The Ordinary Person
Just stick to WeChat or Douyin ecosystems.
One public account, one short video channel.
Earn pocket change for the coffee from WeChat’s traffic monetization, and rely on luck with short videos and live streaming.
YouTube and similar platforms are impossible to pass the first hurdle; forget about YPP (YouTuber Partner Program) and receiving payments.
For me, it’s like buying a lottery ticket.
Lottery Odds
Lotteries play the game of probability; even a “transmigrator” arriving wouldn’t necessarily win.
Moreover, a one-tuan ticket is the minimum cost, with a maximum prize pool cap of 500,000.
Compared to YouTube, while the lottery has a low ceiling compared to what’s theoretically possible on YouTube (tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even 500,000), it still plays the game of probability and luck.
Compared to lotteries, the cost is nearly zero for many viral videos: it might be just a kitten, a landscape, or a monologue.
Rather than gambling on odds of one in a thousand million, gamble with the luck that allows you to learn and operate.
Given two choices:
- Buy a lottery ticket every day for a year.
- Publish one video to YouTube every day for a year.
I choose the second option.
The first costs about 750 RMB for a year (not counting commuting).
The second can cost zero, or just network fees, or perhaps the cost of a used phone—it could still be kept within 750 RMB.
Recording a short video takes only minutes per day; editing a long video might take an additional half hour at most.
The second option has the potential to break even or make small profits, earning enough for coffee and milk tea.
The first option is purely a sunk cost—just buying a hope.
The second can be about passion, documentation, sharing, learning, interest, utility, or meaning; it can accumulate value.
The first option yields nothing; calling it “a small bet to please oneself” isn’t quite right.
Accumulating Over Time
Learn video editing, learn SEO operations, learn video shooting, learn [XXX].
To do well on YouTube, you have no choice but to learn; doing nothing will never generate traffic.
The progress of an ordinary person lies in massive learning, continuous accumulation, and then using the platform’s power to take a step up.
YouTube is one of the world’s largest video platforms.
Success only comes when standing on the shoulders of giants—just as it does with a trusted mentor or “great person.”
An ordinary person who doesn’t rely on extreme circumstances changing their life, doesn’t borrow help, doesn’t borrow luck, and doesn’t leverage momentum will simply remain average forever.
Joining a factory means you’re a screw turning for 24 hours; you won’t accumulate anything, but rather accumulate illnesses. It’s hard to break the cycle.
Buying a lottery is similar; you are always paying money to buy a probability that almost never comes true. You are always giving, never accumulating.
Consider why I write my public account articles:
On days one to three, an article might get only 30 reads.
But by day seven, even though the same-day reads are only around 50, the long-tail traffic adds up to around 100 reads.
If you choose the right niche, what happens in a month or a year?
I’ve noticed many public account bloggers I follow for years post daily; they can get 5,000+ reads per article. Imagine how terrifying their long-tail traffic must be.
YouTube is similar too; its algorithm is terrible—it keeps recommending videos from five or ten years ago. That’s excessive.
I want evergreen content, not old stuff.
Remember, videos consume a lot of storage. Some people post 70 videos on Douyin daily because that’s Douyin’s limit.
When you publish those videos to YouTube (provided they aren’t privacy-sensitive), it becomes essentially a free video cloud storage service.
It serves as a duplicate backup for your local album photos.
Tips
Ordinary people don’t have many talents; simple shooting and recording are enough.
Let the platform select you. Don’t overwork yourself. Maintain daily updates—daily content is the most basic form of effort.