YouTube Generation Taps Into Net Profits

CBS Evening News: Online Entrepreneurs Now Pulling In Six Figures On YouTube

(CBS)  From amateur music videos, to the secrets of solving a Rubik's cube, to singing, to political stumping, 100 million people log on to YouTube every month, making it the No. 1 online video source.

Fifteen hours of new content are posted to the free video Web site every minute. In just three years, making those clips has gone from an offbeat hobby to a steady source of income for many.

Michael Buckley, 33, cashes in out of a second bedroom in his home. CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller asked him how much he makes.

"Uh, I do well," Buckley said. "I make over six figures a year."

His high-energy, two-minute show "What the Buck," a play on his last name, is the product of a $2,000 camera, a pair of work-lights and a $6 backdrop. The show averages 200,000 hits an episode.

"I just wanted to create my own vehicle and I did," he said.

Last year, YouTube invited its most popular, most-watched contributors to partner with them by adding banner ads to the bottom of video clips. For every one thousand hits, advertisers pay $15 to $20. It's a fraction the cost of television commercials, and they reach a more targeted audience.

Buckley's show ranks number eight on the Web site. Is it the only way he could have made it big?

"I do believe so," Buckley said. "I do believe that … the Internet was my route to any sort of success."

Joel Moss Levinson took a more roundabout path to cyber celebrity.

"I was working as a bartender at a bar in Dayton, Ohio," he said.

About a year ago, the 28-year-old college dropout started entering contests to make online Web commercials. He keeps winning.

"Anytime I win another one, it just makes the story better," he said. "So I'll just enter everything."

Thirty-five low-budget viral videos later -- half in the win column -- have earned him $200,000 in cash, prizes and trips to far off exotic places.

While he admits he isn't much of a musician, he's become the most successful modern day jingle artist online.

"What is it they say? If you find something you love, you never work a day in your life," Levinson said.

It's all a new vocation, for a YouTube generation.

[mainedoggie]

I read this same story somewhere else a few weeks (or months) ago. I wonder how many are really making money on you tube...?

There''s always a scant few, just like the iPhone developer stories.

[ndg1979]

YouTube is just like any other medium of expression like TV and Radio. The only clips that make it big time on YouTube are those that are unique in some form, provide general entertainment, or are in some way beneficial to people''s daily lives. All the other clips are niche fillers.

Yes, if you have a good idea, you can profit off of it. But don''t expect to NOT WORK to earn your keep. All reward is the result of hard work. This 6-figure kid the story speaks of - he still has to work to put this stuff together. The only difference is that he enjoys what he is doing, so it doesn''t SEEM like work - that is all it is.

Just like eBay, if you have something that people want (and people will buy anything, or buy into anything in todays society), you can expect to be able to make money off of it. I prefer to earn my money the old-fashioned way - by working hard and earning it.

These people aren''t really entrepreneurs in the true definition of the word as they are not creating a business from scratch to earn their keep. They are using someone else''s business to their benefit. Ask any of the top 50 YouTube video creators what their business plan includes, and they will tell you - nothing. Entrepreneurship is the creation of a business from scratch and the nuturing of that business to a profitable status.

Sorry guys, these aren''t business leaders in our world - just entertainers who spend way too much time with their computers.

[barbaram99]

it is trash

[rf35]

If it makes you happy and gets you some $$ in the process, then go for it! I don''t spend much time on You Tube myself, but I might check it out more often if my new home broadband connection turns out to be faster than my last one.

[peetrerb]

It''s not trash... i now us it for most my searches for learning... It''s a real "How to" site. i suggest to anyone that doubts this, to try it and see.
How to .. Tile, cook, repair.. you name it, its there!