video content creators from creating and sharing their videos with the world. Across all the options for technology challenges that digital video content creators faced, what was #1? Not knowing where to start. In fact, not knowing where to start was the BIGGEST technological barrier, even above not having the right equipment.

You can simply use your smartphone that's in your pocket to create videos... But why does it feel so daunting still to actually get started?

This lack of clarity or even confusion about where to start can feel overwhelming, scary, and cause even the most experienced content creator to not post digital videos to YouTube with the intention to earn money.

However, this feeling is much more common than people assume and is the natural precursor for the most important step: starting wherever you are now.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Almost all the top YouTube influencers all started with homemade videos that look, well, homemade. Because they were homemade! The secret is to start and continuously learn, create, experiment, and repeat.

  It might feek difficult to get started, but in fact, YouTube is counting on you to start and so is your future! It feels MUCH less scary when you have a clear path forward, a game plan, a wealth of expert knowledge.

That is what Think Media seeks to provide. We want to take the mystery out of YouTube success and provide a step-by-step gameplan - one that we wish we had when we all started! But since we didn't, we get to put 10 years of experience into succinct, easy-to-follow frameworks so YOU don't have to learn by trial and error.

Are you ready to act on this ready-to-take opportunity to reach tens of millions of people using on your smartphone?! Now is time and the world is waiting to tap into your perspective, curiosity, personality, and content.

DISCOVERY 7 :

WHAT IS HOLDING PEOPLE BACK FROM UNLOCKING THEIR YOUTUBE POTENTIAL

  With the proven, massive, and still growing potential of YouTube clearly uncovered through the study, what is holding aspiring content creators back from taking the leap and starting to make money on YouTube? This is a central question to growing not only YouTube but the entire creator economy.

Understanding the many layers of answers to this question is complex, so the research team asked it several different ways to reveal the top barriers holding back aspiring digital content creators.

Understanding and then overcoming these barriers is the key to ascending from aspiring digital content creator to a content creator that has earned their first dollar on YouTube with a goal, plan, motivation, and momentum to make many more dollars.

Let’s start with the biggest fear...

In the national study, we asked aspiring digital video content creators to list the fears that were most holding them back from creating content. There was a range of choices from which they could choose to match their own fears and situation. Across the entire national study, one fear stood out amongst all the others, and it may not be the fear the general public would guess.

It turns out that more than any other fear holding back aspiring digital content creators, the #1 fear was not being successful with the content you create. Why is this fear so powerful and such a blocker for content creators? Because content creators want to have an impact, they want to be successful, and they want to know that their work connects with others.

At the same time, creators want to feel like the effort they are putting into something is worth it and will achieve some sort of outcome, whether that is inspiring joy, entertainment, or education from their viewers to directly driving revenue and engagement. The idea of failing as a digital video content creator is a powerful fear that can cause people to not take action or talk themselves out of taking action.
However, at Think Media, we think an even more important insight is that not taking action to share your digital content not only keeps you from achieving your lifestyle and income goals, but it keeps the world from being impacted and inspired by you. Our courses focus on exactly how to overcome your fears of failure, embrace the learning that comes from trial and error, and recognize that failure is a part of the journey that can help you to find success even faster. In fact, our first course is completely free specifically for this reason. You can access it at FreeYTClass.com and watch it on demand.

In addition to the clearly understandable fear of not being successful, the national study dug further into specific technology challenges that keep potential digital video content creators from being successful.

These technology challenges can be real or perceived, but either way, they keep digital video content creators from creating and sharing their videos with the world. Across all the options for technology challenges that digital video content creators faced, what was #1? Not knowing where to start. In fact, not knowing where to start was the BIGGEST technological barrier, even above not having the right equipment.

You can simply use your smartphone that's in your pocket to create videos... But why does it feel so daunting still to actually get started?

This lack of clarity or even confusion about where to start can feel overwhelming, scary, and cause even the most experienced content creator to not post digital videos to YouTube with the intention to earn money.

However, this feeling is much more common than people assume and is the natural precursor for the most important step: starting wherever you are now.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Almost all the top YouTube influencers all started with homemade videos that look, well, homemade. Because they were homemade! The secret is to start and continuously learn, create, experiment, and repeat.

