> Examination: YouTube Top Content Providers

rayw

rayw

Please visit
Social Brain Wave
@ facebook to learn more about how a group of us are
helping promote the works of the individual members to
a level that is beyond what could be done alone.
http://www.facebook.com/SocialBrainWave/info​

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

This is the investigation, analysis, and dissection of the top youtube content providers defined by those with the most subscribers.
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=44191

The intent is that by understanding what elements go into the concept, design, execution, and promotion of market valued content that we ourselves may adopt some of these practices in developing our own content.

Why would we want to do that?
Why would we even care?

For my own reason -
From the light research I've conducted in crowdsourcing at the beginning of the filmmaking process and the marketing and promotion of the completed film products the key is to come to the table having already cultivated a following.
> Cold calling for fi$cal attention is grossly ineffective.
> Bring an interested crowd to your crowdsourcing campaign.
> Bring an interested crowd to marketing and promoting your finished film.


I would like to see some of the reasons others here at IT are interested in top youtube content providers.
Zen Steve?
Lucky Hardwood?
Icba Pictures?
Paul Griffith?
Any one else?



__________________________________________________________

http://vidstatsx.com/youtube-top-100-most-subscribed-channels

http://www.statsheep.com/p/Top-Subscribers

Looks interesting: http://willvideoforfood.com/

http://willvideoforfood.com/2012/10/19/why-are-ray-william-johnson-and-maker-studio-separating/

http://willvideoforfood.com/2012/05...ios-machinima-maker-full-screen-and-bigframe/
OVS = Online Video Studio
OVC = Online Video Company

http://www.comscore.com/Insights/Pr...eleases_March_2012_U.S._Online_Video_Rankings

www.reelseo.com/online-video-studios/

http://newmediarockstars.com/2012/09/which-youtube-network-should-you-sign-with/
This looks waaaaaay more complicated than just hanging out your shingle and hassling your family, friends, and forum friends to watch and subscibe.

Getting a little off the path with this one: http://videoproductiontips.com/equipment-needed-to-set-up-a-simple-video-studio/
 
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If my goal was to generate the required traffic to earn a wage via youtube, I wouldn't specifically focus on the content. Most of the successful content will be relatively short (under 10 minutes and trending towards 3), have a wow moment (funny, cute, wtf, ouch, oh no he didn't, etc, - i.e. you want to share with your friends), and serve either a broad niche or multiple niches. The channel has to be relevant so the user will move through videos, but the broader the net you cast the better. There is a balancing act there.

My focus would be on standard web marketing. Going to a place like SeoMoz and reading every article / blog post on how traffic is generated would be a start. Attacking niche keywords with articles is the same concept as attacking niche keywords with videos.

When it comes to traffic, it is a rich gets richer environment. The more links, followers, etc. you have the higher you come up in search results. So you get more links, followers, etc. For a specific example, Freddie Wong had a post somewhere about how they would hang on niche message boards for videos they were working on before posting the video. They found the target market and then shared it. After awhile, they hit critical mass and allow the users to push the data.

Another board had a thread on whether you could make a decent film for 10k. My response to that was, assuming some financial return equals success, would be to basically throw all of the money into well executed web marketing. The actual outputs can be done at zero cost, but the time / effort is the issue.
 
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RWJ seems to be funneling success into more success... The "success" of others into his own pocket. Virals are usually not paid postings from content providers (otherwise lawsuits would surely emerge). Taking popular stories to the people is akin to the........ NEWS. So this example can be compared somewhat to a news broadcast of interesting goings on in the neighborhood (weberhood), and the =3 news station is getting the most traffic/advertising revenue. Similar to the Soup or Eweekly or ..Maxx (whatever the heck those trashy gossip/paperatzi shows are called).
OK, become a reporter to be successful in this genre of webcast... Need: good looking host, google (to search "trending youtube videos"), a camera, an editing suite (iLife or Moviemaker), and an hour or three a day to start, then squeeze into 4 hours a week???
Sound right? Oh yeah, also need motivation, timing, and at least a little talent. Credit where credit is due!
 
