Faceless YouTube channels are not too good to be true, but they aren't effortless either. The owner has to get good at two skills, ideation (knowing which videos the market wants to watch) and finding and leading the people who make them. Once those are in place, the work is mostly maintenance. One of my channels has made over $700,000, including $262,000 in the year before I recorded this.
- The controversy comes down to three questions: can other people really make the videos for you, does YouTube even pay that much, and do I actually get results.
- You need two skill sets. One is ideation and content strategy. The other is management, leadership and finding the right people.
- For ideation, research three niches, pick one, then study 20 to 50 channels in and around it and remake the formats that are going viral.
- The talent already exists: people working for other channels in your niche, people looking for an opportunity, and people writing about your topic on Reddit for fun.
- I've had channels where I worked less than an hour a month while they made $30,000 to $60,000 a month, because the right people, systems and processes were there.
- Long format explainer, documentary, storytelling and news videos are what I'd make. Compilations and re-uploads don't make money and bring copyright issues.
- Why Faceless YouTube Is Controversial
- Can Other People Really Make the Videos for You?
- Skill 1: Ideation and Content Strategy
- Skill 2: Finding and Leading the Right People
- How Passive Is It Really?
- What Kind of Videos Get Paid
- Does It Actually Get Results?
- Why I Teach It Instead of Keeping It to Myself
- Video chapters
- FAQ
Why Faceless YouTube Is Controversial
When I recorded this, I'd been doing YouTube for almost seven years. Faceless channels had been around for a while, but they were really blowing up on social media. I had just put up a post that got around 1.3 million views on the first post of the thread.
With that much attention comes controversy. People say it's too good to be true that you can run a channel and have other people make the videos for you. The questions I keep seeing are these:
- Can you actually have other people make the videos and not work that hard?
- Does YouTube even pay that much?
- Do I actually get results with faceless YouTube channels, and how does it work if it's so legitimate?
I'll take them in order.
Can Other People Really Make the Videos for You?
Yes. It can get to the point where you, as the owner of the channel, don't put in the insane amount of hours it typically takes to create content.
The idea behind it comes from Naval Ravikant. He talks about four things that multiply what one person can get done: capital, labor, code and media. Capital is one of the lowest forms, because you need lots of money to use it.
The beauty of a faceless YouTube channel is that it uses two of them. You have media, and you have labor (if you're doing it the way I teach).
What it requires of you is learning two skill sets. That's it. That's why it's such a beautiful business model, and why you don't have to work that many hours. But you have to be really good at those two skills.
Skill 1: Ideation and Content Strategy
The first skill is knowing what videos the marketplace wants to watch right now. Honestly, that's just doing research. Inside Faceless Channel Academy we have a full process for it:
- Research three niches. We have a whole spreadsheet for this. You find the best channels that are having success in each one, and you make the decision on your niche from that sheet.
- Go deep on the one you picked. Find 20, 30, 40 or 50 channels. If you're doing basketball, you don't want only basketball channels. You want baseball, football and soccer channels too.
- Find the videos going viral right now. Then figure out how to respin them.
It works the same way as TikTok or Twitter. A trend goes viral, and as soon as it does you see everybody making that same piece of content, and everybody goes viral because there's a new format out. You're doing the exact same thing on YouTube. You find formats that are going viral and you remake them.
I break that part down in how to find viral YouTube video ideas.
Skill 2: Finding and Leading the Right People
The second skill is management and leadership.
A lot of my success isn't because I'm working more hours than you. It's because I have more talented people. They're constantly growing and constantly improving the systems, so my business slowly gets better day by day. It's a slow growing process. But as time goes on we get better results, and it gets easier to market.
There are three kinds of people you're looking for.
| Who they are | Why they're available |
|---|---|
| People who have worked for other channels in your niche | Competitors have scriptwriters, voice actors and editors making one to three scripts a week. They can do more, and they want to get paid more |
| Writers and editors looking for a good opportunity | They're pretty good, and they'll write or edit for anything |
| People already creating about your topic for fun | They'd love to get paid for something they already do |
You just have to get good at finding people and bringing them to the opportunity. The talent is on Upwork, on Fiverr, on Reddit and on Twitter. When I recorded this, you could pay $30 for a pretty decent script.
The longer version is in how to outsource faceless YouTube videos.
How Passive Is It Really?
If you get good at those two things, you don't have to work that much.
Developing the skills takes work. You have to put in the work to become that person. But once you can do the ideation, you can tell whether you're making good videos, and you have the right team, the amount of work is very minimal.
