Today, many young people want to make use of internet to earn a living; one of the 'easiest' ways to fame and success is on youtube. No interview or qualifications are required; all you have to do is being very good at captivating an audience by being creative, enthusiastic, passionate and original.
There are millions and millions of videos on youtube; the question is ‘how to stand out from others? I t may require a lot of work and a lot of patience. The recipe to youtube success is firstly originality: Youtube is a stickler when it comes to copyrights and originality. You can apply to be a youtube partner, that is, being paid for making videos, if your videos are your own. And secondly, the key to success is ‘marketing’: youtubers can also promote their channel in different ways; it can be by asking other youtubers to visit their channel or, for example, by having giveaways in order to attract viewers and get them to subscribe to their channel. A youtuber who wants to reach a significant audience should be ready to invest a lot of time and money in making videos.
There are many popular youtube partners who have thousands or even millions of views per video. With so many subscribers, those youtube partners are a marketing tool for youtube and other companies. In fact, they are a brand in themselves. For example Michelle Phan, who is the number one most subscribed ‘makeup-gurus’ (name for a youtuber who makes beauty videos), is now a video makeup-artist of the prestigious brand Lancôme. We should not forget that the actress Emma Watson is also an ambassador of the brand. On the Lancôme official website, it is said that “Lancôme was captivated by her unique approach to the medium”.
Michelle Phan started filming beauty videos in 2006, an art student from a modest background, and as her number of subscribers increased so did her popularity among beauty brands. One thing we should know is that youtube makeup-artists such as Michelle Phan are frequently sent free products by multiple brands for reviews; this is how many small and unknown companies attract customers. Beauty gurus voluntarily or not promote products and brands. Now Michelle Phan travel the world, gives interviews to famous magazines such as Seventeen, Vogue and she is a well-established makeup artist who even had her own skincare brand called IQQU at some point. However, it can be a full time job that requires much more passion and commitment than any other jobs.
While youtube celebrities are not harassed by paparazzi, most of them are being harassed and bullied online on a daily basis. They are harassed by demanding subscribers who request more and more videos; video-filming is a long process that requires a ‘script’, the video- filming, editing and uploading. It is without any doubt a time-consuming process. And there is always the risk of losing subscribers if a youtube partner focuses on quantity instead of quality. Added to that, bullying is part of the job as well; many youtubers get thousands of hurtful, sexist or racist comments that attack the youtuber personally.
Hence, the price to easy success on internet can be very high in all senses of the word.
www.youtube.com/michellephan
www.twitter.com/ricebunny
www.lancome-usa.com/Michelle-Phan/michelle-phan,default,pg.html
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