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Thanks Rayr.

I've been thinking/looking at the topic for about a month or two now. I originally was thinking along the same line as using it as a marketing tools and a mucking around tool to see what's really of interest to people.

What got me was those numbers. Are they freaking for real? The cash rate per thousand views is way higher than I expected. It really shows that working with youtube is seriously worth considering. I was still interested when I assumed the numbers were in the $1/cpm range.

Things that I thought about: Youtube has thousands and thousands (hell, probably more) of videos uploaded every day. The big question has to be: How would another "me too" youtube thing cut out the clutter and draw a real audience?

A working conclusion I came to: I think the only way to do it is to offer high production value scripted material that has relatively broad appeal, but is niche enough to be able to perform a grass roots campaign. Not saying this is right, but its the way that I'm leaning.

And you are so right about crowd funding. It's going to be a lot easier to pry money from people who you have a relationship with than it is to cold call, unless you've got the gift of the investors gab or a killer rep for returning big returns. Once you have a relationship with the people, you can also look at other ways to monetize.

If it goes ahead, I'm interested.
 
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Miken said:
A - If my goal was to generate the required traffic to earn a wage via youtube, I wouldn't specifically focus on the content...

B - My focus would be on standard web marketing. Going to a place like SeoMoz and reading every article / blog post on how traffic is generated would be a start. Attacking niche keywords with articles is the same concept as attacking niche keywords with videos.

C - When it comes to traffic, it is a rich gets richer environment. The more links, followers, etc. you have the higher you come up in search results. So you get more links, followers, etc.

D - Another board had a thread on whether you could make a decent film for 10k. My response to that was, assuming some financial return equals success, would be to basically throw all of the money into well executed web marketing. The actual outputs can be done at zero cost, but the time / effort is the issue.
Click to expand...
A - Me neither. I just want an informed idea, rather than a gut instinct/guesstimation, of what top subscription providers provide once the audience gets there.
How much baking soda can I cut my coke with?
10, 20, 50%?
What quality of sh!t do I need to provide my crack babies?

B - AMEN! Marketing is waaaay more important than content.
Nothing sells itself anymore.
Sadly, internet marketing with keywords and tags and such is something I'm in dire need of becoming proficient at.
I'll take all the SeoMoz (WTF izat?) et al type intel you can shunt this way.
Please! :)

C - Yup. Before critical mass is achieved there's a whole different hard uphill push to struggle through.

D - Yup. And this is exactly where I see most... even "pure art" endeavors fail.
99% content + 1% Marketing & Promoting. Sigh... :(
And most "I wanna make a short/feature/documentary! What camera should I get?!" filmmakers seem to put 95% effort into production and 5% into M&P. BAH! :no:

50% production, expense + effort + time
PLUS
50% marketing and promotion, expense + effort + time​

And, honestly, your proposed 2/98% effort and expense split, specifically for youtube, really isn't that far fetched.


icba pictures said:
A - RWJ seems to be funneling success into more success... The "success" of others into his own pocket. Virals are usually not paid postings from content providers (otherwise lawsuits would surely emerge). Taking popular stories to the people is akin to the........ NEWS.

B - OK, become a reporter to be successful in this genre of webcast... Need: good looking host, google (to search "trending youtube videos"), a camera, an editing suite (iLife or Moviemaker), and an hour or three a day to start, then squeeze into 4 hours a week???
Sound right? Oh yeah, also need motivation, timing, and at least a little talent. Credit where credit is due!
Click to expand...
A - Money for nothing, and the chicks for free.
Yeah, completely. It's a youtube FoxNews or ET-like format.
Makin' bank like da big boyz dew!

B - Yup, sounds about right. Little talent goes a long way.
Cleavage, too.
Seriously.
It's pathetic. :D


Sweetie said:
A - I've been thinking/looking at the topic for about a month or two now. I originally was thinking along the same line as using it as a marketing tools and a mucking around tool to see what's really of interest to people.

