Kiwi YouTubers crack 100k club
Subscriber milestone turns clips gig into a job, writes Hannah Bartlett.
There’s choreographer Parris Goebel, comedian Jamie Curry, as well as a few household names like Sir Peter Jackson and Lorde. The number of New Zealanders to hit the magical figure of 100,000 subscribers on YouTube has cracked 100. The milestone brings many benefits, including access to YouTube events, training programmes, equipment, and travel opportunities, which can help turn a hobby into a profession.
Kiwi YouTube makeup vlogger Shaaanxo, whose real name is Shannon Harris, is by far the most popular domestic YouTube star, with more than three million subscribers.
The 25-year-old says it’s a fulltime gig, and she has hired a video editor so she can focus on filming more content, which can include make-up tutorials and day-in-the-life vlogs.
Filming videos had started as a hobby born out of her love of ‘‘playing in makeup’’, but now she hopes her life as a fulltime YouTuber will never stop.
‘‘I like to do what my viewers request, which is often things to do with pop culture, new makeup products for reviews, and certain makeup looks for certain occasions,’’ says Harris.
An analysis of her potential earnings through YouTube puts her annual salary as high as $200,000.
She also draws income from sponsorships, and has developed merchandise including a clothing line and makeup brand, and was
I like to do what my viewers request, which is often things to do with pop culture, new makeup products for reviews, and certain makeup looks for certain occasions. Shannon Harris
recently hosted on to the Maldives.
Fellow YouTuber Bryce Langston, of Living Big in a Tiny House, says his online success was sparked by a search for affordable housing in Auckland.
He stumbled across the tiny house movement, decided he’d create his own tiny home, and documented the journey on a ‘‘brand trip’’ YouTube in 2013. It expanded to include tours of other tiny homes, and he now has more than 670,000 subscribers.
The former Shortland Street actor never thought of it as a way to make a living, but it means he’s ‘‘in control of his own destiny’’ with his show, without needing to go through a box-ticking exercise with television executives.
‘‘YouTube provides a platform where, if you have a good idea, and if you have the means of making that idea possible, you know, if it’s simple enough to create, then you’ve got the potential to reach an audience.’’
YouTube pays him a cut of advertising revenue – he first realised it could be a viable source of income when he was making enough money off YouTube ads to buy a coffee each day.
These days he earns a lot more, but much of his income is channelled back into production. He’s upgraded his camera equipment, invested in a drone, and has selffunded travel to the US and Canada to document tiny houses.
It’s a fulltime gig, but it’s varied and ‘‘doesn’t always feel like work’’.
‘‘Some of it involves travel, some of it involves quiet days sitting at home and editing and dealing with social media stuff, other days we’re out and about filming the show, meeting people, other days it’s research days where we’re trying to find cool spaces and line up future tours.’’
He will continue his YouTube career as long as he can.
‘‘YouTube and the whole online world is just such a crazy and fickle thing, and this whole journey has been really unexpected,’’ he said.
‘‘If I can continue doing this I would love to and that all comes down to whether people will keep watching the show.’’
A YouTube spokesman said the 100,000-subscriber milestone was the point where many creators consider their channel to be their ‘‘job’’, whether full or part-time.