For love or money...why are you diecast racing?
So many thoughts on this topic, even from my seat in the grandstands. . .
Getting the AdSense partnership is a fine goal: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and to a lesser extent, Time-Bound for any host. That said, the platform in question, the basket in which all our collective eggs are, puts up a lot of roadblocks to that success. YouTube isn't a social media site as much as it is a conduit for advertising, and it rewards those creators in the genres which bring in those dollars. Diecast Racing ain't one of those topics for videos the site looks at and sees money coming their way. Our biggest players on the scene worked YEARS to get where they are, and as much as we look up to them, to YouTube even 3D himself is a little fish in the ocean of content creation
I want to bring up a glaring disparity in potential audience size between Hot Wheels in general, and racing specifically. The r/HotWheels subreddit just passed 200K users while r/DiecastRacing sits at 821. I keep telling folks that everyone's 80 year old MeeMaw knows Hot Wheels exist while just a scant fraction of diecast enthusiasts know that racing little cars is also a thing. The audience capacity just isn't there for YT to care, despite how hotly OUR enthusiasms may burn
On the subject of motivations, two things can be true at the same time. A host can be in this for the fun and have longer-term monetary goals for their projects, in fact the effort needed to reach those YPP thresholds depends on enjoying the process for its own sake & merit. Once you attach a Profit & Loss statement to the channel, or any creative endeavour, that alone will alter the journey's trajectory. I feel the smart hosts prepare themselves to surf that wave instead of getting rolled by new rules from a stricter TOS and greater demands to keep growing their presence, the "Line Go Up" mentality. If it was a grind before, hold onto your butts! On the other side of the curve, it must be an oddly enviable position for hosts who are comfortable where they are, putting out content at a more relaxed pace, only when a large event is taking place and seemingly unbothered with feeding something to the algo in between active tourneys
In the end, I'm here for a good show, to see what hosts across the spectrum of skills & resources can bring. I'll cheer for someone hitting 30K subs as hard and joyfully as someone who just got their first thousand
Said it before, but I'll say it again:
I came here for the fun. Like a lot of people, I started racing back when Covid hit the scene, put the hammer down, and haven't let up.
We had a lot of hosts back then, some really awesome tracks that have shut down and drifted away, to be replaced by new tracks, new hosts, new racers, as well as the old-timers that just stayed with it and hung on. I miss a bunch of those guys, and I miss racing on their tracks. It's hard being friends and fellow competitors with someone, then watching them slowly drift away, never to return. Lots of ghosts in diecast racing: it's a hard fact to swallow, but there it is.
I'm on several Facebook diecast groups, but their stuff always gets lost in the feed. RLD is a one-stop-shop to get my racing fix.
I plan on being here for a while. Sure, life goes on--can't avoid that "real life before wheel life"--but try to find a balance. You may not be able to enter every race--God knows I've had to drop a bunch of them due to circumstances--but the ones I do enter, I'm rooting for everyone, not just myself.
I've made a bunch of friends (and a few enemies) here on RLD. I come here to check for the latest races, the general chatter, and to hang out with fellow racers from all over the world. This place is like the racers lounge, filled with cool people: why WOULDN'T I want to be here?
You know, this had me thinking...... Running a web site is like running a BBS in the old days. We would rack up money on phone lines, long distance per minute charges, equipment, software, etc....; but it was our hobby.
I could easily spend just as much playing golf all the time, bowling, traveling; or even playing darts or pool at a local pub. To me, I consider it my entertainment, my splurge of fun, my 'hobby'.
I wish the best who can jump to the monetizing thing, but it is not easy. Monthly/yearly access come and go. Advertising dollars need to show it works for the target audience. Expenses usually don't keep up with behind the scenes upkeep like hosting fees and equipment. And to add to all that a host has to do, they have to devote time. That is where you really have to evaluate the time devoted, should have a corresponding Fun Factor to it, or just becomes a job.
However, for minimal upkeep, t-shirts wouldn't be a bad idea. Even if you took how ever many people are here, poll who would like one, and then just do a special order for them. It could work. I don't buy hats or hoodies, but I will buy a t-shirt and cut the neck and sleeves out and wear the crap out of it. :-)
I'll come at this with a general opinion, not just based on the diecast community.
Fun and money, or monetisation, can go hand-in-hand but in my experience that depends on a few factors which includes the individual concerned, the motivation, time and drive.
They can also be exclusive.
For example - I have run a fantasy football league for six years, with over 200 people taking part. It is free, there is no money involved, no merch and it is purely fantasy football driven, with fun video and image content (all teams get their own logos designed etc.). There is no mission of "making money" off that particular project. We also host get-togethers to meet up and socialise. I have over those six years been sent "gifts" by those fantasy managers taking part by way of thanks for the time put in, this is mainly books (I'm an avid reader), but this was never a requisite and I accept them as they were intended, they were gifts.
Move this forward to when I was involved in slot car racing, we had our own club and members paid an annual fee and this went towards food, drink, admin costs and venue set ups when "Grand Prixs" were held. There were videos shared on You Tube and these got a lot of views, but in essence there was no profit thinking attached to that. It was for the fun and the social gathering.
Diecast Racing - now, pretty new on this forum but I have been following the diecast community in the background for around 3-4 years, watching channels, getting to know the universe. My JumpX series and the Diecast Racing News network have been created for my own entertainment and fun. If others wish to jump on that train as it steams along then I am very happy.
Does this mean JumpX and DRN have been created on You Tube for me to make money? - without hesitation I say no.
Would I mind if JumpX or DRN were the recipients of any type of monetisation, sponsorship, etc, etc. - well, of course the answer would be I would not mind at all.
But that is not the goal. I would class it has a bonus for two things which give me so much fun.
The primary word there is "me" and that is not said in a selfish or arrogant manner, rather I have learnt over the years in both my personal and professional life, to create things for "me" because I find it fun and if others do as well, then that is great but I never start out on a project thinking "how much money can be made from this?"
I was talking to an author once and she said she created her stories and characters because she found them fun, she never wrote a book with it in her mind to create it fun for others because she would ultimately not achieve that goal because you can't please everyone all of the time.
I suppose the conclusion here, for me anyway, create things for you (insert me) and then if others enjoy it also you know who your tribe are. And if (IF) along the way you get a bonus of money or gifts or sponsorship or merchandise, then tick the box which says "Thank you" and smile.
At the end of the day, this is all supposed to be fun and when the fun stops, then stop.
Simmo
Given this conversation started a few years ago, my answer has shifted somewhat. I've stopped hosting races and building cars because...life...but also because the grind of tracks, cars, shipping, and content production just got to me. The chore of it started outweighing the fun of it. I still get a few bucks from the axle jigs being sold but that barely pays for the website, really. (But if you want to support RLD, buying one certainly helps).
All of it's made me think about what is fun for me and the answer isn't much different than when I started getting into it...because a) Hot Wheels are fun and cool, and b) because I love making websites that people use and enjoy. I'm a web developer by trade so the first challenge I took upon myself way back was, "can I make a website that can help make racing more fun?" And if the last 15 years of RLD has shown me, yes I can...and thanks to everyone here, it's a lot of the fun for me. Seeing this site/community grow...through fun and drama...is amazing.
And yeah, I've made money with this over the years...sponsorships, selling products, donations, misc...it's possible and it's neat, but it's hard and it requires a good commitment, which is also dynamic. So I'm in the "money is nice" bucket but it's not a motivation anymore. Nice part is, this hobby isn't going anywhere so if my feelings change (and time travel becomes a thing), I can put my foot on the gas again and watch things roll!