I have been on YouTube since 2010. This is actually surprising to me because I always thought I started in 2011. LOL Anyhow this post is just of me sharing my experience being a YouTube partner. This is by no means, me bragging about my partnership experience.
Let us go back to the very beginning
When I first started on YouTube, I did not know that you could earn money from YouTube. I did not even know about the partnership programme going on. I just wanted to upload videos and connect with other people that share the same passions as me. After a year or so of being on YouTube, I heard about partnership programmes and that you needed a certain number of viewers to be eligible for the programme. And one other thing, you must be living in either the US, the UK and other countries that I was not in. At this point I was still living in Hong Kong. I just wanted to be part of the program at the time because it meant I could personalise my thumbnails and maybe put a pretty banner on my channel which now are basic functions on YouTube. In terms of views and subscribers I was growing pretty fast. Some of my fellow YouTubers that I started out with were offered partnership programmes and I just felt left out.
Fast forward to 2012, I was already living in Australia. I think it was the first month of being in Australia that I realised I could apply for the partnership. I was so delighted that I was a partner. It felt like all my hard work was finally paying off.
The partnership network aka the snake
After a while of being an independent YouTuber, I also realised that I was earning money from my work. To this day I am by no means a big YouTuber and the money that I was earning was very minimal. Then I was approached by a Partnership Network which is basically a third party company that will "work" with you and YouTube. This network offered to work with me and me being naive said yes. Back then being with a network was the in thing on YouTube. I was basically locked into a 2 year contract with them. They promised access to resources which I found somewhat useful like the Royalty Free music library and the forum so I could talk to other YouTubers around the world.
My channel suffered once I was sign with them. I noticed a considerable drop in my subscriber count and my views. I was confused as to what was happening. My impression was that the network would help me out and I would get more subscribers. I browsed through their forums to look for answers but I could not find one. At that point I was really busy with University and did not really care much more about it. At one point I was considering to start a new channel but I did not want my hard work to go to waste. They also had access to my account in terms of being able to favourite other people's video using my account which I do not really understand why it was needed. As for my earnings, they dropped significantly too as they were taking a percentage of my earnings too. As for how much, I do not remember. I think it might have been 20% of my pay.
A pleasant surprise
I think after a year of being with the network, they had to close down and that meant that my contract was terminated. I was overjoyed as it meant that I would have full control over my channel again. This also meant that I would no longer have access to the music library which was pretty much the only good thing to come from the network. Thankfully YouTube came out with their own library.
At this point in time, I am so happy that I have control over my channel. I am currently working on further improving my videos in terms of quality and content. I am back to being an independent YouTuber. In terms of my earnings, they are no where as good as they use to be but I am just happy that I have control over my channel.
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