{"video_id":"-zt57TWkTF4","title":"How does Linus make money? - 2020 Update","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2021-05-05T14:53:29Z","duration_s":733,"segments":[{"start_s":0.08,"end_s":6.0,"text":"uh how does LMG make money too lttstore.com","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":4.24,"end_s":11.36,"text":"it doesn't take a deep thinker to figure out that we spend a lot of money around","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":8.4,"end_s":17.279,"text":"here on staff our facility filming sets production equipment computers etc etc","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.679,"end_s":19.119,"text":"etc what's tougher is where it all comes","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":17.279,"end_s":23.199,"text":"from i've seen speculation that we're involved in everything from i.t","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":21.039,"end_s":27.439,"text":"consulting to commercial film production to back alley deals with industry giants","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":25.68,"end_s":31.039,"text":"to suppress their competition all of which is pretty funny to me because i","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":29.039,"end_s":36.16,"text":"know that at least two million of you already got the answer to this question","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":32.96,"end_s":37.28,"text":"we only make youtube videos","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":36.16,"end_s":42.079,"text":"or at least back then we did in fairness to you guys","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":39.76,"end_s":47.76,"text":"the last four years has seen a lot of change in the influencer industry as a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.64,"end_s":50.399,"text":"whole and our company has also changed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":47.76,"end_s":52.559,"text":"we've nearly tripled in size by our head count","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":51.36,"end_s":57.36,"text":"so i guess i felt like in the interest of maintaining the kind of transparency","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":55.92,"end_s":61.76,"text":"with our community that y'all expect from us it was time for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":60.32,"end_s":67.08,"text":"an update and this video is sponsored by shopify","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":74.159,"end_s":79.84,"text":"a lot of what i'm about to tell you is going to be the same as last time","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":77.439,"end_s":84.88,"text":"starting with how we keep money from polluting our editorial content","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":82.4,"end_s":89.52,"text":"so we still maintain strict guidelines for our sponsor's behavior even going as","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":86.96,"end_s":93.439,"text":"far as to issue ultimatums for poor business practices like for example","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":91.68,"end_s":98.64,"text":"making it difficult to cancel recurring payments or even cutting them off","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":95.759,"end_s":103.2,"text":"outright for poor customer service and every brand from small indie shops who","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":101.36,"end_s":107.28,"text":"couldn't pass money if they wanted to all the way up to large multinationals","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":105.2,"end_s":110.96,"text":"with quarterly or even annual spending commitments with us gets the same","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":109.36,"end_s":116.479,"text":"treatment when it comes to product reviews you cannot buy a positive review","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":114.159,"end_s":121.119,"text":"at Linus tech tips and in fact you can't buy a review at all our editorial","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":118.399,"end_s":125.6,"text":"calendar is not for sale even if you sponsor a product showcase or some other","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":123.68,"end_s":131.039,"text":"similar demonstration of your product which by the way is never the same as a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":128.399,"end_s":134.879,"text":"review on our channel or anyone else's in accordance with ftc guidelines we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":133.04,"end_s":138.319,"text":"won't give any opinion we can't stand behind and we would rather scrap the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":136.319,"end_s":142.8,"text":"video and leave the money on the table rather than compromise the trust of our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":139.84,"end_s":147.44,"text":"audience we've done it why you might ask well mostly because we're just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":145.84,"end_s":150.56,"text":"nice people and we care about both the work that we do and how it affects you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.76,"end_s":155.92,"text":"but even if you don't believe that and you'd rather believe that we're an evil","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.319,"end_s":161.599,"text":"corporation that's only out to make money i've got that covered too","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.64,"end_s":165.68,"text":"our most stalwart fans the ones that buy merch from lttstore.com","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":163.84,"end_s":170.239,"text":"support us on flowplane where we upload early access and exclusive videos and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":167.76,"end_s":176.56,"text":"buy products using the paid links under our videos directly contribute a massive","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":173.68,"end_s":180.959,"text":"32 percent of our annual revenue as a company and the most mind-bending thing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.48,"end_s":185.92,"text":"about that