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HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH YouTube

Earn Cash, Market Yourself, Reach Your Customers, and Grow Your Business on the World’s Most Popular Video-Sharing SiteBy BRAD SCHEPP DEBRA SCHEPP

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2009 Brad and Debra Schepp
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-162136-6

Contents

Chapter One

YOU TOO CAN BE A YouTube STAR!

When Sarah Silverman appeared on then boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show in early 2008, she had a video to share with him and his viewers. She introduced it by explaining this was the perfect moment to share some personal news with the late-night talk show host. The film rolled, and our unsuspecting host learned that Sarah Silverman was sleeping with Matt Damon! For those of us who turn in much earlier than Jimmy and Sarah, we were still able to catch the video, and even watch it endlessly. It appeared on ABC.com and it went viral after appearing on YouTube, spreading like any viral infection, from one viewer to another. Matt and Sarah happily sang and danced through several minutes of raucous video announcing their newly consummated relationship. Sarah went on to garner an Emmy nomination for her video song, and Jimmy followed up with a YouTube video of his own, announcing that he, in turn, was bedding Ben Affleck! Naturally, that video quickly went viral too, receiving millions of views as everyday folks logged on to see Jimmy’s friends, including Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, and Cameron Diaz help him tell Sarah that he was well over her and her indiscretions.

Combined, these two videos have been viewed more than 10 million times. But, you may ask, and with good reason, what’s that got to do with you and your business goals for YouTube? If you’re like us, you don’t happen to hang out with the likes of Robin Williams, Harrison Ford, or Cameron Diaz. We’re pretty sure Sarah, Matt, Jimmy, and Ben don’t even know we exist. But, one thing we all have in common is the potential to strike it big on YouTube. We’re here to tell you that 99 percent of the most successful people on YouTube are like us, not the Hollywood elite. “Average” people and companies are finding fame and fortune on YouTube with some regularity, and everyone has an equal shot, thanks to this amazing phenomenon.

Since its founding in 2005 (yes, that’s right, it’s that recent), YouTube has revolutionized the way people all over the world share information, entertainment, education, and advertising. Between 1948 and 2008, the three major television networks in the United States produced 1.5 million hours of programming, according to professor and YouTube video lecturer Michael Wesch. YouTube users, he’s said, have produced more than that in the last six months! In fact, YouTube estimates that 13 hours’ worth of video gets uploaded to the site every minute. More important than the statistics, however, are the demographics behind the statistics. For the first time ever, programming has been taken away from the major players with the big money and put squarely in the hands of every person who decides to create and post a video. You may not have the fame and glory, yet, but you have the same shot at exposure that once was reserved only for those rare few people destined to become stars.

Throughout the pages of this book, you’ll meet dozens of individuals and company representatives who have found ways to make YouTube work for them. Whether they have launched businesses or refreshed corporate images, they have used YouTube to open doors they would never have dreamed of just five years ago. Now that these doors are open, our lives as video consumers and producers will never again be the same.

YouTube AND YOU

Before you pick up that camera and start creating your own videos, consider some of the ways YouTube has altered the landscape of our everyday lives. You’ll get some background, navigate around the site, and receive a little bit of philosophy as you are introduced to people who have paved the way for the rest of us to achieve success on YouTube. Not only is YouTube a wonderful source of entertainment but it is also a major breakthrough in the way we share our experiences. Most important of all, YouTube can be a powerful business tool. That’s no doubt why you picked up this book—to learn how you can step onto the site and use it to make money, directly or indirectly, for yourself or your company.

YouTube defines itself as “a community where people are entertained, informed, educated, and inspired through the sharing of video.” Figure 1-1 shows you just what to expect from YouTube’s home page. More than 200 million unique visitors arrive at this page each month from all over the globe, according to the company. Of those, 68 million are from the United States.

Those 68 million U.S. viewers are evenly distributed across the country. They split just about equally between male and female viewers. The overall demographics skew somewhat young, with 56 percent of registered users falling between the ages of 18 and 34—a prime advertising demographic. Kick in the fact that 73 percent of viewers say they don’t mind the discrete advertising that now accompanies some videos, and you’ve got a willing and prime market. They recognize that advertising is the means for keeping the site free to users. As if this news weren’t good enough for those of us looking to enhance our businesses, 68 percent of YouTube users report they have purchased something online in the previous three months. We told you this would be exciting!

YouTube corporate is a tad coy and only releases the most general numbers about site usage, but this is what the company was saying as this book was being written:

People are watching hundreds of millions of videos a day on YouTube and uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily. In fact, every minute, ten hours of video are uploaded to YouTube.

We’re willing to bet that as you read this, the numbers are even more impressive. So, how do you find a way to distinguish yourself in this ever-increasing buzz of creativity? That’s a very good question without an easy answer. Let’s start with a reassuring story so you can see that, although it may not be simple, it is possible to start with nothing but a good idea and make that idea grow into a genuine YouTube phenomenon. Say hello to Hetal Jannu and Anuja Balasubramanian, shown in Figure 1-2. You may not know them, but tens of thousands of people who log on for ShowMeTheCurry!, their weekly cooking show on YouTube, do.

