Figure 15-1. Lisa Donovan.

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/LisaNova (URL 15.2)

Website: www.lisanovalive.com (URL 15.3)

LisaNova is the 24th Most Subscribed channel of all time on YouTube (as of this writing). She became a MADtv cast member as a result of her videos on YouTube. She has been featured in the New York Times, AdWeek, and Wired magazine.

Alan Lastufka: When and why did you start making videos for YouTube?

Lisa Donovan: I first started making videos on my LisaNova channel in June 2006. I had already been in Los Angeles for a couple of years and had ended up working in production on the MTV show The Osbournes along with other random production jobs. I eventually teamed up with director/producer Danny Zappin, and we formed a small production company called Zappin Productions at the end of 2005.

Our long-term goals of producing and directing independent feature films were temporarily put on hold as we found our time more and more consumed with doing corporate videos and working on other people’s creative projects. Danny discovered YouTube a few months before I created the LisaNova channel. He encouraged me to start posting my own videos during our spare time between production projects. I really didn’t know what kind of videos I wanted to make at the time and actually had a problem with just talking to the camera like the vloggers were doing. So, I just decided to make my first introduction video, Introducing LisaNova, a silent film with subtitles, French music, and an old film look.

Alan: How did you come to have your YouTube celebrity?

Lisa: My introduction video did pretty well. A fan base started to grow, and I was eventually featured on the home page twice in my first few months on the site. My P. Diddy video was featured on the YouTube home page the day that Google bought YouTube, and I got a lot of extra exposure from that. My Teenie Weenie video was also featured, and the casting director from MADtv saw it and called me in to audition for the show. I eventually was cast for four episodes at the end of that season and received a lot of press because I was the first YouTube person to land a real TV role. Besides the press, I’ve had quite a few videos that people really seemed to like, and my subscription base just kept consistently growing. I’m not universally known for any one hugely successful “viral” video. Instead, I’m probably known by many different people from a variety of different videos I’ve done. LisaNova does YouTube was a big boost mainly because of all the ridiculous drama it caused. Hundreds, if not thousands, of videos were made regarding the controversy surrounding all the comments we left on people’s profiles leading up to the release of the video. It was quite an interesting social experiment, and it was a lot of fun to see all the interaction that took place because of it.

Alan: If you had one sentence to describe your YouTube channel, what would it be?

Lisa: I would say the LisaNova channel is a random collection of satirical videos about a wide variety of pop culture topics including celebrity spoofs, YouTube spoofs, and political satire as well as music videos and other stuff.

Alan: How has your success on YouTube helped your career outside of YouTube?

Lisa: I guess it has completely changed my career path. My YouTube success has definitely changed the focus of our production company and has led to many mainstream-media acting jobs and opportunities in TV and film. I still don’t feel that Hollywood completely respects YouTube, but I think that will change in time. It’s extremely exciting that people now have a way to build a fan base, make a living, or at least make a supplementary income by putting their videos on YouTube. It’s cool to be able to build a fan base without having to deal with the normal Hollywood barriers.

Alan: Who is your target audience? And who is your actual audience?

Lisa: I think our target audience is college age and older, although I know a big percentage of our demographic is still younger than 18. The LisaNova channel probably has a much older demo than most of the top-subscribed channels, which appeal mainly to a younger demo.

Alan: In what ways do you interact with your audience?

Lisa: All the normal ways like comments and personal messages, and so on, as well as doing live vlogs/chats. I like to watch video responses when I have time and leave comments. I’ve met a few people in real life from that. It’s always fun to meet people in real life who you know only as a username on YouTube.

Alan: Have your YouTube friends become your real life friends?

Lisa: A little bit, although most people I know from YouTube live in all different parts of the world, so that makes it a bit difficult to cultivate those relationships in real life.

Alan: Has interacting with people on YouTube made you more confident while interacting with people face-to-face on a daily basis?

Lisa: YouTube does help you build a thick skin. You have to be ready for massive rejection/criticism every time you put out a video. So, now I feel very immune to anyone’s opinion of me. But I am a people person, and I have mostly felt confident in that regard. I love to meet new people and learn about their lives and their culture.

Alan: How much of your day is spent on YouTube?

Lisa: That really varies. There were long stretches where I would be on there 10 to 12 hours a day. Then there are times when I get burned out or really busy with other things and I barely go on at all. Typically, I’ll spend at least an hour or so on YouTube on a normal day.

