Tag Archives: popular

Online Video

Viral Social Rule #249: Be Careful How You Treat People on Your Way Up

21 Comments

One day during one of the west-coast YouTube events I got a call from one of my YouTube friends Eddie. He hates when I call him Eddie because he goes by TheMightyThor1212, and using the name Eddie might compromise  national friggin’ security.

Eddie knows I’m boo-hooing that I was missing the SanVegasFranAngelosDiegowhatever YouTube meetup and puts me on the phone with a number of YouTube peeps (including a somewhat perplexed LisaNova who kinda pretends she knows who I am, but is really thinking “I hope this bearded dude doesn’t grab my boobies… Nothing tastes as good as thin”).

Then Eddie puts a guy on the phone who has a spark to his voice- yeah a spark like the one that graced Joe Pesci’s tooth on Home Alone. The guy says he’s Shaycarl and I make him repeat the name about 5 times because I honestly wanted to see his videos after hearing this odd sincerity of his voice. I wrote it down and subscribed, but then (and this is unusual for me) I started eating his videos like cereal at midnight. Shay says something about Sxephil having mentioned him, and it got him a bunch of subscribers. I later find this video response to “YouTube is My Wife,” and my nuts still hurt from laughing.

Shay and I have spoken, collabed, and met a few times, and he’s punked me good. But now he’s eclipsed me and is in the YouTube Popular crowd, but not anymore affected by it than Buckley or HappySlip. He’s the rare YouTuber you’d take home to your mama. He’s deeply faithful and not nearly as annoying as I thought he’d be. I thought I’d have to fake laugh in his presence like I was meeting Robin Williams. But it turns out he’s as delicious in person (mind you this was pre-ZZ Top beard).

So this Shay turns out to be a mega star on planet YouTube (find him and his cult-like following at ShayCarl or Shaytards and he steals the show on TheStation). But he still has the sweet heart to reference Uncle Nalts and that book about YouTube Popularity I wrote and published for free on the Internets. Like, Scoob, it’d be worth my time writing that dated eBook if it had .05 percent of a role in taking Shay from a disk jockey gig in some state none of us have heard of (Nevada or Oklahoma or something) to 300 plus subscribers and WWF Dominator of YouTube’s most-popular page.

Of course I can’t take credit, because then I’d have to take responsibility if he ends up getting sucked into the wild life of Venice Beach, and we find his bloated corpse all coked out on a beach like Belushi or Farley, his TV equivalents.

Oh shit I have to write a real book in about 20 days. WTF am I blogging for? Oh yeah- my car’s still warming up. So a long way of saying… be careful how you treat people when you’re hawt because they might eclipse you, and make you proud as an Irish mama.

P.S. Buckley said he saw me at the YouTube 777 gathering but thank God he didn’t approach me. Because I might have been all, like, “yipes! An unpopular gay guy!!! Zipster protect me!!!!” And then he’d never return my e-mails.

Online Video

The Difference Between YouTube’s Amateur and Professional Content

4 Comments

What’s the primary difference between an amateur on YouTube and a professional creator? Not the production quality or style, silly. It’s the viewership.

As you see below, the most-viewed partners are almost entirely professional. Yet the most-subscribed people are almost all amateurs.

It’s a simple point, but important one: Don’t think subscriptions will necessarily lead to views or views will automatically lead to subscriptions. Unless you’re TheStation.

Most-Viewed YouTube Channels
Most-Viewed YouTube Channels

Most-Subscribed YouTube Partners
Most-Subscribed YouTube Partners

book, Online Video

“Funny or Die” Defeats Death. And Gets My Secret Sauce to a Phoenix-Like Revival.

8 Comments

In a brave move by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and their gang, Funny or Die has finally moved its content to YouTube. The FunnyorDie website has always had an identity-crisis. It certainly wasn’t a sage financially-driven move, but a fantastic creative outlet for spontaneous and risque comedy by Ferrell, McKay and friends.

funny or die ferrell landlord screen shot

It was a bold moment where the actors and writers stood before the public — without layers of intermediaries muting their brilliance. Could Hollywood have produced Pearl The Landlord? The most epic star-created viral video ever (and interestingly not appearing on the YouTube FunnyorDie channel).

