Attention is the holy grail of anyone serving an audience. Attention can make you famous or popular. But what truly matters is how well do you inspire action? That critical element is what drives businesses for anyone creating content. For Mr Beast, his 330 Million subscribers on YouTube makes him famous. Giving away millions to his fans makes him popular. If 10% of his audience (bigger than the population of Australia) are buying from his sponsors and owned brands, he’s inspiring action. That is the best type of attention. Attention that drives popularity or fame without inspiring action is becoming less and less valuable.
I recently met Martin at our office. He runs one of South America’s hottest talent agencies, Trihaus. They manage a prolific South American YouTuber with +40Million Subs, Donato. I learned a lot from how they were managing the Donato brand. He’s on a global tour, meeting with peers, attending events and building relationships. They’re seeking to inspire action amongst their peer group. Very smart.
Remember, depending on where the creator is based in the world, YouTube pays a different rate for every thousand views they get. Unbeknownst to most viewers, YouTubers do not all get paid boat loads of money through the platform. In the Middle East and South America, YouTubers often get 10x less than those in the USA and countries with similarly high advertising rates. Fame might make you known to many but platforms are rarely, if ever, a primary income for big creators.
Fame is always less valuable than the ability to inspire action. A few years ago, a TikTok creator with over a million followers hosted a Meet and Greet but infamously, no one showed up. This has happened a lot since then. In a recent video published by a Game Dev who got 750,000 downloads on Steam, he broke down his earnings and revealed he made less than $3,000 USD in two years.
Traditional celebrities have deeply connected fans because they pay to listen to their music or watch them featured in a movie. For the Ryan Reynolds of the world, his fans will buy tickets to watch a Welsh Football club, swap their phone plan to Mint Mobile or drink Aviation Gin. In that world, it doesn’t matter how many millions of followers they have so long as they believe their fame drives action.
In a time where Netflix is buying YouTube shows, Amazon is spending a reported $100 Million USD on a game show hosted by a YouTuber and Podcast Platforms like Spotify are dishing out $50 Million+ on YouTube-founded podcasts… it’s clear this is still considered a holy grail for huge creators. Because people pay Netflix in attention and hard cash.
For content creators seeking to diversify their revenue, they must start to build a more engaged connection with their audience. Encourage them to commit to more action. Not just participation.
Your goal should be driving action not fame or popularity.