Become a YouTube millionaire with Glamour Magazine

I seem to have gained quite the reputation as the go-to person for opinions on magazines (and possibly shooting myself in the foot in the process!). Yesterday, Albertine from Dippy Writes tweeted me to ask what I thought about this Glamour Magazine headline. 

Now, I like Glamour a lot. It's my favourite of all the women's monthlys so I'm certainly not going to rip it to shreds the way I would... ooh, I don't know... Company, say. However, this headline just looked too good and, after stopping off in the station cafe to buy my copy, I launched right into it on the train. It was amazing! Amazing in an Is-this-writer-for-real? way.

First of all, let's take a closer look at that headline: "Secrets of the YouTube millionaires and how you can be one too". Earning a million pounds from my videos? Yes, please! The article also lists YouTubers who are in "The Million+ Club", such as Zoella and Tanya Burr. Wow, I didn't know they earned over a million! Oh, wait. The reference to millions is in terms of subscribers, not pounds. Slightly misleading. I wouldn't be impressed if I was one of the YouTubers who are implied to earn over a million.

Now let's read the article in a little more detail and pick out some key quotes.

It's a career game-changer: once they've grabbed the attention of their audience, they are commanding advertising revenue, sponsorship deals, TV guest appearances and opportunities to develop their own product ranges.

It's that simple, kids! Except it's not. How many vloggers are there out there with tens and thousands of subscribers, who have certainly "grabbed the attention of their audience" but are still working full time? Lots. Because it's not that easy!

I know I'm new to YouTube but let's for the moment take blogging as a very similar industry. I've been blogging for over 2 years now. I work on it around 25 hours a week. I earn advertising and sponsorship money, sure, but in 20 months, I've yet to earn a total of four figures. That's the reality. Not only is it anything but a career-changer, it's not even enough to live on. 

Social media expert Steve Ward, from recruitment company CloudNine, has seen a surge in women considering vlogging as a career over the past three years.

What? It doesn't work like that! If you have dreams to be a full-time YouTuber, then awesome! By all means work towards that. But who on Earth is going to a recruitment agency and saying "Have you got any vlogging roles?" For most people, it's just not a viable career option and certainly not one you should rely on. It's like going into a recruitment agency and saying "I'm considering being a Hollywood actress as a career". You might be able to make some money from a less glamorous form, but only a select few will make that elite.

Hit the 50,000 subscriber mark and you're in business because, on top of advertising revenue, that's when sponsorship offers start hitting your inbox. Sponsors will pay thousands (in some cases up to £10,000 for one video).

So much wrong with this, I don't know where to start! A) The assumption here is that if you reach 50k subscribers, that's it. Put your feet up, you're set for life! B) Sponsorships often start waaay before that mark anyway. C) Sponsorships are not going to be thousands unless you are one of those biggies (ie: Not 50k).

Cereal brand Krave set YouTubers a range of weird tasks to reach viewers... [A YouTuber] received a remote control car, a megaphone, a bow and arrow, a boomerang and Post-it Notes, and was challenged to get a bowl of Krave from the kitchen without leaving her bed- the video of her struggles has amassed more than 200,000 views.

"Wow! Get me on YouTube! I want to strap a bowl of cereal to a remote control car!" Seriously, what? For one thing, this is not news: There are always totally irrelevant companies (Krave, really?) trying to get bloggers and YouTubers to join in with "zany" challenges for a bit of (usually free) advertising. More to the point though, what was in it for her? Did she get paid? Why are you telling us this? The opportunity to whizz a bowl of crunchy chocolate-filled cereal around the house is not exactly in my career plan.

The article then gives 5 tips on "how to join the YouTube superstars". Common sense stuff, really: Choose a good name, don't give out too much personal information. Good advice for all YouTubers but not exactly a 5-point plan to instant success. If only I could become a YouTube superstar by not revealing my surname!