number is that my most generous estimate puts that group of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":182.959,"end_s":190.72,"text":"people at roughly a hundred thousand less than one percent of our subscribed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":188.4,"end_s":196.08,"text":"viewers on the main channel that makes you the the one percent a more powerful","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":193.599,"end_s":200.239,"text":"block than any corporate overlord or sponsor could ever be which is both","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":199.04,"end_s":203.519,"text":"really cool and also","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":202.159,"end_s":207.36,"text":"a little humbling so if you're taking a sip of water from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":205.599,"end_s":213.04,"text":"our water bottle or watching this on Floatplane then from the bottom of my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":209.76,"end_s":215.519,"text":"heart and everyone here thank you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":213.04,"end_s":219.44,"text":"you guys make a way bigger difference to us than you probably realize out of that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":218.08,"end_s":224.879,"text":"32 the smaller portion of affiliate revenue","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":222.0,"end_s":229.519,"text":"here is mostly newegg and walmart with amazon associates making up the rest now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":227.519,"end_s":235.84,"text":"amazon is still a pretty big chunk of change but since 2016 it's fallen from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":232.48,"end_s":238.159,"text":"16 of our overall income to just nine","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":235.84,"end_s":242.159,"text":"percent and honestly speaking a big part of the reason for this is that we're","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":239.92,"end_s":245.68,"text":"actually afraid of calling out the links in our videos for fear that we're gonna","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":243.92,"end_s":251.28,"text":"get kicked out of the program again for like doing it wrong even though it's a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":247.76,"end_s":252.319,"text":"way that other people do it so we just","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":251.28,"end_s":258.479,"text":"chucked the links down there in the video description and hope that people find them on their own i mean","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":255.92,"end_s":262.4,"text":"how crazy is that an affiliate program with rules that are so opaque and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":260.56,"end_s":267.28,"text":"enforcement that's so random that participants are afraid to promote it uh","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":264.639,"end_s":271.44,"text":"flow plane is also significantly down compared to vessel the early access","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":269.52,"end_s":275.6,"text":"startup company that we used to publish our videos early on but that's less of a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":273.68,"end_s":280.08,"text":"scary bad thing than you might think unlike vessel which as far as we could","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":277.52,"end_s":284.479,"text":"tell was basically just flushing venture capitalist money into the pockets of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":282.08,"end_s":287.36,"text":"online creators Floatplane is a sustainable alternative revenue source","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":286.479,"end_s":293.12,"text":"for us it's also a bigger chunk than it looks like because it's almost all content","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":291.199,"end_s":297.759,"text":"that we would have produced anyway so there's next to no extra expense to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":294.88,"end_s":302.08,"text":"produce it and unlike physical goods you don't need to buy it ahead of time and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":300.16,"end_s":306.96,"text":"stock it in a warehouse before you can profit off of it bringing us perfectly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":304.4,"end_s":312.56,"text":"to our biggest gainer overall merch has grown a massive five times from three","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.24,"end_s":317.6,"text":"percent all the way to fifteen percent so if you found yourself wondering why","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":314.639,"end_s":322.0,"text":"is he always like ltteststore.com well there's your answer the big","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":319.68,"end_s":326.0,"text":"difference maker here was abandoning the turnkey solutions that we tried before","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":323.919,"end_s":329.52,"text":"like teespring in favor of an approach that allows us to maintain strict","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":327.6,"end_s":333.759,"text":"control over both our storefront through shopify did i mention they're the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":330.88,"end_s":338.88,"text":"sponsor of this video thanks bros and product quality so now we source our own","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":336.639,"end_s":343.68,"text":"blank shirts we design our own artwork and we work with a local printer here in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":341.039,"end_s":347.36,"text":"vancouver to make our own t-shirts while also maintaining our own relationships","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":345.6,"end_s":353.12,"text":"with overseas factories for other products like underwear water bottles","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":349.68,"end_s":354.4,"text":"cable ties etc shopify also has lots of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":353.12,"end_s":358.24,"text":"tools