I've had YouTube channels where I worked less than an hour a month and they made $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 or $60,000 a month. That's because I had the right people, the right systems and the right processes there. It's also why you see me posting on social media so much. I have the time now.
It's not fully passive. You have to put in the work to start something up. But once it's going, it takes pretty low effort to keep it going.
Eventually you can hire managers and pay them 10 to 20% of the revenue the channel is making. Once the system is built and you know what the channel should look like, people who are pretty skilled can run it. (When I recorded this, I had just put up a job post for channel managers.)
So why doesn't a manager go build their own channel? Some do. I've had managers work for me and then go make $50,000 a month on their own. Other people don't want that. They want to be a part of something, and they want to work with me on my vision. That requires becoming a better leader over time and giving people a reason to stick with you, like more channels to work on and help developing their career.
What Kind of Videos Get Paid
On how much videos pay, what I'll tell you is to make long format videos. Explainer, documentary style, storytelling, or more news related content, where there's a bit more of a production involved.
If you're doing compilations or music videos, you're not going to make money with that stuff, or you're going to have issues with copyright. Here's how I think about the difference.
| This is fine | This is stealing |
|---|---|
| Short clips, images and resources you find online, used to paint a picture of the story you're telling | Downloading last week's football game and re-uploading it |
| A quick clip of Patrick Mahomes making a pass while you talk about what he did last week, or about his lifestyle | Posting someone else's video as your content. The NFL can post that game because they own the rights |
Does It Actually Get Results?
In the video I pull up one of my channels. It has done over $700,000, and the year before I recorded this it made $262,000.
I didn't start out faceless. Here's how it went.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 1st, 2018 | I recorded my first YouTube video in my parents' basement. I was awkward, I was on camera, and I was teaching real estate |
| About a year later | I was making two to three grand a month |
| After I discovered faceless YouTube channels | Within a week or two I was making about two grand a day |
| Not long after | I made $42,000 in a single month |
By the age of 26 I had made around $4 million.
We've also worked with a lot of other people to build channels. You can see them on our website and in the reviews on Trustpilot, or on the success stories page.
Why I Teach It Instead of Keeping It to Myself
People ask why I don't keep all this to myself. A few reasons.
First, the creator economy was worth about half a trillion dollars when I recorded this. There's so much opportunity out there.
Second, I want to build my personal brand, and I want to be able to sell things in the future.
Third, I like seeing people become successful. I want to help 10,000 people make their first dollar online, and I want to help 100 people become millionaires.
People overcomplicate this stuff. What it really comes down to is getting really good at ideation, and then getting really good at finding the right people.
Video Chapters
- 0:00Why faceless YouTube is blowing up, and the controversy
- 1:15Can other people really make the videos for you
- 2:00Skill 1: ideation and content strategy
- 3:26Skill 2: finding and leading the right people
- 5:05How passive it really is
- 6:45Hiring channel managers
- 7:44What kind of videos get paid
- 8:50Proof from one of my channels
- 9:19How I started on YouTube in 2018
- 10:52Why I teach this
- 12:26Where to find the talent
FAQ
Are faceless YouTube channels legit?
Devon Canup says yes. In the video he shows one of his channels that has made over $700,000, including $262,000 in a single year, and he says it works when the owner learns ideation and how to find and lead a team.
Is a faceless YouTube channel really passive?
Not fully. Devon says he has had channels where he worked less than an hour a month while they made $30,000 to $60,000 a month, but only after putting in the work to build the skills, the team and the systems. After that it is mostly maintenance.
What skills do you need to run a faceless YouTube channel?
Two, according to Devon Canup: ideation and content strategy (knowing what videos the market wants to watch right now), and management and leadership (finding the right scriptwriters, voice actors and editors and giving them a reason to stay).
What kind of faceless YouTube videos make money?
Devon recommends long format explainer, documentary style, storytelling and news related videos. He says compilations, music videos and re-uploads of other people's content won't make money or will run into copyright issues.
How much do you pay a YouTube channel manager?
Devon says you can eventually hire managers and pay them 10 to 20% of the revenue the channel is making. Some of his former managers went on to make $50,000 a month with their own channels.
Where do you find scriptwriters and editors for a faceless channel?
Devon finds talent on Upwork, Fiverr, Reddit and Twitter. When he recorded the video, he said a pretty decent script could cost as little as $30.
Want This Built With You?
Faceless Channel Academy is the coaching program I run for people building faceless YouTube channels: niche, formats, team, packaging, with an advisor and live calls. Book a free strategy call and we'll look at where you are and whether it's a fit.
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