Why YouTube Might Be the Future of Ocean Science Communication

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YouTube is a special
place on the internet.

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It is potentially the future of TV.

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It's a great platform for science
communication for that to happen.

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And it's a great way for a number of
different reasons, for search, for

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monetization, and for getting the
message across, and for having a visual

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storytelling piece to your content.

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We're gonna talk about why YouTube
is such a great platform for science

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communication, for the ocean protections
that we are advocating for here on this

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podcast, and why and how I've been using
YouTube over the last year and a half,

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and why I stopped for a little bit, and
why I'm starting up with a live show, all

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in this episode of the How to Protect
the Ocean podcast, where we bring to

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you ways that you can protect the ocean,
whether it's ocean news, strategies,

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action items, whatever you want, we do
that Monday to Friday every single week.

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Monday to Friday at the same time, right?

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Publish 3:00 AM Eastern, so
you're gonna get it when you

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wake up, and it's always great.

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If you live somewhere else in the world
where you can get it in the evening

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or wherever, you get that as well.

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So, let's get started with the show.

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If you want more of these types of
episodes, just hit the follow button

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on your favorite podcast app, of
course, and we will get into it.

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Look, after yesterday's
announcement, 2,000 episodes.

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This is 2,001.

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We're gonna be talking about YouTube,
which I think is pretty interesting

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topic, because YouTube has made such
a splash in social media in general.

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I think people don't really
consider it social media.

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I think they consider it just,
like, a content platform.

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But every content platform is also
social media, including podcasting.

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And for the last 11 years, I've been
really dedicated towards podcasting.

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Before I started the podcast, I
actually had a show on YouTube.

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I had Speak Up for Blue TV, which
has now changed to Ocean Decoded.

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I started that when my kids were
toddlers, and I was thinking, like,

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when they went to bed around eight
o'clock, I was focused and doing an

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episode Monday to Thursday at the time.

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I like quantity is really what I like
to do, especially with ocean news.

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That was fun, but the problem
was it just took so much time.

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It took the rest of my evening.

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And although I liked it a lot, I
think I did it too much at that

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time, and I eventually stopped it.

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I got burnt out, essentially.

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The workflow didn't work out.

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I couldn't afford an editor at the time.

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And so it was really difficult to do.

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Until I revisited the channel when YouTube
really started to make a splash on the

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podcasting, in the podcasting world.

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And look, YouTube is
not a podcast platform.

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It is a video content platform.

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But we can call a podcast anything now.

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It could be whatever it is.

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It used to be the definition was a
podcast was an RSS feed that would

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go out and distribute your episodes
and your podcast to the different

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apps, and that's how you got it.

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It was audio form.

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Apple used to have, like when it
first came out, it had a video

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platform to it, but nobody was really
watching it ' cause it cost so

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much in data to watch on your phone.

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So that was a, problematic.

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YouTube came out and said, "Hey, we
could do podcasts," and we could actually

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have… Like I used to have, I still do
have a channel where this podcast goes,

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just the audio goes right to the channel.

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And then I started posting
about two and a half years ago.

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I started posting this podcast
on the YouTube channel.

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It was still Speak Up For Blue TV.

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I had a playlist, How
to Protect the Ocean.

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And I did that for about two
years, maybe a year and a half,

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and I started to gain traction.

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And you started to see the
subscriber count go up.

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I went from like just under
200, I think, to about, I'm at

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about just over 1,000 right now.

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And so that was kinda cool to
see people started listening.

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I posted three times a week.

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It was consistent.

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I would just record the video
while I was doing the podcast.

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So I had the audio version,
I had the video version.

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When I first started doing the
podcast, it was just a video.

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It was just me talking.

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No other B-rolls or any kind of editing.

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And then I realized after a while, after
about six months, I'm like, "Hey, you

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know what? Let's start editing and see
if it makes a difference." I think it

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did make a difference, but I think also
people were watching it more and more.

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I started to see a change, and
I started to see a real growth.

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And then I hit an episode
where it really hit big.

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I think I had like over 10,000 views on
that episode, which is like the most I've

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ever had, which was kind of interesting.

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And then it just continued off of that.

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And then I stopped last March.

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I just stopped.

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And I was like, I was going through
like a rebranding, which I'm still going

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through, and I was like, "What am I
gonna do? Like, am I gonna really continue

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to do this podcast here?" I wanted to
change the way we were doing the podcast.

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I wanted to post five times a week.

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To edit five podcasts a week is really
expensive when you have an editor.

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I couldn't do it myself five times a week.

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I think I'd get burnt out again.

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And so I started to look
at how I could change.

