YouTube: The Land of Oppurtunity
As of today, Youtube is America's second most-watched platform. The website has surpassed TV views and has documented over one billion views every single day. What are people watching or whom, you may ask? Anything and everything can be found on the site. The creator's of these videos are called Youtuber's , individuals who have devoted their lives to what is now considered a very high paying career. These Youtubers have created a craft and brand on their own personal and controlled channel doing anything from reviewing toys to make-up tutorials. It doesn't end there, the variety of content on Youtube is endless.
One of the genres with highest view counts are tutorials. Most can say it is much simpler to type in what you want to learn quickly on Youtube rather than reading directions, and the tutorials are endless. There are many make-up vloggers, who show you how to do the most prestigious facial looks with pro-techniques using different kinds of brands and products. One vlogger who sky-rocketted her success on Youtube is "Nikki de Jager" with 10 million subscribers. Nikki Tutorials is a channel that focuses on high glam looks while spreading female empowerment. Her comments are filled with supporters uplifting her for spreading positivity to woman who don't fit conventional beauty standards. One other Youtuber that raised popularity is "Bethany Mota" . Bethany started as a young teen vlogger spreading love and youthful energy to inspire girls to feel confident and anti-bullying. With her channel having 10 million subscribers, she shares DIY videos for home hacks, arts and crafts, clothing hauls, make-up tutorials, and fun cooking videos. Bethany has created an audience so big it landed her a spot on Dancing with the Stars and her own clothing line in Aeropostale.
Both of these woman have created a brand of their own that built there audience to where it is today. With both of the girls videos averaging 1.9 million views per about twenty videos a month, the ladies bring in a whopping $50,000 a month in personal earnings. Not bad for two girls in their early 20's right?
Another genre of Youtube is family vloggers. These couples and young families have changed the game for reality television. Instead of the stages and producers creating content to the viewer, these vloggers are simply filming a variety of videos of their real lives. One family that that gain popularity rapidly is The Ace Family. When they first started their channel, it consisted of young parents Austin McBroom, Catherine Paiz, and their few month old daughter Elle. They posted videos such as funny pranks, viral challenges, and daily vlogs in their lives. In one year they have gained 6 million subscribers with an average of 2.5 million views per video. Their channel is one of the few that has very little hate. The couple embraces a positive attitude and presents a family environment in their videos. They even address their supporters as "Ace Family Members" rather than fans. The Ace Family has such a reliable and growing audience that their personal revenue grows every single month. They have an earning of $8,300 per day from views, equalling to more than $2 million a year in earnings.
Now if your thinking you need to keep coming up with different content to build an audience you are mistaken. Some Youtuber's have successful channels based on doing one thing only. Gaming is a global market that has grown rapidly throughout the years. Felix Khellberg aka PewDiePie has ranked the #1 watched gaming youtube channel for being the first Youtube star to exceed over ten billion views. His channel has a reliable following of 46 million subscribers and counting. PewDiePie brings a fun and youthful commentary while he live streams games to millions of gamers around the world. This gamer's successful channel has earned him an income of $11 million a year.
Another vlogger who brings a different approach to content is a young 6-year-old boy by the name of Ryan. His channel Ryan ToyReviews has accumulated over 10 million subscribers in only one year. Ryan's parents film their son playing with different toys while reviewing them. Who watches these videos you might be asking? Think to yourself, how many kids these days own iPads. Most of these young 3-10 year olds are searching other children playing with toys amongst other videos. Ryan made over $11 million dollars in one year before he was in 2nd grade.
The ultimate question is how are these people making this much money? It's called advertisement, even Youtube has commercials. Once some channels have a high volume audience they are often contacted by different companies willing to pay for a quick shout-out or even offer to send free products to advertise. Also, major companies such as Amazon, Warner Bros, etc. pay Youtube to place advertisements into videos. Youtube collects 55% to themselves, leaving the Youtuber to collect 45%.
The culture of Youtube is anything, and everything. The world we live in today gives young creators the opportunity to build a business from there everyday lives, creativity, and devotion towards their brand. The fact that Youtube can be reached all over the world creates a community that everyone can be connected.