Success will happen it just takes time, growth, and consistent effort— and most importantly, starting! Like almost any endeavor, it’s natural to feel fear or uncertainty when starting something new, but you’ve likely experienced and overcome that in other areas of life from starting at a new school to making new friends to riding a bike or even learning how to use a new phone.

But the key is to remember that success starts when you begin to take action and don’t let that fear hold you back. Most successful YouTubers started out with minimal resources but a passion and desire to share their knowledge or experiences or explore their interests. There is no need or expectation to be perfect, instead it’s expected to make mistakes and learn along the way.

In fact, that can make for fantastic videos! Your channel will evolve and grow as you gain more experience, try new things, and build your confidence. You can put yourself out there and take that first step because that first step opens an entirely new path that can lead to the fun, freedom, and experiences that you believe are possible.

It might feek difficult to get started, but in fact, YouTube is counting on you to start and so is your future! It feels MUCH less scary when you have a clear path forward, a game plan, a wealth of expert knowledge.

That is what Think Media seeks to provide. We want to take the mystery out of YouTube success and provide a step-by-step gameplan - one that we wish we had when we all started! But since we didn't, we get to put 10 years of experience into succinct, easy-to-follow frameworks so YOU don't have to learn by trial and error.

Are you ready to act on this ready-to-take opportunity to reach tens of millions of people using on your smartphone?! Now is time and the world is waiting to tap into your perspective, curiosity, personality, and content.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ACTION TO TAKE NOW TO UNLOCK YOUR YOUTUBE EARNING POTENTIAL

WATCH OUR FREE YOUTUBE STRATEGY CLASS. YOU’LL LEARN:

a. Which types of channels are growing the fastest on YouTube right now
b. 3 Reasons YouTubers fail and how to avoid these mistakes.
c. The one power strategy for making money on YouTube even with a smaller channel. d. The rules of YouTube and how to use them to generate the best results.

Go right now to attend your free YouTube Strategy Class: FreeYTClass.com
FOR MORE TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT US AT:

ThinkMedia.com
ThinkMediaSupport.com
Youtube - ThinkMediaTV
Instagram - OfficialThinkMedia
2nd Edition Book - YouTube Secrets

ABOUT
THE NATIONAL STUDY’S CO-AUTHORS

Think Media is a company that specializes in helping individuals and businesses grow their YouTube channels, offering a variety of services that can help you put a system in place to grow your channel.

Think media offers a proven system to help you start and grow your YouTube channel. Over 15,000 students have gone through this system with the course & community called The Video Ranking Academy, and thousands have achieved massive income goals, received YouTube awards, and ultimately, gone full-time doing what they love.

ABOUT SEAN CANNELL

Sean Cannell is one of the most watched video content experts in the world and one of his channels was listed by Forbes as one of the "Top 20 Channels That Will Change Your Business'.

He is an international speaker, best-selling author of the book YouTube Secrets, and his YouTube channel, Think Media, reaches over 21.5 million people a month.

Sean has been hailed as one of the most successful online video experts - first building
a multiple six-figure business through affiliate marketing and then going on to build a seven-figure media company focusing on online education that he still runs today.

Sean and his team are on a mission to help one million people quit their day jobs to do what they love. He is passionate about giving tactical, practical advice to use video to spread your message. Sean is from Arlington Washington and currently lives in Las Vegas, NV with his wife Sonja, and their sons Sean Bradley and John Stephen.

ABOUT
THE CENTER FOR GENERATIONAL KINETICS

Research | Speaking

The Center for Generational Kinetics, LLC (CGK) is the leading research and speaking firm focused on generational change, key emerging trends, and behavioral insights.

We have led more than 100 custom research studies for clients around the world. CGK’s team has worked with over 700 organizations, from the most innovative technology brands to financial services, retailers, hospitality, and higher education. The firm’s latest bestselling book is Zconomy: How Gen Z Will Change the Future of Business. Learn more about CGK’s pioneering research, including their team’s 200+ TV appearances, at GenHQ.com.

NATIONAL STUDY METHODOLOGY

The national study included 1,000 U.S. participants ages 13-65 who are current digital video content creators. These creators have not yet earned their first dollar in revenue from YouTube or a YouTube-driven business. These creators are also open to or interested in earning money as digital video content creators. The national study was weighted to the 2020 US Census for age, gender, geography, and ethnicity.

The figures are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The margin of error is 3.1%. The national study was conducted online from September 16, 2022, to October 3, 2022.