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Instead of going to three episodes a
week, I was gonna go down to two episodes

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a week, and I was really gonna break
down some of the major things that

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have happened in ocean conservation.

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And then I just couldn't keep it up.

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I just couldn't do it.

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I couldn't find my way to do it.

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Then I wanted to do a little bit of mini
documentaries, and I just couldn't do it.

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It was difficult to do because
I was so busy with other stuff.

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Now things have changed.

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Things have actually gone
towards an interesting route.

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I've signed the licensing fees to Pisces.

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So Pisces now, a company that I work for,
is now housing How to Protect the Ocean.

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We've extended the network to the Pisces
podcast called Ocean Leaders Podcast.

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That's coming out soon.

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If it's not out by the time you're
watching this, it's probably already out

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on the network at speakupforblue.com.

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And I get to do that work during the
day, and I get to work with that.

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And that, that's a really
cool thing to be able to do.

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And I have my evenings back,
so now I can get maybe a little

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more creative with that side.

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And one of the things that I
wanted to do back into YouTube.

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I'm so close to the monetization,
and I can talk a little bit about

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monetization in just a sec. But
I'm so close to the second level of

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monetization, and I think it's time
to really develop that part of it.

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So I'm looking forward to doing that.

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So that's gonna be a lot of
fun to be able to do that.

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But let's get into why YouTube is so great
compared to the other types of platforms.

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So on Monday, I went through
the short-form content: TikTok,

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Instagram, especially videos,
Facebook, and YouTube Shorts.

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And then on Tuesday, I went through the
podcast platform, which obviously I'm

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very familiar with over the last 11 years.

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And then, of course, \ yesterday was
the big announcement of the 2,000th

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episode, what it gave me, all that
kind of stuff, the relationship

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with Pisces, who I work for now as
an ocean communications manager.

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And then today we're talking
about YouTube, and this is really

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special 'cause I've dove into each
and every part of the platform.

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Obviously, podcasting has been
the most, like, committed.

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But YouTube is getting there, and
I'll tell you there's a few reasons.

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So, like, the big thing is, is
like, look, it's search-driven.

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People can find me a lot easier than
they can in the podcasting world.

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It's not necessarily subscriber-driven.

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So all the algorithms that you
see, like it is in short form,

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like this is like search-driven.

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So somebody has a question, like,
why orcas attack great whites.

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A video that I have it pops up.

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And it depends on where
you are in the search.

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Obviously, AI, or AIO is gonna
change the way search happens in

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the future, if it's not already
changing now, probably already is.

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But, you know, you can look at questions
like, "Oh, is the megalodon alive?" And

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try to myth bust some of those questions.

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There's like high intent in there.

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People are searching for specific
questions, and you can answer

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those specific questions.

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And then, of course, you know,
just like podcasting, there's

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an evergreen potential, right?

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So if you have a playlist, people can
go down your playlist and look at all

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the different things that are going
on in the ocean, like, say, for me or

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whatever you're posting on And then
of course, the video adds that extra

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dimension, that audio alone can't do.

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And now of course, you
know, Spotify has video.

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Apple now brought back video.

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It stopped supporting for a
while, it brought back video.

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And now of course, YouTube is
always been a video platform.

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But it has that extra dimension
where you can have B-roll in it.

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People they don't have to picture
what you're about to do all the time.

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You can have that picture for
them, which I think there's a

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good and bad way of doing that.

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But you can have, like, underwater
footage, you can have B-roll.

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There's a lot of places.

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Like, one of the things that used
to limit me is I never liked to

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grab pictures off the internet that
I couldn't really source, right?

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And I couldn't really use because
of copyright infringement.

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But now there's a lot of B-roll
that I can take, and I can get my

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point across with that B-roll where
you subscribe to it, like you have

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a subscription, which I think is
really cool to be able to do that.

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So I can do underwater video, animal
behavior type videos, the visuals,

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like data, and, coral bleaching and
plastic accumulation, stuff like that.

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And also, to be honest, like, AI has
provided us a way to create specific

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visualizations, whether it is a picture.

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Some of those pictures obviously
look different, but it's also,

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some of those like graphs.

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Like, if you wanna do a graph where
you wanna put together some kind of

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animation that you can, you can do
that, using AI, which is, I think

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we're getting better and better at that.

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And you have to be careful
how you use AI, obviously.

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A lot of people don't like it, but
there's something that you can do

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to get your point across with which
helps in the storytelling aspect.

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Now people are probably wondering
like, "Andrew, like you're

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on podcasting which is great.

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Why are you doing this?

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Like why'd you launch Ocean Decoded?"
And to be honest all the reasons above,

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plus it's one of the only platform in
Canada that pays for you to post, which I

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think is important as a content creator.