B - How would another "me too" youtube thing cut out the clutter and draw a real audience?
A working conclusion I came to: I think the only way to do it is to offer high production value scripted material that has relatively broad appeal, but is niche enough to be able to perform a grass roots campaign. Not saying this is right, but its the way that I'm leaning.

C - And you are so right about crowd funding. It's going to be a lot easier to pry money from people who you have a relationship with than it is to cold call, unless you've got the gift of the investors gab or a killer rep for returning big returns. Once you have a relationship with the people, you can also look at other ways to monetize.

D - If it goes ahead, I'm interested.
Click to expand...

A - Welcome aboard. Lettuce give it an honest go, shall we?

B - I'm thinking that too.
Not so niche that there's little to no audience - but - not so broad as to not be able to market to any identifiable group.
  • Numismatists rather than people who have pocket change.
  • Arcade game restorations rather than people who play games.
  • Emma Watson sideboob fetishists rather than Emma Watson stalkers.

C - Yup. Cold calling is inefficient.
Ping the waters. See who looks. Feed them a little. If they come back feed 'em a little more. Adapt your recipe to accommodate preferences.
Charisma is... something I appreciate. I gotta work for my meals. :lol:

D - I'm going ahead.
Please come along.

I just spent an hour shooting... nothing really.
I need to do a self-experiment to see if I can even provide content on any sort of regular basis.
Bi-weekly is what I'm shooting for.
I might go a month or two before my attention wanes.
Keep in mind, when your youtube channel is dragging in $10k or $100k every quarter that's a helluva motivator.
But when it's you just yappin' to yourself with a whoppin' fifteen views across two months... there ain't much incentive to keep blowin' XX$ + XXhours every week or two.
You gotta work at this, too... Before you work on your "What I really want to film is... "... While we're all working our day jobs and taking care of our families.
I really don't have a whole lotta extra time and spare cash floating around.
I dunno.
I'll see.
Hope to throw something up next week.
503​

I've been wondering if we should put together a small cadre or consortium of youtubers.
I make a channel.
You make a channel.
Three or four or more of us each make our channels.
Then we both cross promote each other while keeping a close eye on each other's content under a separate umbrella or folio channel, like a magazine employing different journalists under the same cover, which is how they do it in some of those links in the first post.
Just an idea.
 
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Quote:
I've been wondering if we should put together a small cadre or consortium of youtubers.
I make a channel.
You make a channel.
Three or four or more of us each make our channels.
Then we both cross promote each other while keeping a close eye on each other's content under a separate umbrella or folio channel, like a magazine employing different journalists under the same cover, which is how they do it in some of those links in the first post.
Just an idea.


I'm game... Consulting with an 18 year old writer today actually. Trying to capture the yute's.
My idea of attractive content may make the 18-25 year old demographic snore/vomit. Also looking at younger actors for doing the sketches. I almost vomit when I look in a mirror, can't imagine what others would do...lol. I still have some "newsworthy" idea's kicking around though too. Quantity + quality, hopefully kills the cow (is that even a saying???).
 
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Wow, awesome thread!
I actually have a Youtube channel with 1100+ subscribers already thanks to collaborating with some other people. I'm more than happy to take part in your social experiement. ^^

Information about my channel:
I upload 1 video a week based around my original music. It takes me 6 to 30 hours to make one piece of music (I usually upload shorter pieces to Youtube and have an extensive back catalogue of old pieces I can use if I need to fill a gap). 1 hour to make a video, 1 hour to render, upload and fill in all the information, link to it on FB and other places.
Video content is:
- Introduction animation with my name and logo (branding!)
- Song name (simply put, a flashy intro)
- As the song plays, thoughts about the song, information about how I made it and other discussion topics related to my thought process.