Alan: What advice do you have for up-and-coming YouTubers?

Lisa: It’s very important to interact with the community, especially when you’re first starting on the site. Subscribe and comment on other people’s videos on the site, and make videos that occasionally have to do with other YouTube users or other YouTube videos (that is, video responses).

Quality and consistency are the other keys for building an audience. I would advise someone who’s starting a YouTube channel to make several videos they feel good about before they start posting them. Make sure your videos have good sound and proper exposure and that they’re something you like. Having a stockpile of solid videos can help you gain some momentum right out of the gate without taking a long break to shoot your next video. Comedy videos seem to play much better than others, and it’s important to keep the videos short if possible because people have extremely small attention spans these days.

Alan: Could you repeat your success on YouTube if you started over today?

Lisa: It would probably be much harder for me to repeat the same level of success today if I were just now starting on YouTube. There’s far more competition, and it’s much harder to get seen these days. However, it’s possible to blow up much faster now because there are so many more people here. I just think it’s much harder to get to that point where you get mainstream exposure on the lists. For instance, it used to take 50 comments to be on the top 20 Most Discussed page. Now it takes about 1,000 comments, so it’s much harder for a newcomer to get the exposure they used to get.

Figure 15-2. Hank Green.

YouTube: http://youtube.com/vlogbrothers (URL 15.4)

Website: www.ecogeek.org (URL 15.5)

Hank and John Green (vlogbrothers), brothers for over 27 years, decided not to write, email, instant message, or text message each other for all of 2007 and instead make daily video blogs. Though the Brotherhood 2.0 project has ended, they update the YouTube channel at least once a week. The community of nerdfighters they helped create is now stronger than ever; it lives at www.nerdfighters.com (URL 15.6). The vlogbrothers’ YouTube channel has been featured on NPR and in the Wall Street Journal.

Alan Lastufka: When and why did you start making videos for YouTube?

Hank Green: New Year’s Day 2007. It was my first video I’d ever edited. And I had just signed on to do a full year of them…every other day. Man, that was dumb.

Alan: How did you come to have your YouTube celebrity?

Hank: I wrote a song about the last Harry Potter book the day before it came out. It got featured on the front page of YouTube. A tiny fraction of the million people who have watched that video became loyal viewers. And they told their friends, and we felt pressure to make better videos, and then more people responded to the better videos…and on and on.

Alan: If you had one sentence to describe your YouTube channel, what would it be?

Hank: We’re just two dorky brothers who wanted to have a better relationship with each other and ended up having a pretty powerful relationship with 30,000 nerds.

Alan: How has your success on YouTube helped your career outside of YouTube?

Hank: Oh yeah, people are always being like, “Oh, that Hank guy is pretty cool, yeah.” And then they find out about Brotherhood 2.0, and they’re like “Hire him!” or “Bring him here to speak at our event” or “OMFG, I want to have his BABY!” That last one isn’t really good for the career, but it’s good for the ego. The biggest deal is that I got a gig making videos for Discovery Channel’s new Green Cable Network. And, just in general, it’s good personal branding. People just assume you’re capable of anything, which is, of course, very far from the truth. But I don’t generally tell them that.

Alan: Who is your target audience? And who is your actual audience?

Hank: Our target audience is anyone who believes that being yourself is cool and being smart isn’t something to be ashamed of. Our actual audience is pretty much that, except it’s mostly girls. About 75 percent of the people who watch us are female, which is really surprising. The only thing that would make us more interesting to girls than boys is our powerfully handsome faces, which is ridiculous.

Alan: In what ways do you interact with your audience?

Hank: There’s probably a pretty sloped hierarchy here. There are the people who just watch who we never interact with. That is probably the biggest slice. And then there are people who comment, and we sometimes respond. But beyond that there’s a select group of several thousand who we do tons of stuff with. We make music videos, we have scavenger hunts, they cover my songs, I cover their songs, we make collaborative videos, and sometimes we just sit around and talk. I hired a nerdfighter to work for my blog. We also do video chats sometimes, and we’re going on a real, in-person tour, so we’ll be hanging out with our audience face-to-face soon.

Alan: You refer to your viewers as nerdfighters. What are nerdfighters?

Hank: Instead of being made of bones and organs and stuff, a nerdfighter is made of awesome. Less technically, a nerdfighter is someone who believes in, and has no problems with, their dorky obsessions and interests and will never criticize anyone else for their obsessions and interests.

Alan: Have your YouTube friends become your real-life friends?