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It's not gonna pay for all of my bills,
it's not gonna pay for everything, but it

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could maybe one day pay for all the stuff
that I put in, all the editing that goes

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in, like I have to pay editors to do that.

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All the apps that I pay for, like I've
invested quite a lot of money into that.

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So getting some money back, like
whether through Patreon or whether

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through the YouTube memberships or
super chats or anything like that or

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even just the regular monetization is
really important for me to be able to

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bring that more information to you and
gain revenue to pay off and at least

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break even, if not make a little money.

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There's nothing wrong with making a little
money with the effort that I'm putting in.

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I do love it so it's not really
a job for me but I do love it.

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So I think that's really important.

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And then, people are asking like, "Well
you had How to Protect the Ocean, why

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didn't you just keep posting to there?"

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And I probably could have.

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There's a couple reasons obviously
I've mentioned it earlier.

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Putting together an edited video
for five episodes is quite a bit.

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Putting together solo episodes and
interviews on the same channel I think

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messed up the algorithm a little bit
or messed up how, my metrics because

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people sometimes expect a shorter
episode, and then they get a longer

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episode with an interview, or vice versa.

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And so it's not always what
they want, and that's fine.

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I totally understand that.

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This is the way I want to
style and, create the podcast,

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and so that's what I do.

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And to be able to edit five
days, that's a lot of money.

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I wouldn't be able to keep
up with it, as I mentioned.

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I'd probably burn out, and then I
wouldn't keep up, and I wouldn't post.

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It does take a long time to edit
these videos, whether they're 15

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minutes, 10 minutes, or an hour.

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It's quite tedious for me anyway, and
for the way I like to live my life.

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But the thing is, is like I
wanted to create something.

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Like I had the podcast, and people can
listen to the audio podcast, but in,

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in Ocean Decoded, I wanted to create
something that was a little bit more

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00:10:02,186 --> 00:10:04,496
visual and a little bit more interactive.

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The benefit also with YouTube
is you get people to comment

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right underneath that video.

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So if there's something specific that
they come to that video, they can watch

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00:10:12,869 --> 00:10:14,249
it, and they can comment during it.

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It kinda gives you the timestamp
of what they're commenting on.

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But you can get that point,
which is really nice.

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You get like pretty much instant
feedback, and you can go back,

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and you can have a conversation
with the person who's watching.

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Whether it's good or
bad, it doesn't matter.

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I don't mind a little critique every once
in a while, but I feel like it's really

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important to have that connection, right?

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'Cause the whole point of the podcast
and the work that I do is to start a

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conversation so that you can continue,
we can continue having it either with

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each other or with the grand scheme of
this community that we're building here.

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So I think it's really cool.

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00:10:43,646 --> 00:10:45,096
And why did I choose live?

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00:10:45,126 --> 00:10:46,366
There's a couple reasons.

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00:10:46,576 --> 00:10:48,846
Like for Ocean Decoded Live,
which I started this week,

242
00:10:48,846 --> 00:10:50,246
hopefully I've started this week.

243
00:10:50,439 --> 00:10:53,779
I'm gonna do a show Monday to
Thursday at 4:00 PM Eastern.

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00:10:54,009 --> 00:10:56,699
The goal of that was one, I've
always wanted to do a live show.

245
00:10:57,159 --> 00:11:03,249
I'm a big fan of what Pat McAfee has done
for sports and YouTube and kinda creating

246
00:11:03,249 --> 00:11:05,139
your own thing, to make a big splash.

247
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Do I expect to get his numbers?

248
00:11:06,799 --> 00:11:07,559
Absolutely not.

249
00:11:07,579 --> 00:11:09,889
I'm not a football analyst,
although I love the sport.

250
00:11:10,109 --> 00:11:11,889
But I think what he's
done is pretty special.

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It's shown that you don't need to rely
on mainstream TV or cable networks or

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00:11:16,359 --> 00:11:19,449
anything like that to make a living,
and I think that's an important aspect.

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And he's done it very humbly
in my opinion, and I think

254
00:11:21,869 --> 00:11:22,839
he's done it very well.

255
00:11:23,076 --> 00:11:26,776
He's been very transparent in that way,
and I think, it's a good way to empower

256
00:11:26,776 --> 00:11:29,309
the creator to be able to control that.

257
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Even if there's layoffs or things like
that, he's got his own thing that

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people tune in each and every day.

259
00:11:34,212 --> 00:11:34,872
And that's great.

260
00:11:34,902 --> 00:11:38,009
I think that's something that you can
mold to, and I think the same thing

261
00:11:38,009 --> 00:11:41,119
with ocean conservation, is having
a live show talking about ocean news

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00:11:41,119 --> 00:11:44,509
and conservation that happens that
day or the day before, or like, the

263
00:11:44,509 --> 00:11:45,769
day after I can do the next show.

