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Second Wind - Q4 Financial Report + Upcoming Plans
🕑 Added 2025-01-22 22:57:46 +0000 UTCHey folks!
It's that time again for another one of our quarterly reports. Financial breakdown is in the image above, and below we'll go into it in a bit more detail, as well as our upcoming plans for Second Wind.
/ REPORT BREAKDOWN
As expected, we had another loss in Q4 as we continue to adjust our costs with the drop in support on Patreon due to both the current financial environment, and the malicious videos made towards our team last year.
Things have stabilized mostly, and we're back to the normal ebb and flow of new subscribers coming in and going out. While we'd still like to try and get the Patreon back to around $50,000 / month, we also know the challenges of accomplishing that, and have said since day one of Second Wind that we would adapt when needed and not be reliant on any one source of revenue.
Q4 was a slow period for sponsors across the board unfortunately, and our one-year anniversary event didn't have the impact on Patreon we had hoped it would, along with some partnerships not panning out. That's just how it goes sometimes in this content creation business - and thankfully our team is very good at coming up with solutions when we need to and adapting.
I wrote in our Q3 report that a loss in Q4 was expected so we've been focused on longer-term goals that are coming together in Q1. These goals include getting our podcasts monetized on audio platforms, getting a work for hire branch of Second Wind spun up, and reorganizing our merch plans.
We've followed through on pretty much all of our notes from Q3:
Reducing costs
Q4 is the first quarter where Frost and Cisco were no longer part of our salaries.
We've also reduced and paused additional freelance work until we get profitable again.
Moving merch providers
Moved to DFTBA. Higher quality merch, better designs, international shipping and more consistency.
Fully Ramblomatic Blu-rays have sold very well. This money is not reported in our Q4 report yet as pre-orders are ongoing.
Started talks with a podcast partner platform
We have yet to monetize our podcasts outside of YouTube.
We're in talks with a potential partner now to get our podcasts monetized on audio platforms like Spotify.
Have been prepping to launch a work for hire arm of Second Wind
Work for Hire projects have been a part of our plan since the founding of Second Wind. It was outlined in our business plan document and soon we'll be announcing something cool we've been building out behind the scenes for the last couple months.
Work for Hire will be an essential part of the business for us once we launch it to make sure we have an actual product to offer that is just work we complete and get paid for.
And don't worry, it will be completely separated from our Second Wind content so that there's zero conflicts of interest on our part.
We'll be ready to talk about this project more in the near future.
/ UPCOMING CONTENT
Unpacked is making its 2025 return this Friday the 24th around 3 PM CT, and then with episodes dropping weekly on Fridays at 10 AM CT.
I have reformatted the show so that each week I cover a few smaller topics and then unpack them in a single video. I had a lot of fun writing up this week's and I think you'll appreciate the updated format as a way to keep up with interesting news, game announcements and some additional surprises.
Starting on February 3rd, Design Delve will be moving to every other Monday at 10 AM CT. No other changes are coming to the show aside from the new timeslot!
The Archive is back in production with Marty and Jesse S. prepping the long-awaited episode on Peter Jackson's King Kong video game. We will have more updates on that soon, and you can expect a new episode once a month going forward.
Animal Well Documentary is progressing nicely and will release in the first half of February!
This month's experimental video for Patreon supporters at the $5 tier will be available next week from Yahtzee! It's one we're all really excited about.
We have some other projects in the works that we're not ready to talk about just yet as well, so stay tuned for continued updates.
/ THANK YOU
As always, we thank you for your support here on Second Wind. It's more important than ever to support your favorite independent media outlets and we wouldn't be here without everyone that chips in every month to allow us to continue doing this job we all love.
It's obviously been a little challenging on our end, but things are moving in the right direction, and the team is confident and feels good about the path ahead.
We've said since the beginning we just want to be sustainable, and have no expectations for constant, exponential growth on Second Wind. We're going to have a down quarter or two, and that's OK. If we're ever in dire need of your help, we will be sure to let you know!
With current events in the world, we also want to make clear that if you need a place to escape to for a bit to get some laughs, talk about your favorite game, movie or television show, and feel welcomed no matter who you are - Second Wind's community is always open to you.
Thanks everyone and hope you've had a good start to the new year.
Nick Calandra
Editor-in-Chief
Comments
Kenneth D. Mohr
No matter what, the second wind team will always have my support. You guys are awesome. Stay up.
Nick Calandra
Could be worth a test! We like having something on the weekend and he's covering a lot of relatively unknown indie games so the viewership is expected to be lower.
Will Cooling
Oh no...I meant give it eight days between the second stream and Yahtzee Tries. So this week would have been Yahtzee Tries, then next week would be Semi-Ramblomatic, etc etc. I just think the Sunday drop day is badly hurting them in terms of viewership
Nick Calandra
Was on our radar, just didn't find the right partner.
Antiphar
Yes, and ten seconds of Patreon reminder beats five minute reads for Honey or Factor any day!
Alex Adams
They ask as much as every other creator I follow on YouTube. That’s just the standard now.
Alex Adams
I’m shocked to learn you hadn’t monetized the audio podcasts. Glad it’s on your radar now.
Andrew White-Winter
Hang in there all. Believe me when I say that the light of joy and happiness that you present is going to become so much more important as the year goes on. As my favorite porter says, "Keep on keeping on."
