擁有2000萬訂閱，我們在YouTube上如何賺錢？：英語精讀講義

In 2023, Kurzgesagt has existed for 10 years,

到2023年，Kurzgesagt已經成立10年了，

insanely long in internet years.

這在網路時代算是相當漫長的時間。

We're among the largest science-y channels on YouTube 用詞

我們是YouTube上最大的科普頻道之一，

and still a bit of a black box to people. 慣用語

但對人們來說，我們仍然有點像個黑盒子。

So, let's talk about ourselves a bit in three parts.

所以，讓我們分三個部分來談談自己。

Our backstory, how we finance our work,

我們的背景故事、我們如何籌措資金，

and the values of Kurzgesagt.

以及Kurzgesagt的價值觀。

Let's jump back to a more innocent time. 表達脈絡

讓我們回到一個更單純的時代。

From humble beginnings to today.

從最初的默默無聞到今天。

Kurzgesagt's foundation was laid when Philipp, our founder, 慣用語

Kurzgesagt的基礎是在我們的創辦人Philipp

dropped out of high school as a teenager. 片語動詞

青少年時期輟學時奠定的。

Learning seemed daft and useless, 用詞

那時學習似乎很愚蠢且毫無用處，

and he wasn't interested in anything,

他對任何事情都不感興趣，

until a very special teacher at a school for dropouts

直到一所輟學生學校裡的一位非常特別的老師

grabbed him by the neck.

抓住了他命運的後頸。

The way she taught was different.

她的教學方式與眾不同。

She talked about connections and the big picture. 慣用語

她談論事物間的聯繫和宏觀圖景。

She told a story.

她講述了一個故事。

For the first time ever,

有生以來第一次，

Philipp wanted to learn more without being forced.

Philipp想要在不被強迫的情況下學習更多東西。

It was a key life experience.

這是一次關鍵的人生經歷。

Kurzgesagt tries to recreate this experience for you.

Kurzgesagt試圖為你重現這種體驗。

Nothing is boring if you tell a good story, 文法

如果你講一個好故事，就沒有什麼是無聊的，

and we try to tell these stories to spark excitement

我們試圖講述這些故事來激發你的興奮感，

and make you want to go on and learn more. 文法

並讓你想要繼續探索、了解更多。

Because of the one teacher that could do this,

正是因為這位能夠做到這一點的老師，

Philipp got a high school degree,

Philipp拿到了高中學歷，

studied history and design,

學習了歷史和設計，

and eventually started Kurzgesagt as a passion project

最終出於熱愛創辦了Kurzgesagt，

inspired by Crash Course World History.

靈感來自於Crash Course World History。

In 2012,

在2012年，

YouTube was less commercial and more idealistic.

YouTube還沒那麼商業化，更具理想主義色彩。

You couldn't make a living with videos as involved as ours, 講解

你無法靠製作像我們這麼複雜的影片謀生，

and that was fine.

但這也沒關係。

The goal was creative freedom,

目標是創作自由，

and so for the first few years,

所以在最初的幾年裡，

it actually cost money to make Kurzgesagt.

製作Kurzgesagt實際上是倒貼錢的。

We had no outside funding,

我們沒有外部資金，

just intrinsic motivation,

只有內在的動力，

and a few friends from university.

以及幾個大學時代的朋友。

We worked for clients during the day and on Kurzgesagt at night, 文法

我們白天為客戶工作，晚上做Kurzgesagt，

80 to 100 hours a week.

每週工作80到100個小時。

It was a real struggle,

那真是一段艱難的時期，

but also very rewarding.

但也非常有成就感。

But then Patreon launched,

但後來Patreon上線了，

sponsorships started,

贊助開始了，

our views increased,

我們的觀看量增加了，

YouTube changed.

YouTube改變了。

In 2015,

在2015年，

the channel began to break even,

頻道開始收支平衡，

and then to earn a profit.

然後開始獲利。

But we were pretty burned out at this point, 用詞

但那時我們已經筋疲力盡，

so we decided to bring in more friends and 片語動詞

所以我們決定引入更多的朋友，

hire the first team members full-time,

並聘請第一批全職團隊成員，

creating a legal entity.

成立了一個合法實體。

More people meant that we could stop overworking,

人數增加意味著我們可以停止過度勞累，

do more,

做更多事，

and improve.

並不斷改進。

But we also needed to earn more.

但我們還需要賺更多的錢。

The livelihood of real humans depended upon it.