264
00:11:45,949 --> 00:11:50,332
It's able to keep that relationship with
the person, the audience member, and then

265
00:11:50,332 --> 00:11:54,902
they're able to comment live, and I can
have a conversation live with somebody,

266
00:11:54,999 --> 00:11:56,229
which I think is really interesting.

267
00:11:56,229 --> 00:11:57,432
So that's one of the things.

268
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The other thing is with AI.

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At one point this year, for a
while, I got a teleprompter.

270
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I actually got a teleprompter
from my old work.

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It was a nice gift, so I want to use it.

272
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So I started to create scripts, which
I've never done before for the podcast.

273
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And I started using those scripts.

274
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What's interesting is I
used AI to do the script.

275
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And I don't know if you've noticed, but
you can really tell when somebody uses

276
00:12:17,649 --> 00:12:22,039
AI for their script, and I think I got
tired of it before my audience got tired

277
00:12:22,039 --> 00:12:25,102
of it, or before they started telling
me that they were getting tired of it.

278
00:12:25,279 --> 00:12:27,179
And so I have switched
back, like in this method.

279
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So it's a little bit…

280
00:12:28,286 --> 00:12:32,509
Now the episodes are not as structured,
but they're a little bit more of my

281
00:12:32,509 --> 00:12:34,429
thoughts, definitely about my thoughts.

282
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And they're not scripted.

283
00:12:35,732 --> 00:12:37,916
Maybe I've got some bullet points
and stuff like that, but for the

284
00:12:37,916 --> 00:12:39,086
most part, they're not scripted.

285
00:12:39,206 --> 00:12:40,546
and so it's a little bit different.

286
00:12:40,846 --> 00:12:44,612
Like in the age of AI, it's really
nice to have that authenticity.

287
00:12:44,992 --> 00:12:48,262
And so if I wanted to create
that authenticity, I've always

288
00:12:48,262 --> 00:12:49,382
wanted to do a live show.

289
00:12:49,589 --> 00:12:53,479
I'm able to do this live show and
create that authenticity 'cause it's me.

290
00:12:53,509 --> 00:12:55,279
It's me just going off the handle.

291
00:12:55,279 --> 00:12:56,189
I'll have bullet points.

292
00:12:56,669 --> 00:13:00,369
I can still use AI to process
stuff, generate images or search

293
00:13:00,379 --> 00:13:03,669
for specific articles that I
wanna do and do deeper dives.

294
00:13:03,669 --> 00:13:05,586
But for the most part, it's me.

295
00:13:05,816 --> 00:13:09,556
It's me and the audience, and I
can have that me and the viewer

296
00:13:09,556 --> 00:13:12,426
relationship, and I think that's
really cool to be able to do.

297
00:13:12,456 --> 00:13:16,002
Plus, it allows me to keep updated
on what's happening in oceans even

298
00:13:16,002 --> 00:13:17,322
more and cover some different things.

299
00:13:17,322 --> 00:13:21,222
'Cause like with the podcast, with the
themes, it's harder to cover ocean news.

300
00:13:21,232 --> 00:13:24,672
So if you want updated ocean news, go
to Ocean Decoded and hit that button,

301
00:13:24,762 --> 00:13:27,872
hit that subscribe button, and so
you don't miss any of those episodes.

302
00:13:27,986 --> 00:13:29,386
But I think that'll be a lot of fun.

303
00:13:29,386 --> 00:13:32,276
I'll do Monday to Thursday, maybe
Monday to Friday, depending on the day.

304
00:13:32,426 --> 00:13:37,046
Fridays are usually, you know, my relaxing
time, so finishing up work and relaxing

305
00:13:37,046 --> 00:13:40,296
with the family on the weekends or just,
the wife and I and, enjoy that time.

306
00:13:40,356 --> 00:13:44,099
So, yeah, so I think, like bringing
that together, which again, which

307
00:13:44,099 --> 00:13:46,879
is nice about with YouTube,
it's the flexibility of that.

308
00:13:46,979 --> 00:13:50,499
It's the watch hours of that, talking
about different stories for, say, an

309
00:13:50,499 --> 00:13:52,649
hour day, I think is really important.

310
00:13:52,799 --> 00:13:55,399
So the live stream format is
kind of a fun thing to do, and

311
00:13:55,399 --> 00:13:56,919
that's why I decided to go live.

312
00:13:57,136 --> 00:14:00,116
You know, and the eventual possibilities
maybe expand to Twitch or other

313
00:14:00,116 --> 00:14:02,936
live streaming platforms at the
same time or a different time.