that have helped us grow this segment like deep integration with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":356.24,"end_s":360.56,"text":"third-party add-ons analytics that help us understand where our traffic is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":359.44,"end_s":365.52,"text":"coming from and how well we're converting and much much more of course","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":363.44,"end_s":370.96,"text":"we've seen growth in other areas too in 2016 we were doing about 400 million","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":368.4,"end_s":375.199,"text":"views a year company-wide this year we're tracking over a billion views on","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":373.039,"end_s":379.6,"text":"the Linus tech tips channel alone and at that kind of scale even a fraction of a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":377.759,"end_s":384.24,"text":"cent per view adds up to some pretty crazy numbers more than i expected","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":381.52,"end_s":386.96,"text":"actually i mean obviously as ceo of the company i look at our books from time to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":385.84,"end_s":392.08,"text":"time but this kind of analytical reporting needs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":389.68,"end_s":395.919,"text":"to be generated manually so i've been going on gut feeling all this time","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":393.84,"end_s":400.8,"text":"thinking that we've become less dependent on google compared to four","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":397.6,"end_s":402.96,"text":"years ago when actually it's more now","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":400.8,"end_s":407.68,"text":"youtube takes a lot of flack and often rightfully so for their management of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":405.039,"end_s":411.199,"text":"the platform and its creators but let's give the team some credit here between","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":409.36,"end_s":415.759,"text":"tools that contribute directly to our bottom line like memberships and super","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":413.36,"end_s":419.36,"text":"chats and more indirect ones like youtube premium which for those","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":417.6,"end_s":425.12,"text":"wondering contributes way more to the channels that you watch","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":421.039,"end_s":428.56,"text":"than ads our RPM or revenue per thousand","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":425.12,"end_s":431.12,"text":"views has gone up a shocking 44","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":428.56,"end_s":436.8,"text":"even though cpm's or how much an advertiser paid per thousand views have","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":433.84,"end_s":441.44,"text":"actually fallen by nearly 20 percent in that time another way we've grown is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":438.88,"end_s":446.4,"text":"through direct sales at 42 percent of our total revenue in 2020 compared to 51","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":444.8,"end_s":451.12,"text":"in 2016 they've technically dropped down a fair","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":448.88,"end_s":455.759,"text":"bit but in fairness those guys have a lot on their plate and one of the ways","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.44,"end_s":458.96,"text":"that they've stepped up is by greatly diversifying the types of sponsors that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":457.84,"end_s":463.68,"text":"we deal with we've gone from pc hardware vendors so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":461.919,"end_s":469.199,"text":"these are brands whose products we could conceivably also cover editorially","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":466.0,"end_s":472.16,"text":"making up 85 of our sponsor dollars to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":469.199,"end_s":476.0,"text":"just 26 so far this year this has been one of my goals for as long as we've","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":473.84,"end_s":480.56,"text":"existed as a company because not only does it diversify our revenue streams","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":478.08,"end_s":483.52,"text":"which is like business 101 it also reduces the potential for conflicts of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":482.479,"end_s":487.919,"text":"interest the way that we sit right now our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":485.68,"end_s":492.8,"text":"independence as a media outlet can never be compromised by say you know some","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":490.4,"end_s":496.0,"text":"whale corporate sponsor who might try to pressure us into providing favorable","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":494.56,"end_s":500.0,"text":"coverage by threatening to withhold funding that we need to survive it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.24,"end_s":504.0,"text":"cannot happen breaking these numbers down a bit we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":502.08,"end_s":508.639,"text":"obviously do a lot less live event coverage now thanks kovid and fully","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":506.8,"end_s":512.959,"text":"sponsored videos have actually dropped off as a share of total revenue but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":510.96,"end_s":517.519,"text":"we've pretty much made up for it with those regular mentions that you guys see","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":514.8,"end_s":521.2,"text":"at the beginning and end of LTT videos and with mentions on channels that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":519.039,"end_s":525.6,"text":"simply didn't exist before like TechLinked our thrice weekly tech news","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":523.36,"end_s":529.279,"text":"roundup