How This Artist Makes $11K/Month as a Video Creator Without YouTube

Five Pencil Method earns money by communicating directly with fans.

As a content creator, I’m very familiar with the woes of trying to make a living by posting content on the internet and hoping the money comes in to allow me to keep doing what I love doing.

The problem is that the internet is a huge place. If you want to reach your audience, you first need to find, understand, and expand on a platform like YouTube or Patreon. Each of these platforms has its own set of quirks.

The easiest way of monetizing on YouTube, for instance, means you need ads on your videos. You’re subject to the whims of the algorithm, and as we saw at the start of the pandemic, advertisers can pull out unexpectedly. Suddenly, the exact same content that earned you a $1,000/month is worth half as much.

Patreon, meanwhile, avoids that by letting fans contribute directly to the creators they love. The issue is that the average amount a Patron contributes across the platform is $6 — so you’d need 200 patrons just to meet minimum wage of $1200/month. Most Patreon creators do not have 200 patrons.

That’s why I was so interested to hear of Five Pencil Method — a group that makes $11,000 per month with a modest community size by monetizing their art videos. They don’t do this on YouTube or Patreon, but rather using MakerStreamer, a platform where they sell videos one-off at a higher price, or allow fans to subscribe for monthly access to videos.

This is how they’ve made this work — and how they hope to expand in the coming years.

Five Pencil Method Leverages Their Community

Darrel Tank is the creative genius behind Five Pencil Method. The interesting thing about him is he’s not out to make a quick buck — he genuinely loves teaching people to draw. He urges that anyone can learn to draw if they follow the basic lessons he teaches; it’s not down to an art gene or expensive equipment. That passion and authenticity is part of what makes him such a successful creator.

He has been teaching people to draw for over twenty years. First, he taught in-person classes, but realized that he could reach a lot more people if he scaled up. He ultimately moved to selling DVDs and YouTube, and finally landed on MakerStreamer as his platform.

Here’s the secret Darrel discovered as he worked to reach as many folks as possible: his fans love his work. They love the way he teaches, and they are more than happy to pay for his videos, or become full monthly subscribers. The average transaction for his site is $49, which reflects the value that they feel he brings to their lives.

Throughout his career, from in-person classes, to DVDs, to YouTube, and finally to MakerStreamer, the most important thing for him has been to connect with his fans. He engages with his subscribers using livechat on his live streamed videos, and he takes full advantage of the “community” feature that lets people post their work and interact with each other.

How can other creators do the same thing?

Darrel’s Five Pencil Method is a rare breed — a creator that has managed to monetize his passion, reached more fans, and actually get fairly compensated for his time and experience. Especially when you compare his monthly revenue on YouTube ($150/month) to what he’s able to generate now, it’s especially impressive. This is how other creators can follow in Darrel’s footsteps.

Find a platform that works for you.

YouTube and Patreon are both totally valid options for creators, but they each come with considerations to take into account. For Five Pencil Method, the ability to make a living with a more modest number of subscribers was important, as well as the opportunity to give their members options to buy videos one-off, or as part of a monthly subscription.

Engage with your community.

Darrel’s livestreams and community section are where his fans can engage with him and each other, like a super-friendly Facebook group that’s full of people who have similar hobbies and passions as you. From the start, Darrel knew he wanted to be able to reach people himself, which is part of what makes him such a popular creator.

Be genuine.

A lot of YouTubers (myself included!) are guilty of occasionally trying to mirror success, which can lead us down a path of not being authentic. The truth is that only we know what our communities want from us, and pretending to be like the big name creators we see isn’t a strength.

Darrel knows his fan base demographics, he knows himself, and he knows what he can give them. He doesn’t try to be something he isn’t, and that works in his favor.

Don’t undervalue your work.

Creators are prone to underestimating what they’re worth, which is part of the reason many folks are struggling just to meet minimum wage when they post content on YouTube, for example. Darrel knows what he’s making for people is a priceless skill, and his community have made it clear that they’re willing to pay for that, and to support him.

Takeaway

In his business partner’s words, “Darrel is not interested in becoming a millionaire as an online drawing guru... He just wants to be able to share his talent with others, so that they can learn to draw and have the satisfaction of creating something amazing.”

$11,000/month is a figure that many creators can only dream of reaching, but in my opinion what Darrel has achieved goes beyond a simple monetary milestone. He’s reaching his fans, he’s creating valuable content for them, and they are supporting him to continue doing that.

That’s what all creators want — and what Darrel’s been able to achieve, earning enough with MakerStreamer to enable him to share his talent with a wide base of fans who appreciate him and his work.