WEBVTT 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:08.080 How do we have so much stuff? How much 00:00:06.080 --> 00:00:14.719 is this even worth? And all of this is cheap compared to employing everyone. 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:16.480 Sir, don't call me sir. Sir, I know I've 00:00:14.719 --> 00:00:21.680 been here a short time, but how do we pay for all of this? Obviously, this 00:00:19.199 --> 00:00:25.320 helps, but there's got to be more. Is there something you're hiding? 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:35.840 Nope. But it has been a while since we've done one of these and a lot has 00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:41.200 changed in that time. There's been good times, some of them very good and bad 00:00:38.559 --> 00:00:45.440 times. Some of them very bad. And through all of that, we have more than 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:51.039 doubled the size of our team. How do we make money now then? Like this. That 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:56.559 right there is 2024's finalized revenue split. So, uh, video done 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:58.320 then. Oh, right. You guys probably want 00:00:56.559 --> 00:01:01.920 a bit more context. But here's the thing. As we've grown, I have stepped 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:05.680 back from some of the day-to-day leadership. So, I might need some help 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:08.479 getting you guys the full story. That's why I was tasked to go to the accounting 00:01:07.119 --> 00:01:11.840 department as well as talk to the other executives to find out all the juicy 00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:16.799 little details for you guys and have them present it to 00:01:13.320 --> 00:01:19.200 you. Our first stop is Colton. I 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:23.360 wouldn't go over there. At least not until you've told these fine folks about 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:27.119 our sponsor for this video, Odo. While we don't use them daily here at LMG, 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:30.880 they would love for us to show you some examples of how ODU helps manage your 00:01:29.119 --> 00:01:35.360 business using their apps that integrate into one cohesive platform for easy 00:01:32.960 --> 00:01:38.640 management. Start your 15-day free trial by visiting the link down 00:01:45.079 --> 00:01:52.079 below. We're actually going to start with the biggest change on our chart, 00:01:49.360 --> 00:01:57.840 ltstore.com. When Lin discovered LTT Store in the 2020 breakdown, it was 15% 00:01:54.880 --> 00:02:01.079 of our total. Now, we've shipped over a million orders and it's ballooned to a 00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:05.360 staggering 55%. The biggest reason for this is that 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:09.679 back then, two of our biggest product families didn't exist yet. Hand tools 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:13.200 and bags, which now make up about half the revenue with the rest coming from 00:02:11.200 --> 00:02:17.200 everything else. That includes apparel, cable management, thermal pads, pet 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:22.879 accessories, baby stuff. It's a pretty broad mix. Yeah, the ltstore.com call 00:02:20.720 --> 00:02:26.080 outs can be a little cringey, but they get people's attention. And when you 00:02:24.160 --> 00:02:29.920 combine that with quality products, it clearly works. So much so that we 00:02:28.160 --> 00:02:35.360 recently flipped the script and went from sponsor to sponsorer, choosing some 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:40.000 of our favorite creators to show off all of our products. The team has been 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:43.840 killing it. Black Friday grew 45% year-over-year. But in my opinion, the 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:49.200 best part of that event was that the orders were also fulfilled 60% faster 00:02:46.640 --> 00:02:52.800 than they were in 2023. I'm sure you appreciated that. It doesn't mean we 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:57.599 never have problems, though. Near the end of 2023, we found out live on the 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:02.159 WAN Show that a manufacturer screw up on our OG backpack meant it didn't have the 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:05.120 dual layer bottom that we promised. But our motto has always been to make it 00:03:03.920 --> 00:03:08.959 right with our customers. So, we retroactively modified our warranty to 00:03:07.200 --> 00:03:13.280 provide extra coverage on that bottom layer. And our amazing in-house support 00:03:10.720 --> 00:03:17.440 team offered gift cards as an apology. And if that wasn't enough, we offered 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:21.680 outright refunds to anyone who wanted one, even those folks who had been using 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:25.920 the bag for over a year. Now, if you want to provide great support, Odo has 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:29.680 you covered. Their e-commerce app allows you to build a digital store to market 00:03:27.519 --> 00:03:34.000 and sell your goods. And they offer time tracking, priority assignment, and even 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:38.080 documentation about how certain tickets should be resolved, so onboarding new 00:03:35.599 --> 00:03:42.959 employees is easy. I could go on all day, but that's enough about LTTO for 00:03:39.920 --> 00:03:46.000 today. So, let's throw this sleek and 00:03:42.959 --> 00:03:48.680 stylish commuter backpack, ltstore.com, 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:56.000 to the writing department to talk about AdSense. Oh my goodness. Thanks. From 00:03:53.040 --> 00:04:02.040 2016 to 2020, AdSense actually grew from 18% to 26% of LMG's overall revenue. And 00:03:59.920 --> 00:04:06.080 I'm happy to report that in 2024, it went down. 