Yeah, YouTube has definitely made our jobs harder as people see so many videos made for next to nothing and think it's like that across the board. "Well we were looking for something about $300...." Well, look somewhere else. If that's the case, take that money and go buy a Flip and shoot the thing yourself.
We've discussed this in a number of posts and the answers are the same. Yeah you can shoot for infinitely cheap now and that's wonderful. But if you want professional-grade work done, unless 'Uncle Ritche' knows his ass from a tripod you're going to have to go to a pro and pay them. We had a guy on one of the posts asking why one vid on the 'Tube was "crystal clear" vs another. The one he thought was wonderful looked like monkey's butt too! Between the 'Tube and AFV, people are so used to seeing other people's crap video they don't understand that it's crap.
As Grinner mentioned, way back when you were justified with the high-cost because the gear cost so much money. Now, unless you're doing really high-end work there's not much justification for high prices. But, potential client's still have to pay for your skill and the use of your equipment! If I or one of my editor's has to spend a week or more in an editing bay building original motion graphics and animations for your project, you're going to have to pay for that. Uncle Ritche can't do that stuff. People have no problems paying an accountant, lawyer, doctor or plumber without trying to 'haggle them down' because that's not how they operate. But they'll do it with us in a heartbeat.
So since shooting weddings (hate it) is no longer a lucrative biz, now many shooters are turning to internet programming. Grinner's a good example and my company is developing our own channel and content. Even in the straight production biz, damn near everything is shot on spec now with no-lo budgets in the hope the work gets picked up. That stuff was fine about 4 years ago. I don't do spec work now, because though it's nice to work on side projects that stuff doesn't pay the bills. Shoot most of the people producing spec work don't even know or attempt to compensate by hooking up the amenities. When we did our latest spec gig, though nobody got paid all lodging and meals were fully taken care of. All the crew and actors had to do was be ready to go to work. One old Hollywood guy that worked with us said he'd never been treated that well even on high paying jobs!
So now we're stuck with 'Uncle's Bob and Ritche' and the 'neighbor kid with the camera' having everyone think that's all you need to do this kind of work. Bottom line is; when you're trying to sell your capabilities to potential clients, you're going to have to a) show them why they would much rather have your work than their Uncle's and b) show them why they're going to have to pay to get them. If they don't want to meet your price, move on.