ShowMeTheCurry!

Hetal Jannu and Anuja Balasubramanian, two 30-something homemakers from suburban Dallas, Texas, are probably much like many of the moms you know in your own neighborhood. Both interrupted their careers to launch their families. Both found themselves looking for something interesting to do once the kids were in school full time, and both share a love of and expertise with Indian cuisine. When the two friends decided to give the world of TV cooking a try, they found a home right on YouTube.

“ShowMeTheCurry.com‘s debut was on YouTube,” explained Hetal recently. “At the time, it was the one sure way to reach a worldwide audience. We had a Web site, but to be page-one-ranked on any search engine is nearly impossible for newcomers. How would anyone find us? Our strategy was to become popular on YouTube and funnel the traffic to our Web site from there.” It’s a strategy that’s proven to be very successful. In just over a year the two have more than 120 videos on YouTube, and they’re doing quite well earning money through ad sales and sponsorships. They have relationships with partners including Google, Advertising.com, and BlogHerAds, to name a few. They have more than 1,700 subscribers to their YouTube channel, and they’re having a ball along the way.

When they began, Hetal and Anuja had one thing going for them. They were both devoted and experienced cooks. Although neither was formally trained as a chef, both had grown up learning the techniques of Indian cuisine and gaining a lifetime’s worth of tasty recipes. They decided to focus on two target audiences. “We targeted beginner cooks with exact, tried, and tested recipes and foolproof methods,” said Hetal. “We also targeted seasoned cooks with healthy alternatives to traditional Indian food and time-saving tips.” Hetal explained that the pair tries very hard to release videos consistently: “If you have one or two videos and take a break, your viewers will forget about you.”

This is just one of the many lessons these two have learned in the year or so since they began. At first, they’d selected Saturdays as filming days, and they appointed their husbands as the cameramen. It didn’t take too many hectic work-filled Saturdays spent with the kids entertaining themselves before Hetal and Anuja realized that to be successful, they were going to have to learn to work independently. They set about learning how to film, edit, produce, and advertise their YouTube show themselves. Editing was their real challenge. Neither had ever edited video before, so their first efforts involved a sharp learning curve. But they dedicated themselves to learning the software required for the task, and today they’re quite comfortable with every aspect of the job at hand.

These days Hetal and Anuja get to work as soon as the kids leave for school, and the cooks are busy until the youngsters come home at the end of the school day. The two friends often finish up details after the kids have gone to bed. In just over a year, the show’s stars have built a stable full of successful videos and a loyal fan following. Their Web site is thriving, and Hetal expects that eventually their enterprise will earn them the equivalent of two full-time salaries. As the brand grows, Hetal believes revenues will increase through product placements within the videos. From doing video production to setting up search engine optimization to generating revenues, these two “ordinary” housewives have struck out for fame and fortune right in their own kitchens, doing what they both love, and loving their lives on YouTube. Maybe they are not so ordinary after all!

Are You the Next “Cewebrity”?

Ralph Lagnado and David Abehsera of the advertising firm Woo Agency have coined a word to describe Hetal and Anuja: they’re “cewebrities.” Ralph and David know a thing or two about the subject, because they are from the agency that represents one of YouTube’s biggest stars: Fred. You’ll learn a lot more about Fred in Chapter 2, but we were so captivated by the term these two came up with that we wanted to introduce you to it right away.

Cewebrities like Hetal and Anuja are a new type of celebrity created through the video sharing made possible on YouTube. Armed with a good idea, a special niche, and a willingness to both work hard and learn, people like these two stay-at-home moms have crafted their very own path to success. They’re making money by doing what they love best while still taking care of their families. If they achieve some fame and recognition for their hard work, that’s even better. What they’ve accomplished has never before been possible. But, Hetal and Anuja aren’t alone. To whet your appetite, we’ll give you glimpses of more individuals you’ll meet throughout this book.

More YouTube Cewebrities

Asa Thibodaux is a rising young comedian who is actually able to support his family through his YouTube videos. Many people have aspired to live the life of a stand-up comedian, but of the many thousands who set out on that path, how many actually ever earn a living? Most of them are comedians by night and waiters by day, but Asa is managing just fine, thanks to YouTube.

Michael Buckley writes, records, edits, and manages his own YouTube show, What the Buck?!. His show is currently one of the most popular channels on YouTube, attracting more than 230,000 subscribers and 4.5 million views. He brings his own snappy, funny, and gay spin to celebrity gossip. “My goal is to do something,” says Michael. “I need people to watch me who think they never liked gay people. I try to also get people [to watch] who say they don’t like celebrity gossip.” Michael still works his day job, although he admits he probably doesn’t need to. He just likes the work and its benefits.

Ben Relles launched his Web site barelypolitical.com with the debut of Obama Girl. He used a production team to film a hot girl as she danced through the streets and subways of Manhattan singing about her crush on Barack Obama. Ten million YouTube members couldn’t resist her, and 22,000 people commented on that first video. As we write, there are more than 30 other Obama Girl videos on the site.