What I've learnt:
People react and seem watch the video more if there is some reason to do so i.e. the written information. They are also more likely to comment if something I have written sparks their interest beyond simply making music they connect with.
People are very unlikely to "dislike" a music video in general compared to other types of content. In total I have nearly 2k likes and less than 10 dislikes.
Collaborating - providing content for others in exchange for air time ("Go check out MetalRenardMusic! He made this awesome track!") in their videos is VITAL to success on Youtube when you start out.

My audience is 90% male, aged 13 - 28. 90% are gamers since my collaborations have been with people who provide gaming content.

Extra credit: I provide free advertising for people I write music for. It's a nice bonus to say "your game will be shown to my 1000+ subscriber base!" and can help convince small time clients to cough up the extra cash to hire me. :P
 
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Waaaay cool, MR! http://www.youtube.com/user/MetalRenardMusic/videos?view=0

And a big THANK YOU for sharing your personal experiences and stats!

Since you're the one with the most experience you know this makes you platoon leader, right? :lol:

starship-trooper.jpg
 
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rayw said:
I'll take all the SeoMoz (WTF izat?) et al type intel you can shunt this way.
Please! :)
Click to expand...

Internet marketing is a shady shady world. I think SeoMoz is one of the least shady. They have a large number articles discussing how search algorithms work and how to leverage them.

Here are a few articles that I think are generically good / applicable data:

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/youtube-ranking-factors-whiteboard-friday
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/seventeen-ways-to-improve-your-blog-case-study
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/21-tactics-to-increase-blog-traffic-2012

Tons of other content and their user groups are pretty helpful at figuring out ranking issues.


They also have a reddit / digg like site (inbound.org) with similar data.


Searches on the google for "keyword ranking" & "keyword research" would also be valuable. There is plenty of related content to those terms on seomoz.

I used to do a lot of keyword analysis for an old job and while it can be tedious, if you like analytics and solving puzzles it can be fun in a perverted way. When you find some phrase that get searched heavily but no one has optimized a site for, it is like striking gold.


Now that we've gone down the rabbit hole, I'll mention our plans and how it relates.

I'm currently traveling heavily for my day job so I can not schedule time to film reliably. I've instead started using this period to build up a new site / blog that is generally in the niche of the content we will be creating. We'll have an audience in place before we send something out and have data on the items they search for (google analytics, etc).

It is the web 2.0 of creating / buying the email list before you launch a product. It still has applicability -

http://launchrock.com/

Done with the rambling for now.


**Edit: I want to state that I don't think a creator should be a slave to finding keywords to generate traffic on and only make content for that. Instead, I would suggest that when you have a project, do keyword research on the subject to find the best way to place that. I would also state that doing keyword research introduces you to a ton of ideas. It should lead to massive brainstorming sessions.
 
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Miken, thanks for the info. I've been reading all the input and come to a brief, early, conclusion. It's a lot of WORK to get noticed for what you create. Effort in = (or sometimes does not) getting recognition/paid. Depends on content in the "or not" department. Hustle up and even the so-so "artist" will get paid. Keep it up long enough (yes it's a job), and you'll get paid better for your efforts (and hopefully your content improves with practice).
In brief, just do something, even if it's wrong...

So far I have more hours of research into a movie I haven'y even transfered the story to a script for yet, than I put into at my job any given week... It's a good thing I like a challenge.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
I'm in for the IT YT coalition of content creators. I have three channels and will have another one up soon(ish).
Click to expand...

Speaking out of my rear end here, however I think the value of multiple creators working together is limited if they have separate channels. You'll get some cross-promotional benefit, but it will dilute the traffic. Youtube has the ability to feature another channel's videos on a channel, create playlists, etc. I don't know enough about that to say how that would impact it.

That is why you see "networks" of related content forming. More regular content, more search volume, the ability to sell other layers of advertising, etc. That creates a whole other mess of ownership rights, etc.


If some sort of communal thing does get going, I'd be happy to volunteer some effort in pushing a bit of traffic.
 