Then other stars jumped on the bandwagon. While the site was rarely “top of mind” even for comedy enthusiasts, every few months something would draw us all back for a reunion. In the spaces between, there were dips in recurring traffic despite some great star-powered comedy. Furthermore the site wasn’t sure if it was a pet project, a consumer-generated content play, or a mini television studio. It was, in fact, all of that.

A partnership with YouTube will now give the team a recurring audience, which takes the pressure off the “hot viral” clips that would remind us FunnyorDie.com exists. And it will most likely drive more traffic to FunnyorDie than the site would get otherwise (especially if the team is smart about how it teases content is keeps exclusively on FunnyorDie). I’m not sure I’d advise the CollegeHumor approach of posting content 1 month prior on its own site. Instead, I’d post best-of content and occasionally have Ferrell talk to his subscribers about what’s new in his life and on FunnyorDie.

Remember, FunnyorDie… the most popular and most-subscribed YouTube channels aren’t networks as much as people. Give Ferrell or McKay a Flipcam once a week and post weird unedited stuff…. then you’re sitting on traffic gold you can monetize on YouTube and back on FunnyorDie.

Here’s what I find most interesting and maybe concerning to the FOD folks. Despite a significant push by YouTube (featured ‘n spotlighted videos), we’re seeing only 20K subscribers to date. Compare that to the nearly 500K subscribers TheStation picked up in just weeks (due to its already popular YouTube “star” cast promoting it). TheStation picked up 20K in about 45 seconds.

Here’s where the “blatant self promotion” comes in (it’s disclaimed in the damned masthead, people). I first established a Nalts FunnyorDie account I wrote Will Ferrell a note naively thinking he might write back. Well here’s an open public invite, Mr. Ferrell. I will promote the living crap out of “Funny or Die” on YouTube to my 150,000 plus subscribers. Just let me meet you for 7 minutes and get some footage. We’ll do a collaboration, which is the fastest way to get a loyal for you to pick up a loyal YouTube following (see my free eBook “How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent” to learn more). After these 7 minutes or up, I’d like you to scream at me to leave. And I will.

I’m serious. A Nalts Will Ferrell collaboration. I’ll meet you anywhere, sir… New York anytime. In San Bruno during Thanksgiving. Toronto next week. You make me proud to be a middle-aged guy with a spare tire. I just want to bite your arm. Not a flesh-piercing bite. More like a gentle but awkward nibble. It won’t hurt.

Online Video

Mom Blogs? No Time. Let’s Try Mom Online Video.

12 Comments

There’s no shortage of blogs written for and by mothers. But WifeofNalts now has a new YouTube channel called “Joeymoms.” The purpose is to bring relevant content to moms in a fun, irreverent way in a delivery medium for which moms have time… video. The name was chosen for two reasons. First, there are virtually no other common mom names available. Second, a YouTube channel needs to be about a person not just a topic. Rather than WifeofNalts or MomTubers or something, we went with Joeymoms… kinda like Nerdfighters. It’s hosted by Joey, but bigger than her. Hoping a community of other moms forms, and maybe this channel attracts some new people to YouTube.

There’s one thing that’s certain. There’s no shortage of advertisers trying to reach moms, and most of them want content by moms (as opposed to a male creator that happens to have a large audience of mothers). While this isn’t likely to rival Fred or Nigahiga, it’s getting my wife excited about the YouTube community, and I’ve found her migrating from Facebook to her channel in her scarce spare time.

The tricky thing about mom content is that it can be lifestage dependent, and boring. Moms typically form community around specific milestones like new babies, toddlers, teenagers, or “off to college.” That’s too niche for a new channel, so she’s trying to speak to a broader range of moms. It’s kinda Momversations meets The View meets Entertainment Tonight. Done for and by moms, but not devoted to mom topics exclusively… for moms that are more than moms.

