zukalous

"I'm even subscribed to one of these websites because I really do want to support the Creator"

This is exactly what my article is recommending. You build a funnel. You put a lot of cool loud stuff on Youtube. But you also build a loyal customer base who will support you on a personal site.

Whoever this creator is that you are supporting is doing exactly what I am recommending.

Hi "represent popular fantasies (and are thus always voted to the front page), are universally misleading and wrong."

I am the author of the article. Great, critique. I responded to how I actually make it work in another comment. Basically treat all the other platforms as advertising and pull people to your own site that you charge access for.

It works and I am able to make a living at it.

Hey great comment. Author here. I just responded to this with a new thread at the top.

There was another question about it being vague advice and wishful thinking.

This is actually how I run my business. So I post threads on Twitter to get attention https://twitter.com/AdventureMtn/status/1450141976976781312

But I don't care who follows me there.

You will notice the last post I link back to a site that I own and make money from.

I am not advocating building your own Twitter or building your own youtube. Instead I just sell premium versions of what most people would most likely post on Youtube. For example I created a whole video series on a site that I created called gamemarketingideas.com. I charge for that in real dollars not ad revenue or fractions of a cent with affiliate money. I own it. That content could have gone up on youtube but I don't trust a business hosted on the back of Google.

So instead I am basing my revenue on selling it off of a site that I own.

None of this is a perfect libertarian utopia of total self-sustainability. I am 100% not a libertarian. And there is no risk free business.

You just need to reduce risk.

My advice is basically a friendly reminder to be careful with these big tech sharks. Don't put your whole head in the sharks mouth. Instead just put a hand in the sharks mouth. It is less risky that way.

Don't ask me where the shark metaphor is going it is early and I haven't had my coffee yet

Author here. Hey whoever linked to my article thank you for post. I just got notified of this.

To answer the most common questions, I am not advocating "build your own youtube."

Instead I advocate what @notTheAuth said below. Basically treat youtube and twitter as my commercials. I don't care who follows me on those two platforms, they are just the entry point. The following that I truly care about is my mailing list and my own personal site. Those are my owned platforms and that is what I care about.

Think of it like the old days of TV. If I am advertising on TV channels and it goes out of business that isn't that bad. Oh shoot I can't advertise on there anymore. It would be worse if my TV show was hosted by that channel because then my TV show isn't there any more.

Hi thanks a lot for the comment. That is my site.

I just hate it when I discover a cool blog post and the person seemed cool too but then I didn't know what to do next. So I thought I would just walk them through what I want them to do.

also I totally stole this idea from this author who writes about marketing books: https://selfpublishingformula.com/

Did you make any games for it? I still talk to many of the developers in that community.

Here it is: https://imgur.com/gallery/OUtDA5J

Thanks for your vote of confidence. It is still a risk but I wanted to do one of these “I quit my job” posts that wasn’t like “now all I have to do is learn how to program and I can make my open world mmo life simulator.” I have been very meticulous in my planning but still aware that this is a risk.

Haha.

Hey you remember me. Sorry I wasn’t here on HN back when that went viral.

Never want to work for a big publisher. I am trying to go the self published small label route. I basically see myself as a pulp paperback writer but with digital instead of words and pulp.

Hey thanks for finding my post. I have always thought I wasn’t cool enough for hacker news. AMA. To answer a couple questions 1) Before I joined any company I always had my personal lawyer review the contract to make sure it allowed me to make my own games on my own equipment. Wouldn’t work for a place that didn’t. 2) I am aware of the opportunity cost of having no to little salary for a few years. But I factored personal satisfaction and FOMO into what the actual cost was. Plus you gotta live a little.