Do I lose money?! - How to stay Motivated - Q&A #2
Do I lose money?! - How to stay Motivated - Q&A #2
2016-12-15
I announced on Twitter a couple days ago that
I was going to do a Q&A video for passing
600,000 subscribers.
So here we are.
Let’s get started.
[Intro]
The question I usually get the most - every
single day actually- is what do I do with
the destroyed phones that I have.
And actually I keep every single one of them.
When I’m done with the durability test,
I can also do a teardown video from that same
phone.
And as the year goes on, sometimes people
have questions on how to repair certain things
specifically.
Like with the iPhones; I’ve already done
my durability tests and the teardown but there
are a couple things specifically, outside
of a normal teardown, that can still be repaired…like
the glass lens on the iPhone 7.
So I’m going to make a couple videos on
that and that just, you know, goes for all
the phones as well.
I can keep on using them throughout the year.
It’s not a onetime use thing.
And they definitely never get thrown away.
Do you ever feel guilty when you destroy phones?
Absolutely not.
Another question that I get a lot is what
lenses do you use?
I always link everything that I use in the
video, whether it’s replacement parts or
camera equipment, down in the video description.
This particular video I’m shooting with
a new camera, a Sony camera, that I’ll also
be linking down in the video description.
So let me know what you think of the video
quality.
Do you need to have the latest devices in
starting a tech channel?
And the answer to that question is absolutely
not.
The biggest hurdle when starting a YouTube
channel or any business is the actually starting
part.
Everyone’s like ‘oh when I have this I
can start.
Or when I have this I can start.’
You should just start and learn the process
and gradually upgrade to more and more expensive
devices as the business or the YouTube channel
is paying for itself.
You’ll learn so much by working with what
you have available that when that nice stuff
does finally come, you’ll be phenomenal
at it.
So the answer to your question, no you do
not need the latest and greatest to start
a YouTube channel.
How is the mouse-proofing going on and did
you get any sponsors from Smartphone brands
yet?
I actually haven’t been up to the cabin
since we made that video.
I hear from my family that the mice are staying
out…but that was through the fall.
Now that it’s winter and there’s a lot
of snow up there, it could be a different
story.
I plan on heading up there next month.
If you guys want a follow up video just let
me know down in the comments and I’ll make
sure to film that when I go check it out.
As far as Smartphone brand go there’s only
one company that’s ever sent me a cell phone,
the Umi Super Phone, and that phone didn’t
even do super awesome on my tests.
So no, I am not sponsored and no one has sponsored
a cell phone teardown or durability test yet
besides that one free phone I got from Umi.
How did you have the idea to start your YouTube
channel and why did you start?
I talk a little bit about this in my last
Q&A video that I did a couple months ago and
actually, you know, to summarize I would be
doing these projects that you see me doing
on my YouTube channel, whether I had a YouTube
channel or not.
So filming it was just another easy step.
I realized when I started watching cell phone
repair videos back when I first started to
learn how to do it that the videos were like
30 minutes long and I didn’t have time to
watch that stuff.
So I was like, why don’t I just make these
videos shorter…short and sweet.
And it turns out that people on the internet
actually like short concise little videos,
and now I’m the largest cell phone repair
YouTube channel in the world so that’s kind
of fun.
To summarize, I started because I was already
doing the projects anyway and I wanted to
help other people out with the tutorials.
Are you a fulltime YouTuber or do you have
a regular job?
The last time I had a regular job was about
2 and a half years ago, and ever since then
YouTube has been my main thing.
How do you see the future of cell phone repair
with more and more non modular components
in newer devices?
Well phones have been getting a lot harder
to repair, but the repair industry is not
going anywhere.
People will always want to repair their devices
whether it’s hard to repair them or not.
In my own experience with my YouTube channel,
I have a much larger audience of people who
are just curious about what’s inside their
phone instead of people who are curious about
actually fixing their phone themselves.
People like watching seeing it done, but they
don’t necessarily want to do it or attempt
it.
So either way it’s good for my YouTube channel.
The content is here to stay because there
are viewers wanting to see it.
But as far as the actual repair industry,
people are always going to be breaking their
phones.
Whether they fix it themselves or they turn
to a professional, that’s where these newer
phones come into play…like the sealed shut
Galaxy S7 or the iPhone 7, it’s actually
a lot harder to repair than the previous models.
So to answer your question, the cell phone
industry is here to stay, but I feel like
it’s transitioning more from the average
do-it-yourselfer to a professional who has
done it a couple times before.
But also keep in mind that the super high
end phones that are hard to repair, like the
Galaxy S7, don’t make up the entire market.
There are easy phones like the L-noxv or the
LGv20 that are easy to repair and those are
always going to be here as well.
