To give up my job and become a full time YouTuber?

[DiamondIntRuff]

So I'm not going to go into too much detail here, but basically I'm fed up of my (self employed) job that is not exactly bringing in a lucrative income each month. I spend a lot of time on YT, there are people I've followed for years who have millions of subscribers from doing basic things (make up tutorials, vlogs, reviews etc) and it seems to be the 'thing' to do nowadays. I read an article about how a couple of the top YTers are earning four MILLION plus a year from the advertising after they have so many views. Am I deluded? Is anyone here a YTer?

[HelenaGWells]

It's not impossible but it's very difficult. For every person who makes a fortune thousands of others make nothing.

You need frequent quality content, good marketing skills, good networking skills and patience.

Mostly the big you tubers spent years putting out content before they got big.

[Karlakitten1]

Ha, I would also love to be a youtuber. Give it a go,but it would take years to build up subscribers,unless you were massive like zoella and co. Maybe do it as a hobby to actually see if you like and would get views? Cleaning routines go down well.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

It's the kind of job, like music, writing or acting, where it's a good idea to have something else that pays the bills while you do it part-time to see if it will fly.

[HelenaGWells]

Some just why lucky don't get me wrong but it's rare. Most of the big you tubers spent years building their success.

I am starting to do it but purely as a hobby. So far I've spent a week just figuring out the set up to get things right. It's easy to create awful content but hard work to make something good.

By all means give it a shot but plan it, work at it and don't assume you can throw up a couple of videos each week and earn a fortune.

[NotStoppedAllDay]

I'd love to do it but simply don't have the time

And my s would hate it

Who do you all subscribe to? Saccone joly family are s bit too much for me, tho I like Anna on her own channel

[AnathemaPulsifer]

It would be insane to quit your job to become a famous YouTuber. By all means do it in your spare time and quit the day job if you make it big.

[NotStoppedAllDay]

Couples are starting to do it together too

[DiamondIntRuff]

I've watched Zoella and PewDiePie and no find them terribly boring to be honest, I'm not sure why they get so many views! But I have makeup skills and small children who would definitely love to do some toy unboxing videos (which they watch constantly and seem to get the most views on YT) and I religiously watch a few people with 'interesting' lives who have done so well within a year of starting ...maybe it's the two wines talking but this could be a good idea?! Hmm

[Heinousfauxpas]

I'd be worried about children featuring. You get so many weirdos who can make the most vile comments as I'm sure you know.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Emmymadeinjapan is great. Just a lovely, pretty woman tasting things. Sounds weird but it's great. She does Poppin Cooking stuff and because she's Japanese, can explain the box to DD and I. And her kid is never shown.

[bloodyteenagers]

I wouldn't put my children on there. Lots
If parents already share fat too much of their children on social media as it is. My son cringes at some of the over sharing. He watches a few families and he even says it's too much and could locate them easily. Plus
With all the info -names, ages, interests etc easy to befriend the children. This is a child btw who just thinks it's weird.

But anyway I digress. Do it as a hobby. Don't feature the children. They deserve their privacy

[EatSpamAmandaLamb]

Featuring children seems a line too far to me. There are rules regarding the hours a child can work and these seem to be flouted routinely on YouTube and Instagram. If you want to do it, go for it but think twice about your children and be aware there is an incredible amount of criticism and intrusion into private lives. For every one YouTuber rolling in cash there are 100,000 not evening hitting the Google Adsense payment threshold.

[UnicornMadeOfPinkGlitter]

But to get the un boxing videos you have to either be a yiutuber with a good amount of subscribers to get the free products or pay for the items to inbox.

I'd maybe start as a hobby and build up to the aim of it being a full time job. To be honest I have no idea how they constantly make money. Many of the yiutbubers have hit and miss videos. Even the huge ones like zoella and pointless blog. I used to really like mrs meldrum but they no longer interest me and the same with the Ingham family. I really dislike the way that they show almost every aspect of the family and the children.

