What’s it take to sustain as a YouTube weblebrity? Going viral is a sprint, but staying vibrant is a marathon.

1. In part one we heard from BrittaniLouiseTaylor about passion, RhettandLink about the power of two, and CharlesTrippy about community.
2. In part two we heard from Michael Buckley, VenetianPrincess, MysteryGuitarman and Happyslip.

As VidCon2011 approaches, it’s time for some thoughts from Hank Green, one of the event’s founders… inspired by something beyond the fame and money, the Green brothers have sustained long beyond their 15 minutes.

Says Hank: “I actually just wrote an article on motivation and success. I think everyone is motivated by different things, but the trick is actually believing in it, either because you think a little more money, a little more fame, a little more recognition really will make you a happier / more satisfied / more important person.

I’ve had different motivations throughout the process, from getting views to getting subscribers, to being recognized by other youtubers, to being recognized by YouTube, to feeling obligated to our community, to feeling like we actually have an opportunity to do good things, to feeling like we have an opportunity to do big things, to actually believing in what we do as a force for cultural change.

All of those things motivate in different ways and they all overlap. I we didn’t have all of them, I don’t know if we could do it.

Only because we have all of those different bits of motivation, it doesn’t seem like a big deal to spend eight hours a day developing ideas for videos, interacting with our community, or whatever else we’re up to at the moment. I pour pretty much all of my creative juices into our videos now (or on projects that relate to our videos.) And that’s only OK because I actually believe in it. If I didn’t have all of those various sources of motivation, I’d go get a real job.”

Hank, my friend… you do have a real job.