The Secrets of Youtube Success - by Freddie Wong

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refocusedmedia

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Freddie Wong is one of the more recognizable and successful "Youtube filmmakers" out there. He has always has great BTS videos for each of his shorts, and he clearly understands how to monetize his YouTube success as he and his team are purely funded from their Youtube channel. He has written an updated, fairly in-depth article about the process for the benefits of others who wish to follow in his footsteps.

Opening/Intro:

In March 2011, I wrote an article entitled “The Secrets to YouTube Success.” For those of you who read it, you were probably disappointed to learn that there really aren’t any secrets – in short, it’s about defining your goals, listening to your audience, and making quality content.


Those fundamentals haven’t changed – but a lot of other things have. YouTube changed how their partnerships work – the only gatekeeper now is an algorithmic one. In addition, there are a slew of “Networks” like Machinima, Maker, Revision3, etc. who are looking for talent to sign on and fill their rosters. There are gigantic funded channels now, some of them created by YouTube Partners, some of them created by Hollywood production companies, dedicated to making online content. In short, there’s a whole lotta new stuff that affects content creators we want to discuss.


So the following is the article, updated for the state of online video in 2012. This our advice to aspiring YouTube content creators (and online video makers in general) who are clawing at recognition and success, based on our own experiences as well as numerous conversations with other YouTube partners.
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Enjoy: http://www.rocketjump.com/news/the-secrets-of-youtube-success-updated
 
I've watched and enjoyed many of his videos. I'd love to try a few similar ideas out myself, trouble is in the UK, if you run around filming with airsoft weapons, the police turn up with real ones!
 
Even JennaMarbles, to date the fastest growing YouTube channel of all time, required a more consistent stream of content before she started getting a very impressive consistent viewership. She built her audience off of the foundation of a strong, consistent content schedule.
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If there's anything you can take away, I think it's this. It's really the only thing within your control (even "good content" is subjective). There's nothing more frustrating then good content, but lackluster updates.

I would also add that, talented as Freddie Wong is, his success is kind of a "cheat" because a lot of his references hit the correct beats for the kind of audience that he was shooting for. How many of you are looking to put out videos based on Portal, Call of Duty, Super Mario, ect. ect. ect. I was entertained by them, absolutely, but it's not something everyone can follow, and his original production Video Game High School, I thought was very poor, content-wise. And even then, it is still capitalizing on interests by his audience that has already had the work done for it.
 
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"I would also add that, talented as Freddie Wong is, his success is kind of a "cheat" because a lot of his references hit the correct beats for the kind of audience that he was shooting for."


I think having your target audience in mind and shooting for them is brilliant - not a cheat. Why would he try and shoot content for Ohio soccer moms (for example) when he doesn't live in their world. He lives and breathes his niche and does so very successfully. You get better results with a rifle than a shotgun. IMO

Adam
 
Gary Huff said:
I would also add that, talented as Freddie Wong is, his success is kind of a "cheat" because a lot of his references hit the correct beats for the kind of audience that he was shooting for. How many of you are looking to put out videos based on Portal, Call of Duty, Super Mario, ect. ect. ect. I was entertained by them, absolutely, but it's not something everyone can follow, and his original production Video Game High School, I thought was very poor, content-wise. And even then, it is still capitalizing on interests by his audience that has already had the work done for it.
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Seriously?

Freddie hands out a pretty simple to follow blueprint - make a bunch of short films that your intended target audience (for later works) will enjoy, in a regularly updated format, be open, and engaging.

So, look at that in another way. What if my market was middle aged christian women. Couldn't I do a bunch of entertaining shorts that hit their interests, so when I put out a feature length product (or whatever) I already had a built in fan base that would enjoy it?
 
adamrahn said:
"I would also add that, talented as Freddie Wong is, his success is kind of a "cheat" because a lot of his references hit the correct beats for the kind of audience that he was shooting for."
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so funny that youd call this a cheat, when what you just mentioned is the very DEFINITION of success- finding a target audience and then serving them what they want. Its the foundation of succesful movies, TV, advertising, music, products, and everything else that exists. If only more of us could learn this lesson.

Im inspired to think of my own movies and future projects and think about what my audience is and how to give them what they want.

"I have no artistic integrity- I only think about what would entertain the audience "
- Sam Raimi

"you gotta ask yourself- what is the audience feeling at this particular point of the story?"
- Steven Spielberg

some succesful creators may only think of pleasing themselves, but you could argue they are treating themselves as the audience and banking that there are others out there like them


SERVE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jufn7QoP9VU
 
he was talking about the use of IPs like video game franchises, to attract new subscribers. he's making unlicensed fan made videos that should only be made by dedicated fans of one franchise. and since he made multiple of those videos, he's only making these "fan made" videos to attract new subscribers searching for their favorite game or IP.
 
