Kofuzi likely makes more $$$ than elites

S. Canaday wrote:

Bagofsharks wrote:

Kofuzi made a video about how much he made last year. I believe it was around $58k or something like that. Not a bad gig when you can get companies to fly you around to different races. He doesn't buy too many shoes these days. Just emails a brand to send him something if they have it.

I could be wrong, but I believe that was from Google Adsense just on Youtube alone.
It's better to get deals with brands to promote products in videos and get paid directly in cash per video/post as well: Instagram/Youtube/Tik Tok.

So along with Google Adsense one can also make thousands of dollars on video content creation (and still images) on different platforms also. Not to mention thousands in travel perks, and free gear to review, test out and keep.

As someone who has been in running Youtube for the last 15 years it's for sure changed a lot. Instagram and Tik Tok also really changed the game. Being a big time running influencer is for sure more lucrative than being a pro runner in most cases nowadays imo. You can essentially jump between running shoe brands every week and do unbiased shoe reviews that will get tens of thousands of views..... Run a 3 hour marathon with a selfie stick and get the admiration of thousands:

Influencers are often way more relatable to the average runner and people recognize themselves in the running influencer journey (mid packers) and their experience and perception of the sport. That is power in the market that is hard for pro runners and much faster runners to be able to also have.

ShoeTubersHaveNoEthics wrote:

wejo wrote:

You're looking at this wrong and so is the econ professor. (For those of you not familiar with Kofuzi, he's a top youtube reviewer of shoes. He probably does pretty well with that. )

The top miler in the world I guarantee makes more than him.

However, the 50th best miler in the world doesn't. If you're the 50th shoe reviewer on youtube or the 50th miler in the world, you're not going to make that much money.

They key in either of these industries is to be excellent at what you do.

Both industries (reviewers of shoes, and elite runners) aren't that big. So if you want to excel in either of them you'd better be really good at it.

Econ professor is right about one thing, the industry/company you work in and helping other people make money is important. My wife works in communications/branding in the private equity world. Communications people in this industry are going to get paid more than communications people in other industries as these companies can generate billions of dollars.

It depends on what you consider income for Kofuzi. He doesn't do sponsored videos (many of the other running YouTubers, like Allie Ostrander, Nick Symmonds, Believe in the Run, Ben Felton, etc) will have what amounts to an infomercial for nutritional supplements, fancy electrolytes, $200 Soar shorts, or socks at the beginning of their videos. The money in that is real--they are probably getting $1,500 to $5,000 per video for those ads.

Kofuzi just relies on AdSense. He does an annual what he made video every year, and last year he said it was $54,000 and change. However, I don't think that's the full story.

Video:youtu.be/JeP9LFTcZao?si=QfLOxzFEwiEpMZ...

The running shoe companies send him free shoes and gear to review. He does disclose this in his reviews. So that's potentially income too. And, from my view more importantly, the running shoe companies frequently pay for his travel and grant him bibs he wouldn't otherwise have in big races. That is usually not disclosed. And to me that makes me highly dubious of his reviews.

If you combined the sponsored videos, the free travel and gear, and the ad revenue, I could see a shoetuber making in the low to mid six figures but likely not above that. Still, Kofuzi doesn't maximize his earnings. He may not need to--he was a pretty successful litigation attorney before the pandemic.

ShoeTubersHaveNoEthics wrote:

It depends on what you consider income for Kofuzi. He doesn't do sponsored videos (many of the other running YouTubers, like Allie Ostrander, Nick Symmonds, Believe in the Run, Ben Felton, etc) will have what amounts to an infomercial for nutritional supplements, fancy electrolytes, $200 Soar shorts, or socks at the beginning of their videos. The money in that is real--they are probably getting $1,500 to $5,000 per video for those ads.

Kofuzi just relies on AdSense. He does an annual what he made video every year, and last year he said it was $54,000 and change. However, I don't think that's the full story.

Video:youtu.be/JeP9LFTcZao?si=QfLOxzFEwiEpMZ...

The running shoe companies send him free shoes and gear to review. He does disclose this in his reviews. So that's potentially income too. And, from my view more importantly, the running shoe companies frequently pay for his travel and grant him bibs he wouldn't otherwise have in big races. That is usually not disclosed. And to me that makes me highly dubious of his reviews.

If you combined the sponsored videos, the free travel and gear, and the ad revenue, I could see a shoetuber making in the low to mid six figures but likely not above that. Still, Kofuzi doesn't maximize his earnings. He may not need to--he was a pretty successful litigation attorney before the pandemic.

ShoeTubersHaveNoEthics wrote:

S. Canaday wrote:

I could be wrong, but I believe that was from Google Adsense just on Youtube alone.
It's better to get deals with brands to promote products in videos and get paid directly in cash per video/post as well: Instagram/Youtube/Tik Tok.

So along with Google Adsense one can also make thousands of dollars on video content creation (and still images) on different platforms also. Not to mention thousands in travel perks, and free gear to review, test out and keep.

As someone who has been in running Youtube for the last 15 years it's for sure changed a lot. Instagram and Tik Tok also really changed the game. Being a big time running influencer is for sure more lucrative than being a pro runner in most cases nowadays imo. You can essentially jump between running shoe brands every week and do unbiased shoe reviews that will get tens of thousands of views..... Run a 3 hour marathon with a selfie stick and get the admiration of thousands:

Influencers are often way more relatable to the average runner and people recognize themselves in the running influencer journey (mid packers) and their experience and perception of the sport. That is power in the market that is hard for pro runners and much faster runners to be able to also have.

A 3:00 marathon is not a mid packer at many marathons. That time would've finished in the top 20 overall at the last marathon I ran (in a major City no less), and it would've won the woman's race (winner ran 3:10 or so). And this isn't unusual for many mid sized marathons.

ShoeTubersHaveNoEthics wrote:

S. Canaday wrote:

I could be wrong, but I believe that was from Google Adsense just on Youtube alone.
It's better to get deals with brands to promote products in videos and get paid directly in cash per video/post as well: Instagram/Youtube/Tik Tok.

So along with Google Adsense one can also make thousands of dollars on video content creation (and still images) on different platforms also. Not to mention thousands in travel perks, and free gear to review, test out and keep.

As someone who has been in running Youtube for the last 15 years it's for sure changed a lot. Instagram and Tik Tok also really changed the game. Being a big time running influencer is for sure more lucrative than being a pro runner in most cases nowadays imo. You can essentially jump between running shoe brands every week and do unbiased shoe reviews that will get tens of thousands of views..... Run a 3 hour marathon with a selfie stick and get the admiration of thousands:

Influencers are often way more relatable to the average runner and people recognize themselves in the running influencer journey (mid packers) and their experience and perception of the sport. That is power in the market that is hard for pro runners and much faster runners to be able to also have.

A 3:00 marathon is not a mid packer at many marathons. That time would've finished in the top 20 overall at the last marathon I ran (in a major City no less), and it would've won the woman's race (winner ran 3:10 or so). And this isn't unusual for many mid sized marathons.