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I've been wondering if we should put together a small cadre or consortium of youtubers.
I make a channel.
You make a channel.
Three or four or more of us each make our channels.
Then we both cross promote each other while keeping a close eye on each other's content under a separate umbrella or folio channel, like a magazine employing different journalists under the same cover, which is how they do it in some of those links in the first post.
Just an idea.
Click to expand...

It's an idea, but IMO not the best idea.

If you were planning on going down this route, you'd be better off courting an existing content provider and somehow convince them to cross promote you to help build your initial audience. If you can work out an appropriate deal and it works, you hit critical mass early, instead of working with a bunch of people who have no chance to help you hit critical mass.

It may also be easier your way too, since a lot of the people in this thread are filmmakers and will be thinking that their way is best and the whole group could go no where without a captain at the helm.
 
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Miken said:
A - Speaking out of my rear end here, however I think the value of multiple creators working together is limited if they have separate channels. You'll get some cross-promotional benefit, but it will dilute the traffic. Youtube has the ability to feature another channel's videos on a channel, create playlists, etc. I don't know enough about that to say how that would impact it.

B - That is why you see "networks" of related content forming. More regular content, more search volume, the ability to sell other layers of advertising, etc. That creates a whole other mess of ownership rights, etc.


C - If some sort of communal thing does get going, I'd be happy to volunteer some effort in pushing a bit of traffic.
Click to expand...
A - Understood and agree.
Since this would be for a few of us who are just starting our youtube presence I don't think we have anything really to loose while we work on getting our act together while no one is looking.
Now, once we get our act together, start getting a better idea of what we're doing, and begin creating a refined product - THEN - we might have some actual traffic to dilute.

I would consider this four or five friends playing flag football every week or two.
Nothing serious.
Just working on our moves.

B - Yeah, in the beginning I expect we'll be coming to the table with a whacky mish-mash of dissimilar content.
But it doesn't matter when no one's looking, so having a network of related content isn't an impairment.
It'd be a "proof of concept" model.
CAN we produce any content at all on a regular basis?
CAN we produce it at a level of quality youtubers would find acceptable?
CAN we refine and improve our regular product?
CAN we promote each other?

As soon as any of us start noticing the rest of us are holding them back they are free (and outright encouraged!) to go fly to flock better suited for their program.

I don't want to hold anyone back or ride on anyone's coat tails!
Do any of you?

C - I will certainly take you up on that generous offer.
Thank you!


Sweetie said:
It's an idea, but IMO not the best idea.

A - If you were planning on going down this route, you'd be better off courting an existing content provider and somehow convince them to cross promote you to help build your initial audience. If you can work out an appropriate deal and it works, you hit critical mass early, instead of working with a bunch of people who have no chance to help you hit critical mass.

B - It may also be easier your way too, since a lot of the people in this thread are filmmakers and will be thinking that their way is best and the whole group could go no where without a captain at the helm.
Click to expand...
A - I agree - WHEN we have some marketable product or have our act together producing PROGRAMO UNO and feel like we have the chops to begin PROGRAMO DUO.
While we're just goofing off in the city park playing flag football or shirts and skins at the court I don't see how any of us are going to walk off the street cold bringing to an existing content provider any program worthy of their legit consideration.

I need practice.
I need to work on getting just a little savvy.
I'm going to guess there are a few of us here in the same position.

B - MetalRenard is platoon leader.
All fault and responsibility lies on his shoulders. :D

Nah, juss jokin'.
I don't think any of us are going to get into any p!ssing contests.
People are free to come and go at will into the yet-to-be-named theoretical "consortium."
We all kind of lead ourselves is what I was thinking.

Soon as someone feels like they have a good grasp of what the h3ll they're doing they'd be free and encouraged to go find a flock best suited to their program.

"Learning to read before joining a book club" sort of thing.


MetalRenard said:
So what's the plan folks? ^^
Click to expand...
TAG! You're it!

No, seriously - Too early to say yet.

