This was the most recently posted video when the 1,000,000 viewer threshold was passed.

While it is possible for a cat or celeb video to bring in 1,000,000 views overnight, outdoor content videos do not do nearly so well because they are intended for  a relatively small part of the U.S. market. Active hunters are only about 7 % of the U.S. population, although this number is differently reported by various organizations. Working this market segment, it has taken about 1.5 years for my 299 videos to reach the 1,000,000 view threshold. The comparison between the videos and blogs reinforce that the U.S outdoor market is becoming more visually oriented, particularly so far as Social Media is concerned. Although there are about the same number of entries, this blog has had about 500,000 views over about 2 years – roughly half of the YouTube views and it took a longer time to achieve them.

For the younger segment of the population, YouTube videos are becoming a favored search engine. Not only do the searchers want the information, they want to see it and have it told to them, rather than having to read it. Blogs do have a considerable advantage in that text passages may be printed out, material can be covered more completely in a blog and it is logical to link blog, video, book and radio together. This approach allows the user to get the author’s information in visual, print or audio form in whatever depth he desires.

In comparing blogs and video outreach, YouTubes have the advantage if generally costing little or nothing to produce or maintain, may be replaced at any time, have no recurrent costs, are available for an indefinitely long period and return a small amount of money as ad revenue. My blog, although one of the highest rated WordPress Blogs, has not attracted the 500 views a day which is the apparent threshold value to garner advertising revenue from Google-placed ads. Obviously, I need to expand my presence in this area by producing more blog entries. Even with Google ad revenue derived from both sources, it is obvious that this income of some few thousands of dollars a year will not be sufficient to support a writer.

For those in the outdoor market, blogging and video production are best viewed as methods of advertising a paying product or service. YouTube videos have allowed me to place my book ads in front of 1,000,000 people at little costs, cost me nothing to maintain and they will continue to be seen and bring in ad revenue for decades. This is the case of, “Write, or produce, it once and get paid for it often.” While this approach of being simultaneously active in the print, radio and video/TV markets is not suitable for most writers or sustainable for any writer for very long (including me). However, using the YouTube video component along with one or two other outdoor activities is an effective and low-cost way of attracting potential paying consumers.

On March 11, 2014, I will be presenting a free all-day seminar on Becoming an Outdoor Communicator at the Charlie Elliott Wildlife Center which is located near Mansfield,
Georgia. During this event I will outline the outdoor communication possibilities in the print, audio, video/TV and personal appearances markets with some practical information about potential income possibilities. Topics will include newspaper writing, book writing, E-book publication, radio production, photography, video production and stand-up outdoor comedy as income-producing possibilities.  There will be a pre-seminar E-mailing of the course outline. To receive it request a copy at:  hoveysmith029@gmail.com.