99 percent of the most successful people on YouTube are like us

you may ask, and with good reason, what’s that
got to do with you and your business goals for YouTube? If you’re
like us, you don’t happen to hang out with the likes of Robin
Williams, Harrison Ford, or Cameron Diaz. We’re pretty sure
Sarah, Matt, Jimmy, and Ben don’t even know we exist. But, one
thing we all have in common is the potential to strike it big on
YouTube. We’re here to tell you that 99 percent of the most successful
people on YouTube are like us, not the Hollywood elite.
“Average” people and companies are finding fame and fortune on
YouTube with some regularity, and everyone has an equal shot,
thanks to this amazing phenomenon.
Since its founding in 2005 (yes, that’s right, it’s that recent),
YouTube has revolutionized the way people all over the world share
information, entertainment, education, and advertising. Between
1948 and 2008, the three major television networks in the United
States produced 1.5 million hours of programming, according to
professor and YouTube video lecturer Michael Wesch. YouTube
users, he’s said, have produced more than that in the last six
months! In fact, YouTube estimates that 13 hours’ worth of video
gets uploaded to the site every minute. More important than the statistics,
however, are the demographics behind the statistics. For the
first time ever, programming has been taken away from the major
players with the big money and put squarely in the hands of every person who decides to create and post a video. You may not have
the fame and glory, yet, but you have the same shot at exposure that
once was reserved only for those rare few people destined to become
stars.
Throughout the pages of this book, you’ll meet dozens of individuals
and company representatives who have found ways to
make YouTube work for them. Whether they have launched businesses
or refreshed corporate images, they have used YouTube to
open doors they would never have dreamed of just five years ago.
Now that these doors are open, our lives as video consumers and
producers will never again be the same.