By Ken Sherman
Ever want to make your own television show about whatever you want and make big bucks? Well, this dream might be more realistic than you thought.
A very popular video-sharing website known as Youtube.com has become the home to many everyday people making it big and to many viral videos with millions of viewers. This website is the modern day blog where people can create any kind of channel they want and with enough networking and quality content, these “vloggers” can bring in fan bases of tens of thousands and up to millions. The content variety is endless. Videos range from reality vlogging, to video game reviews, to makeup gurus. But how does one get started?
Like any other website, your first step is to create an account with a username and password. The username you create is going to be your Youtube name. So for example; if my username is KenSherman, my channel name is going to be under the URL Youtube.com/KenSherman. Your next step is pretty simple, start creating content.
If your content is posted frequently and attracts at least a couple thousand views a week, Youtube will offer you a partnership.
Becoming a Youtube partner, the people who make revenue off their videos, is not something that happens overnight, however; sometimes it can take years. Just take a look at the popular music channel called BoyceAvenue. This is a band of three brothers who have been doing covers and original singles since 2007. For the majority of the time they were below 100,000 subscribers, which sounds like a lot but for a channel of three brothers when it comes to revenue splitting they definitely were on the low end. Today, BoyceAvenue has a little under 1 million subscribers and 445 million upload views.
There are also partners such as the channel EpicMealTime. Their videos, which feature eating huge amounts of junk food with comedic narrative going on in the background, have gone viral in less than a year, giving them 2 million subscribers.
What are subscribers? Subscribers are your dedicated viewers. When someone subscribes to your channel they are updated about everything you do, whether it be another video, you “favorite” a video, or most importantly upload a video. Usually the amount of subscribers you have is the minimum number of views your videos will get each time you upload one, because they are all updated when your videos are released. You can also think of your subscribers or “subs,” as vloggers call them, as your fan base. By obtaining a lot of subs, you’re becoming more and more of an internet celebrity. The more viewers per video you have also increases your income.
Youtube does not share its set income per view with the public but for some of the big name channels, with 3-4 million subscribers, revenues have been leaked, with some making well over $200,000 and $300,000 a year.
Now don’t get your hopes up too quickly. Making this much income would require a lot of work and time, just like anything else. I’m not trying to label this a get rich quick scam, but what I am doing is opening the door of opportunity in a place you might not have ever looked before. Youtube has set a platform for easy networking for people trying to create quality videos of all sorts. There are audiences for all types of content, some greater than others, but in the end anybody can make it big.
This is the chance for all people to use the internet for all its worth. Make the time you spend on the internet worth it by making money while using it.
Ken Sherman is a sophomore Communication Arts major at St. Thomas Aquinas College.
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