畢竟大活人的生計全靠它了。

None of us had any experience in running a company.

我們中沒有一個人有經營公司的經驗。

We didn't plan to become big or to grow.

我們沒有計劃做大或擴張。

It sort of just happened. 語氣意圖

一切就這麼自然而然地發生了。

A decade later,

十年後，

Kurzgesagt is not a small project anymore.

Kurzgesagt不再是一個小專案。

We are an animation studio

我們是一家動畫工作室，

with offices in Munich and Berlin.

在慕尼黑和柏林設有辦公室。

We need computers, monitors, tablets,

我們需要電腦、顯示器、繪圖板、

desks, coffee, contracts,

辦公桌、咖啡、合約、

pay licenses, taxes, rent, and insurance.

支付授權費、稅款、租金和保險。

In 2023,

在2023年，

our team consists of over 60 employees

我們的團隊由60多名員工

and a lot of freelancers around the world.

以及世界各地許多自由工作者組成。

Salaries alone cost millions of dollars a year

光是為了維持營運，每年的薪水成本就高達數百萬美元。

just to stay around.

光是活著就已經如此不易。

This creates an interesting problem.

這就產生了一個有趣的問題。

With such high production costs, 表達脈絡

在如此高昂的製作成本下，

how can we publish our work for free?

我們如何能免費發布我們的作品？

How we finance Kurzgesagt.

我們如何為Kurzgesagt提供資金。

We've added up our earnings from 2015 through 2022. 片語動詞

我們彙總了2015年到2022年的收入。

Our sources of funding changed depending on opportunities

我們的資金來源會隨著機會

and the state of the world.

和世界局勢的變化而變化。

Early on,

早期，

agency work was our main source of income.

代理工作是我們主要的收入來源。

Ad revenue varies.

廣告收入則起伏不定。

In some years,

在某些年份，

we got more sponsorships than in others.

我們獲得的贊助比其他年份多。

The shop didn't exist for a long time,

很長一段時間裡，商店並不存在，

then it became pretty big after we launched our calendar.

直到我們推出日曆後，它的規模才變得相當大。

62% of our revenue comes indirectly or directly from you.

我們62%的收入間接或直接來自你們。

You watch our videos with ads,

你們觀看帶廣告的影片，

support us on Patreon,

在Patreon上支持我們，

or buy from our shop.

或者在我們的商店購物。

The single biggest source of income by far is our shop. 片語搭配

到目前為止，最大的一筆收入來源是我們的商店。

That alone accounted for 40% over the last eight years. 用詞

在過去八年裡，僅這一項就佔了40%。

The shop started small,

商店起步時規模很小，

but once we published our calendar for the first time in 2016,

但自從我們在2016年首次出版日曆後，

we realized it could really help us do more things,

我們意識到它真的可以幫助我們做更多事情，

and we started producing more and more science products 文法

於是我們開始生產越來越多的科普產品，

from our posters

從海報

to our gratitude journal or universe-scented candles.

到感恩日記，再到宇宙香氛蠟燭。

YouTube ads accounted for 13%

YouTube廣告佔13%，

and Patreon 9%.

Patreon佔9%。

So,

所以，

without your support, 文法

如果沒有你們的支持，

we would cease to exist.

我們就不復存在了。

Our shop and Patreon are our most important sources of revenue,

我們的商店和Patreon是我們最重要的收入來源，

and because we see ourselves as science communicators, 片語搭配

而且因為我們將自己視為科學傳播者，

we don't just do merch, 文法

我們不只是做周邊，

but science-y products

而是做科普產品，

that we spend hundreds of hours researching,

我們會花費數百小時進行研究，

discussing with experts,

與專家討論，

polishing up and working on directly with the manufacturers. 片語動詞

打磨完善，並直接與製造商合作。

They are part of the science story we try to tell.

它們是我們試圖講述的科學故事的一部分。

It also just feels good to get directly funded by you guys

得到你們的直接資助

and give you something back for it. 片語動詞

並以此回饋你們，感覺真的很棒。

On top of our videos,

除了影片之外，

YouTube ads are a crucial part of our funding as well,

YouTube廣告也是我們資金的重要組成部分，

but they are not within our control.

但它們並不在我們的控制範圍內。

Then there's paid agency work,

然後是付費的代理工作，

which we stopped doing in 2022.

我們在2022年停止了這項業務。

It accounted for 9% of our revenue over the last eight years.

在過去八年裡，它佔了我們收入的9%。

A lot in the beginning,

一開始很多，

not much by the end.