Hank: I’m not sure how to make the distinction between real-life and YouTube friends anymore. So, I guess the answer is yes.

Alan: Has interacting with people on YouTube made you more confident while interacting with people face-to-face on a daily basis?

Hank: Almost always. Sometimes I still get really nervous, but I think it happens less often now. Most people don’t know what they sound like and even cringe a little when they hear themselves recorded. I know exactly what I sound like; I hear myself all the time. And I’ve even kinda started to like it.

Alan: How much of your day is spent on YouTube?

Hank: I really have no idea. Between one and six hours, I’d say.

Alan: What advice do you have for up-and-coming YouTubers?

Hank: Make videos you enjoy watching. I literally watch and enjoy watching my old videos. I sit there and laugh and say, “That was a funny joke.” If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing—if you don’t think it’s cool or funny or worth watching after you’re done—then no one else will. Also, it’s a great cure for the “no one is watching, so why bother?” problem. If you’re entertaining yourself, then at least you have one reason to keep doing it.

Alan: Do you feel you could repeat your success on YouTube if you started over today? Why or why not?

Hank: Maybe. There’s no way to tell. YouTube changes constantly, so video makers have to change constantly as well. We have to keep on top of trends and make connections with people who are doing cool things. Plus, we’d need to have more good ideas, and you can never be sure a good idea is going to come by. I think it would be more difficult now. But there are still tons of people doing it, so it’s certainly possible.

Figure 15-3. Michael Buckley

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/WHATTHEBUCKSHOW (URL 15.7)

Website: www.buckhollywood.com (URL 15.8)

WhatTheBuck is the most popular entertainment show on YouTube, with more than 240,000 subscribers and 70 million views. Several original episodes are posted each week covering important topics like Britney’s Beaver and Tyra’s Latest Weave. He occasionally covers sports and politics but would much rather talk about what happened on The Hills.

Buck can also be seen often on the Fox News shows RedEye and Lips & Ears, can be seen live on BlogTV, and can be heard on several radio shows including Leeza Gibbons’ syndicated radio show. In real life, he has a day job, enjoys playing with his four dogs, loves going to Broadway shows, and likes whitening his teeth.

As a result of his popularity on YouTube, he has signed a development deal with HBO.

Alan Lastufka: When and why did you start making videos for YouTube?

Michael Buckley: I didn’t even know what YouTube was when my first video was posted. I was doing a show at my local public access station, and my cousin took one of the clips and posted it on YouTube. This continued for several months before I started posting on my own channel. For the first few months, I really didn’t grasp what YouTube was or all that would come of it for me.

Alan: How did you come to have your YouTube celebrity?

Michael: I slept with LisaNova! [laughs]

It was a lot of very hard work cranking out new videos on a regular basis. Throw in some good luck and networking with other users along the way, and I got to the level I now enjoy on the site.

Alan: If you had one sentence to describe your channel on YouTube, what would you say?

Michael: Um, one sentence? Me? Impossible. The WhatTheBuckShow channel is a four-eyed gay dude with a green-screen background making fun of celebrities. My channel is the anti–Entertainment Tonight; it’s a show designed to take the piss out of celebrities.

Alan: How has your success on YouTube helped your career outside of YouTube?

Michael: My success on YouTube has launched a career for me that I otherwise would not have had. I didn’t want to throw myself into the deep-yet-shallow pool of television commentators who were told what to say and how to say it. I wanted to create my own show with my own voice talking about the silly things that I wanted to talk about. I am lucky and grateful that doing this has unexpectedly become revenue generating and life changing. In terms of outside opportunities, I am a frequent guest on TV/radio shows, but I believe the Internet is where I will have my future and greatest successes.

Alan: Who is your target audience? And who is your actual audience?

Michael: To be honest, I try to appeal to everyone. I’m a people pleaser. I take pride in the fact that many people write to me and claim they never liked gay people or cared for celebrity gossip but they rather enjoy my show. My goal is to present material with humor, warmth, and joy so that even people who would not typically enjoy it find something about it to enjoy.

My actual audience is largely kids 13 to 18, which is funny because the show was not originally written for kids. But then I also have a lot of viewers who are 35 to 45. Being aware that young people are watching, I try to do at least one show a week about Hannah Montana, the Jonas Brothers, or something youth-oriented. They are the viewers who rate/comment/favorite your videos the most.

Alan: In what ways do you interact with your audience?

