Discussing Sponsorships

I recently noticed that it has been almost a year since I started doing sponsors on my main youtube channel. And I wanted to take a moment to share my experiences with you and to talk to you about the future.

Overall, I am very disappointed.

I almost never ever engaged with the companies personally. Sponsorships are almost entirely handed out through advertising companies. If you do not know what these are, basically they are companies that you go to as a business if you want your product advertised, and they then reach out to platforms where they can be advertised. That within itself is not bad. I do not have a problem with that system. BUT there seems to be a "close to monopoly" situation on youtube. It looks like there are only 4 advertising companies that control that market. That is bad in my opinion. 

It also means that there are very few businesses that actually try to advertize on youtube. And I am underwhelmed by most of them. Around 60% of all sponsorship offers that I have received are from pay-to-play online games, lootcrates, and online casinos. I have rejected all of them and will continue to not advertise any such product.
But even so, the majority of products I can advertise are VPNs and other such stuff. There is a lack of businesses willing to advertise on youtube. Combine that with the fact that there are only 4 or 5 advertising companies, and you get an explanation for why so many channels are filled with ads for Raid Shadow Legends and other online casinos.

I also did an experiment last year.

I was contacted by a small Arizona-based programmer who wanted to make common-use apps from what is basically his garage. I took his offer despite the fact that he paid substantially less than what I could get through advertising companies. And the reason for that simply lies in my own idealism. I like the idea of supporting a small business or an independent entrepreneur. If I get paid less, it doesn't matter to me when I get to help a small business. I will therefore continue to promote small businesses when they reach out to me. I will of course look at their products first to make sure it is not a scam, but will be giving priority to small businesses.

One thing I will not do is promote youtubers for money.,

Yes. I have received offers for paid promotions of corporate youtube channels. And. I rejected them. Social media is in many ways a place where independent creativity can prosper and grow, and I feel like taking money to promote a corporate channel violates that creative spirit. I will only promote other channels for free, and I will only do so if I actually like their content.

Something I plan to do more is reach out to companies directly.

For 3 years I have now been using the drawing pads made by XP-Pen to draw and animate the artwork for my videos. And I decided on a chance to reach out to them and ask if they would sponsor me. They agreed, and the next sponsorship will be through them. I am far more comfortable with this than I was with most previous sponsorships, and I believe this will be the path to mainly focuse on in 2022. I am going to look at the products I use in my daily life, from PC hardware to my coffee machine, reach out to the companies that make them, and ask for a Sponsorship. But, small business will continue to be a priority.

At some point, I will stop taking them more frequently.

Most of the money I make with the Sponsorships went back into the channel. I used them to buy a new drawing pad and PC, and put the rest into artist payouts. With a substantial ammount being saved for the deliberate purpose of hiring an 8 person artist team in the future at 1000 euros per month to help me draw another long 4 hour video.
Hoever, should my channel ever be remonetized in adverts, or my patreons grow to a point of 9000$, I will seize taking sponsorships for every single video I make. And only take them for every second video, or not at all anymore.

Do you have any thoughts? Or any critiques?

Please let me know, I am eager to read them.