and ShortCircuit our back to basics unboxing and first impressions","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":527.36,"end_s":533.12,"text":"channel that features many different hosts from the team here so let's throw","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":531.04,"end_s":538.8,"text":"up a summary chart here yep all right so there it is other is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":536.08,"end_s":542.88,"text":"some reimbursements and crap and then our minecraft server is also in there","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":540.72,"end_s":546.16,"text":"for a whopping zero percent although i'm actually expecting that to be an area of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":544.56,"end_s":551.44,"text":"growth as Jake and the team roll out new features by the way you can check that out at the link down below and then i","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":549.68,"end_s":555.04,"text":"think everything else on here i have addressed already so","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":553.36,"end_s":559.279,"text":"that's the big picture that's how the sausage is made","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":556.959,"end_s":563.44,"text":"leaving only one thing then the title of this video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":561.12,"end_s":567.279,"text":"some of you are probably going to be a little annoyed to hear this but i'm not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":565.68,"end_s":572.56,"text":"going to address it directly but hold on hold on i actually","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":570.399,"end_s":576.72,"text":"have a few good reasons for that one while i could tell you the salary","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":574.8,"end_s":580.16,"text":"that i take home to actually live on day to day that would be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":578.8,"end_s":585.04,"text":"pretty meaningless given that the company is owned entirely by me and my","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":582.959,"end_s":589.2,"text":"immediate family so that would just that would be not lying but definitely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":587.36,"end_s":593.68,"text":"misrepresenting reason number two","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":590.8,"end_s":598.0,"text":"i could instead cite my annual increase in net worth except that the problem is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":596.399,"end_s":601.92,"text":"it would be really easy for people to misinterpret that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":599.44,"end_s":606.48,"text":"like let's say for example the value of the Linus tech tips youtube channel goes","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":604.16,"end_s":610.24,"text":"up year over year by some big number let's say a million dollars compared to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":608.959,"end_s":613.92,"text":"last year that makes it sound like i made a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":612.399,"end_s":618.399,"text":"million dollars but it's also a number that i'm completely","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":616.88,"end_s":621.36,"text":"pulling out of thin air unless i have an actual buyer for the channel which i","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":620.48,"end_s":627.839,"text":"don't and to realize that gain i would actually have to sell the channel which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":625.6,"end_s":632.8,"text":"i have no intention of doing making the entire discussion purely academic","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":630.48,"end_s":638.16,"text":"finally reason number three it's none of your beeswax","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":635.68,"end_s":643.519,"text":"the good news is that i've given you an absolute wealth of data here pun","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":640.88,"end_s":646.399,"text":"intended including some numbers that can fairly easily be tracked back to known","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":645.36,"end_s":651.2,"text":"values so if you care that much and you've got the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":649.12,"end_s":655.92,"text":"requisite background knowledge you could at least try to make an educated guess","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":653.2,"end_s":661.279,"text":"at it i'm not going to confirm or deny any such theory crafting see reason","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":658.399,"end_s":666.24,"text":"number three but what i will say is that i've seen at least one past attempt that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":663.839,"end_s":670.32,"text":"was pretty close and also a lot that were completely out","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":668.88,"end_s":676.839,"text":"to lunch speaking of lunch you should pack your beverage","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":674.959,"end_s":682.32,"text":"in an insulated water bottle from ltteststore.com powered by shopify","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":679.76,"end_s":686.64,"text":"big shout out to our canadian bros over there for sponsoring this video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":684.88,"end_s":691.12,"text":"not that there was no ulterior motive behind it shopify loves drawing","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":688.88,"end_s":696.48,"text":"attention to online businesses both small and large that use their platform","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":693.44,"end_s":698.399,"text":"to grow their business online and at 500","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":696.48,"end_s":704.0,"text":"growth in the last few years actually almost all of which was in the last two","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":701.04,"end_s":707.2,"text":"we are definitely