Chapter 17. Insider Information: Behind the Curtain

In this chapter you will learn:

  • Who some of the top video creators are, and what they have learned to build and sustain popularity.

  • Tips from two other authors of online video (Steve Garfield and Alan Lastufka) based on their own experience as video creators.

  • How these webstars have turned hobbies into full-time professions that have given brands unsurpassed access to consumers online.

As online video matures, we will eventually see a television-like business model that substantiates teams of specialists—from writers and actors to directors and producers. In its infancy, however, online video has rewarded not the rock stars or one-hit wonders but the "one-man bands." These are individuals who can often act, write, edit, produce, animate, score music, and produce. They're often their own agents, and most may lack marketing degrees or experience... but they're marketers in my book.

These "amateurs" have insider information on what works in online video, and they can teach us more than any author, agency, or consultant. The medium is so rapidly evolving that there is a profound knowledge belonging to those who make a full-time living creating videos, watching them, and interacting with fans and fellow webstars. When I take even a few weeks away from YouTube, it's like returning to any other occupation after being away for years.

In this chapter, we turn back the curtain of YouTube to meet some people you may not know and whose videos you ...

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