Whatya think? I’m racking my lil’ marketing brain trying to figure out how to grow it, so it can be a resource for moms… showcase other YouTube channels and good online resources for this audience.  The fundamental question is this… there aren’t many popular mom channels on YouTube. Is that because there’s not a market for it, or simply that nobody has cracked the code? We’ll find out!

advertising, Blogs on Video, book, Making Videos, marketing, Nalts, Online Video, Video Advertising, Video Business

Best Resources for Online Video ‘n Marketing, Farty

9 Comments

Online-Video RSS

What’s on your RSS or what sites do you visit related to online-video and marketing? Please comment below, especially in the likely event I missed something. I’ll update this, and you and I can find this post again by searching the word “FARTY,” which unlikely appears elsewhere here. I could be wrong.

Yes it’s time again for a round-up of some must-read blogs & peeps related to online video, marketing social media, and the shizzle.

Here’s the problem about finding good websites and blogs about online video. If you add “online video” to a search query, you’ll get a lot of videos about marketing. And the social-media space is just too damned cluttered. Any idiot can write an article about that. I like the writers that touch on the intersection of online-video and marketing, and don’t stray too far into the self-indulgent world of traditional entertainment and advertising, the desperate starving filmmakers overproducing episodic content, and boring crap about technology providers.

Most of these peeps are smarter than me, but I actually spend most of my day marketing and making videos… not a journalist or professional speaker (although I’m doing more and more… someone help me figure out how to charge to speak please). So although my content will give you great secret or bore you to death, at least it’s mostly practical.

If I missed you, take a cue from Uncle Nalts. Shamelessly self promote below. Unless your blog is about cats.

Online Video

Tag Junking Doesn’t Get You Video Views, Captain

10 Comments

Dear video creator…  Somewhere on the web you found this collection of keywords, and someone convinced you that they’ll drive views. The good news is you’re not alone. It’s a batch that appears in many videos, and evidence that some “view genius” has promised you it will get you famous.

Give it up captain. Go read my dated but free “How to Become Popular on YouTube Without Any Talent,” and forget the tags.

Remember- Google no longer crawls metatags of websites, so I’m seriously doubting that tag junking is going to do much for you on YouTube… except for annoying creators who monitor their own usernames to see who’s hating on ’em this week…