314
00:14:03,006 --> 00:14:03,606
We'll see.

315
00:14:03,656 --> 00:14:04,276
It really depends.

316
00:14:04,276 --> 00:14:07,096
But simulcasting seems to be
a lot of fun to be able to do.

317
00:14:07,126 --> 00:14:09,816
But I wanna make sure that I get
it right on YouTube first because

318
00:14:09,816 --> 00:14:11,146
that's where a lot of my audience is.

319
00:14:11,146 --> 00:14:12,556
I don't have an audience on Twitch.

320
00:14:12,566 --> 00:14:14,196
So that'll be kind of
fun to be able to do.

321
00:14:14,459 --> 00:14:17,972
YouTube Live is really like
a sub-format of what we do.

322
00:14:18,232 --> 00:14:21,242
You know, you get a real-time
audience relationship and the chat,

323
00:14:21,272 --> 00:14:23,102
which is great, immediate reaction.

324
00:14:23,299 --> 00:14:26,459
Everybody knows it'll be
on the same time every day.

325
00:14:26,689 --> 00:14:27,629
That'll be nice.

326
00:14:27,842 --> 00:14:29,762
It builds a habit, which is great.

327
00:14:30,012 --> 00:14:33,302
There are other people on YouTube
that are doing some amazing things

328
00:14:33,382 --> 00:14:35,252
within the conservation world.

329
00:14:35,522 --> 00:14:38,632
So, somebody that I've covered,
Kristian Parton, who I've covered

330
00:14:38,659 --> 00:14:40,339
on the Beyond Jaws with David Ebert.

331
00:14:40,389 --> 00:14:42,019
We covered his Shark Bytes channel.

332
00:14:42,266 --> 00:14:46,039
Shark Bytes is a shark-related YouTube
channel where he kinda looks a lot of,

333
00:14:46,039 --> 00:14:49,276
like, the science, but also, like, the
pop culture around sharks and how to

334
00:14:49,276 --> 00:14:52,106
behave around sharks, and he looked
at, like, shark bites for a while.

335
00:14:52,289 --> 00:14:54,499
So those have been pretty interesting,
and it's a very successful

336
00:14:54,499 --> 00:14:57,092
channel, over 180,000 subscribers.

337
00:14:57,402 --> 00:14:58,952
And then of course, there's KPassionate.

338
00:14:58,982 --> 00:15:01,982
So KP is a marine mammalogist, I believe.

339
00:15:02,146 --> 00:15:05,236
And she's got a lot of experience
in field and as well as a

340
00:15:05,236 --> 00:15:08,266
captive or zoological experience.

341
00:15:08,459 --> 00:15:10,439
And she talks a lot about marine mammals.

342
00:15:10,439 --> 00:15:12,969
She'll talk a lot about some
of the pop culture and some of

343
00:15:12,999 --> 00:15:15,159
the marine conservation and news
that's have been happening, and I

344
00:15:15,169 --> 00:15:16,179
think that's kind of interesting.

345
00:15:16,179 --> 00:15:17,889
She's also done Twitch before.

346
00:15:17,889 --> 00:15:20,592
She started off on Twitch,
moved to YouTube, so I think

347
00:15:20,602 --> 00:15:21,622
that's really interesting.

348
00:15:21,816 --> 00:15:25,942
We're seeing a lot of creators that are
in the science and conservation world,

349
00:15:26,022 --> 00:15:29,072
especially ocean science and conservation
world, start to come over to YouTube.

350
00:15:29,256 --> 00:15:31,926
I don't know why exactly for
them, but I know Kristian Parton

351
00:15:32,056 --> 00:15:33,116
said, " Hey, you know what?

352
00:15:33,116 --> 00:15:36,166
Like, I could actually, you
know, pay my bills through this,"

353
00:15:36,196 --> 00:15:37,526
which I think is phenomenal.

354
00:15:37,536 --> 00:15:40,206
That's fantastic for him ' cause
he had trouble finding a job in

355
00:15:40,206 --> 00:15:41,886
science, and we all know it's trouble.

356
00:15:41,886 --> 00:15:44,106
It's hard, so you have to do
it other ways and be able to

357
00:15:44,116 --> 00:15:45,476
live the life that you want.

358
00:15:45,486 --> 00:15:46,456
I think it's really important.

359
00:15:46,732 --> 00:15:52,129
But I think the lives too are a lot less
polished, which I think fits my role.

360
00:15:52,389 --> 00:15:54,359
So I don't have to worry
about editing too much.

361
00:15:54,509 --> 00:15:57,576
I am, like, creating
assets that I could use.