Michael: I make great efforts to reply to comments on my current video. I am very active on my website in the discussion forums, and I also do weekly live shows.

Alan: Has your circle of friends from YouTube transferred to your circle of friends in real life?

Michael: Yes, I am very close with people who I know from YouTube. Some I have met in real life; others I have not. Some of my closest friends I met on YouTube, and I view many as colleagues and friends. It is a strange new world that we are all figuring out as we go along!

Alan: Has interacting with people on YouTube made you more confident while interacting with people face-to-face on a daily basis?

Michael: I don’t think so. I was always confident interacting with people. In some ways it has made me a bit shyer I think. Because my persona is so “out there” and loud on YouTube, I tend to be a bit more reserved in real life now.

Alan: How much of your day is spent on YouTube?

Michael: I am on all day. I may go a few minutes here and there without checking it, but if I’m off for more than an hour, it’s only because I’m sleeping.

Alan: What advice do you have for up-and-coming YouTubers?

Michael: It is important to make videos you enjoy making. If you make videos trying to copy other people or have illusions of online fame, you will get discouraged and stop. Just like anything in life, make videos that you love, and others will see that and appreciate your efforts. In terms of practical advice, be visible on the site. Make sure you are rating/commenting/favoriting other people’s videos to make it a more interactive experience. By doing this, you will build a larger audience for your own videos. Be nice and respectful of other users; you may think you’re being funny, but mean comments will not get you respect or more viewers. Don’t post one video and be upset no one sees it. You could post the best video in the history of YouTube and it gets 10 views; and that’s just you checking to see whether anyone is watching. A lot of factors come into play when getting lots of views/subscribers on the site, so be patient! Keep making different videos, and one will catch on, or your diverse body of work will attract some attention. I also advise people to pull and repost videos that they are very proud of. If you posted a great video a year ago and it has a low view count, the chances are it’s “dead” and will not catch on. If you are at a place where you now have maybe 1,000 or 10,000 subscribers and you posted a video you really love, repost it for your new larger audience to see.

Alan: Do you feel you could repeat your success on YouTube if you started over today? Why or why not?

Michael: I do believe I could repeat my success if I started over today. I always believed in myself and the videos I was putting out there. I worked hard to create and promote them, so I know I could do it again. I work even harder now to keep the quality up; knowing each day brings a whole new audience, I have to make a good first impression while maintaining the appeal to longtime viewers.

Alan: You host a live Q&A show an average of three times a week. Why do you feel this is important?

Michael: I think the most important thing I have done on YouTube is stay present. Many people just post videos and do not interact with the community. Many of them fade away. Some are lucky enough that their audience doesn’t care. The moment I started vlogging and seeming more like a real person and not just some bitchy gay guy who made fun of celebrities is when I became more popular on the site. People like seeing the real person behind the videos. Doing the live shows/chats was just the next step in me being available and present to the people who enjoy my videos. I love doing the live shows; it’s a rush and a pleasure to have the instant feedback and connection.

Alan: You write, edit, and perform all your videos alone, with numerous episodes produced each week without fail. How do you do all this while working full-time and balancing a home life?

Michael: It can be a challenge to make it all work. I’ve been doing it all for two years now, so I’m used to the heavy workload. And while writing/filming/editing the videos is a lot of work, it’s also my passion, so I look forward to every one. If I feel overwhelmed, I take a week off or do fewer videos for a week, but I find when I am off, I miss it. It really nurtures my creative spirit.

My day job has been very supportive, and I have great benefits, weeks of paid vacation, and a 401(k), so it has been hard to leave! My husband has been very supportive and actually was the one who told me to have an opening credit with “Please Subscribe” and “Rate It If You Hate it,” which has been very successful for me. And other ‘Tubers use similar credits now too! He also gives me some jokes, but don’t tell him I admitted that!

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/nalts (URL 15.9)

Blog: www.willvideoforfood.com (URL 15.10)

Figure 15-4. Kevin Nalty.

Kevin Nalty is one of the most-viewed YouTube comedians with more than 650 short online videos and more than 25 million views. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, AdWeek, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as on ABC News. He was honored at the 11th Annual Webby Awards. By day he’s a marketing director at a Fortune 100 company. He speaks, writes, and consults about online marketing and viral video.

Alan Lastufka: When and why did you start making videos for YouTube?

Kevin Nalty: I’ve been making short comedy-like videos since high school and began posting them on the Web in December 2005. I didn’t really begin using YouTube until late 2006 when I realized that none of the other sites had the size and regularity of YouTube.