World of warcraft war craft zomgbbq omg d00d lol haha pointless tags gay rock speed metal gruesome execution notice how bored i am by making these tags gears of war oblivion delta force gltiches cheese mold moldy cheese cheez wang pwned pwnzorz noobzorz n00b uber im done now . !! OMG ZOMG D00D! glitchez jar jar binks jabba the hut gmod smod garys mod gary’s im seriously done now. cept for doggie doggy dogy puppy dancing dancin (more) (less)Tags Canadianiac DoGy Grendelfe maplestory maple story dancing doggy doggie dancin funny video haha lol roThe Perez Brothers Remix 2008…Britney Spears Anticipating The Perez Brothers erfingers wow NEW *now with annotations* NEW thehill88 mememolly communitychannel p0ykpac smpfilms tokenblackchic will smith fresh prince lip dub charlieissocoollik thehill88 brookers guy on bicycle when in rome lafayette prince kristen bell filming traffic cones shoot movie set sexy Guy on the Bicycle on Lafayette & Prince – WHO ARE U? thehill88 hughsnews new york city across the universe beatles sexy friends unicorn With A Little Help From My Friends hotfornerds theslyestfox paperlilies kimberleigh lovelyleiona girls geek nerd video game comics im now brookers brooke brodack robust woman with feelings and womanly things Anyone Else But You caitlin hill australia mum grandma gran happy mothers day moldy peaches anyone else but you juno chris crocker jeffree star The Kiss. thehill88 insecurity cushTV scott cushing who is she talking to??? movies girls on beds sexy celluar phones couches A Clip of Insecurity poykpac In a bed with Molly and Caitlin in New York!! thehill88 new york is amazing saw squirrel A lesson in Faces brookers rhett and link ijustine pickles teaching bodygaurds managers sexy time lessons in faces ROFLcon QuietRiot butt lunging on gophers brooke brookers thehill88 caitlin hill thatgirlonline the hills lauren vh1 tibet dalai lama china olympic games beijing torch protests I HAS NO EPIC LOLS!!! thehill 88 hill88 thehill88 p0ykpac waverlyflams sketchies two comedy sketch parody contest toyota funny good looking The Sketchies Gold! thehill88 caitlin hill rock band guitar hero panic! at the disco run kid new album ps3 game xbox360 Rock Band caitlin hill thehill88 showmanrot anythingannoying iancrossland cushtv hughsnews ichannel cutewithchris guys thewinekone hot p0ykpac The Hot Guys on YouTube caitlin hill australia easter sunday jesus cross death passion of the christ mel gibson sexy bill hicks bunny Happy Easter sxephil http://www.phillyd.tv smpfilms smp films Cory Williams Mr. Safety Sparta Cat mean kitty song thehill88 caitlin australia magibon mririan who is how to create south by west sxsw southwest Valentines Day Crushes thehill88 australia hill oooh guess who my five valentines crushes revealed boh3m3 community thewinekone date ???? ???? ???? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??? magi magibon vlog blog magichan 5 Random Facts Tagging Game (THE COMMENTARY) brookers brooke brodack ijustine justine ezerik LOST helen keller billoon45 wee fun heath ledger My 2Girls1Cup Reaction… thehill88 caitlin hill aussie australia girls cup 2girls1cup disgusting sloppy why God did click on this filth!?!? Heath Ledger Australian. thehill88 caitlin hill brookers studio8 mr whites list of demands Mr Whites List Of Demands Ep. 4 thehill88 Caitlin Hill Australia caitlin hill brookers 2 Girls 1 Cup two girls one cup brookers 2girls1cup TheHill88 Australia harry Ben going Boh3m3 caitlin hill australia spricket24 blog Brooke chris crocker Diaries After The Phone Call… thehill88 Caitlin Australia TheHill Hill88 hill88 caitlin hill australia emo global warming sydney TheHill88 Caitlin hill88 australia sydney youtube stalker natalie prison QuietRiot SnarkleKitten applemilk1988 boh3m3 nalts thehill88 caitlin hill australia chris crocker britney spears perez hilton haters vma performance 07 TheHill88 Caitlin Hill Australia smosh thewinekone renetto terranaomi sxephil Paperlilies chris crocker daxflame lonelygirl15 HappySlip thewinektwo Australia CBS ashleytisdale GayGod geriatric1927 BgirL5 LisaNova oprah winfrey esmee denters chris crocker Died TheHill88 Died Caitlin Hill Nellee Hooper Romeo Juliet Soundtrack Crash Despair TheHill’s Adventures events thehill88 australia youtube party sydney juanmann free hugs kat chris crocker Venus caitlin thehill88 hill Esmee Denters chris crocker Evolution Dance Judson judsonlaipply Dancing Avril Lavigne Girlfriend RCARecords caitlin hill australia kaejan

Online Video

Most Popular YouTube Stars: Rankings, Stats and Trends

13 Comments

My last post about TheStation made me revisit the most-subscribed YouTube “stars” and channels to see what’s changed.

Who are the most-viewed, most-subscribed and most popular people on YouTube? Here are some trends, stats and sources for additional information.

First some trends:

  • We’re still seeing YouTube’s “most subscribed” list (more important than “most viewed” because it eliminates one-hit wonders) largely dominated not by professionals but individuals. In the top ten list are only 3 “professional” channels (machinima, Jonas Brothers and Universal). The rest are people like Fred, Nigahiga, ShaneDawsonTV, KevJumba, WhatTheBuckShow and VenetianPrincess. These are amateurs with recurring audiences, but only some have agents.
  • The packaged content (CollegeHumor) is not as popular as individual creators because people continue to become active on YouTube from a social context… picking their favorites as “virtual friends” as opposed to gravitating to the best content (TheOnion). I did not think this would continue to be the case in 2009, as online-video viewing moves mainstream.
  • The channels that move rapidly up this “most subscribed” list are typically spawned from already-popular channels. TheStation almost immediately reached the top 20 because the collective “web stars” promoted it. Likewise, when a popular YouTuber like ShaneDawson creates a second account (ShaneDawsonTV2) it rises quickly up the ranks. The easiest way to get noticed on YouTube quickly is by appearing in a popular creator’s video, as the top creators rarely voluntarily “shout out” (advertise) someone else’s channel.
  • As a result of the above trend, some widely known creators like Chocolate Rain singer TayZonday are falling off the top 100 list even as his views and subscribers continues to grow. Others slip because they lose touch with their fan base, or create videos less frequently. As an example, I’m happy to get about 250,000 views per day (as Nalts)… but not happy I’m always teetering at the bottom of the top 100 list.
  • The mix of most-popular is primarily “vloggers” (individuals talking to the camera), followed by musicians and comedians. Broadly speaking, your chances are higher of being a most-subscribed YouTuber if you’re Asian, sexy, funny, or gay. Toss in a few curse words and some raucous content and you’re golden.