362
00:15:57,606 --> 00:16:01,736
I have a software called Ecamm, which
is a live streaming software, which I

363
00:16:01,766 --> 00:16:05,296
can control different scenes, and I can
pretty it up a little bit, to make it a

364
00:16:05,296 --> 00:16:07,306
little bit easier when it comes into post.

365
00:16:07,486 --> 00:16:09,106
So I think that's a lot of fun too.

366
00:16:09,352 --> 00:16:12,362
And there's a little bit of flexibility
within that, so I think that's kinda cool.

367
00:16:12,482 --> 00:16:15,332
So, like, there's a lot of
things that YouTube allows.

368
00:16:15,372 --> 00:16:19,192
They prefer people to have shows
on YouTube and stay on YouTube,

369
00:16:19,192 --> 00:16:21,952
just like every other platform,
which I think is really cool.

370
00:16:22,132 --> 00:16:24,572
Their monetization structure
is really interesting.

371
00:16:24,572 --> 00:16:28,182
There's a two-tier YouTube
Partner Program as of 2026.

372
00:16:28,182 --> 00:16:33,796
So the funding tier, which is if you
get 500 subscribers, 3,000 watch hours,

373
00:16:33,932 --> 00:16:36,752
or 3 million Short views in 90 days.

374
00:16:36,782 --> 00:16:38,132
That's almost impossible to get.

375
00:16:38,132 --> 00:16:40,422
I don't produce enough Shorts
and I guess that good of

376
00:16:40,422 --> 00:16:41,762
Shorts to be able to get that.

377
00:16:41,896 --> 00:16:44,146
I got to 3,000 hour watch,
so I'm on that tier.

378
00:16:44,272 --> 00:16:48,322
It unlocks channel memberships, Super
Chats, Super Thanks, and YouTube

379
00:16:48,572 --> 00:16:50,409
shopping, but not ad revenue.

380
00:16:50,409 --> 00:16:53,439
So that's the difference between
the first tier and the second tier.

381
00:16:53,622 --> 00:16:58,552
Now, full monetization, which includes
the ad revenue is at 1,000 subscribers,

382
00:16:58,552 --> 00:17:03,536
which I have, 4,000 watch hours, which I
haven't had within the last 12 months or

383
00:17:03,896 --> 00:17:05,846
10 million short views within ninety days.

384
00:17:06,043 --> 00:17:07,353
That unlocks the ad revenue.

385
00:17:07,353 --> 00:17:09,473
And that's where I think
you get most of the money.

386
00:17:09,690 --> 00:17:12,650
The first membership seems
more like a Patreon-type model.

387
00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:17,370
The revenue split is 55%
creator to 45% YouTube.

388
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,910
And Super Chats, Super Stickers,
and channel memberships carry a

389
00:17:20,910 --> 00:17:25,340
better split of the creators get,
like, 70% where YouTube takes 30%.

390
00:17:25,550 --> 00:17:28,560
Since it's a direct fan funding rather
than an ad base, so that's great.

391
00:17:28,570 --> 00:17:30,710
Now, on Patreon, I believe
it's less than that.

392
00:17:30,710 --> 00:17:34,063
I think the Patreon actually
takes 12% instead of 30%.

393
00:17:34,073 --> 00:17:36,033
So obviously there's different
ways of going about it.

394
00:17:36,033 --> 00:17:39,503
But it really goes to where people have
accounts, where people are comfortable

395
00:17:39,513 --> 00:17:42,443
with spending, and you almost have to
be everywhere for that kind of stuff.

396
00:17:42,626 --> 00:17:45,836
A Super Chat during a live stream
lets viewers pay to highlight and

397
00:17:45,836 --> 00:17:47,236
pin their messages in the chat.

398
00:17:47,236 --> 00:17:50,926
That's a big piece of live-specific
monetization that podcasts and

399
00:17:50,926 --> 00:17:53,956
short-forms don't really have the
equivalent for, which is true.

400
00:17:54,126 --> 00:17:57,706
And sponsorships and brand deals,
layer on like, on top of that tier.

401
00:17:57,943 --> 00:18:02,183
Both Shark Bytes and Cubastinate run
sponsor integrations in their videos

402
00:18:02,223 --> 00:18:04,073
itself, so it's baked into their videos.

403
00:18:04,083 --> 00:18:06,756
Now, they do it as a host read
ad, but they've done a pretty

404
00:18:06,756 --> 00:18:08,236
good job at doing that as well.

405
00:18:08,470 --> 00:18:12,150
So now when you, like, you compare it to,
like, the short-form RPM from Monday's

406
00:18:12,150 --> 00:18:16,030
episode, YouTube long-form and live
monetization tends to pay meaningfully

407
00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:20,653
better per view than TikTok, Reels,
or Shorts, but requires more upfront

408
00:18:20,653 --> 00:18:22,533
production and slower runway to qualify.

