You know what bums me out? Everyone in the fuckin’ world is successful but me. OK, that’s obviously not true. I’m very good at what I do (Japanese translation). In fact, I am one of the best in the world. I have made a decent amount of money at times. But my ego tells me I should have done something really big in life by now at age 43, and I don’t feel that I have. I ain’t earned the million bucks. I ain’t achieved fame.
I’m quite creative, however, and I think I could make good YouTube videos. OK, that intro probably makes me seem like a loooooser, and you’re probably thinking, “He’d probably SUCK!” No, but really, I think I could make good stuff. Let’s just assume that for the moment…
So what are the ups and downs of trying to make it on YouTube? I mean, I see an idiot like PewDiePie become a multimillionaire. OTOH, I enjoy challenge videos, and there are a bunch of people who seem to be “making it” with pretty minimal technology. So please disillusion me and give me the Straight Dope. I’ve read a bit online, but the focus of the critique seems to be the major content producers backed by real money who feel that YouTube is a rip (for them, it probably is). How about just one guy who would be happy to make a few tens of thousands a year to boost his income and achieve a bit of that success he feels he’s missing right now?
If you’re looking to YT to make (modest) cash, I think you’d have better odds at going down to your local convenience store and buying a couple of scratch off tickets. And that’s not hyperbole either.
[ul]
[li]do some serious brainstorming.[/li][li]set up a crew; assistant, cameraman, soundperson.[/li][li]time travel back a decade or so.[/li][li]profit![/li][/ul]
Currently, there are one hundred hours of video uploaded to YouTube each minute!
I have a friend who did amateur video game commentary on YouTube, which (to his complete surprise) turned in to a brief but high-profile e-sports career in Korea.
That said, I’m not sure that people are going to make much out of YouTube these days unless they are very good at something very specific, and have countless hours to sink in to it. Basically, if you had something like that in you, you’d know it by now.
Why not try to do something in your community that makes an impact? If you can teach, even tutoring or ESL or helping refugees acclimate, you’ll have an impact that lasts a lifetime.
Most people never do anything big in their life, in fact I would say this can be applied that the vast majority of people who ever existed and exist now, usually people come to terms with that by 43; make a video about that. Something like, “How to enjoy your shitty life.” I would watch it.
Although it may seem obvious, my advice would be to go with what you’re good at. There are a number of YouTubers who are doing extremely well with their Japanese language channels, Victor of gimmeabreakman, gimmeaflakeman, japaneseformorons, Victorintheworld fame comes immediately to mind, in addition to other YouTubers such as Hikosaemon. There is also a YouTuber, Bilingirl, who does this from the other end, meaning she teaches English to native Japanese speakers.
Although these YouTubers are very popular, making a nice bucket of moolah from their YouTube channels and associated events and meetups, some sponsored by YouTube, in addition to the many others in this genre who I haven’t mentioned who are doing quite well in things Japanese, I have always felt that there is something missing from these channels’ offerings or their execution that could send them into the stratosphere. Perhaps you have what it takes to do this.
Thank you, I appreciate the idea. Although I enjoy translation because I enjoy the puzzle aspect of it (how do I turn this poorly written, mistake-ridden Japanese [yeah, most of the stuff even from major companies is embarrassingly poor] into outstanding English) and the writing aspect (outstanding English), I really am not the kind of person who identifies strongly with my Japanese language skills. I would do some videos about Japan and translation on topics about which I have passion, but nah, would not like to do a Japanese channel.
I would be curious to know if you have any insights about how well those Japanese channels are doing, however. I do not feel I would have a problem coming up with content I would want to do. Rather, I’d like to know what level of output one can expect from what level of input.
For example, is the following feeling common among people who try hard? “I put all this effort into YouTube. I put up outstanding content, did my best to promote it, and I got absolutely zilch.” Let’s assume that the content is pretty good. Is the case that even then it’s most likely to get totally buried and only a lucky few break out? Or is it the case that pretty decent content will tend to earn a pretty decent audience and earn some bucks?
For example, I feel I have a grip on the music industry with regard to this question. You can have a very competent band with outstanding songs and never get anywhere. It tends to be all or nothing (unless you just want to play in bars, etc., and make a bit of cash money and have fun). I’m curious what the reality is on YouTube.
I think my position and psychological state is a bit more subtle than that. I’ve lived a life of discipline and moderate success, but I think I can do more. A lot of people at age 43 are on track to do that: they might be becoming CEO or finally have the successful business 5 or 10 years down the road. Right now, unless I make a change, I will just be an outstanding translator and copywriter for the rest of my life.
Like so many things, there are two sides to this. For a lot of people, just knowing that they are as good at their job as you are would be reward enough.
The other side is (as the saying goes) “You’re only as old as you make up your mind to be.” Example–
Grandma Moses–who didn’t even START painting until she was considerably older than you are.
If you can find some way to channel your dissatisfaction, you stand a good chance of doing something that you may not yet imagine. The difficulty is finding the proper channel.
