I think what he's saying is that folks like THP and Infalt are providing value to more people than you (or me). And either all their followers are hoodwinked, or there's a component you're overlooking or ignoring.
My education and work experience is sales, marketing, and customer service. Most of the media we consume is funded by advertisements. Is that a bad thing? Well, it means that for the consumer, it's "free." That annoying radio ad means you get the best of classic rock without coughing up a red cent, the DJ gets to eat, and male enhancement pill manufacturers get exposure. Adsense revenue means that I can buy a piece of gear, hunt with it, do a review, and there's something in it for me to comp the $1,000 camera and $500 mic and a couple of hours of filming, editing, uploading, and replying to comments. And you don't pay a dime for the information and entertainment!
But, there's precious little money to be made through adsense. The CPM is too low and hunting is a very small industry with most of the consumers being moderately to not at all digital media savvy. So how do you fund the content? You approach companies in the industry who will get a better ROI advertising on your niche channel, and you ask them for money in exchange for advertisement. A sponsorship.
This type of advertising is so prevalent that you'd have to be living under a rock not to realize that anytime you see 100,000 subscribers on a hunting channel and they're posting once a week and not asking you for money, there's a sponsorship involved. Rarely do folks hide it, because doing so is generally "illegal" or at least against platform policies, and most manufacturers WANT consumers to know they're contributing to the entertainer.
If a sponsorship is deliberately hidden, then I find that distasteful. But, show of hands, who doesn't know that THP is gonna push OnX and Tethrd? It's not a secret.
Everything costs money. Unless you want to pay a subscription fee to the hunting beast, Dan has to make money some way. So he sells a stand. You'll notice our forum admin doesn't have any ads on his platform, and there are people willing to pay for that.
Needing money to eat, have a roof over your head, and to be able to keep doing the thing that you like doing and other people like you to do isn't a crime or a scam. It's just a reality.
As far as honest advice, here's some hard truth that I don't mean in a bad way. My buddy who hasn't killed a deer in 3 years can give you honest advice on deer hunting. He's an "average joe" who hunts maybe 2-3 days a week. What's his advice worth? How many people want to hear it? Not many. If he wants to give it out, he'd better just do it as a public service and not expect a dime unless he can make you laugh your socks off while giving it. Meanwhile, the guys who hunt every day of season and who stack deer up have value because they know something about killing deer. Even the much maligned tv guys like the Drury Brothers, Mike Waddell, and Tim Shockey know a LOT more about killing deer than you or I because they just get to do it more.
Interestingly, they often just push products and give trite advice as a filler. Most folks say that's because they're getting sponsored. But...I'd say from personal experience that as a content creator, if you want to be successful you CREATE WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO SEE. People want to see the gear. People want to buy the gear. People may SAY they want to learn tactics, but gear sales vs magazine, book, and DVD sales tell a different tale. As ole
@kyler1945 likes to say, "private truths and public lies." Gear reviews on my channel generate more interest and money than hunt videos or how-tos. I'd have to be a fool not to recognize that trend and plan accordingly.
You seem like a nice guy. I'm not sure how you came to the realization that money is behind everything but im glad you did. I don't think it's a secret to most folks though. Most people understand that if you have the time to do nothing but hunt and write or make videos, somebody is paying your bills for you. The only issue I've ever seen in this little corner of the world is when folks didn't disclose that info and you had company owners posing as regular joes. We fixed that with vendor badges and life went on.
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