409
00:18:22,533 --> 00:18:25,173
So it's, you know, you need
those 4,000 hours or 3,000 hours,

410
00:18:25,173 --> 00:18:27,573
depending on what membership you
want or what they can give you.

411
00:18:27,736 --> 00:18:28,676
So that takes a long time.

412
00:18:28,686 --> 00:18:32,116
Like, it took me about a year and a
half or two years of consistent posting

413
00:18:32,221 --> 00:18:33,891
to be able to get to close to that.

414
00:18:33,941 --> 00:18:35,401
I was 500 hours off.

415
00:18:35,581 --> 00:18:40,181
I stopped for whatever reason, and then
it kinda dropped and now I think I'm

416
00:18:40,191 --> 00:18:44,616
just between, like, 3,000 and 3,500,
hence why I'm gonna start up again.

417
00:18:44,780 --> 00:18:45,770
Also 'cause of the show.

418
00:18:45,770 --> 00:18:46,950
I really do like the show.

419
00:18:47,130 --> 00:18:51,340
So I think it's important, and so I think
it's kinda cool to see the monetization

420
00:18:51,350 --> 00:18:55,630
for creators on YouTube, and it seems like
it's well laid out, it's well-established.

421
00:18:55,843 --> 00:18:59,193
Certain YouTubers have trouble with
the monetization because you have to be

422
00:18:59,193 --> 00:19:00,713
careful of what you say and how you act.

423
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,230
But for the most part, people
do pretty well on there.

424
00:19:03,230 --> 00:19:05,390
But it's never really… Like, I've
talked to a lot of creators, and

425
00:19:05,390 --> 00:19:08,500
it's never their full-time money,
like just the YouTube ad revenue or

426
00:19:08,500 --> 00:19:09,940
the memberships or the super chats.

427
00:19:10,133 --> 00:19:13,283
It's actually just a part of it,
and usually, like, a small part

428
00:19:13,283 --> 00:19:16,673
of it 'cause brand deals tend
to be bigger for some creators.

429
00:19:16,683 --> 00:19:19,813
Now, like I said, Kristian Parton
in the Beyond Jaws episode that

430
00:19:19,823 --> 00:19:22,613
he was on explained that it
helps pay the bills for him.

431
00:19:22,786 --> 00:19:23,926
And so that's really great for him.

432
00:19:23,926 --> 00:19:27,296
I think that's a really cool model
to follow to be able to do that

433
00:19:27,296 --> 00:19:28,226
so I think that's really cool.

434
00:19:28,226 --> 00:19:30,746
Now, the big thing is, like, the
reason why I'm talking about all of

435
00:19:30,746 --> 00:19:33,106
these things that have happened today,
obviously tomorrow we're gonna be

436
00:19:33,106 --> 00:19:36,816
talking to Amy Weldon, who has her
own YouTube channel and a podcast, and

437
00:19:36,826 --> 00:19:41,386
she's releasing her second season of
her podcast, Blue Collar White Coats.

438
00:19:41,616 --> 00:19:43,216
And we're gonna be talking
to her tomorrow about that.

439
00:19:43,216 --> 00:19:45,366
But I think, this has all been
about science communication and

440
00:19:45,366 --> 00:19:48,233
ways that I've experienced and
experimented with different

441
00:19:48,233 --> 00:19:49,623
formats and what's worked for me.

442
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:53,220
The biggest thing that I would
say right off the bat is to pick

443
00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,296
one and just drive it home.

444
00:19:55,536 --> 00:19:59,506
The hardest part is in remaining
consistent, and what you need to

445
00:19:59,516 --> 00:20:03,416
do to remain consistent is you
need to establish a workflow.

446
00:20:03,746 --> 00:20:06,523
You need to have a checklist of some sort.

447
00:20:06,746 --> 00:20:08,046
You need to get used to it.

448
00:20:08,046 --> 00:20:09,276
You need to be comfortable on camera.

449
00:20:09,326 --> 00:20:12,736
There's a lot of things that you have
to do to make it worth your while

450
00:20:12,736 --> 00:20:14,476
and to make it part of your life.

451
00:20:14,526 --> 00:20:15,696
And that's not an easy thing.

452
00:20:16,084 --> 00:20:19,890
You've heard in- on Monday, I talked
about how hard it was, and it s-

453
00:20:19,890 --> 00:20:23,627
continues to be, how hard it is for me
to actually, explain something within

454
00:20:23,627 --> 00:20:25,017
three minutes, for the most part.

