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Hi Friends,
Life has thrown a lot at me this past month—between work and some wild life events 🌀—but I’ve got exciting business updates and a gift 🎁 for my Davinci Resolve users. Let’s talk business first!
My Journey Towards Financial Freedom
I firmly believe that nothing in life is free (except maybe unsolicited advice 💡), and success, especially financial freedom, requires both smart and hard work. You’ve got to put in the hours, but more importantly, you’ve got to be strategic. It’s like solving a puzzle, only the pieces are your time, effort, and a bit of caffeine ☕.
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YouTube Videos: Like many creators, I struggle with making full-length videos. It takes a lot of time, patience, and effort to create something good and engaging. Sure, if they perform well, you can make more money from Adsense and affiliates. But when your channel is still growing (like mine), you need more eyes on your content. Here’s where my solution comes in: Short Tutorials.
- A while back, I did some short tutorials on Davinci tips and, to my surprise, they performed better than my longer, more in-depth tutorials. Turns out, people really like bite-sized content! 🥄 The views, engagement, and even my Adsense revenue started adding up. And guess what? The shorts led viewers to my regular videos too, boosting engagement on older content. The best part? Shorts are simple: no crazy editing, no fancy b-roll, just straight to the point. You’ve got 60 seconds, so make them count!
- For a smaller channel like mine, this approach has been a game changer. Over the past two months, I’ve doubled my views and seen a 70% bump in revenue (it’s still small, but hey, progress is progress 😉).
- If you’re curious, here is my 🎁Gift to you - my Shorts Playlist on YouTube. And while you’re there… go ahead and Subscribe! (Shameless plug 😁)
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Stock Footage: For those of you who’ve been reading along, you know my journey into stock photography began way back in 2003. Now, I’ve shifted gears and dived into stock video on Getty Images. My history with stock photos took a hit when Getty bought iStockphoto and reduced commissions for contributors (ouch 😬), but the world of stock video has become increasingly lucrative. Platforms like Storyblocks, Artgrid, and Adobe are blowing up, and I wasn’t about to miss the boat again!
- Rather than just uploading random clips, I decided to take a shot at Getty’s Custom Content (CC) requests. These are briefs posted by big brands (think Nike, Microsoft, Nestle), and as an exclusive Getty contributor, I get access to shoot for them. Here's the lowdown:
- The pay is decent ($50-100 per selected image/video), though it’s a hit-or-miss game depending on whether the client chooses your work.
- If you nail the brief, you have a good shot, but there’s competition from other photographers and videographers. Not so much for video.
- My favorite part? If you get consistent, art directors will start approaching you with advance seed funds ($200-400) to shoot content, no strings attached. Plus, it’s pretty cool to casually mention that brands like KitKat and Microsoft have picked up your work 😎. I’ve worked with clients like Citibank, Natwest, Mars, and more—all in the past year.
It’s the kind of bragging rights that make you feel like a big deal at family gatherings 😂.
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What I Found Interesting👌
📚 Books - Rich Dad Poor Dad: This classic book has changed how I look at money—teaching me the importance of using it as a tool, and understanding what’s an asset versus a liability. It’s why I rent a million-dollar villa instead of buying a small house 🏠. (That and I really like pools).
🎥 YouTube - My Edit Faster in Davinci Shorts Playlist: Short, snappy tutorials to help you get the most out of Davinci Resolve without spending hours editing!
🔴 Davinci Resolve - New Version 19.0.2 is out today!: Update time! If you’re like me, you’ll want to check this out ASAP.
⚙️ Visual Engineering - I’ll be talking about how to stand out in a crowd using some cool visual engineering tricks in the next newsletter. Stay tuned!
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I hope you enjoyed this update, and as always, thank you for being part of my journey toward financial freedom! Your support means everything to me 🙌.
Until next time.
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