From YouTube Celebrities to YouTube ‘Entrepreneurs’

YouTubing has only begun to boom in the last 5-7 years or so, and YouTube veterans have become ‘millionaires’. Building a brand on YouTube is no rocket science, all you need is a camera and access to the internet, and you’re good to go. The best part is that there’s no limit to the kind of videos you can upload. You can talk about your everyday routine, your ‘makeup routine’, ‘bedtime’ routine, your struggle with mental health and you will surprisingly find yourself a sizeable audience.

YouTubers have carved a different niche of ‘celebrities’. There’s isn’t any famous YouTuber in the world who doesn’t get stopped for pictures, and some even need their own body guards! And not to forget, their social media fan pages. But their success certainly didn’t come overnight. It took them years of hard work and building their audience for them to be able to turn YouTubing into full-time careers.

So how do these YouTubers monetize their videos? Social media listening tool ‘SocialBlade’ reveals exactly how much money each YouTuber earns per video, their reach, and how many clicks they’ve gotten in the last month or so. For example, if a YouTuber has around a million followers or so,  he she makes around $1.5 – 4 per 1000 views. This amount increases/decreases depending on the number of followers you have. However, your revenue does not depend on the number of your followers.

A number of YouTubers have expanded their brands beyond YouTube, and have ventured into different territories. British YouTuber Zoe Sugg, a.k.a Zoella, is one of the most prominent faces on YouTube, and she also has her own successful beauty brand called Zoella Beauty. Her combined earnings from YouTube and her beauty range place her a networth of $2.5 million. Additionally, she has also built her very own office space, and is also set to come out with her own book on ‘guest hosting’ tips called ‘Cordially Invited’.

Popular make-up YouTubers Jeffree Star, Laura Lee, Jaclyn Hill and others have built their cosmetics empire with YouTube as a Launchpad, and their products flying off the shelves in days. And this success isn’t restricted to beauty and cosmetics. Music, and technology also have gained an impetus of their own

YouTubers have built their audience on YouTube and then banked on their success to build a larger brand. There a also a number of YouTubers who partner with reputed brand to create their own range of products. Indian-origin Lily Singh or ‘Superwoman’ collaborated with cosmetic giant Smashbox to come up an exclusive lipstick shade called ‘Bawse’. YouTube makeup guru Patrick Star also partnered with M.A.C cosmetics to launch a limited edition range of makeup products with them, which is a milestone for any beauty YouTuber.

Whoever thought that something as simple as talking about your life could rake in millions! Some You/tubers also have a dedicated team behind the scenes – a manager, a publicist, a video editor, and marketing manager and more, that help their ‘brands’ grow bigger and better. In India too, there are a plethora of YouTubers with an astounding fan following. ‘MostlySane’, Prajakta Koli, is one of the few India YouTubers to have crossed a million subscribers, and her audience is only growing.

However, this isn’t easy money. It takes years to build yourself, and starting from scratch in a time when existing YouTubers have a loyal fan base, but it isn’t impossible. Hard work, dedication and consistency (as is applicable to any field of work), will surely pave the way for success.