So how do the big youtubers get so big?

I think there have been very good points made in this topic. ^^ Additionally, I think Marketing plays a big part in one's success on YouTube. I have no idea how to market myself, but I honestly think it's the key. We need to identify who and where our audience is, what content they'd want to watch, and how to reach them. But, I have no idea how to do any of that! =S I got on a mailing list for a local internet marketing group...I really want to attend one of their meetings someday. Tooting my own horn and promoting myself is something I've never been able to do, but I think it's necessary if we want to make the kind of progress you are describing... =/
 
The longer YouTube is around, the fewer and fewer channels will make it big. It was easier to gain an audience 4-6 years ago than it is now, because the platform becomes more and more saturated. There is always a way to coming in, there will always be a door open or another channel type or a gateway video to get there, but there are no guarantees that anyone will find it, or when.

And it could all come crashing down if a disruptive platform comes along and gives creators better benefits and an easier path to success. YouTube could slip off the radar as quickly as Myspace did, and Myspace made the careers of a lot of people in its time.
 
99% - started long time ago when there was no real competiotion plus simple but very efficient YouTube exploits (often at the very edge of what is allowed) plus heavy work
1% - talent and heavy work
 
I definitely don't think there's one definitive answer. Many current Youtubers have been around when they hopped onto Youtube and their personalities weren't really prominent on the internet. While it's difficult to get noticed now, I think the most important factors that contribute are your motivation, your outreach and your quality of content. If you boil it down to those three, those are key to generating a well established business.

Someone mentioned how Markiplier treated his channel like a business - and that's exactly it. You can produce content a lot, but the content has to be quality assured so that the audience is getting what they subscribed for. After that your outreach is super important. Are you networking with others? Have you made good friends with people who can push your business up? No? Then you probably won't get far. Just like acting, painting, business students, etc. You have to network in order to get yourself somewhere. Some may get popular by sheer luck, but that's literally such a low chance.

Finally there's motivation. And the key thing is to have motivation TO create that quality content. Many youtubers just create content because it's fun and it's a great creative outlet. Which is absolutely great - I do that, we all do that. But in terms of a business standpoint, you have to be motivated to push yourself to the best. This means tweeking, editing, strategizing, etc. on how to do better outreach, how to do better videos, etc.

Obviously there are other key factors important to popularity such as your personality, or what types of videos you make. But those 3 are what I find many Youtubers strive for.
 
You said, "Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any detailed direction out there, other than tips/advice/etc".

Well, here is my advice. Take it or leave it.

This guy says he became popular becuase he treated it like a business. You then say, "I know jack about business and have zero talent in it or experience or education, I don't even know where to look. I have no idea what to do next or where I'm supposed to go towards here".

It seems obvious to me...learn. Learn about business. Learning is never, ever, a bad thing...even when it might be arguably not directly applicable. If you have zero experience, then start of at zero...type in "business basics" or similar things in to google. Its really not hard, but it requires some effort. Nothing comes for free. But that being said you dont need to get a business degree or the like. Just aquire a basic understanding and you'll be amazed at how much a little knowledge can help.
 
xingcat said:
The longer YouTube is around, the fewer and fewer channels will make it big. It was easier to gain an audience 4-6 years ago than it is now, because the platform becomes more and more saturated. There is always a way to coming in, there will always be a door open or another channel type or a gateway video to get there, but there are no guarantees that anyone will find it, or when.

And it could all come crashing down if a disruptive platform comes along and gives creators better benefits and an easier path to success. YouTube could slip off the radar as quickly as Myspace did, and Myspace made the careers of a lot of people in its time.
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Good point. I don't know why  won't try to take on Google in this area and provide a better service even if it were equal in terms the rush of people to stake a claim would be something. Hmm maybe if they gave a bigger cut, or somehow licensed music through iTunes somehow. It would be very disruptive
 
I don't think there's a magic trick to getting there. It's going to take a lot of hard work and effort and no one just becomes a big success over night. Good advertising and branding, SEO, collaborations, and content are just a few things that can help.
 
Gaijillionaire said:
Good point. I don't know why  won't try to take on Google in this area and provide a better service even if it were equal in terms the rush of people to stake a claim would be something. Hmm maybe if they gave a bigger cut, or somehow licensed music through iTunes somehow. It would be very disruptive
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A good number of other companies have tried (Vimeo, now Amazon). My money's on Facebook changing the game at some point, but you never know what'll happen. Who would have predicted Snapchat? I mean, it doesn't seem to make sense to people who want to preserve everything, but Snapchat is huge. So what will be next? Who knows?
 
Well collabs are kind of iffy because who would want to collab with me and my 5-10 average views, I feel like with less than 100 subs nobody will want to collab with you because you won't really net them anything. I could be wrong though \o.o/
 
there has been some superb advice already left in this thread. stuff about learning about business , concentrate on your content, and the dutch texan posted a superb reality check post that i feel every budding youtuber should read

i checked your channel out Zentraxius, you have only been making videos seriously for less than two weeks!!!!!, i really don't know what you expected in 2 weeks, don't expect anything! your a brand new channel pretty much. i expected to see you doing it for at least 6 months before you got to the stage you felt the need to post this, give it some time dude!

i have been doing a gaming channel for 7 months and have 1,323 subscribers. i am insanely happy with those numbers. you need to set realistic goals. i would advise you to check out the milestones thread and see just how hard it can be and how long it can take to get subscribers. then set yourself realistic goals for yourself
 
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