Will you be doing anymore big project videos
like the Cabin video?
And yes, I will.
I haven’t told anybody this, but I’m working
on getting a wrecked Tesla that I can take
apart component by component and we can do
an entire teardown of the car.
I have some plans for that internal battery…but
we’ll see if that actually happens.
Do you earn enough money to cover the cost
of the phones you buy for testing?
The answer is yes and no.
For that initial one durability test, no,
the phone does not pay for itself usually.
But when I use the phone for the teardown
and other projects that I have on my channel
with the phones, like camera comparison tests,
yes, the phones do end up paying for themselves
over time.
But it is a lot of work to get to that point
where the projects do start paying for themselves.
It doesn’t happen right away.
Alright, so I know this is a Q&A, but I’m
using this brand-new camera, the Sony RX-100
which I think is the 4th version, and has
died on me 4 times.
It has overheated because of shooting in 4K
and it can only do it in 5 minute segments…but
if I do segments right after each other as
I’m filming this video, it will say the
temperature’s too high and it stops.
So I will not be keeping this camera.
This is my review of the Sony RX-100 and it
is going back where I got it.
So I dropped it down to 1080p and now we can
finish the Q&A.
How many hours do you put in a week to your
YouTube channel, networking etc?
Well, like I mentioned before, I would be
doing all of these projects on my own whether
I was filming them or not.
So YouTube doesn’t really seem like a job
to me.
It’s just doing what I like doing and filming
it for everybody else.
So I mean it’s not that big of a deal.
If I was to keep track of all the hours that
I put into my YouTube channel it would be
way more than 40…it would be more than 80.
I’m literally working almost all of the
time whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook,
social media…all of those things are considered,
you know, part of this job.
But it doesn’t feel like work to me because
I enjoy it; and that’s nice.
And it’s also really nice that I can take
time off and away from YouTube and everything
when I want to.
But in order to become successful it requires
a lot of work.
How do you stay up to date with all that is
going on in the tech world?
So that is actually a really good question
because the tech is always improving and there’s
always companies coming out with new stuff.
The main places that I get my tech information
from are just, you know, sites on the internet…surprise.
I do a lot with Twitter.
I follow other tech YouTubers, you know, if
I see a fun project that someone else is doing…I’ll,
you know, do a tear down of that particular
piece of tech.
And then I also use Reddit a lot as well.
Reddit is the front page of the internet and
there is a lot of information cycling through
that’s always relevant.
What would have been your title if you were
not into YouTube?
I would still be doing all these projects
that you see me doing here on my channel,
but I would also have to have a “real”
job or a normal job and it would probably
be something in the construction industry.
I always really enjoyed residential construction,
whether it was framing houses or drywall painting.
So that’s probably what I would end up doing.
But I also enjoy being my own boss, so I would
own my own company in that industry.
What keeps you motivated?
This is actually a really really good question
cuz motivation is one of those things that
it’s not always there.
You got to work for it every day.
And I think that, you know, the reason that
I stay motivated is because my mind works
in consequences.
I think in consequences.
Like if I wake up and I eat junk food and
I watch Netflix all day long, next week or
next month I’m not going to have a business
and I’m going to be pretty darn unhealthy.
That’s the consequence.
You know, cause and effect.
But if I wake up today and I work hard, I
go to the gym, and I grow my business… tomorrow…
in a couple weeks, or in a couple months from
now, I’m going to have success when it comes
to the business and I’m going to be healthy.
So I’m thinking of the future and that’s
what keeps me motivated.
Success is literally the only option if you
stay productive.
What you do today literally defines how your
tomorrow is going to turn out.
Any YouTubers who I would like to collaborate
with?
I’ve actually been doing a lot with the
What’s Inside YouTube channel lately and
that’s been really fun.
A couple other YouTubers I would like to collaborate
with is probably the King of Random and Cody’s
Lab.
Both of those guys do some really fun projects
and I think that it would be fun to do those
projects with them.
Have you ever been offered money to take it
easy on a Smartphone test?
And the answer is no, never.
I’ve only been given one phone for free
and that was the Umi Super Phone.
I did have one cell phone manufacturing company
in China reach out to me, it’s actually
a pretty big company, they reached out to
me and asked me if I would review some of
their cell phones.
I’m not going to tell you who it is, and
so I responded back and I was like, ‘hey
do you know who I am and what I do with cell
phones?’
And then I never heard from them again.
So they backed out of that.
Thanks a ton for watching this Q&A.
If you have any more questions hit me up on
Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or down in
the comments below this video and I’ll try
to answer as many as possible.
I do try to stay pretty active in the comments
section.
So thanks for watching and I’ll see you
around.
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