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How much do you know about the vlogging business? Before we can aspire to get rich in a certain field, we must be sure we know everything about that industry. Who are the superstars already operating in the arena? How are their vlogs different from the amateur vlogger struggling to grow traffic?

I’ve worked with vloggers for seven years, and I have seen first-hand how the industry has changed. In 2009, there wasn’t much difference between bloggers and vloggers except for the way we presented our thoughts and insights into daily life. Initially, I chose blogging; I set up my blog LiveLikeaVIP.com in 2009 after growing disillusioned with my job writing for a national newspaper. I was the showbiz gossip column editor of the Sunday Mirror, but nobody my age bought or read a newspaper and it made me think there was a market for online content aimed at teens and twenty-somethings. I chose blogging over vlogging because I loved writing, and I knew how to work with photos after watching busy newspaper departments find the right images to accompany stories. Had I decided to make video content back in 2009, life would have been very different.

While I was busy writing about celebrities I’d interviewed, and taking photos to show how their outfits could be copied with cheaper alternatives, people like Zoella and Fleur De Force were sitting in their bedrooms talking to camera about what they’d been up to and where they’d been shopping. Instead of photographing their clothes, they’d make ‘haul’ videos in which they tipped open the contents of their shopping bags and held the items up to the camera. Both blogging and vlogging were ways of reaching a new generation of content consumers: blogging in 2D, and vlogging in 3D.

Fashion retailers were – and still are – desperately keen to get involved with these new media, inviting bloggers and vloggers to events and parties showcasing their products. In the early days, bloggers and vloggers were treated as one, and we’d regularly meet up in the penthouses of London’s most exclusive five-star hotels, such as Sanderson and The May Fair, for drinks or afternoon tea, while a fashion brand laid on a presentation for us. Sometimes, there could be as many as three or four events a week, as more and more retailers realised the power of online content. I found myself socialising with bloggers and vloggers more often than I did with my old group of friends. Since blogging and vlogging had brought us together, they were often the topics of conversation when we met up. We’d ask questions like: were we being efficient with our time? What were we doing to grow traffic and subscribers? What tools had we found to make blogging and vlogging easier?

In late 2012 to early 2013, I noticed things starting to change. When some vloggers reached six to seven figures in their subscriber numbers, retailers shifted their approach. Vloggers and bloggers were no longer invited to the same events, and started being treated differently. The number of events decreased as marketing managers followed the numbers: they were able to see how much influence vloggers had by looking at the number of subscribers to their YouTube channels and views of their videos. As a result, PR agencies could be more focused and aim for mentions on the vlogs with the biggest audiences. Hosting events can never guarantee coverage, as a vlogger’s attendance at the event does not oblige them to talk about it. Therefore, the events were cut back and the budget was spent paying for sponsored content on the vlogs and blogs with the most influence.

By 2013, several vloggers had turned their hobby into a business, as sponsored content and YouTube advertising rates meant they could earn more from their vlog than they could from more traditional jobs. Fortunately, blogging caught up as PR agencies used social media statistics to see which bloggers had the most reach. We’d be approached by a PR rep or a brand manager via email, negotiate a fee and then post our content. Socialising had to be cut back as we were all engrossed in posting and promoting our work. I didn’t want to turn anything down as it was an exciting time and I was constantly busy. However, I still found time to catch up with the blogs and vlogs my friends created, and I noticed the vloggers had similar levels of sponsored content to me.

Vloggers with high traffic levels signed up to the agency Gleam Futures to maximise their earning potential, and I signed up to Mode Media (formerly known as Glam), which takes on bloggers as well as vloggers. In Chapter 6 I’ll explain how both of these agencies can help anyone wanting to ‘get rich vlogging’, and how they should be approached. There is little doubt that having these big professional companies on board to negotiate deals has helped vlogging to be seen as a legitimate industry and not just a pastime.