Some resources for tracking trends and stats:

Anyone have any other sites I should add? Frankly I’m surprised there aren’t easier-to-find websites that collect and share data (WillofDC uses a website to report winners and losers, but I don’t know what it is.

Online Video

Find Videos Even When You’re Not Searching For ’em

2 Comments

Veoh Video Compass (via TechCrunch) is being downloaded 25K per day, and gives you video results via a browser plug in — whether or not you happen to be searching for videos.

Neat idea, and it’s an unmet need since Google and YouTube haven’t yet solved for this. Eventually search results will be as vital to video distribution as any network, channel and broadcaster.

If ýou’re not on the top results for the word “fart,” then your fart content won’t be seen as often as others. 🙂

Veoh's Hail Mary: Spreading Video Search Across The Web With Video Compass

advertising, book, YouTube

YouTube Partner Income Sporadic

33 Comments

While we’re precluded from revealing specifics about YouTube revenue, it’s now becoming more common for YouTube “partners” to know what others are making. While the CPM (cost per thousand views) once seemed to have settled, the creator income fluctuates wildly. As noted in this chart, the month of May took a nose dive for me– June was up slightly. July’s amount (due in days) will tell give us a sense of trends, and whether we’ll return to the peak of the first quarter when InVideo ads were flowing like wine at a wedding.

What’s interesting is that views/subscribers don’t appear to correlate with income very well. See TubeMogul stats (chart 2) for monthly views, but recognize that YouTube’s Partner revenue (paid via AdSense) lags by a month. Any statisticians in the houuuse?

It would appear to me that there are two variables a creator can’t control, and significantly alter  YouTube Partner earnings:

  1. Inventory. If YouTube isn’t selling InVideo ads (ads that surface on bottom of video after 20 seconds) in my videos, there will be almost no income. The income from text ads and banners is paltry even in volume. If that yellow line is in the video player I’m a happy camper. Otherwise I fear retiring a corporate mule. I am aware that this isn’t healthy, thank you. Keep in mind that my revenue is not necessarily suggestive of YouTube revenue or inventory — it could simply be that my specific videos weren’t targeted by advertisers in a certain period. I do see a day where the creator can help sell his/her own advertising revenue, but that’s a logistical challenge.
  2. Location of view. YouTube currently doesn’t flight InVideo ads except for videos viewed on YouTube.com. That means a sweet lil’ old blogger embedding my video and getting me hundreds and thousands of views is of no consequence yet to her or me. Yet. Yet!

A few lessons for those hoping to make a living via online video:

  1. Be realistic. It takes a long while for views to translate to income. Think of it as a bonus not salary.
  2. Don’t count on it as a primary income unless you’re one of the top most-viewed creators and your audience is attractive to advertisers. In that regard, it feels more like TV/movies. Hopefully the predictions of radical increase in online-video advertising will equalize this effect… making it more democratic.
  3. If you expect to live on YouTube, become a hot rock star or lower your cost of living.
  4. Expect fluctuation. While in theory you control your views, thse too are dependent on a variety of factors. And unless you start selling for YouTube, the total advertising revenue and inventory is out of your control. People kinda have to be travelling on Maine highways for your Maine hotels to have high occupancy. You can make sure your hotel is more attractive than the very busy Motel 6 across the street.
  5. Find other ways to earn money via online video. Don’t bother selling crap to people (to date, the Nalts DVDs and merchandise has accumulated less than my worse month on YouTube). Rather find ways to appropriately sponsor brands or companies, and pursue those deals on your own. Until I start popping up in keynotes at Advertising conferences, it’s going to be a while before advertisers come hunting for you.

But I’m working on waking the sleeping giants.