到最後就不多了。

Then there are commercial sponsors advertising products.

然後是宣傳產品的商業贊助商。

They accounted for 12% of our revenue.

他們佔了我們收入的12%。

We also got about 7% from German public broadcasting for the German channel,

我們還從德國公共廣播公司那裡獲得了用於德語頻道的資金，佔我們總收入的大約7%，

but ended this partnership in 2022.

但這種合作在2022年結束了。

Finally,

最後，

there are institutional sponsors representing about 10%.

大約有10%來自機構贊助商。

Some people take issue with this. 慣用語

有些人對此有異議。

Especially Bill Gates has come under public scrutiny, 片語搭配

特別是比爾·蓋茲受到了公眾的審查，

and we've been criticized for even working with organizations funded by him.

甚至連我們與他資助的組織合作也遭到批評。

So, let's look at this 10% in more detail.

所以，讓我們更詳細地看看這10%。

About 3% of our revenue over the last eight years came from the Gates organizations

過去八年裡，我們約3%的收入來自蓋茲的組織，

for a wide variety of topics,

用於各種各樣的主題，

often suggested by us.

這些主題通常是我們提出的。

5% comes from Open Philanthropy

5%來自Open Philanthropy，

and is only used for specific projects.

並且僅用於特定專案。

With these funds,

利用這些資金，

we've started Arabic, Hindi, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, and French channels,

我們開設了阿拉伯語、印地語、韓語、日語、葡萄牙語和法語頻道，

bringing more free science content to more people.

為更多的人帶來更多免費的科學內容。

Then there's a two-year funding for original TikTok content,

然後有一項為期兩年的TikTok原創內容資助，

which gives us freedom to explore and learn how to do short-form science communication.

這讓我們有自由去探索和學習如何做短影音的科學傳播。

The final 2% came from other organizations

最後2%來自其他組織，

like the Red Cross or the UN,

例如紅十字會或聯合國，

for example.

諸如此類。

We choose institutional sponsors carefully,

我們謹慎選擇機構贊助商，

but if organizations want to fund videos that help us spread quality information about relevant topics,

但如果有些組織想資助有助於我們傳播相關高品質資訊的影片，

this is an easy yes for us 用詞

這對我們來說很容易答應，

if we have the capacity for it.

只要我們有能力做。

On top of that,

最重要的是，

the institutional sponsors we're working with align with our values. 片語搭配

與我們合作的機構贊助商與我們的價值觀相符。

We have contracts with every grant giver or sponsor

我們與每一個資助者或贊助商簽訂的合約中，

that bars them from editorial influence 文法

都明令禁止他們進行編輯干預，

other than suggesting topic areas like global health or climate change.

除了建議全球健康或氣候變遷等主題領域。

We agree on video topics together,

我們會共同商定影片主題，

but sponsors can neither influence details nor our conclusions. 文法

但贊助商既不能影響細節，也不能影響我們的結論。

The final decision always remains with us.

最終決定權始終在我們手中。

And usually,

通常情況下，

we develop the topics of the videos autonomously

我們自主開發影片主題，

and tell the sponsor what we're doing afterwards.

事後再告訴贊助商我們在做什麼。

If you're interested in how we research our videos in detail, 文法

如果你對我們如何詳細研究影片感興趣，

our head of research wrote an article about it.

我們的研究主管寫了一篇關於這個的文章。

Running an educational YouTube channel is a balancing act 慣用語

營運一個教育類的YouTube頻道是一種平衡，

that we take very seriously.

我們非常認真地對待它。

We're doing our best to maintain this balance,

我們盡最大努力保持這種平衡，

adjusting whenever necessary.

並在必要時進行調整。

As a team and a company,

作為一個團隊和一家公司，

we want to grow

我們希望成長，

to give more people access to a science-based outlook on the world.

讓更多人能夠獲得基於科學的世界觀。

This brings us to our final topic. 表達脈絡

這就引出了我們的最後一個主題。

Why are we doing Kurzgesagt?

我們為什麼要製作Kurzgesagt？

Our values and our vision.

我們的價值觀和願景。

Our core mission is to spark curiosity.

我們的核心使命是激發好奇心。

We want to make science and humanism accessible 文法

我們希望讓盡可能多的人

for as many people as possible. 文法

能夠接觸到科學和人文主義。

The effort we put into creating our videos 片語搭配

我們在製作影片上投入的努力

is a way of achieving that.