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:10.239 Not going to lie, I was actually super confused when they told me this was a 00:04:07.760 --> 00:04:14.879 good thing. We literally call ourselves YouTubers. How can it be good to make 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:18.720 less money from YouTube? Well, for starters, just because it's a smaller 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:22.880 percentage does not mean that it's less money. And second, it means that LMG is 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:27.199 far less reliant on our Google overlords than we used to be. Let's say YouTube's 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:31.040 ad business just collapsed. For most channels, that would probably mean game 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:34.880 over. But thanks to our diversified revenue streams, we can actually carry 00:04:32.880 --> 00:04:40.160 on through challenging times. Of course, we don't mind it ain't money. So, let's 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:42.880 break it down here. 61.5% comes from ads. So, if you're someone who sits 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:47.040 through the ads before watching the video, we thank you for your service. As 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:52.800 for the folks who can't stand ads and opt for YouTube Premium, you guys make 00:04:48.960 --> 00:04:56.479 up 37.3%. Hold on a minute. How can 29% 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:58.479 of our views make up 37% of our YouTube 00:04:56.479 --> 00:05:02.400 money? It's funny because I've had a lot of people ask me over the years, oh 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:07.039 Lionus, I've got premium, so I'm watching without ads, does that harm 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:12.160 creators? But no, it's the complete opposite. The way that premium works is 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:15.759 it takes 45% of your subscription fee. That goes to YouTube to, you know, 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:22.000 maintain the platform and pay for YouTube music. And the rest, so 55% gets 00:05:19.919 --> 00:05:26.400 divided up according to your total watch time over the course of the month across 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:31.360 all the channels that you watched. So if you watched 50% LT and 50% other 00:05:29.840 --> 00:05:36.560 channels, you would actually be contributing many times more than an 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:40.479 adup supported viewer. Now shorts are a little bit different because Google 00:05:38.400 --> 00:05:46.039 allocates part of their revenue to music licensing for shorts. The creator share 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:51.280 both for ads and for premium is just 45%. Frankly though, I don't really 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:55.360 blame them. Shorts get lots of views and therefore are a significant burden on 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:59.759 the platform's infrastructure. But it's clear that Google has a lot of work to 00:05:57.520 --> 00:06:06.199 do figuring out how to monetize those views. Our biggest short in 2024 got 13 00:06:03.840 --> 00:06:11.360 million views and made $1,300. That's about 100th of a cent per 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:16.479 view for me. And once everything is accounted for, probably even less for 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:23.120 Google. For comparison, our biggest VOD last year did over 20 times that amount, 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.880 over 2/10en of a cent per view. Then 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:29.280 there's longer live stream archives, and the numbers completely change. Again, 00:06:26.880 --> 00:06:34.240 here we're looking at about 1.8 cents per view. Now, again, this is just 00:06:31.919 --> 00:06:38.720 looking at our top performing in each category for the year, but it gives you 00:06:36.080 --> 00:06:44.400 an idea of how watch time contributes to revenue, especially for premium viewers. 