I just noticed that is what the top 10 earners at metacafe have earned together for placing their videos online with a single video (Reel Stunts) having earned over $24,000. While some of the people that are earning money obviously have skills that the average person doesn’t, I was surprised at how many people were making money videotaping simple problems or science projects that anyone could do. For example, this little math riddle has earned over $1000 which anyone could have put together.

Those with special skills seem to be leveraging them to earn extra money. While you might assume that magicians and those that can do other ticks that can “wow” the viewer would be earning money (and many seem to be), I was surprised to see that the number 2 earner on the site teaches people how to give massages - not what I would assume would be a big video money maker goes to show what I know).

If you have a digital video camera, it could be well worth carrying it around with you. That unexpected moment may turn out to be worth quite a bit of money. If you like science and experiments, it seems that there is great potential for you to make some extra money. The same goes if you like intriguing puzzle games. It seems like a fun part-time hobby that could be potentially quite lucrative for someone who enjoys doing that kind of stuff.

There are some rules to earning money. The video has to have 20,000 views before it begins to make money, and then earns $5 for every 1000 views thereafter. This seems to be a reasonable number to reach with a little effort and marketing. My folding T-shirt video which I posted up on youtube has over 6000 views and I haven’t done much other than post it on this blog (plus it isn’t done very well).

If anyone is already making videos, I would love to hear what type of results you have trying this system out. It is along the lines of some ideas I currently have, so once Nate comes on, I think I will give it a shot too.