Something that I have done sometimes is to try something as an experiment, and go into it with very low expectations. That way, if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t lost anything beside a very little time and effort. If you try a Youtube channel as a lark, who knows? But maybe, just maybe, you might be pleasantly surprised.
The highest profile youtubers are brands. (They’re also almost all managed by various agencies in LA. Have you noticed how many of them have packed up and moved to LA in the last few years? Makes collabs and meetings easier.) But if you want the recognition and money they have, you’ll need to devote all your time to it. They tweet, instagram, and facebook all the time.
Youtube’s bar to entry is low. You need a webcam and a basic editing tool like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, the time to develop and film a concept and then to edit and upload it. Failing everything else you can take an afternoon to shoot a few 5 minute videos and see what the reception is.
What would you video? Do you have a skillset or passion that’s particularly amenable to video? If you’re just going to vlog, you’re going to find it a tough row to hoe. Vloggers trend young and slightly stupid. Those that aren’t like the vlogbrothers or wheezywaiter have other schticks and tend to be more avuncular in tone. If it’s japanese you’re into, I’d look at the channels that Onomatopoeia mentioned and see if there’s an angle they’re not covering that you could take on.
Thanks for your reply! I guess my question about that is this: What do the agencies in LA do for the YTers? What is the difference in exposure and money they can offer?
Frankly, I have just really gotten into YT over the past year or so. Before then, I never understood the purpose of subscriptions and used the platform mostly to listen to music on a one-off basis (I understood, of course, that channels existed and whatnot. The whole thing just didn’t grab me. I really got into it from watching challenge videos, which seem to have gotten much bigger over the past year…). So the whole thing has suddenly come to life for me. I know it hasn’t yet for others, since my best friend, whose job is media (like mine) questioned the purpose of subscriptions a couple weeks ago. So, paradoxically, the world of YT has become semi-mature while a lot of people still aren’t into it. Vlogbrothers seemed to get in on the ground floor. Would you say it is easier or harder now to attain a position like theirs? (Excepting, of course, the whole “Fault in Our Stars” thing…)
NOoooooo! See above. The channel would have little to do with Japanese. I would like to make interesting sketch videos one one channel and just talk about intellectual topics on another. I am not expecting to become a megastar or anything, but it would be nice to earn, say, an extra $5-20k a year from the work.
I think you really need to work on your concept. “Some kind of sketch and something something intellectual” is a weak elevator pitch. If you are expecting to make money-- or even make a rewarding hobby-- out of content, the content needs to drive it, not the medium.
Stop asking what YouTube can do for you. What can you do for YouTube?
The agencies do the same thing for youtubers that they do for regular celebrities. Handle PR, network, figure out how to monetize as much as possible, get them endorsements.
It’s far far harder to become someone like a vlogbrother because everyone and their mother saw how these early channels took off and to a certain extent that ship has sailed. Youtube is a far different beast now than it was in 2010 and lightyears from where it was in 2006. I listen to Rhett and Link’s Earbiscuit podcast where they interview various youtubers and explore what drew them to youtube in the first place and for many of them, their big break came when they got front paged back when it was curated by an actual person and everyone saw the same front page. Now it’s all computerized and uses algorithms to display the content they think you’re most likely to watch.
The audience for the average vlogger is heavily weighted toward pre-teen and teenage girls which is why the most popular vloggers tend to be cute and slightly shy boys (usually with an accent) like Danisnotonfire or Caspar Lee or flaming gays like Tyler Oakley or Troye Sivan, or older sister-type women like Grace Helbig or Elle Flower. I can’t think of any older male vloggers who don’t have an educational or informative spin to their vlogs.
If I were you, I wouldn’t bother with two channels to start out with. You’re not going to have so much content that you’ll need to separate it out like that. Generally, people have a main channel where their content goes and then they’ll have a second channel that’s more blooper-type stuff or stuff they think is too boring, unfinished or just too low-quality to post on the main channel. As an example, Hank Green of vlogbrothers always posts 20ish minute videos going over layout updates on youtube for the benefit of less technologically adept youtubers on his second channel. Also, people don’t usually subscribe to multiple channels of people they don’t really know so if you start plugging two channels out of the gate, you’ll divide your subscriber base. I’d make an upload schedule (and stick to it!) like say, sketches on Monday and Wednesday and a topic video on Friday. Consistency is key, as you mentioned, many people don’t subscribe but they still count for views and they simply navigate to the channel on a regular basis and watch the latest uploaded video. If you promise a regular upload schedule and then don’t deliver, people will drift away. Same if you just upload whenever you want.
My advice still stands. You need to figure out what in the sketch/discussion arena is lacking and how you can fulfill it.
Oh, and get a tumblr. You’ll want to share your videos on there with some good tags and if you can get them to accumulate some notes, that will translate into views and subscriptions. (Also, it’s helpful if you think you might lean dirty because youtube’s age verification requirement on adult flagged videos doesn’t translate through the tumblr youtube player so younger fans would be able to watch the videos.)