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:49.600 Not every channel performs the same though. Out of our active channels, the 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:51.440 main LTT channel brings in about 76% of 00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:55.600 our AdSense with ShortCircuit and TechLink finishing off the podium. Now, 00:06:54.080 --> 00:07:01.680 I want to clear something up that I'm sure will be a point of discussion in 00:06:58.400 --> 00:07:03.919 the comments. LMG's numbers are not and 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:08.160 will never be directly comparable to other creators. If you're a Moist 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:12.319 Critical fan, you probably saw his video which broke down YouTube revenue versus 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:16.880 Twitch revenue and saw that he pulled in a whopping 00:07:13.479 --> 00:07:18.960 $84,000 for a 4-hour stream. But if you 00:07:16.880 --> 00:07:24.960 look closely, that's because he was making over 17 RPM or $17 per 1,000 00:07:22.880 --> 00:07:29.840 views. If you took that number and multiplied it by our roughly 850 million 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:35.120 views last year, holy we should ask for raises. I keyed because we don't 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:39.360 make nearly the same RPM on our channel and he might not either. Even on the 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:43.560 same channel, RPM can change dramatically depending on how desirable 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:49.199 your content is to high roller advertisers. On our channel, we've seen 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:51.120 as high as $11, but as low as $3. 00:07:49.199 --> 00:07:55.599 Though, of course, that's before we bake in our own sponsors. Speaking of 00:07:53.400 --> 00:07:59.919 sponsors, this seems like a good time to segue to our Colton. That's right. I 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:03.199 still work here. And if you watch regularly, you'll know we have a wide 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:07.039 variety of partners that we deal with. How wide? We managed to break it down 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:10.879 into about 13 different categories, ranging from PC parts to gaming to 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:14.639 lifestyle, and even software as a service, like our sponsor for this 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:18.639 video, ODU. One of their apps is completely dedicated to sales. It helps 00:08:16.479 --> 00:08:22.479 you keep track of clients, track income, and organize your data into almost any 00:08:20.479 --> 00:08:26.560 type of chart you would need, like this one. This is a breakdown of our 13 00:08:24.479 --> 00:08:32.760 categories. SAS companies like ODU make up 25.5%. 00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:35.440 Lifestyle is 13.6% and PC parts is 00:08:32.760 --> 00:08:40.080 34.6%. PC parts are actually up from 2020, which is both good and bad. It's 00:08:38.479 --> 00:08:43.120 good because it clearly shows that you guys are closely engaged with the brands 00:08:41.760 --> 00:08:48.959 you see featured on our channel, allowing them to outbid our other partners. But it's bad because Business 00:08:46.640 --> 00:08:53.360 101 says to diversify your income and not put all of your eggs in one basket. 00:08:50.959 --> 00:08:56.640 And tech has a risk of becoming a heavy basket for us since our audience 00:08:54.959 --> 00:09:01.279 demographics are so obviously appealing to tech companies. With that said, while 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:06.080 three of our top tech partners do make up about 15% of our sponsor revenue, 00:09:03.839 --> 00:09:09.360 none of them are over 5%, meaning that none of them can have a major impact on 00:09:07.839 --> 00:09:13.279 our business. Another way we avoid overreiance on individual partners is to 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:17.519 have a wide variety of partners within our categories. In the PC parts 00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:22.640 category, we work with 26 partners and across all categories, we have over 150. 00:09:20.880 --> 00:09:28.720 To add some additional context, our sponsors made up 21% of our 2024 revenue 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:33.279 with invido reads accounting for 9% and dedicated sponsor videos accounting for 00:09:30.880 --> 00:09:38.080 12%. We also provide production value to companies like Dbrand and MSI. We just 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:42.000 released a video where Plof and Sherrod take you through how it's done and give 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:45.720 a little bit more insight into how LMG works down in the gears and the guts. 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:49.120 Head over to LMG.gg/flowplane to check it out. 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:53.440 Sponsored videos come about in one of two ways. The ideal way is when we 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:57.760 integrate a sponsor's product into an already existing idea. For example, we 00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:01.200 had the idea for me to make an outdoor pool gaming setup. So, when someone 00:09:59.680 --> 00:10:05.360 reached out looking for a cool project to show off their projector, that was a 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:08.320 perfect fit. The same goes for the time we wanted to make a video on cleaning 00:10:06.880 --> 00:10:12.000 out a water cooling loop and an ultrasonic toothbrush brand stepped up. