Considering Floatplane as a creator for a new channel

[Sarra]

I am considering a Let's Play, tutorial, messing about, and general information channel for a game I enjoy playing, and YouTube is more and more unappealing, as a creator. So, I'm thinking about floatplane, but I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to make a new channel there, with 0 existing subs/viewers. Do I need to start a YouTube channel, get a subscriber/viewer base, then move over to Floatplane, or can I start from scratch over on Floatplane and gain a viewerbase that way?

[Spotty]

Since floatplane requires a subscription to view a creators content and there's no algorithm to recommend content to users there's no discoverability for a creator without an existing viewer base. It's extremely unlikely that somebody would pay to subscribe to a creator they're unfamiliar with that they can't even preview content for before subscribing. You'll need to build an audience elsewhere first.

Also floatplane is still invite only for creators.

[Sarra]

1 minute ago, Spotty said:

Since floatplane requires a subscription to view a creators content and there's no algorithm to recommend content to users there's no discoverability for a creator without an existing viewer base. It's extremely unlikely that somebody would pay to subscribe to a creator they're unfamiliar with that they can't even preview content for before subscribing. You'll need to build an audience elsewhere first.

Also floatplane is still invite only for creators.

Makes sense. Maybe a YouTube channel for feeding perspective viewers over to Floatplane? I think I will start a basic YouTube channel, and the tutorials, base content review, and such will be on YouTube and eventually Floatplane, but other content, like messing around, modding, and more advanced tutorials would be fore Floatplane subscribers only.

 

Guess it's time to get some 10TB drives coming, then. Thanks, glad I didn't bug their support/onboarding staff with this, though it would be neat to see a Floatplane section here on the forum for questions like this (I did look at their FAQ, it's just for subscribers, not creators yet).

[LinusTech]

YouTube is the place to be for you to try to get discovered.

[TetraSky]

9 hours ago, Sarra said:

or can I start from scratch over on Floatplane and gain a viewerbase that way?

Which viewer will you attract on Floatplane? When to even watch your content, floatplane users have to subscribe to your channel. 
I ain't subscribing and paying someone without knowing if I care enough about their content.
Start on Youtube or Twitch. Then redirect your viewers once you have a sizeable viewerbase to Floatplane.

[Sarra]

2 hours ago, LinusTech said:

YouTube is the place to be for you to try to get discovered.

That's pretty much what I've gathered. I'll focus on quality, content, and build a touch of brand, then move over to Floatplane later on.

 

1 hour ago, TetraSky said:

Start on Youtube or Twitch.

As much as I dislike YouTube, I think I like Twitch even less. o.x

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 hour ago, Sarra said:

That's pretty much what I've gathered. I'll focus on quality, content, and build a touch of brand, then move over to Floatplane later on.

That's how the creators later on got onboarded such as Garbage Time. Build a YouTube following, try streaming on Twitch, get screwed by Twitch, move to Floatplane. 

[LogicalDrm]

2 hours ago, Sarra said:

As much as I dislike YouTube, I think I like Twitch even less. o.x

Your selection of places where there are neutral viewers is limited. And since you say you are just considering of starting, I'm gonna assume you don't have much of experience in any content creation. It takes much more than just filming or being on camera. Floatplane and other such places (Ko-Fi, Patreon) are extra income for those who have ironed out their production and have committed to what they do. All of those platforms require creator to be active and constant as viewers are paying for months amount of content. So if I was sub, I would want at least weekly content for my money.

[ToboRobot]

9 hours ago, Sarra said:

I'll focus on quality, content, and build a touch of brand, then move over to Floatplane later on.

 

 

You make it sound easy.

[Sarra]

6 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Your selection of places where there are neutral viewers is limited. And since you say you are just considering of starting, I'm gonna assume you don't have much of experience in any content creation. It takes much more than just filming or being on camera. Floatplane and other such places (Ko-Fi, Patreon) are extra income for those who have ironed out their production and have committed to what they do. All of those platforms require creator to be active and constant as viewers are paying for months amount of content. So if I was sub, I would want at least weekly content for my money.

Maybe, maybe not. I have experience producing YouTube content, just not anything that anyone is interested in watching. The other issue is that I ran out of space, and was forced to stop producing more content, for an existing experiment.

 

Doing game stuff would be a means to step over from uninteresting content into more mainstream, interesting content with an existing audience.

 

I know I'm not good at some things, but I also know where to get professional or semi-professional help to get those made for me, I know how much they cost, and I know what I want. Basically, I know to focus on quality of content, I know it will cost money in the beginning, and I have the means to afford that (I bought a 3900XT and a 5950X for video editing, after all).

1 minute ago, ToboRobot said:

You make it sound easy.

Obviously, it is not. However, I watch a youtube channel with essentially the content I want to produce, and the creator is using a PS4 and an iPhone to produce the videos, and while passable, if he had better equipment, or he had someone else edit the videos for him, he could easily blow up his youtube sub count overnight. Well, he has personality, which helps him, but also hurts, since he talks about some controversial stuff while doing less interesting things, which has probably helped him grow from 0 to where he is, but will probably hurt him in growth from here on out.

[ToboRobot]

6 minutes ago, Sarra said:

Obviously, it is not. However, I watch a youtube channel with essentially the content I want to produce, and the creator is using a PS4 and an iPhone to produce the videos, and while passable, if he had better equipment, or he had someone else edit the videos for him, he could easily blow up his youtube sub count overnight. Well, he has personality, which helps him, but also hurts, since he talks about some controversial stuff while doing less interesting things, which has probably helped him grow from 0 to where he is, but will probably hurt him in growth from here on out.

If you are trying to emulate someone elses content, what makes your content so great that the audience will come to you?

How are you going to get discovered by viewers?  YouTube is has more content choice and therefore competition for discovery that in the past.

Better equipment or editing won't necessarily blow up content or a channel.  Content is king.

Personality really matters.  Controversial stuff gets views.

Given that you planned to go straight to Floatplane, I think you really need to think about your plans here.