one of those if you want to create an online store front","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":705.44,"end_s":710.959,"text":"that looks great and has tons of features shopify has got you covered","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":709.36,"end_s":716.0,"text":"check them out at the link in the video description if you want to see an example of a great shopify store that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":714.32,"end_s":718.64,"text":"you might also enjoy you know buying some products from","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":720.24,"end_s":727.76,"text":"just visit lttstore.com there's like so many layers of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":1},{"start_s":724.48,"end_s":729.2,"text":"sponsorception in this video","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":727.76,"end_s":733.16,"text":"and that is how LMG makes money","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"uh how does LMG make money too lttstore.com it doesn't take a deep thinker to figure out that we spend a lot of money around here on staff our facility filming sets production equipment computers etc etc etc what's tougher is where it all comes from i've seen speculation that we're involved in everything from i.t consulting to commercial film production to back alley deals with industry giants to suppress their competition all of which is pretty funny to me because i know that at least two million of you already got the answer to this question we only make youtube videos or at least back then we did in fairness to you guys the last four years has seen a lot of change in the influencer industry as a whole and our company has also changed we've nearly tripled in size by our head count so i guess i felt like in the interest of maintaining the kind of transparency with our community that y'all expect from us it was time for an update and this video is sponsored by shopify a lot of what i'm about to tell you is going to be the same as last time starting with how we keep money from polluting our editorial content so we still maintain strict guidelines for our sponsor's behavior even going as far as to issue ultimatums for poor business practices like for example making it difficult to cancel recurring payments or even cutting them off outright for poor customer service and every brand from small indie shops who couldn't pass money if they wanted to all the way up to large multinationals with quarterly or even annual spending commitments with us gets the same treatment when it comes to product reviews you cannot buy a positive review at Linus tech tips and in fact you can't buy a review at all our editorial calendar is not for sale even if you sponsor a product showcase or some other similar demonstration of your product which by the way is never the same as a review on our channel or anyone else's in accordance with ftc guidelines we won't give any opinion we can't stand behind and we would rather scrap the video and leave the money on the table rather than compromise the trust of our audience we've done it why you might ask well mostly because we're just nice people and we care about both the work that we do and how it affects you but even if you don't believe that and you'd rather believe that we're an evil corporation that's only out to make money i've got that covered too our most stalwart fans the ones that buy merch from lttstore.com support us on flowplane where we upload early access and exclusive videos and buy products using the paid links under our videos directly contribute a massive 32 percent of our annual revenue as a company and the most mind-bending thing about that number is that my most generous estimate puts that group of people at roughly a hundred thousand less than one percent of our subscribed viewers on the main channel that makes you the the one percent a more powerful block than any corporate overlord or sponsor could ever be which is both really cool and also a little humbling so if you're taking a sip of water from our water bottle or watching this on Floatplane then from the bottom of my heart and everyone here thank you you guys make a way bigger difference to us than you probably realize out of that 32 the smaller portion of affiliate revenue here is mostly newegg and walmart with amazon associates making up the rest now amazon is still a pretty big chunk of change but since 2016 it's fallen from 16 of our overall income to just nine percent and honestly speaking a big part of the reason for this is that we're actually afraid of calling out the links in our videos for fear that we're gonna get kicked out of the program again for like doing it wrong even though it's a way that other people do it so we just chucked the links down there in the video description and hope that people find them on their own i mean how crazy is that an affiliate program with rules that are so opaque and enforcement that's so random that participants are afraid to promote it uh flow plane is also significantly down compared to vessel the early access startup company that we used to publish our videos early on but that's less of a scary bad thing than you might think unlike vessel which as far as we could tell was basically just flushing venture capitalist money into the pockets of online creators Floatplane is a sustainable alternative revenue source for us it's also a bigger chunk than it looks like because it's almost all content that we would have produced anyway so there's next to no extra expense to produce it and unlike physical goods you don't need to buy it ahead of time and stock it in a warehouse before you can profit off of it bringing us perfectly to our biggest gainer overall merch has grown a massive five times from three percent all the way to fifteen percent so if you found yourself wondering why is he always like ltteststore.com well there's your answer the big difference maker here was abandoning the turnkey solutions that we tried before like teespring in favor of an approach that allows us to maintain strict control over both our storefront through shopify did i mention they're the sponsor of this video thanks bros and product quality so