Although I didn’t start vlogging in the early days of YouTube, I witnessed those who did and I watched how they grew traffic. I noticed there were tactics they applied that aspiring vloggers didn’t think about using. These traits set successful vloggers apart from those who failed to grow their subscriber numbers. I explore a different trait in each chapter of this book, looking at what the most famous vloggers have in common when it comes to thinking of a theme for their vlogs, growing social media numbers and monetising their vlogs through several revenue streams.

As I am primarily a blogger rather than a vlogger, I can be more open. I have nothing to hide because it won’t hinder my business if the readers of this book all become famous and rich on a global level. Some YouTubers are reluctant to share the secrets of their success because they don’t want you to enter the industry and compete with them for work. I want you to do well so I can watch some fresh, entertaining videos, and so I can be proved right – it’s not too late for anyone to start vlogging and making money from it, as long as you’re prepared to work hard and you have a passion for your topic.

Once you have the passion and motivation, you’re ready to get started, and this book will help you to do it in an organised fashion so you don’t waste time or energy. Without a clear sense of direction, it’s easy to be swallowed up by the noise of YouTube. More than 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, so you need to be different if you want to be successful. Most videos receive fewer than 1,000 views and, if you want to surpass that figure, you need a solid plan.

My plan has been formulated through contact with and observation of the following vloggers:

 AmazingPhil by Phil Lester (youtube.com/AmazingPhil) – 3.4 million subscribers

 Caspar Lee (youtube.com/dicasp) – 5.9 million subscribers

 Catrific by Cat Valdes (youtube.com/catrific) – 730,000 subscribers

 Charlieissocoollike by Charlie McDonnell (youtube.com/charlieissocoollike) – 2.4 million subscribers

 Danisnotonfire by Dan Howell (youtube.com/danisnotonfire) – 5.6 million subscribers

 Estée Lalonde (youtube.com/essiebutton) – 1.1 million subscribers

 Fleur De Force (youtube.com/FleurDeForce) – 1.4 million subscribers

 JacksGap by Jack and Finn Harries (youtube.com/JacksGap) – 4.2 million subscribers

 Jenna Marbles (youtube.com/JennaMarbles) – 15.9 million subscribers

 Jim Chapman (youtube.com/jimchapman) – 2.5 million subscribers

 Joey Graceffa (youtube.com/joeygraceffa) – 6 million subscribers

 KSI (youtube.com/KSI) – 12.8 million subscribers

 iJustine (youtube.com/ijustine) – 2.8 million subscribers

 Marcus Butler (youtube.com/MarcusButler) – 4.3 million subscribers

 Michelle Phan (youtube.com/MichellePhan) – 8.4 million subscribers

 Niomi Smart (youtube.com/niomismart) – 1.6 million subscribers

 PewDiePie (youtube.com/PewDiePie) – 44 million subscribers

 PointlessBlog by Alfie Deyes (youtube.com/PointlessBlog) – 5 million subscribers

 Sprinkle of Glitter by Louise Pentland (youtube.com/Sprinkleofglitter) – 2.4 million subscribers

 IISuperwomanII by Lilly Singh (youtube.com/IISuperwomanII) – 8.6 million subscribers

 Tanya Burr (youtube.com/tanyaburr) – 3.4 million subscribers

 ThatcherJoe by Joe Sugg (youtube.com/ThatcherJoe) – 6.6 million subscribers

 Troye Sivan (youtube.com/TroyeSivan) – 4 million subscribers

 Tyler Oakley (youtube.com/tyleroakley) – 8 million subscribers

 Zoella by Zoe Sugg (youtube.com/zoella) – 10.2 million subscribers

Looking at the list above may make you feel intimidated. The concept of reaching a million subscribers or more may seem daunting as you stand at the start of your vlogging journey, but none of the vloggers above reached a million followers overnight. They all started with one or two subscribers and then added a few more.

If you’d seriously like to ‘get rich vlogging’, then I urge you to put the fear of failure to the back of your mind and start in a methodical way, growing your vlog step by step as outlined in the chapters of this book. What have you got to lose?