455
00:20:25,187 --> 00:20:26,307
That's a hard thing for me to do.

456
00:20:26,307 --> 00:20:27,287
It's not easy.

457
00:20:27,297 --> 00:20:30,937
And so, you know, you wonder
how to do things, like how to…

458
00:20:31,084 --> 00:20:32,554
You know, I'm used to doing podcasting.

459
00:20:32,554 --> 00:20:36,730
I'm already at like, you know, almost,
25 minutes, for this episode, and I'm

460
00:20:36,730 --> 00:20:40,897
like, "Oh, okay. How am I supposed to
explain this in three minutes?" But again,

461
00:20:40,897 --> 00:20:44,564
it's you pick one idea, you follow it
up and, you try and do as what you can.

462
00:20:44,584 --> 00:20:46,114
But you gotta put it in your workflow.

463
00:20:46,154 --> 00:20:48,054
You gotta make sure that
you put it in your day.

464
00:20:48,214 --> 00:20:50,644
Even with Ocean Decoded Live, I
wanted to go live with it a couple

465
00:20:50,644 --> 00:20:53,957
weeks ago, and as I was trying
to do it, I wasn't prepared.

466
00:20:53,957 --> 00:20:57,257
So I have to prepare myself to get
ready live because you're live.

467
00:20:57,287 --> 00:20:59,957
There's no room for editing, there's
no room for anything like that.

468
00:21:00,174 --> 00:21:02,064
You're live, so if you
mess up, you mess up.

469
00:21:02,084 --> 00:21:03,684
If you take your time, you take your time.

470
00:21:03,977 --> 00:21:06,617
It's a very different experience, and
it's a fun experience that I'm looking

471
00:21:06,617 --> 00:21:09,954
forward to challenging myself, but to
do all those, it's a difficult thing.

472
00:21:09,954 --> 00:21:11,434
It's almost like a full-time job.

473
00:21:11,574 --> 00:21:13,084
Not quite, but it's almost
like a full-time job.

474
00:21:13,084 --> 00:21:16,977
But if you get it down, then you're like,
"Okay, now I know what I need to do,

475
00:21:17,007 --> 00:21:21,697
and I can do it." So I think that's an
important aspect to how we go about doing

476
00:21:21,717 --> 00:21:23,387
social media and science communication.

477
00:21:23,397 --> 00:21:24,987
It really comes down to the workflow.

478
00:21:25,144 --> 00:21:28,494
Which is, by the way, what I'm
gonna be talking about at IMCC8,

479
00:21:28,524 --> 00:21:31,720
International Marine Conservation
Congress, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

480
00:21:31,967 --> 00:21:36,847
It's November 13th to the 17th, I
believe, and it's gonna be a lot of fun.

481
00:21:36,977 --> 00:21:37,927
I highly recommend you go there.

482
00:21:37,927 --> 00:21:40,884
I'm not getting sponsored to promote
this, but it's something that I

483
00:21:40,884 --> 00:21:44,564
feel like is, a great way to have a
conversation with me on the workflow,

484
00:21:44,644 --> 00:21:46,814
because I know a lot of you wanna do
science communication but you can't find

485
00:21:46,824 --> 00:21:48,254
the time, and I completely understand.

486
00:21:48,460 --> 00:21:51,557
But if you're ever looking to have
a chat, we can do that live right in

487
00:21:51,557 --> 00:21:53,147
Edinburgh, Scotland, on those days.

488
00:21:53,177 --> 00:21:55,477
I'd love to sit down and chat with you
to see how we can make that happen.

489
00:21:55,487 --> 00:21:57,547
But that's it for today's episode.

490
00:21:57,547 --> 00:22:01,007
If you have any questions about YouTube,
live streaming, anything like that, I'd

491
00:22:01,007 --> 00:22:02,447
be happy to have a conversation with you.

492
00:22:02,657 --> 00:22:03,917
Just hit me up on my socials.

493
00:22:03,917 --> 00:22:06,240
You can look in the show notes
and also check me out on Ocean

494
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,210
Decoded Live, Mondays to Thursdays.

495
00:22:08,260 --> 00:22:10,890
Maybe even Fridays, but we'll do
Monday to Thursdays for now, at 4:00

496
00:22:10,900 --> 00:22:13,280
PM Eastern, and see what I'm up to.

497
00:22:13,457 --> 00:22:16,157
But I wanna thank you so much for
joining me on today's episode of the

498
00:22:16,157 --> 00:22:17,507
How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

499
00:22:17,714 --> 00:22:18,484
Have a great day.

500
00:22:18,484 --> 00:22:20,714
We'll talk to you next time,
and happy conservation.