now we source our own blank shirts we design our own artwork and we work with a local printer here in vancouver to make our own t-shirts while also maintaining our own relationships with overseas factories for other products like underwear water bottles cable ties etc shopify also has lots of tools that have helped us grow this segment like deep integration with third-party add-ons analytics that help us understand where our traffic is coming from and how well we're converting and much much more of course we've seen growth in other areas too in 2016 we were doing about 400 million views a year company-wide this year we're tracking over a billion views on the Linus tech tips channel alone and at that kind of scale even a fraction of a cent per view adds up to some pretty crazy numbers more than i expected actually i mean obviously as ceo of the company i look at our books from time to time but this kind of analytical reporting needs to be generated manually so i've been going on gut feeling all this time thinking that we've become less dependent on google compared to four years ago when actually it's more now youtube takes a lot of flack and often rightfully so for their management of the platform and its creators but let's give the team some credit here between tools that contribute directly to our bottom line like memberships and super chats and more indirect ones like youtube premium which for those wondering contributes way more to the channels that you watch than ads our RPM or revenue per thousand views has gone up a shocking 44 even though cpm's or how much an advertiser paid per thousand views have actually fallen by nearly 20 percent in that time another way we've grown is through direct sales at 42 percent of our total revenue in 2020 compared to 51 in 2016 they've technically dropped down a fair bit but in fairness those guys have a lot on their plate and one of the ways that they've stepped up is by greatly diversifying the types of sponsors that we deal with we've gone from pc hardware vendors so these are brands whose products we could conceivably also cover editorially making up 85 of our sponsor dollars to just 26 so far this year this has been one of my goals for as long as we've existed as a company because not only does it diversify our revenue streams which is like business 101 it also reduces the potential for conflicts of interest the way that we sit right now our independence as a media outlet can never be compromised by say you know some whale corporate sponsor who might try to pressure us into providing favorable coverage by threatening to withhold funding that we need to survive it cannot happen breaking these numbers down a bit we obviously do a lot less live event coverage now thanks kovid and fully sponsored videos have actually dropped off as a share of total revenue but we've pretty much made up for it with those regular mentions that you guys see at the beginning and end of LTT videos and with mentions on channels that simply didn't exist before like TechLinked our thrice weekly tech news roundup and ShortCircuit our back to basics unboxing and first impressions channel that features many different hosts from the team here so let's throw up a summary chart here yep all right so there it is other is some reimbursements and crap and then our minecraft server is also in there for a whopping zero percent although i'm actually expecting that to be an area of growth as Jake and the team roll out new features by the way you can check that out at the link down below and then i think everything else on here i have addressed already so that's the big picture that's how the sausage is made leaving only one thing then the title of this video some of you are probably going to be a little annoyed to hear this but i'm not going to address it directly but hold on hold on i actually have a few good reasons for that one while i could tell you the salary that i take home to actually live on day to day that would be pretty meaningless given that the company is owned entirely by me and my immediate family so that would just that would be not lying but definitely misrepresenting reason number two i could instead cite my annual increase in net worth except that the problem is it would be really easy for people to misinterpret that like let's say for example the value of the Linus tech tips youtube channel goes up year over year by some big number let's say a million dollars compared to last year that makes it sound like i made a million dollars but it's also a number that i'm completely pulling out of thin air unless i have an actual buyer for the channel which i don't and to realize that gain i would actually have to sell the channel which i have no intention of doing making the entire discussion purely academic finally reason number three it's none of your beeswax the good news is that i've given you an absolute wealth of data here pun intended including some numbers that can fairly easily be tracked back to known values so if you care that much and you've got the requisite background knowledge you could at least try to make an educated guess at it i'm not going to confirm or deny any such theory crafting see reason number three but what i will say is that i've seen at least one past attempt that was pretty close and also a lot that were completely out to lunch speaking of lunch you should pack your beverage in an insulated water bottle from ltteststore.com powered by shopify big shout out to our canadian bros over there for sponsoring this video not that there was no ulterior motive behind it shopify loves drawing attention to online businesses both small and large that use their platform to grow their business online and at 500 growth in the last few years actually almost all of which was in the last two we are definitely one of those if you want to create an online store front that looks great and has tons of features shopify has got you covered check them out at the link in the video description if you want to see an example of a great shopify store that you might also enjoy you know buying some products from just visit lttstore.com there's like so many layers of sponsorception in this video and that is how LMG makes money"}