Breaking up with Vercel

Summary

In this video, the creator discusses the end of a sponsorship with Versell, reflecting on the challenges of balancing transparency with monetization. Despite initial success, the creator found that being upfront about sponsorships led to a loss of trust and financial strain. Moving forward, the channel will introduce ad spots and end exclusivity deals, allowing for a more diverse range of content and sponsors. The creator remains committed to transparency and will continue to disclose financial relationships with brands.

Takeaways

• 📅 The channel has experienced significant growth since its start in April 2022, with the creator moving from solo operation to a team of four and gaining millions of viewers monthly.
• 💸 Financially, the creator initially struggled to find profitable ways to run the channel while maintaining honesty and transparency with the audience.
• 🤝 The creator's approach to sponsorship was to only work with brands and products they genuinely used and believed in, which sometimes led to financial losses.
• 🔄 Despite the creator's transparency about sponsorships, it resulted in more criticism and skepticism from the audience than expected.
• 📉 The creator decided to end a sponsorship with Versell due to the negative impact on the channel, community, and the brand itself.
• 🎬 Going forward, the channel will introduce ad spots to compensate for the lost revenue from sponsorships, a move the creator was initially reluctant to make.
• 🚫 The creator will no longer engage in exclusivity deals with brands, allowing for more flexibility in discussing and using various tools and products.
• 📝 The creator will continue to maintain transparency about financial relationships with brands, even if it means disclosing less favorable aspects.
• 🔗 The creator acknowledges that their approach to sponsorships may have been a mistake, as it has affected trust with the audience and the brands they work with.
• 🌟 The creator remains committed to producing quality content and supporting their team, even if it means adopting more traditional methods of monetization.

Q & A

Why did the creator decide to end the sponsorship with Vercel?

The creator felt that the sponsorship model was not working financially and was causing more ill will than resolving trust issues with the audience. Despite being transparent about sponsorships, it seemed to lead to a loss of trust rather than building it.

How did the creator's approach to sponsorships differ from others in the industry?

The creator was upfront about sponsorships, ensuring that every sponsor was a brand and product they genuinely used and believed in. They aimed for transparency by disclosing financial relationships, which is not common practice among many creators.

What changes is the creator making to their content strategy moving forward?

The creator is introducing ad spots in videos and is no longer taking exclusivity deals with brands. They will also include more traditional ad reads and will not be restricted to only featuring sponsored brands in their content.

How has the creator's honesty about sponsorships affected their relationship with the audience?

The creator's honesty about sponsorships has been a double-edged sword. While it has built trust with some viewers, it has also led to criticism and a perception that the creator is overly influenced by sponsors, even though they were more transparent than most.

What was the creator's initial goal with the sponsorship program?

The initial goal was to have a set of brands that the creator knew and trusted as sponsors, allowing them to be more honest with the audience and build trust. The creator wanted to avoid recommending tools they didn't trust.

How did the creator's approach to sponsorships impact the companies they worked with?

The approach led to a misconception that Vercel had numerous sponsorships and was overexposed, which may have hurt the company's reputation. The change in sponsorship strategy resulted in Vercel going from having one influencer to zero.

What was the creator's experience with video ads in the past?

The creator had a negative experience with video ads, having quickly asked to end one or two small video ad deals after finding the products not to be great after giving them more honest looks.

What is the creator's stance on disclosing financial relationships with brands?

The creator is committed to transparency and will continue to disclose any financial relationships with brands, whether they are current sponsors or investments.

How does the creator plan to manage the loss of sponsorship revenue?

The creator plans to manage the loss of sponsorship revenue by introducing ad spots and being open to working with a variety of brands, not just those they have had previous relationships with.

What is the status of the creator's last sponsored video with Vercel?

The last sponsored video with Vercel is a collaboration video where they will build the same app in five different stacks, comparing Vercel with one of its competitors. After this video, there will be no more Vercel-sponsored content on the channel.