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:16.160 Naturally integrated and more importantly, highly relevant to the 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:20.399 project. The second way these videos come about is a sponsor will bring us a 00:10:17.920 --> 00:10:25.440 product. let's say a robot lawn mower or pool cleaner and then we will go out in 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:27.440 search of a lawn or a pool to maintain. 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:30.959 These videos tend to rely more on unscripted shenanigans and the 00:10:29.040 --> 00:10:35.040 personalities of our hosts to drive viewer enjoyment while we tick off all 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:38.720 of the key points the sponsor wants communicated about their product. Now, 00:10:36.959 --> 00:10:42.959 these videos are always clearly disclosed both verbally and visually. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:47.600 And while they do often include candid footage of us using the product and even 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:52.880 providing commentary on it, a sponsor can buy airtime on our channel, but they 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:57.200 can never buy our opinion. FTC guidelines clearly state that if you say 00:10:54.880 --> 00:11:01.040 it, you have to believe it. And no vendor talking point should ever be 00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:04.320 disguised as an opinion unless you happen to agree, let's say, for 00:11:02.720 --> 00:11:09.279 instance, that the design of this product is minimalistic or what have 00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:14.000 you. We also go out of our way to validate manufacturer claims when 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:17.600 possible, even in sponsored videos. One area that this has been really useful is 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:21.519 when evaluating displays for phones, which sometimes do not reach the 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:25.600 brightness levels that are specified by the manufacturer. This kind of scrutiny 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.959 is just part of the process of working with us. And if a sponsor doesn't like 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:32.720 it, we'll just drop them like we've dropped so many others in the past. 00:11:30.959 --> 00:11:37.440 Sometimes we also drop sponsors because of you guys. We maintain an open line of 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:40.800 communication for sponsor issues or concerns through our community forum and 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:44.480 we have a long track record of leveraging user reported issues to 00:11:42.880 --> 00:11:49.519 affect change at the companies we partner with. Speaking of forums, ODU 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:53.040 also has a dedicated forum app in case you want to add it to your website so 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:58.000 people can complain if you're discounted affiliate links aren't working. Speaking 00:11:55.200 --> 00:12:01.360 of affiliate links made up about 3% of our 2024 revenue. Those are the links 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:07.760 that you'll often see in the description, like our referral code for private internet access. Those can be a 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:12.399 pretty good deal for all sides. PIA gets a new subscriber, you get a discount, 00:12:09.600 --> 00:12:17.279 and we get a kickback. All in, the business team lands at about 24% of the 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:21.680 total pie. Now, you can see why we keep bringing Colton back into the fold. Now, 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:25.839 we're almost done, but first, let's take a quick ride on a flopplane. 00:12:23.680 --> 00:12:30.160 Flipplane.com is our paid membership website where we offer exclusive content 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:35.360 and sometimes early access to our videos. We offer two subscription tiers, 00:12:32.800 --> 00:12:40.959 $5 or $10, with the difference being that the higher tier gives you 4K video 00:12:37.920 --> 00:12:43.200 and sometimes access to extra exclusive 00:12:40.959 --> 00:12:50.079 content like the digital pass to our last LTX expo. In 2024, Flowplane was 7% 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:54.959 of our pie. It's a humble slice, but it's also up 1%. And I think it's pretty 00:12:52.800 --> 00:12:59.519 cool that with Invido sponsor spots coming down and Floatplane going up, we 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:03.760 are contributing almost as much as every Invido sponsor combined. Lionus often 00:13:01.839 --> 00:13:07.680 talks about how the audience is the real boss of the company. And this is a prime 00:13:06.079 --> 00:13:12.399 example of how easy it is for you guys to show us when you support our 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:14.480 direction and to show us when you don't. 