"The people on YouTube are hard-working people, and they make a good living doing it," which is something that director Dan Dobi said he wanted to show with "Please Subscribe."
That living is made through Google's AdSense program, which allows users to open their YouTube accounts to advertisers, after which Google selects the highest bidder. YouTubers get a cut of the profits. Some, according to Socialblade.com, earn millions of dollars a year.
The Denton, Texas, YouTuber who only goes by the name Laina hit it out of the park with her very first video parodying "Beliebers." It made her an Internet meme for what became known as the "Overly Attached Girlfriend" face, which earned her more than 844,000 subscribers, a full-time YouTube career that pays her bills, and an invite to appear on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon."
"Double Rainbow" fan Vasquez was invited to appear at a high school in Iceland after his video got 38 million views.
"They toured me around the country, made me a festival where they sang, danced, did a play, made me a mural and a throne to watch it all. The parents came out, they made me protector of the student body, decorated the school in rainbows and after the performance surrounded me, hugging and kissing me like I was a king."
And what of the other benefits?
"AdSense alone pays my phone and Internet bill," he said.
CNN News: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/showbiz/youtube-famous-american-journey-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
Interesting. Do you have what it takes to have more than million viewers/followers? I wish I could come up with something that could reach that goal, haha.