“The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil” said an ancient famous person somewhere. Desire for money can lead people to lie, manipulate, and hurry in order get cash. So, I’m wary of earning money off of affiliate links or ads.

What do y’all think?

Thanks for your help!

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Update 10/7/22:

I monetized the account, and I haven't been paid anything yet. Google sent me a lot of links to read through to learn how it works, so I'm chipping away at that. I'll update again here once I've read through the material and get my first payment (which seems it will take at least 2 months because they have to snail-mail me a PIN, and I don't get paid anything until I earn $100).

I also noticed another temptation in me, and that's to rush to put out a new video in hopes of getting ad revenue. But, that's not good to do, because it means the quality of the content might suffer. For instance, I'm antsy to publish a video saying what filters to use in the old Berkey stainless steel canisters, but the companies haven't finished answering all of my questions, and I'm learning new things that might affect my conclusion. These things can't be rushed. So, another temptation to guard against.

I wish I could respond to all of the comments, but time and energy won't allow me. Alas! Thank you to everyone who commented!

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Update 10/12/22:

It's a rough calculation, but just dividing estimated income from ads by the number of views since I monetized the account, it seems like the payment (before taxes) is actually around $6/1000 views. I have no idea if that will go up or down in the future or how that is determined.

I also learned I can block certain types of ads. I did block some, like ads with lots of skin or sex in them, or ads for unsecured and payday loans. They don't let you control everything, though, just broad categories. I wish I could block more specifically in some categories, but I see no way to do so. I assume that the ad revenue will go down now that I've blocked those categories, but, I don't care : )

I also reached out to some of the house-water filtration companies about affiliate commissions, and a couple got back to me. You have to apply to be accepted. I've been told I'll be accepted into one, just waiting on that to be finalized.

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I did a tip/donation link for anyone who freely and joyfully desires to help me pay my bills! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/RobertBeaty