Many people might think that creating video content for YouTube is just a hobby. It’s merely a passion project for people who don’t feel fulfilled from their day jobs. It’s similar to being a writer, musician, or artist. It’s what people do in their spare time.
But that’s not always true. On the contrary, more and more people vlogs on YouTube for a living. They earn money by filming “A Day in the Life” videos and grocery and shopping haul videos. And it’s not surprising because YouTube has been racking up big bucks from advertisers and subscribers for years. In 2019 alone, the website earned $15.1 billion, which is actually 36 percent higher than the previous year. It’s the second most visited website in the world. So vloggers have a broad audience.
Apart from that, though, working as a vlogger leads to many benefits. Here are the ways it makes a positive impact on their lives:
Career Growth
With the popularity of smartphones, people can easily tape any memorable moment in their lives. Then they could upload to YouTube for the whole world to see with no struggle at all. This makes people believe that they can be vloggers as well.
But, in reality, vlogging takes a lot of skills in various fields. It draws skills from marketing and communication. Vloggers need to have a flair for creativity to create content. They also need to work on their interpersonal skills, likability, and, frankly, self-confidence.
Vlogging helps them hone these skills. And these skills would lead them to further career growth. Racking up millions of subscribers doesn’t come naturally. So if they have successfully done that, then that means that their marketing and social media skills are top-notch. Top branding companies would be striving for them to join their teams.
Creative Outlet
One of the hardest struggles that talented people go through is catching people’s attention. It’s not like they could join every performing arts competition out there just to showcase their talent. They need a platform that’s easily accessible and can reach many people. Thus, they go to YouTube.
Many successful artists right now started on YouTube. The likes of Justin Bieber, Ed Sheeran, and Carly Rae Jepsen started out by filming themselves playing music.
It’s more than just music, though. Other people also use the site to stream themselves while playing video games. They create video essays to review interesting movies, TV series, and books.
Free Stuff
Getting free stuff because of vlogging may seem shallow, but it’s certainly enjoyable. Vloggers are basically influencers. Their huge fanbases are composed of followers who are always interested in their ideas and opinions.
So businesses bank on this. They send vloggers their products. In turn, vloggers get to use such products and review them on their videos. Some businesses also partner with vloggers to subtly advertise their products to the viewers.
In the end, not only do vloggers get paid for their advertising, but they also get to enjoy free products. The products could range from beauty and skincare to food.
A Community of Allies
As mentioned before, part of the appeal of creating YouTube videos is the large fanbase that vloggers can cultivate. Because YouTube is easily accessible to most parts of the world, they get to connect with a diverse set of people.
Because of this, vloggers get to find their allies and build a bond with them. The comment section of videos can showcase how supportive people can be. And sometimes everyone needs that level of kindness and support even from strangers. If vloggers are going through a hard time, they can easily talk about it on a video. From there, they receive a swarm of messages of support to make them feel better.
A Form of Self-expression
At its core, vlogging is one of the purest forms of self-expression. Vloggers are presenting themselves to the world. They’re sharing their experiences, ideas, and opinions with millions of people.
Through this self-expression, they are building their confidence as well. They are able to be more open to people. Thus, they find it easier to connect with them and build lasting relationships.
Just because vloggers generally don’t interact with their allies in person, that doesn’t mean they don’t have deep friendships. And it’s important to remember that this connection with people started with vloggers expressing themselves through their videos.
Vlogging is not always an easy job. YouTubers are often hit with writer’s block, making it hard for them to come up with creative content. Sometimes, they also experience backlash from viewers, receiving nasty comments from them.
But underneath such challenges are the benefits that they get to enjoy. They may even say that these positives definitely outweigh the negatives.
