So these completely normal people, with totally fame free backgrounds are now worldwide sensations and have YouTube as a career?
They earn a fortune, get to travel the world and are sent luxury items from PR. All sounds far too good to be true. Sadly it is true, and I bet you’re just as jealous as me!
So what are the working lives of these lucky people really like?
What do they earn?
YouTube may not be your traditional job, however for some it is their full-time career, just not with your basic salary. Some of these YouTubers can earn up to £20,000 a month according the Daily Mail online. The stars earn their money based on the amount of views their videos get and also through advertising. You know the annoying adverts that pop up at the start of the video and occasionally through? When you frantically hit ‘skip ad’! That’s partly how they make their money.
Teen Vogue posted an article which allowed an insight into how much the popular YouTubers of 2016 have been paid.
Product placement is also vital for these YouTubers. A lot of companies will contact them about collaborating to promote a particular product. For example, they may be given a camera to try for when they are filming their videos. They do this as they brands and companies know the strong influence that these individuals have. If they praise the product they have been sent, the viewers then watch the video and can hear about the product themselves, and consequently this could result in an increase in purchases.
Get down to business
These online influencers cannot just rely on the views in order to provide their income. This can fluctuate from month to month depending on the popularity of the content that they have created and how many times each video has been watched.
Therefore, most YouTubers, once they make YouTube their full-time job tend, they tend to expand their business ventures. For example many of the girls have produced books such as Zoella with her trilogy of ‘Girl Online‘ and Fleur De Force with ‘The Luxe Life‘ and ‘The Glam Guide‘.
Tanya Burr now has ‘Tanya Burr Cosmetics’. The products can be purchased from Superdrug stores and online and also on www.feelunique.com.
The boys such as Alfie Deyes and Joe Sugg (with his sister Zoe) have produced merchandise for their viewers to purchase. The popularity of these products shows the huge influence that these guys have had. The majority of the boys merchandise and Tanya’s makeup sells out and the girls books have been on the best seller lists.
Most YouTubers also have their own blogs and social media platforms. So, not only are they sharing their content visually through the videos that they create but they can also keep their audiences up to date with their lives, view videos and products through their their variety of platforms. Their social media can include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. All of which they need to keep active so that the audiences remain interested and influenced. However, through sharing their lives through the public eye it’s an open invitation for the ‘haters’ to share their views on the YouTubers way of life. The comments that they receive can be nasty and hurtful. Some of the comments are definitely not something you would ever want to read about yourself or that others could read about you.
Come fly with me!
The success can come at a price…of travel(what a hard life). There are events and conventions across the world that many of these YouTubers will fly to, to be apart of. Some may be so that they can speak on a panel. For example at Vidcon, that takes place in Orlando, Florida. Or perhaps they may attend a press launch for the latest product that a brand is releasing. Recently four YouTubers, Niomi, Amelia, Victoria and Tamara travelled to Paris for the first UK blogger trip with Dior Makeup. Niomi shared her experience of the trip with her views in her vlog.
For many of these press trips that these lucky YouTubers get to go on, not only will all their travel be paid for by the brand who is hosting, but they will also have access to items from the press launch for them to try themselves. Many of them will also blog or vlog the experience. This allows their viewers to share the trip with them.
The reality of YouTube as a career
These guys really are just like the traditional celebrity. A lot of their lives are shared online for the world to see. Although the majority of the posts are from the YouTubers themselves, it’s still a huge commitment to share with thousands of people.
In order for the posts to go online, the internet personalities must create the content to share. They make it look so easy. However, with set videos to uploaded each week, blog posts to be written and press requests to be responded to, it all takes it toll.
For example some YouTubers choose to complete ‘vlogmas’. This is where they blog every day in the month of December. The YouTubers must remember to film their day, whilst also editing the footage from the day before, which can take hours. Whilst also writing some blog posts and also living their normal day-to-day lives. Although this may be their job, they do not receive the high days and holidays of a normal job. They can be working all year round.
FleurDeForce posted a video to the online platform allowing her viewers to really see what the day in the life of a YouTuber is really like.
So, if you thought that these internet sensations had an easy life of luxury, think again.
The reality of YouTube as a career is long hours spent editing, hectic days running to different press events and sharing a lot of their lives through social media, where they face the backlash of internet trolls. All of this whilst also trying to lead a normal day-to-day-life.
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