Looks like Icba, Lucky, and I are the only three who wanna try this just yet.
We haven't even discussed WTH we're individually doing as far as content goes.
It looks like Icba's going to provide entertainment, IDK what Lucky's three channels are, and mine is just going to be nature stuff until I figure out WTH I'm doing. (However, I am considering taking a hard left-turn right smack dab in the middle of sci-fi/fantasy with my nature stuff!)
You and Lucky both actually got a nice thing going on - therefore the most to loose, unless you two don't see the harm in making the third and fourth leg of this (little) beast.
??!
Could be good.
Could be not so good.
>> And Miken is offering some BTS web marketing know how! <<

Does that look about right?
 
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One of mine will be entertainment and commentary. Another is tutorial. The third is automotive related. I see this deal as we subscribe to each others' channels and like each others' content. Hopefully this will result in higher rankings among the search results and lead to increased revenue from monetization.
 
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Lucky Hardwood said:
One of mine will be entertainment and commentary. Another is tutorial. The third is automotive related. I see this deal as we subscribe to each others' channels and like each others' content. Hopefully this will result in higher rankings among the search results and lead to increased revenue from monetization.
Click to expand...
Cool.

Looks like you already know what on earth you're doing and already have the chops to put out content at a consistent interval.
And subscribing and liking each other just in the name of brotherhood is precisely the benefit I was shooting for.

I think of this as being kinda like a buddy system, more AA than SEALteam, but still...
We're looking out for each other, keeping the positive pressure on and encouragement to each other as we climb this hill. (Don't tell me it's a mountain! Tell me it's just another hundred yards/meters. :yes: )

And you bring a very good point to the table: We can all have more than one YT channel and program format.

I/you/we may start off with one idea, spawn another or two, let one wither on the vine, spawn another, it gains some traction, and off you go!
I can take my nature thing in at least four or five different directions before I even start with my host show idea. Or two.
(I just wanna get my technical and logistical act together before I start investing increasing amounts in traditional webisode content. Juno?)
 
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HA HA HA!
I know I know I know I haven't even gotten around to analyzing the last five I said I was gonna, but I just wanted to take a peek at where RWJ started from:
http://www.youtube.com/user/RayWilliamJohnson/videos?sort=da&flow=grid&view=0

First upload! (remaining)
Apr 17, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIdgoN837xw
Editing jump cuts from different positions present.
"Cool Transition" in effect from vid one.

Looks like he was putting one out about once every week.

Apr 30, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZFkcyM13hU

May 8, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2jERPp3Z0w

The comic background, in 2D, begins!
Aug 13, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr6uiIFa0qQ

The comics wall goes 3D!
Sep 13, 2009
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3YFxYHx6o


And for some B-rate snooping: http://exploredia.com/ray-william-johnson-first-video/
Before =3 was his show "Capitol Hill Gangsta."
810​
Lesson: Practice, then make a serious go of the second idea.
(Or practice with the meh idea, go whole hog with the better idea!)
 
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I can provide tutorials on how to create music. I already did a 5-part series to test run it and the first episode is one of my most popular videos (over 6k views last time I looked). It seems "How To" videos are very popular, especially when it comes to artisic activities.

Sadly, at the moment I'm using a computer that has serious issues when it comes to running hefty software, but I have a part-time job and my music+youtube channel are making me money too, so within a few months I will have enough for a top-end workhorse of a PC. When that happens I'll redo my tutorials to a higher standard and I could probably do summary videos for the group channel, or something like that, or upload some key videos to the group channel with the others on my own. I could do product reviews too...

Just ideas for now of course, putting them out there for you guys to accept or reject. :)

P.S. My videos would be for absolute beginners - people who have 0 knowledge, and would build towards making professional sounding music.
 
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rayw said:
I think of this as being kinda like a buddy system, more AA than SEALteam, but still...
Click to expand...

I don't quite know why, but this line just keeps making me giggle.


What do you think about a centralized channel which pimps the other channels? So, an interview / promotional / news piece for indie creators? I'm sure something similar exists, but maybe not. Everybody contributes a bit of something to the main with the intent of reciprocal coverage back.
 
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