就是實現這一目標的方式。

Our videos are beautiful

我們的影片非常精美，

because that helps to spark curiosity, 表達脈絡

因為這有助於激發好奇心，

to understand complex topics,

有助於理解複雜的主題，

and because it just feels good to create and watch.

而且因為創作和觀看這些影片本身感覺就很好。

Our research is as intensive as it is, 文法

我們的研究一如既往地深入，

so our videos are a good simplification of very complicated topics.

因此我們的影片是極度複雜主題的絕佳簡化版。

We want to make people excited about science,

我們想讓人們對科學感到興奮，

so they rediscover subjects they hated in school

這樣他們就能重新發現那些在學校裡討厭的科目，

and see how amazing they are.

並意識到它們是多麼奇妙。

On top of curiosity,

除了好奇心，

we want to inspire long-term thinking and a positive constructive outlook.

我們還想激發長遠思維和積極建設性的態度。

Being optimistic about the future of humanity is not mainstream,

對人類的未來感到樂觀並不是主流，

and we think this is

我們認為這

horrible.

太糟糕了。

Pessimism often sounds smart and gets more views, 表達脈絡

悲觀主義聽起來往往很聰明，能獲得更多觀看量，

while optimism can sound naive, but this is a bias that's not helpful for us as a species.

而樂觀主義聽起來可能很天真，但這種偏見對我們作為一個物種毫無幫助。

So, despite the gloominess of many topics, 文法

所以，儘管許多話題令人沮喪，

we want to approach them with informed and well-researched optimism. 片語搭配

我們還是希望以見多識廣、研究充分的樂觀態度來探討它們。

Not brushing humanity's very real challenges aside, 片語動詞

不把人類面臨的現實挑戰拋諸腦後，

but also not falling into the trap of pessimism. 慣用語

但也不落入悲觀主義的陷阱。

We want to inspire you to dream a little about the glorious future that we could actually build,

我們想啟發你對我們實際上可以創造的光明未來多一點憧憬，

but only if we believe it's possible. 文法

但前提是我們相信這是可能的。

In the long run, 片語搭配

從長遠來看，

we don't only want to do this on YouTube.

我們不僅想在YouTube上做這些。

The idea is for Kurzgesagt to be a positive influence across more media. 文法

我們的想法是讓Kurzgesagt在更多媒體上產生積極影響。

On our TikTok channel,

在我們的TikTok頻道上，

in the long-form content we're exploring,

在我們正在探索的長篇內容中，

in apps,

在應用程式中，

in the VR game that will be released later this year,

在今年稍晚即將發布的VR遊戲中，

and the games we plan to make in the future.

以及我們計劃在未來製作的遊戲中。

Our shop is a central part of this vision.

我們的商店是這一願景的核心部分。

We start our stories with a video 表達脈絡

我們用一個影片開始我們的故事，

and end them with a poster.

並用一張海報作為結尾。

There are so many things we want to do,

我們想做的事情太多了，

and thanks to you watching this right now, 文法

多虧了正在看這部影片的你們，

we have the freedom to work to the best of our knowledge and ability. 片語搭配

我們才有自由盡我們最大的知識和能力去工作。

In the end,

最後，

we hope you like what we offer

我們希望你喜歡我們提供的內容，

and that we'll be doing something worthwhile for as long as we exist. 文法

也希望只要我們存在，我們就會做一些有價值的事情。

And hopefully,

希望

we'll have a lasting impact

我們能產生持久的影響，

by making science and learning more fun for as many people as possible.

讓盡可能多的人覺得科學和學習更加有趣。

If you personally want to help us do this,

如果你個人想在這方面幫助我們，

you can watch and share our videos,

你可以觀看並分享我們的影片，

check out our shop,

去我們的商店逛逛，

become a Patreon,

成為Patreon的贊助者，

or give us an ad-blocker exception.

或者在廣告阻擋器上給我們加個白名單。

We exist because of you,

我們的存在是因為你們，

and you have no idea how much we appreciate that you're here. 語氣意圖

你無法想像我們有多感激你的存在。

And hopefully,

也希望

we're less of a black box now. 表達脈絡

現在的我們不再那麼像個黑盒子了。

In any case, 表達脈絡

無論如何，

doing Kurzgesagt for a decade has been a pretty crazy ride. 慣用語

做Kurzgesagt的這十年是一段相當瘋狂的旅程。

And so,

所以，

from the whole team,

謹代表整個團隊，

thank you so much 語氣意圖

非常感謝

for being with us all these years.

這些年來與我們一路同行。