But I do like to watch s good primark haul and despite being older I do like jazzybum and even though brummymummyof2 children are younger than mine I enjoy her videos.

[Puddington]

Some of the "big" youtubers like PewDiePie annoy me intensely haha but it's true that after a couple of million subscribers you can make a lot of money from it -- I remember when markiplier was doing relatively amateur gameplay videos for a relatively small audience and now he has sponsors out the wazoo, millions of fans, is flown out to all kinds of events etc. (And to a lesser extent ItsBlackFriday who used to film hair & makeup tips on a fuzzy handheld camera and now is somehow making enough from it to rent both an apartment to live in AND an apartment to film youtube videos in from the profits! It's madness.)

All that said in some ways it's sort of a roll of the dice as to whether your channel will catch on to the extent of actually being profitable. To quote a PP directly, for every one YouTuber rolling in cash there are 100,000 not evening hitting the Google Adsense payment threshold. If you think it's something you enjoy then definitely go for it but even if people warmed to you immediately I still think it would take a while for it to replace "normal" income, and that's if it even catches on at all

[triskele]

I know a 21 year old (friend's daughter) who makes a living from YT. Her thing just resonates with the current trends and she's doing well.

I think you have to find your niche.

[Puddington]

Oops meant to say "definitely go for it but without quitting your job entirely for now"!

[PacificDogwod]

My 9yo DS is going to be a YouTuber when he grows up - I suspect by then YouTube is going to be old news and something else will have come along.

Please be less naive than a 9 yo.

How are you going to attract millions of faithful viewers? How are you going to get them to follow you and your channel? Regularly have enough content to keep the viewers coming in order to get Big Shot Advertisers to pay for using your channel to flog their wares??

I think the comparison to acting or music is very apt: yes, some musicians/actors make big money and become very well known, but the ones that don't are legion.
I am not saying don't do it, but be realistic and have a Plan B.

[Wando1986]

Good luck with that

[HopefulHamster]

You need a niche so people come back for the same type of content. Doing rip offs of other popular content types all mixed up won't work for longterm financial gain.

You need to good at video editing and turn content around quickly.

I've been seeing DanTDM stressing out on twitter because he's got a US tour coming up meaning he has to prep seven weeks of content in advance. It's hard!

You need a niche or an angle, good content and luck.

[TheWindowDonkey]

People like Zoella got in at the right time ....just as it was all taking off hugely and understood the banal content that would appeal to tweens and teens. There is a great deal of crap on You Tube...

[MrsGotobed]

Are you one of my DC?

[Flipthebirdy]

Agree with HopefulHamster. You will need to have a target audience.
Youtube could very easily change and no longer allow videos to be monetised. Don't put your eggs all in one basket.

[NotStoppedAllDay]

I also lovemrsMeldrum who got famously slated on here last year.... her husband has now given up his job on oil rigs to YouTube full time with her!!

I also watch a lot of the slimming world youtubers

[Screwinthetuna]

I wouldn't quit your job yet, why can't you do it along side it?

Vlogs are surprisingly addictive to watch; my DH doesn't get it at all but something about seeing how others spend their day and what they eat etc is...not sure of the word, enjoyable?
I used to watch the sacconejolys, back before they got rich and were more genuine and relatable, like your normal, everyday couple. Now they are so up their own arses and it's hard to relate to someone who splashes the cash and has cleaners/nannies/god knows what else and drops hundreds of pounds on a babygrow. It worked for them though so it's worth a shot!
Make sure you can also take the criticism and hate that it brings though. Not sure I could!

I'd like to see certain YouTubes do better; Melanie Murphy is lovely and seems really down to earth. Who do you watch?

[Witchend]

I've a 9yo who thinks he might be a youtuber too. He's on his way apparently... He did one which has been watched over 200 times (he doesn't appear)

I think it's naive to think you can just quit your job and do it. Sort of thing you start doing as a hobby and find you can/can't take it further. Most people can't.