I'm not sure how that article will help people on this board as the article deals with youtube content while most people here do content that can be ALSO seen on youtube - HUGE difference. Creating quick burst of awesomeness as this guy seems to be doing doesn't really correlate too well to storytelling with beginning middle and an end.
 
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Patryk_Rebisz said:
I'm not sure how that article will help people on this board as the article deals with youtube content while most people here do content that can be ALSO seen on youtube - HUGE difference. Creating quick burst of awesomeness as this guy seems to be doing doesn't really correlate too well to storytelling with beginning middle and an end.
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I would say that the new medium of content is shorter form web based deliverables. Also, the idea is breaking in not long term success. I'm not a huge Freddie Wong fan, but a lot of their skits have just as much story structure as most short films I see at festivals.

Consider becoming super youtube popular in your niche an internship or working in the mail room. Does it have merit then?

From a completely unscientific opinion, I would say the vast majority of the readership of dvxuser does not earn income from visual based content.
 
adamrahn said:
I think having your target audience in mind and shooting for them is brilliant - not a cheat.
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nycineaste said:
so funny that youd call this a cheat, when what you just mentioned is the very DEFINITION of success- finding a target audience and then serving them what they want.
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No.

Amr Rahmy said:
he was talking about the use of IPs like video game franchises, to attract new subscribers. he's making unlicensed fan made videos that should only be made by dedicated fans of one franchise.
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Exactly. Freddie does have some generic video stuff that isn't based off an already super-popular IP, but that's exactly what got him noticed. A good screen shot and "CALL OF DUTY MODERN WARFARE" tags in his video. I have no interest in doing that, so it doesn't help me.
adamrahn said:
Why would he try and shoot content for Ohio soccer moms (for example) when he doesn't live in their world.
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You are missing the point. What if someone reads that article who wants to shoot content for soccer moms and wants to make it just as popular? Is your advice to him to make a Twilight fan film? Riff off of 50 Shades of Gray? How do you translate that success into something wholly different?
Patryk_Rebisz said:
Creating quick burst of awesomeness as this guy seems to be doing doesn't really correlate too well to storytelling with beginning middle and an end.
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I completely agree, Patryk, and I think his lack of strong storytelling abilities is what made me shut off Video Game High School with zero interest in watching any more of it. It's a series based primarily on its story conceit and didn't seem to offer anything else besides that.

 
Amr Rahmy said:
he was talking about the use of IPs like video game franchises, to attract new subscribers. he's making unlicensed fan made videos that should only be made by dedicated fans of one franchise. and since he made multiple of those videos, he's only making these "fan made" videos to attract new subscribers searching for their favorite game or IP.
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This is exactly what Gary was talking about, and yes, I agree. That doesn't mean I wont' do it, though.
 
Gary Huff said:


You are missing the point. What if someone reads that article who wants to shoot content for soccer moms and wants to make it just as popular? Is your advice to him to make a Twilight fan film? Riff off of 50 Shades of Gray? How do you translate that success into something wholly different?
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I think the article is fairly generic. Make good content, reach out to other groups (not just youtube), and have a consistant posting schedule. Nothing is tied to the content that Freddie is producing. I think the most important thing in the whole article is to make something that someone would want to share with someone else when they have finished watching it.


So let's take our soccer mom example. The caveat being soccer moms may not have the same number of youtube viewers as game humor, but we'll roll with it. Not being one or caring about their interests, here is an idea:

Every kids sporting even I've gone to, has a group of moms who are there to gossip. So that is your weekly 2-3 minute sketch. Intermixed with their gossip is cheering for on field actions. It is kind of a take on the Guild. It can have topical references i.e. Twilight or Shades of Gray etc. You are just wrapping your skits / jokes in a wrapper that is familiar to the audience. It is no different than the pot smoking scenes on That 70s show or the alley scenes on King of the Hill. If they are short, funny, and relatable to the audience they will share with all of their friends.

That isn't any different than what Freddie is doing.
 
Kholi said:
This is exactly what Gary was talking about, and yes, I agree. That doesn't mean I wont' do it, though.
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How is it a cheat and why does only a dedicated fan to one particular franchise get to make a fan film? I wouldn't even call what they do fan films of games. They are making genre commentaries / spoofs.