Alan: How did you come to have your YouTube celebrity?

Kevin: Although most YouTube users are unfamiliar with the notion of a YouTube celebrity, there is a core group of maybe 20,000 people who are active viewers and commenters. Within this YouTube community, I began to be recognized after I made a video called Viral Video Genius. But it wasn’t until Farting in Public that I began to develop a strong base of viewers and subscribers. Soon I realized that much of the fun of YouTube is making videos for this community and about the chronic YouTube users.

Alan: If you had one sentence to describe your YouTube channel, what would it be?

Kevin: Variety.

I fatigue quickly of viewing someone if they develop a predictable format. I hope that my videos vary enough for people, whether it’s a vlog about the YouTube community, a short comedic skit, or an interesting moment in my life. Many seem to like seeing my kids in parody videos or candid moments where I’m out embarrassing myself.

Alan: How has your success on YouTube helped your career outside of YouTube?

Kevin: My day job hasn’t changed much, but without my YouTube popularity I don’t think I’d be as widely known in the online video community. Unlike other marketers, I have experience as a video creator. So, I have a unique ability to see the convergence of advertising and online video, and this has resulted in sponsor opportunities and speaking gigs.

Alan: Who is your target audience? And who is your actual audience?

Kevin: My blog targets video creators and advertising and marketing professionals, but my video audience is far broader. I have one of the most bifurcated audiences on YouTube, because it ranges from adolescents who share my sophomoric humor to parents who want to see my pathetic parenthood in action (probably so they can feel better about their own). When I look at the video demographics now visible on YouTube, I’ll see a video about a snake in my pool drawing young guys and then a video about my kids stealing a van drawing the 30- to 50-year-old men and women equally.

Alan: In what ways do you interact with your audience?

Kevin: I probably interact more with my audience than most, but not as much as I’d like. Sometimes I’ll ride the comment section of my most recent video for hours in a day, communicating with the hundreds of people who comment. I try to participate in collaboration videos whenever I can, and I’ve met many of the YouTube community members at events from California to New York City and from Georgia to London. My day job keeps me traveling, and that has also given me a chance to collaborate with people in various corners of the world.

Alan: Have your YouTube friends become your real life friends?

Kevin: I’ve developed dozens of contacts on YouTube that I’d consider friends—folks I’d invite to a party if they lived closer. We speak occasionally, email frequently, and get together when we can. I really like this group because they share my short attention span and creative fire, and their backgrounds are random. What I love most about YouTube Gatherings is that I can be talking to people with whom I’d otherwise have no contact—individuals from different regions, backgrounds, socioeconomic status, and job function. With maybe two or three exceptions, my geographic (in-the-flesh) friends are oblivious to the subculture of YouTube.

Alan: Has interacting with people on YouTube made you more confident while interacting with people face-to-face on a daily basis?

Kevin: Ironically, I actually think YouTube has made me a bit more introverted. I’ve had a taste of fame, and it can be fun and energizing in short bursts. But I love being anonymous and observing crowds. While it’s fun to attend a YouTube Gathering and have people eager to meet me, I find it’s even more rewarding to walk into a room and feel comfortable not being the center of attention.

Alan: How much of your day is spent on YouTube?

Kevin: Oh, this is hard to admit on paper. I probably spend from two to five hours a day on YouTube, an hour or so at night, and at least two in the morning. Sometimes I go “cold turkey” for a few days to gain perspective, but I really enjoy creating videos and learning what people like and don’t like.

Alan: What advice do you have for up-and-coming YouTubers?

Kevin: Have fun and collaborate with the people on YouTube, and don’t feel rushed about getting to some artificial milestone in the form of views or subscribers. Meet some people who arrive to YouTube about the time you do, and form some friendships. That’s more exciting than getting featured, which results in lot of scrutiny. The most rewarding part of YouTube is when you develop a small, loyal following of people who share your interests or humor. So, focus on quality, not quantity. I’ll take care of creating a video as frequently as you poop.

Alan: Could you repeat your success on YouTube if you started over today?

Kevin: Absolutely not. Just as I could never get into Georgetown today, I’d never be able to develop a robust subscriber base starting today. YouTube unfortunately provides a persistent advantage to those who developed followings early. If you look at the Most Subscribed list, you’ll see many people who couldn’t start over and are probably popular because they are popular. Some have learned to keep things fresh, and other amateurs slowly fade when the audience gets tired and moves onto the “star of the day.”