Lil' Cass
Since the Fully Ramblomatic Blu-rays happened with Shark Robot, will they ever be reprinted and sold on the new DFTBA storefront?
Lil' Cass
Thank you guys for focusing on making a community as great as Second Wind😄💖
Lil' Cass
Thank you Nick💖😄
Nick Calandra
Just due to manpower and editing time. The streams happen every Wednesday, so Jesse would have to crunch Wednesday night to get it out Thursday morning and not gonna ask him to do that.
Ultraczar
Keep up the great work, folks! And really appreciate the transparent breakdowns every quarter. This is why you need a warchest, especially when you do annual sub models! My annual renewal just triggered a bit ago. Here's to another year of fun and games!
Will Cooling
Exactly. One week you get Semi-Ram. One week you get Yahtzee Tries. It just seems obvious scheduling to me, and i don't understand why its not been done
Sven F.
( help help, i m beeing repressed ) I hope the year 2025 will be a good year to finish setting up the business model and getting more deals. May the merch be with you ! Best wishes to all SW crew and your loved ones. Peace and long life 🖖 ( I wonder if you got some sweet sweet luigi money ) I'm gonna wait KCD2 now.
Nick Calandra
Twitch revenue isn't much of a focus for us. VAST majority of our streaming revenue comes from YouTube via Super Chats and such. That's where our main audience is. However, we're doing more one-off streams on Twitch to work on building out that platform a bit more and reaching new audiences.
MarvoMundercup
One thing that strikes me is that Twitch revenue is pretty low given all the hours spent streaming. Is there a way to boost that or to refocus that time on other things that bring in more income? Maybe livestreams could be saved for larger occasions? Not meaning to be harsh here; I get that streaming can be fun and y’all enjoy yourselves doing it!
MarvoMundercup
Gentle disagree with this one; I usually have a pretty low tolerance for adverts etc (hence being a paid subscriber lol) but I haven’t been bothered by the patreon requests
MarvoMundercup
Assuming you mean consistent drop days rather than that they’re both dropped on the same day? I’d second this :)
NINJACHICKEN893
Since it’s through DFTBA does that mean some of sales is being donated to Sierra Leone? I didn’t realize they produced merch for people outside of the Green brothers until I saw you guys partnered.
NINJACHICKEN893
It’s fine to ask, and I agree necessary. But it’s too frequent. It feels too corporate and inauthentic. A reminder every now & then would keep it from getting grating while still netting donations. People don’t like finding a new interesting video and being immediately accosted.
Will Cooling
I've said it before but I really think Yahtzee Tries and Semi-Ramblomatic should have the same drop day, so that people know there's two days to check out Second Wind for Yahtzee content. Just helps encourage regular business
Jowidy
It's unfortunately just what works. People don't think to chip in unless asked. Same with liking and subscribing, which is why every youtuber asks you to like and subscribe... even though the buttons are right there. It's just the state of play.
Kai
Always appreciate the transparency! It's a marathon and not a sprint of course, it's a little rougher right now but it's good to see that huge initial momentum you got is giving you a buffer while you ride this period out.
Far Too Many Frogs
From an occasional editor and former contractor, same!
Nick Calandra
Blu-Rays are coming. We held off on launching them until Season 4 arrives to better promote them. We'll have some new shirts as well on DFTBA when Season 4 launches as well! Plushies are still available over at Shark Robot, but you may want to wait for the clearance sale we'll have coming up soon.
Jeremy
thanks for the update! looking forward to all the future plans
GiantPurplePen15
Glad to hear things have sort of stabilized financially for the team. The podcasts have consistently been fantastic so I hope you all find a way to successfully monetize them in some way.
Dan Smeiska
Any news on adventure is Nigh goodies? I know the new season is coming soon, but anything else? 😁
Jowidy
As an advertising agency owner, very much looking forward to work for hire details!
NINJACHICKEN893
I would recommend patreon plugs and such every third video of each series? Every video, everytime is just annoying and grinding.
Brian S
If you need greater support, just let us know!
ergotpoisoning
Much love to you all producing great content and striking out alone. Not always easy but always rewarding and valuable in our increasingly homogenized and enshittified media landscape. Think what y'all are doing is unique and I'm glad it exists
Mithras K
I don't envy the position you're in, trying to find ways to monetize things in the present environment. Having said that, I believe in your ability to do so, and I believe in what you guys are making. If Patreon isn't making enough, I'm glad that you're doing what it takes to find other revenue streams. I always appreciate your transparency, and I really, truly enjoy watching your videos, reading your articles (Darren Mooney's are incredible for example), and listening to podcasts. I'll do my bit on Patreon and I'm definitely snagging some merch as well, and I hope others can afford to as well.
Jared
My wife tried to talk me out of getting rid of my Patreon subscription. I told her no.
Wilhelm Svenselius
Appreciate the detailed and transparent updates! There's already more great stuff coming from you than I have time to watch, but I'm doing my best to catch up. Looking forward to the upcoming stuff going into 2025!
NINJACHICKEN893
Honestly, you guess are asking cash too much on Youtube and it’s a turn off.
Nick Calandra
Everything that's ordered through Shark Robot will be honored! This is just for our new merch that we've launched with DFTBA. So nothing to worry about if you made orders there.
Albert Squires
Always appreciated the break downs
Veela
I see a 'ended partnership with Shark Robot' bit. What does this mean for preorders of the blue ray?