They make spoofs of popular video games, so shouldn't they be doing spoofs of popular games? If that is what keeps people subscribing to the channel and watching the channel, then they are picking the right topics.

I completely understand the meta game that Freddie is playing, but that doesn't make anything they are doing wrong or cheating.

Jenna Marbles polls her audience to ask what videos they want to see and then makes them. Is that cheating?

What is cheating even mean in this instance? If I'm a studio and I make movie about Judge Dredd, shouldn't I want Judge Dredd fans to see it? And if they like it, shouldn't I want them to check out my other work? I at least view anything Joss Whedon makes. Did he cheat with Firefly?
 
Gary Huff said:
Except lots of people try just that and fail.
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Do you honestly believe that lots of people make high quality share worthy content (understandably subjective), released weekly, spend hours promoting it on related boards (by building relationships / not just spamming), interact with their audience, collaborate with similar artists, and continue to do this for years? I don't.

I think there are some people that make a half-assed attempt. Or never even try.

We also have to define success based on niche. My lame soccer mom example has a much narrower audience on youtube compared to game humor.
 
LbSand said:
I think the article is fairly generic. Make good content, reach out to other groups (not just youtube), and have a consistant posting schedule. Nothing is tied to the content that Freddie is producing. I think the most important thing in the whole article is to make something that someone would want to share with someone else when they have finished watching it.


So let's take our soccer mom example. The caveat being soccer moms may not have the same number of youtube viewers as game humor, but we'll roll with it. Not being one or caring about their interests, here is an idea:

Every kids sporting even I've gone to, has a group of moms who are there to gossip. So that is your weekly 2-3 minute sketch. Intermixed with their gossip is cheering for on field actions. It is kind of a take on the Guild. It can have topical references i.e. Twilight or Shades of Gray etc. You are just wrapping your skits / jokes in a wrapper that is familiar to the audience. It is no different than the pot smoking scenes on That 70s show or the alley scenes on King of the Hill. If they are short, funny, and relatable to the audience they will share with all of their friends.

That isn't any different than what Freddie is doing.
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Yes there is. Freddy's videos are cool but also extremely banal - to share those cool banalities tells something about everyone who's doing the sharing, in basic terms it says "i'm a dimwit and i'm ok with it." Although the housewives from your example might not be that much more sophisticated they might care about the "people will think i'm a dimwit" part and thus despite obvious show's strengths (I actually like this pitch!) the show might not be so popular on the net where sharability is important but might be popular where it doesn't matter - TV for instance.
 
Patryk_Rebisz said:
Yes there is. Freddy's videos are cool but also extremely banal - to share those cool banalities tells something about everyone who's doing the sharing, in basic terms it says "i'm a dimwit and i'm ok with it." Although the housewives from your example might not be that much more sophisticated they might care about the "people will think i'm a dimwit" part and thus despite obvious show's strengths (I actually like this pitch!) the show might not be so popular on the net where sharability is important but might be popular where it doesn't matter - TV for instance.
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I absolutely get where you are coming from, but I'm looking at the 30,000 foot view. On the surface those are very different concepts, but the root is the same. If I see a video with a nasty rugby hit, I may send it to my brother due to us both playing. If I'm a soccer mom and there is a funny joke that relates to me in a skit, I might send it to my sister and girlfriends. There could be sophistication or not. It just has to be short and funny. It is a poor demographic for this medium, but I wanted to run with the previously established theme.

Honestly, if I wanted to make something for soccer mom's to share I would do a parody music video of Riding Dirty involving a mini-van and muddy uniforms.
 
LbSand said:
How is it a cheat and why does only a dedicated fan to one particular franchise get to make a fan film? I wouldn't even call what they do fan films of games. They are making genre commentaries / spoofs.
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Do you know the moment when Freddy Wong skyrocketed from what he was to who he is? When he did a Call of Duty fan film.

Before that, he was using names of popular video games as the title of his material.

Do you know what that's called? Using someone's intellectual Property without permission. These aren't spoofs, they clearly serve the intellectual property's identifier in the heading of the video.

Have you ever heard of Walk Off The Earth? Did you hear of them BEFORE they covered GOTYE'S Someone That I used to know?

Yeah, me either.

Use whatever word you want for it, but he is using someone's already popular intellectual property to boost his profile. Doesn't matter if he makes money off of it, it's the free sample sitting outside of a bakery: you get sample, you like sample, you walk into the bakery to purchase.

I didn't say I feel it was right or wrong, either. I'll do it.
 
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