Alan: You’ve participated in numerous collaboration videos; do you feel these types of videos are important?

Kevin: I was fascinated when a YouTube friend (Pipistrello) told me he meets with other YouTubers. I was a bit scared to get together with strangers from the Internet but was thrilled with the experience. It’s so fun to be a brief actor in someone else’s video or to join with other people to produce something. The viewers who are part of the YouTube community are amazed to see two people—who they watch separately—perform together. Collaborations are a faster way to develop an audience if it’s done right, but more important, it’s extremely satisfying from a creative perspective. I don’t interact with many creative people at work, so my brain goes Technicolor watching how other people approach the conception and execution of a short video. I’ve learned so much by watching other people at work.

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/liamkylesullivan (URL 15.11)

Website: http://liamshow.com/ (URL 15.12)

Figure 15-5. Liam Kyle Sullivan.

Liam has had videos with many millions of views on YouTube: Shoes has received 20 million views, Let Me Borrow That Top has received 10 million views, and Muffins has received 7 million views. As a result of his YouTube work, Liam has been a guest on the TV shows Gilmore Girls, 8 Simple Rules, and Alias. And he’s in the Weezer music video for “Pork and Beans.” He’s also opened for Margaret Cho on tour doing stand-up comedy.

He plays a female character, Kelly, in the majority of his videos.

Liam says this of his work: “In my comedy, I like playing characters who never let anyone grind them down and, of course, must eventually be carted away in straightjackets.”

Alan Lastufka: When and why did you start making videos for YouTube?

Liam Kyle Sullivan: I actually started making videos in 2004, before YouTube was invented. I had a live comedy show going in Los Angeles, the Liam Show, where I’d show my videos and perform characters and songs. I had just finished shooting the Shoes video when YouTube started getting popular, and a fan downloaded the video from my website and posted it on YouTube. And who knew—it got millions of views! I remember asking a friend, “What’s YouTube?” I investigated, made my own YouTube channel, posted my videos myself, put a whole “Kelly” album on iTunes, and here we are.

Alan: You’ve had numerous videos viewed tens of millions of times; what do you attribute to the success of these videos?

Liam: I guess people dig my sense of humor. I try not to think about why. If I overanalyze it, I get frozen.

Alan: If you had one sentence to describe your channel on YouTube, what would you say?

Liam: This channel is everything you’ve ever dreamed of and more!!!!!

Alan: How has your success on YouTube helped your career outside of YouTube?

Liam: I’ve been opening for Margaret Cho on her Beautiful Tour, and I’ve been performing at colleges across the country, which wouldn’t have been possible before. I’m also free to develop new ideas, pitch ideas to studios (people with funding), and do a lot of paid writing.

Alan: Who is your target audience? And who is your actual audience?

Liam: I know a lot of young women watch my videos. But I’ve heard from all kinds of people—young, old, straight, gay, male, and female—who enjoy them. I try not to target anyone. I just try to do what I think is funny.

Alan: In what ways do you interact with your audience?

Liam: I’ve set up a fan page on my website where I post blogs and let people know what I’m up to. I don’t normally respond to messages coming in from all the social networks.

Alan: Has your circle of friends from YouTube transferred to your circle of friends in real life?

Liam: No, I’m kind of a loner, actually. Socially stupid. A little boring, if truth be told. Most times I like to read and do the crossword for fun.

Alan: Has interacting with people on YouTube made you more confident while interacting with people face-to-face on a daily basis?

Liam: No. I’m mostly pretty comfortable with people I’ve known for a long time.

Alan: How much of your day is spent on YouTube?

Liam: I try to leave it alone; otherwise, I get all caught up in the numbers. It’s easy to get obsessed and go ego-tripping. I have to remember that today’s entertainers can be yesterday’s news pretty quick.

Alan: What advice do you have for up-and-coming YouTubers?

Liam: Make videos you enjoy making. They might suck at first. Stick it out. It took me years to learn to write and shoot something good. Just keep going.

Alan: Do you feel you could repeat your success on YouTube if you started over today? Why or why not?

Liam: You start over every day, anyway, when you’re creating stuff. Maybe I could repeat it; maybe I couldn’t. I think I was successful on YouTube because I wasn’t trying to be successful on YouTube. I was just trying to make something funny with my friends.

For additional interviews with YouTube rock stars, please visit the following site:

http://viralvideowannabe.com/interviews (URL 15.13)