Rhett & Link talking to Forbes:
Rhett:
The core of the business is still ads, right?
You know, so, once the YouTube Partner Program started, that has always been, you know, the core, the foundation, the biggest piece of the pie.
Over the past 15 years, that number has gotten larger, but the size of the piece of that pie has gotten smaller in relation to all the other business lines that we created.
And, at this point, you know they’re still, there’s different forms of ad revenue — because there’s brand integrations, direct integrations, that kind of thing.
But I would say that, you know, our merch business— back when we first started, like, selling a T-shirt, we would be like,
- ‘I dunno, how many T-shirts can you sell, like different actual T-shirts can you— not individual units but, like, this SKU— how many SKUs can you sell to a fanbase in a year?’
We’d be like,
- ‘I dunno, maybe we should do like, a new T-shirt every quarter.’
I think at this point we’re launching 5 to 6 SKUs every week at Mythical.com.
Forbes:
All T-shirts? Or—
Rhett:
Every— just, all kinds of products, you know?
Link:
If you can dream it, we can sell it. And as long as our audience is along for the ride, and there’s— it’s fun. It’s fun to— we sold shoes over a decade ago.
Rhett:
Lip balm, beard oil, pomade, lotion, cologne, a musical comb that you can play.
We’ve had a puzzle—
Link:
A shower curtain.
Forbes:
Did you guys decide this, or did you have like a marketer that was like, ‘I— lets— I have a great idea for y’all—”
Rhett:
So, this is all internal team, at this point.
So, we have an incredible merch team that— and a design team. They’re constantly developing new concepts.
And also, a big part of it is just driven by surveying our fans and asking the Mythical Beasts what they want. You know, what do they wanna see?
You know, you’re kind of reading the tea leaves a little bit to see what kinds of patterns, and the products that they respond to—
Link:
Tea leaves. We should sell those.
Rhett:
We could probably— yeah, don’t put it past us — we will have tea at some point.
The sky truly is the limit when you’ve formed a strong connection between you and your best viewers.
How do you know who your best viewers are?
Easy. They trust you enough to come sign up on the platform you own when you ask them to. It’s as simple as that.
As Rhett & Link mention in the clip, the YPP slice of their business revenue has been steadily shrinking, relative to revenue from their other sources.
That’s no accident. Rhett & Link understand the assignment:
- Invite your audience to your own platform.
- Listen and watch for what they want.
- Offer it to them in a cool way.
Many creators mistakenly assume you have to be as big as these two OG legends before you can consider focusing on an owned digital space for your most loyal supporters to come to.
That assumption is costing many successful YouTubers:
- secure and owned access to the audiences they’ve built, and
- millions in revenue.
What you offer is not the point — every creator’s audience is different.
For fans of this funny duo, it’s shoes, musical combs, lip balm, shower curtains, hoodies… — wacky and cool merch. Very much on-brand.
For fans of yours, it’ll be other things, to be discovered gradually over time — only after you’ve invited them in and made sure they’re comfortable.
— Tang
Rhett & Link’s owned platforms are Mythical, and Mythical Society.
