Any gamer who has ever watched a YouTube star review a game, and make a ton of money doing so, has thought “I want to do that.” A session at PAX Prime 2014 called “So You Want to Be a YouTuber?” discussed exactly how to go about it. The panel consisted of four people: Craig Skitstimas of ScrewAttack, Graham Stark of LoadingReadyRun, and Wendy Luo AKA “Sweetiebutt”. First, you need to find your niche and audience. If you’re funny, use that to your advantage. Perhaps you have an interesting sounding voice? Work it! You also have to take into account who you are trying onto grab as a viewer. “Know who you’re trying to reach,” Skistimas reiterated. If you’re going for an older audience, your videos might use some adult humor. If you’re going for the younger crowd, crude humor and theatrics might be useful. Second, get started on making something. You won’t accomplish anything, or gain any fan base whatsoever, if you don’t have any videos to show. This may seem like a no brainer, but having at least something out there will accomplish more than producing nothing. Your webcam doesn’t need to be high quality, but invest in a decent microphone. “A headset will work,” Stark said, “Go spend the $50. It is definitely worth it.” What you have to say is the most important part, not how you look. To gain publicity, use social media to your advantage. This means Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube itself are your greatest allies. If you post a video, tweet about it at different times in the day. If you just post at 8am, the night owls won’t see it. When creating your video name be sure to keep it plain and simple. If you’re reviewing “Don’t Starve”, put the name of the game directly. People who search the game will see your review video in their search results, and the more your video is viewed, the higher up it goes in the search results. When you find your niche, and start producing videos, you’ll discover that longer videos are more successful than short videos. If your video content is interesting enough people will watch a thirty minute video, which is more beneficial to you. Once your videos start gaining popularity, start reaching out to sponsors. YouTube stars like PewDiePie are offered thousands of dollars, by the game companies themselves, to review their games. They’re also given equipment, as long as they mention the brand name or include it in their video description. If you have done all of these things, then congrats! You are well on your way to being a YouTube star. It won’t happen overnight, but slowly, your fanbase will grow. If you’re stuck at a certain amount of subscribers or viewers, try collaborating with another YouTube streamer. It benefits both of you, as their fanbase will check out your channel and vice versa. Another idea is to check out popular YouTubers, and compare their older videos to newer. See what they started doing differently to result in more viewers. Perhaps it is time to actually use that Twitter account that you forgot about! Happy video making, my fellow YouTubers! May your subscribers be high, and your view counts even higher.
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