Should I be a YouTuber

[Daycent]

I love YouTube and my dream job would be to make videos on YouTube but I'm afraid people in my school would give me a bit of stick for it what should I do?

My idea was to apply for Una's Dream Ticket (a show that makes kids dreams come true in Ireland) and ask to meet ThatcherJoe who is my favourite YouTuber and idol and do a collab with him which could really kickstart my YouTube career.

[fairmaiden]

That sounds like a great idea. Make sure that you've set up your Youtube account and put your first video up before you meet ThatcherJoe though :)

Also, I think you'll need a good quality camera, good lighting, and an appropriate place to film (like in your bedroom or living room when no-one is there). You should also have a really catchy name, and try and find out what genre you want to specialise in (gaming, vlogging, comedy, etc.).

And finally, you could have a nice profile pic and banner (i think thats what its called lol). If you'd like me to make a profile pic or banner for you, just ask and I'll be more than happy to make one haha :)

I wish you the best of luck!

ps. if the ThatcherJoe thing doesn't work out, you can start doing collabs with youtubers with a moderate fanbase (eg. 200-5000 subscribers). I'm not sure how many youtubers live near you, but if there aren't many you could ask people with moderate fanbases to give you a shoutout just to get you started and stuff like that. When you upload your videos, make sure you put loads of relatable tags on it so people can find it easier. Last resort; you could post a comment on youtube video with big amounts of views (maybe a KSI or Callux video) to ask people to check out your account.

[Abhorrence]

People may say stuff at school but at the end of the day if this is your dream then live it.

[StoppingTime]

There are a number of problems that I see with this plan, to be entirely honest with you.

First, let's consider what exactly a "YouTube Career" even is. For the most part, those who make their livings off of YouTube advertising revenue did not simply set out to do so. It involved time, effort, and a fair amount of luck in both timing and the relevance of the content they produced. It's not exactly as if they simply made an investment in good gear, created some videos, and planned on turning their hobby into a career.

There's all sorts of methods and ways to get yourself "out there" on YouTube - but the truth is that the majority of people who set out to "make YouTube a career" don't end up doing that. Can you name any professional YouTuber's who have done this?


And with all that aside, it's important to consider the (relative) permanence of such a profession. Sure, people are interested in Let's Plays and vlog-style videos now - but who knows what the future of YouTube holds. There's always a possibility that some aspects of it simply won't be as popular as they are now, or once were, and from there your left without a job at all, assuming you'd somehow find a way to "break through" in the first place.
Sorry if a lot of that sounded kind of harsh and pessimistic, but to me, that's how you have to look at a possible profession such as this one. It's unstable, there's no guarantee that you'll easily (or ever) gain a following, and unless you're finding yourself getting tens of thousands of views or more..it probably won't be the most monetarily stable career, either.

[CharlieHorse]

It sounds great :)
But I'm just worried that youtube is going downhill in general....

[SethfromMI]

There are a number of problems that I see with this plan, to be entirely honest with you.

First, let's consider what exactly a "YouTube Career" even is. For the most part, those who make their livings off of YouTube advertising revenue did not simply set out to do so. It involved time, effort, and a fair amount of luck in both timing and the relevance of the content they produced. It's not exactly as if they simply made an investment in good gear, created some videos, and planned on turning their hobby into a career.

There's all sorts of methods and ways to get yourself "out there" on YouTube - but the truth is that the majority of people who set out to "make YouTube a career" don't end up doing that. Can you name any professional YouTuber's who have done this?


And with all that aside, it's important to consider the (relative) permanence of such a profession. Sure, people are interested in Let's Plays and vlog-style videos now - but who knows what the future of YouTube holds. There's always a possibility that some aspects of it simply won't be as popular as they are now, or once were, and from there your left without a job at all, assuming you'd somehow find a way to "break through" in the first place.
Sorry if a lot of that sounded kind of harsh and pessimistic, but to me, that's how you have to look at a possible profession such as this one. It's unstable, there's no guarantee that you'll easily (or ever) gain a following, and unless you're finding yourself getting tens of thousands of views or more..it probably won't be the most monetarily stable career, either.

Steven makes a valid point. there is a small minority who makes a "career" out of youtube and it takes not only a great deal of work, but in some sense, a great deal of luck. if it is your dream go for it, but understand this is something you can't just decide to do. even if you make good videos, it will be a long time before you start making the money you need to make a career out of it, if you ever do at all, a reality you need to consider

[MrIncredible]

That sounds like a great idea. Make sure that you've set up your Youtube account and put your first video up before you meet ThatcherJoe though :)

Also, I think you'll need a good quality camera, good lighting, and an appropriate place to film (like in your bedroom or living room when no-one is there). You should also have a really catchy name, and try and find out what genre you want to specialise in (gaming, vlogging, comedy, etc.).

And finally, you could have a nice profile pic and banner (i think thats what its called lol). If you'd like me to make a profile pic or banner for you, just ask and I'll be more than happy to make one haha :)

I wish you the best of luck!

ps. if the ThatcherJoe thing doesn't work out, you can start doing collabs with youtubers with a moderate fanbase (eg. 200-5000 subscribers). I'm not sure how many youtubers live near you, but if there aren't many you could ask people with moderate fanbases to give you a shoutout just to get you started and stuff like that. When you upload your videos, make sure you put loads of relatable tags on it so people can find it easier. Last resort; you could post a comment on youtube video with big amounts of views (maybe a KSI or Callux video) to ask people to check out your account.


