Interview · moment 7 of 23
Cross-Promotion Snobbery and Dropping Out of Queensborough
from Behind the Youtube (with Joe Santagato) · #52
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minGuest
Joe explains why he refused to cross-promote/collab like other YouTubers, how long it took to monetize, and the story of dropping out of Queensborough Community College to pursue YouTube against his parents' worry.
- 23:10Tim pitched Cameron Dallas a collaboration video and received a response from his lawyers.
- 23:26YouTubers cross-promote with each other to build followings, but the guest didn't participate in that strategy.
- 23:58The guest has two million subscribers with disproportionately high view counts compared to creators who collabed their way to larger subscriber bases.
- 24:27Guest initially wanted to collaborate with anyone just to gain subscribers, then changed his approach after realizing it didn't align with his vision.
- 24:41It took three years before the guest started making money from YouTube, delayed by content flags.
- 25:04Four and a half to five years passed before YouTube income became substantial enough to consider as a job.
- 25:20The early videos were filmed in his mom's basement with a bedsheet stapled to the ceiling as a backdrop.