When we spoke with Fred Light, he was doing very well in spite of the real estate slump causing panic throughout the rest of the country. Location, location, location has a new meaning now, and this savvy producer of real estate videos is so successful and skilled that his properties routinely appear on the first page of relevant Google search results within three hours of his posting them!

A QUICK GUIDED TOUR OF YouTube

The people behind YouTube have worked hard to make the site easy to navigate and use, so you won’t need much handholding. As you can see from Figure 1-1, it’s not too hard to find a video that interests you right from YouTube’s home page at www.youtube.com. First, you’ll see a row of videos being watched right now. Next, you’re offered a glimpse at the promoted videos, and finally a group of featured videos take up a lot of that first page. If nothing there entices you, and we’re betting that something will, you can click on hyperlinks for More Featured Videos, Most Viewed, Most Discussed, and Top Favorites. It may take a new user several sessions just to move beyond the home page!

All the while, calling to you is the empty search box that just begs you to put in your own topics of interest to locate videos that will appeal just to you. Just about any keyword(s) you can think of will pull up related videos. Through the pull-down menu you can specify whether you want to search videos or channels. The featured channels are like cable channels in the sense that their focus is narrow and they’re devoted to a theme. For example, as we mentioned, Michael Buckley, of the popular What the Buck?! show has his own channel. So do record companies, political and news organizations, conventional networks such as Comedy Central and CBS, and a lot of YouTube born-and-bred stars besides Michael. We’ll describe many of these success stories throughout this book.

After you do a search, you can sort the results by relevance, date added, number of times it was viewed, and the rating YouTube members assigned it. Once you watch a video, finding similar videos is a snap. Related videos appear to the right, as well as other videos from that source.

As you follow the tabs along the top of what YouTube calls the watch page, you’ll find tabs for video, channels, and community. The Video and Channel tabs are self-explanatory, but take a closer look at the information that resides behind the Community tab. Clicking that tab will take you to the screen shown in Figure 1-3. Here you’ll find Contests that are mostly operated by businesses. (We’ll look at those very closely in Chapter 5.) You’ll also find Groups, where people of like tastes can gather and share. Finally, you’ll find Community Help Forums. Here you can come to ask questions, meet other YouTube users, and read about experiences others have had with the site. This is a great place to stop as you work to join the YouTube community.

And now to the subject of signing up for YouTube. You can spend countless hours browsing and enjoying YouTube without registering with the site. But, if your goal is to become a member of the YouTube community—and, for your purposes, it must be—you need to sign up (or, as YouTube refers to it, “Create an Account”). Once you do, you’ll be able to comment on videos, subscribe to your favorite channels, and collect your favorite videos into your own little corner of the site. Fortunately, signing up is quick, painless, and free. Figure 1-4 shows the form you’ll need to complete to officially sign up with YouTube, and create your own account. Simply complete this form, select a username and password, supply some general demographic information, and agree to the terms of service. With the next click of your mouse, you’re all set to start exploring the entire YouTube community as an official YouTuber.

A YouTuber is the default account type you’re assigned when you first create an account. Once you’ve gotten your account established, you can change that account type to better reflect what you hope to do on YouTube. You can select from Comedian, Reporter, Musician, Director, or Guru.

Types of YouTube Accounts

No matter what type of account you have, you can participate fully as a member of the YouTube community; that is, you can upload videos, comment on videos, create a playlist, and share videos. Each of the specialized accounts, however, differs in the way you can brand yourself through your Channel page. Your Channel page is where you organize your YouTube information such as your own favorite videos, your subscribers, the videos you’ve uploaded, and the personal information you provided when you set up your account including where you’re from, what you do for a living, where you went to school, and so on.

Here are the major differences among the accounts:

Comedian: This account type is for people who do stand-up, parody, satire, or sketch comedy. As a Comedian, you’ll be permitted to add a custom logo, provide a more extended profile, give show date information, and link CD purchases to your Channel page.

Director: This one is for show creators and personalities who entertain and inform on YouTube. If you select this type of account, you’ll be able to list customized performer information that will appear on your Profile page, including such things as your style and your influences. As with the Comedian account, you can show your personality with the use of custom text and graphics on your Channel page.

Guru: You’d select this channel if you were planning to upload how-to types of videos that reflect your expertise, whether that is cooking, creating videos, knitting, or any other area you feel competent to advise others about. Gurus have the same ability to customize their Channel pages as Directors and Comedians.

Musician: This is the place for bands, singers, songwriters, and even representatives of record labels. Anyone involved in the world of music will want to select this type of account. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to include a custom logo on your Profile page and list genre, tour date information, and links to CDs you’ve bought.

Reporter: Get ready all you scribes out there! Select this account type if you write for a print or online publication, or are a broadcast journalist. You don’t even need press credentials. Individuals can join professional journalists in reporting and commenting on local, national, and international news. As a reporter, you can create a Channel page that describes your own particular beat. You can explain your influences and perspectives, and list your own favorite news sources. If you can’t get enough politics and news, this could really be the place for you to call home!

(Continues…)

Excerpted from HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH YouTubeby BRAD SCHEPP DEBRA SCHEPP Copyright © 2009 by Brad and Debra Schepp. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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