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:20.000 Elephant in the room. We lost a ton of Flowplane subscribers after the great 00:13:16.800 --> 00:13:21.760 reset in August of 2023, but thanks to 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:26.880 the hard work of our team. Shout out to Sammy for the great exclusives, we had 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:30.880 three major pushes to help bring us back to just about where we left off. Thanks 00:13:28.959 --> 00:13:34.639 again for supporting us at Flowplane. Now, let's get back to Lionus for some 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:38.639 closing thoughts. There you go. The last under 1% is miscellaneous things like 00:13:36.959 --> 00:13:44.880 random reimbursements, which I think underscores the point that Luke mentioned about you guys being the boss. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:49.279 When you break it down, every single piece of the chart still boils down to 00:13:47.040 --> 00:13:53.200 you. You are the boss when it comes to choosing to engage with our content 00:13:50.959 --> 00:13:56.959 ideas on YouTube. You are the boss when it comes to what sponsors we work with. 00:13:55.279 --> 00:14:00.880 You're the boss when you evaluate the quality of our products. And you're the 00:13:59.040 --> 00:14:04.880 boss when you choose to directly support us on Flow Plane. And just like any 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:09.360 boss, if we're not living up to your expectations, you have the power to give 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:15.040 us a good old-fashioned dressing down, to dock our pay, or even sack us 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:17.040 outright, which it's kind of a scary way 00:14:15.040 --> 00:14:21.440 to live, if I can be real for a minute. But it's also super cool because not 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:25.279 only do we have this massive community to share our passions with, but a 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:29.760 massive community that can help guide us toward what you guys want to see in the 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:33.440 future. As for our second larger elephant in the room, you'll notice that 00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:38.399 we never gave you guys any specific dollar amounts. I am sorry about that 00:14:36.160 --> 00:14:41.920 and I understand that in trying to be as transparent as possible with you guys 00:14:39.839 --> 00:14:46.839 over the years, we have created an environment where the one thing we can't 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:51.440 talk about can trigger a vigorous pitchforking. But the reality of it is, 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:56.079 whether it's channels pausing production or employees leaving the company or the 00:14:54.240 --> 00:15:00.079 exact dollar amounts that we made on a specific deal, there really are some 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:05.440 things we just can't talk about. Both for our protection and for our team. Say 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:09.760 you were canned, for instance. Would you want your former boss or colleagues 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:13.600 talking about it on a podcast? Of course not. And for fairness sake, we have the 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:17.920 same processes so that everyone is treated the same. As for the final 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:21.560 chart, you can see there is even more detail under each slice that we didn't 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:25.720 really get into and it can get pretty complicated. This is a big part of the 00:15:23.680 --> 00:15:30.560 reason that I hired a CEO back in early 2023 and have asked the rest of the 00:15:28.160 --> 00:15:35.120 leadership team to step up. My strength is being a bottomless pit of creativity 00:15:33.040 --> 00:15:38.959 and I found that while I could spend my time on the details, it wasn't 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:43.760 necessarily the best thing for the company and the team. What the team does 00:15:41.839 --> 00:15:46.959 like though is getting paid. Thanks to our sponsor, ODO. They have an 00:15:45.760 --> 00:15:50.639 accounting app that helps you manage your business or website. So whether 00:15:48.800 --> 00:15:55.040 it's managing customer invoices, your POSOS system, your employee salaries, or 00:15:52.800 --> 00:15:59.440 other miscellaneous operations, ODU can track, receive, or pay out bills as 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:03.199 needed. They have a wide variety of apps, and you only need to select the 00:16:01.199 --> 00:16:07.360 apps that you need, and you can even start by using one full app completely 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:11.120 for free. So head down to the link in the description to start your 15-day 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:15.279 trial today. Thanks for watching, guys. I don't actually sit in annual business 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:18.000 reviews anymore. So, when I reviewed the script with Elijah, that was 00:16:16.560 --> 00:16:22.399 legitimately my first look at these numbers for 2024. Hopefully, it was as 00:16:20.560 --> 00:16:25.920 fun for you guys to go through as it was for me. If you want to see in more 00:16:24.160 --> 00:16:29.839 detail what's changed over the years, go check out the two previous editions 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:32.000 we've done of this back in 2016 and in 2020.