7. Making Money Online with YouTube
How Caspar Lee’s YouTube videos have taken him from zero to two million subscribers
What started as a way to procrastinate and avoid homework for a 16-year-old boy, built up a net worth of $3 million. At just 24, YouTube comedian Caspar Lee is arguably South Africa‘s most famous YouTuber. The teen phenomenon from Knysna now lives between London and LA and has amassed more than one million subscribers on YouTube and another million followers on Twitter.
Leveraging YouTube to Make Money Online:
Google encourages its users to continuously upload high-quality content by operating a profit-sharing system. The process allows uploaders to make money from Google by giving them a portion of the revenue generated from ads that appear next to their content.
Many people create and promote YouTube videos with lucrative earnings. The best part is, you don’t have to stray from your interests to get in on the action.
“There are many different genres of videos that make money across the board on YouTube,” says Mike Sharman founder of online communications consultancy Retroviral and co-founder of digital sports agency RetroActive.
How this entrepreneur used YouTube to Make Money Online:
Advice and how-to videos are the most popular on YouTube. “Teaching people how to drum, makeup tutorials, how to kiss girls (in Caspar’s case) – viewers love that,” says Mike. In 2017, Caspar co-founded marketing platform Influencer.com and became its Chief Innovation Officer.
Lessons learnt in establishing an income with YouTube Online:
Caspar’s advice to aspiring South African YouTubers is to just do it and enjoy what you are doing. “But don’t try and see it as a job at all. The minute you start looking at it like that is the minute you will have less fun and it might never happen. And if it has happened still try your best to have as much fun as possible and not think of everything as the bottom line.”