These typically cost between £200 and £1,000.
I should either upgrade to a smartphone with a cutting-edge built-in camera or specialist vlogging cameras. The first videos I published on YouTube last year were shot on my old iPhone and in portrait mode - a rookie error. And nobody wants to watch shaky, badly shot content with poor audio,” she said. It takes much more creativity, much more engaging content to really stand out from the crowd these days. “Standards are getting better all the time. Her clients include the BBC, Vogue magazine and Madame Tussauds. “It has never been more accessible but it has also never been more competitive,” said Amee Fairbank, director of Manchester-based video production company Lizardfish TV. While setting up a YouTube channel is free and easy, producing golden content is another matter. So could I become a YouTube millionaire? If a four-year-old can achieve what Gaby has - albeit with the help of a savvy “momager” - surely anyone can? The truth, I soon discover, is far more complicated. But marketing experts say the greater attention span and all-important “engagement” required to be successful on YouTube has made it more commercially valuable. It has competition, of course: Instagram is increasingly populated by videos (though they last less than a minute). These are not reported by its parent, Google (a subsidiary of Alphabet), but were estimated at $3.36bn last year by market research firm eMarketer.įirst unleashed on to the world in 2005, the site began as a repository for amusing short clips - remember the sneezing Panda? - and has gradually evolved into a vast alternative broadcasting empire. New videos are posted two or three times a week and Companies House records, filed by Ms Vilumsone, reveal the business had net current assets of £188,175 as of April 30 2018.įrom gamers and pranksters to make-up artists and trick shot specialists, they are among a new generation of entrepreneurs sharing the spoils of YouTube’s vast advertising revenues.
Toys and Little Gaby is no side hustle but an increasingly professional channel run full-time by Gaby’s mother, 28-year-old Sabine Vilumsone. Children are drawn to the jolly soundtrack, cartoonish graphics and so-called “unboxing” moments in which brand new toys are gleefully unwrapped, a phenomenon that one marketing expert called “toddler crack”.Īnd the cuteness belies a carefully choreographed operation. Laura Edwards, co-founder of Viral Talent, the channel’s agent, points to its success in engaging pre-school viewers with cheerful, colourful content. To be fair, I am hardly the target audience. Gaby and her five-year-old brother, Alex, splashing about in the bath in swimsuits, then acting out nursery rhymes - this one got 425m views and counting. This feat seems all the more remarkable - and bemusing - when you see her videos.