I totally agree with all of it (especially the part about ThatcherJoe) and plus whatever people at school might say it doesn't matter because when you're getting paid ,in the near future, for making awesome videos then that's even better because you can prove them wrong by DOING it while their leading boring life you're living the YouTube life meeting YouTubers, Celebrities, doing challenges and living your dream and plus IT'S YOUR DREAM who are they to tell you what you should do just "Do More of What Makes You HAPPY" lol but still kind of have a backup plan like you know a Fail-safe like a stay in school or job or whatever and still go to college a lot of YouTubers are still in University

[lyhom]

it's cool if you want to do it, but it's incredibly hard to get a decent amount of views, let alone get enough popularity to make a career out of it, so expect it to be more of a fun thing to do on the side than an easy money machine

like seriously for every successful youtuber out there there's hundreds more who are trying to get a tenth of the popularity that they're having

[Vocabulous]

You can do it, but you need to do some things to be successful.

1) don't pick a subject that is oversaturated. if you are a gaming channel, which is already pretty common, don't do Minecraft let's plays, because everyone and his brother already does that.
2) be skilled. No one wants to watch some chucklefuck mess up left and right.
3) do something unique that you think the community is lacking. Look at acheivement hunter. They looked at YouTube and thought, "there is a lack of acheivement guides, we can fill that gap." The rest is history.
4) recognize your audience demographic. If you are young, expect a young audience. Don't try to be taken seriously by older viewers, you won't be anyway.
5) have a thick skin. The internet is a scary place, if you do make it big don't be a bitch.

[Magenta]

Everyone here has good points.

Honestly, why look at it as a career? As with any form of entertainment, it's a hard niche to carve out for yourself. I'm a Twitch streamer and I'm gaining followers quite quickly but it's partially luck and partially support from fellow streamers.

But the main thing is that I do these things for fun. I do it because I have fun playing and I have fun making people laugh. I play horror games which I have a hard time playing by myself. But put me in front of a live audience and suddenly it's like "well, if I get scared, at least people will be having fun watching me jump out of my chair". It's a hobby, not a career. I don't make any money off this except for occasional donations toward games/equipment or Steam gifts and expecting that you ever will get much more is not very realistic and very disappointing when you realize how slow a process it is.

And who cares what other people think? People ask me all the time "lol why would you bother playing video games for other people to watch". Again, 'cause it's fun. Don't get your hopes up too high but if you wanna go for it, why not?

And remember, social networking is your friend. I keep in touch with a lot of other new streamers and Youtubers and we promote each other which actually accumulates quite the following. And then we meet more "veteran" streamers and Youtubers and that's another step in the right direction. I have idie game devs that approach me saying "can you stream this demo of my game and I'll promote you". Fair trade, I get a free game to demo and a promotion while their game gets put out there by me. Even for a hobby, it is a fair bit of work and you have to be socially savvy and fairly charismatic to get anyone to notice you. So if you decide to try, good luck :)

[Daycent]

Thanks for positive feedback and advice😉😉

[Daycent]

There are a number of problems that I see with this plan, to be entirely honest with you.

First, let's consider what exactly a "YouTube Career" even is. For the most part, those who make their livings off of YouTube advertising revenue did not simply set out to do so. It involved time, effort, and a fair amount of luck in both timing and the relevance of the content they produced. It's not exactly as if they simply made an investment in good gear, created some videos, and planned on turning their hobby into a career.

There's all sorts of methods and ways to get yourself "out there" on YouTube - but the truth is that the majority of people who set out to "make YouTube a career" don't end up doing that. Can you name any professional YouTuber's who have done this?


And with all that aside, it's important to consider the (relative) permanence of such a profession. Sure, people are interested in Let's Plays and vlog-style videos now - but who knows what the future of YouTube holds. There's always a possibility that some aspects of it simply won't be as popular as they are now, or once were, and from there your left without a job at all, assuming you'd somehow find a way to "break through" in the first place.
Sorry if a lot of that sounded kind of harsh and pessimistic, but to me, that's how you have to look at a possible profession such as this one. It's unstable, there's no guarantee that you'll easily (or ever) gain a following, and unless you're finding yourself getting tens of thousands of views or more..it probably won't be the most monetarily stable career, either.
I would want Thatcherjoe as a boost because I wouldn't want to start a channel that I end up only getting a hundred subscribers on that would go down even worse in school

[Daycent]

That sounds like a great idea. Make sure that you've set up your Youtube account and put your first video up before you meet ThatcherJoe though :)

Also, I think you'll need a good quality camera, good lighting, and an appropriate place to film (like in your bedroom or living room when no-one is there). You should also have a really catchy name, and try and find out what genre you want to specialise in (gaming, vlogging, comedy, etc.).

And finally, you could have a nice profile pic and banner (i think thats what its called lol). If you'd like me to make a profile pic or banner for you, just ask and I'll be more than happy to make one haha :)

I wish you the best of luck!

ps. if the ThatcherJoe thing doesn't work out, you can start doing collabs with youtubers with a moderate fanbase (eg. 200-5000 subscribers). I'm not sure how many youtubers live near you, but if there aren't many you could ask people with moderate fanbases to give you a shoutout just to get you started and stuff like that. When you upload your videos, make sure you put loads of relatable tags on it so people can find it easier. Last resort; you could post a comment on youtube video with big amounts of views (maybe a KSI or Callux video) to ask people to check out your account.

Really you would make a profile pic and banner for me!??

[SethfromMI]

even if thathcherjoe or whoever he is gives you a boost, it does not guarantee a career for you. it would probably give you some additional subscribers for sure, but the majority of it will be based on what you are able to do on your own. even if you are very talented, you still may not get enough to do this as a career. I hope it works out for you, but I do think you need to be a little realistic about this

[fairmaiden]

Really you would make a profile pic and banner for me!??
Of course :)