PewDiePie Tops YouTube Earners With $12 Million — Explains Technique Behind Wealth Generation Through Online Videos [Video]

YouTube content contributor PewDiePie made $12 million in 2014. The video maker made a special video not just to acknowledge his income, but has been kind enough to pinpoint the most essential aspects and techniques that are required to generate such seemingly fantastical sums of money by making videos for YouTube.

At merely 25-years-old, PewDiePie made $12 million in 2014, reported Huffington Post. Some reports have pushed this number a little higher to $16 million, but the fact is, he made all of the income by making videos that are watched by people across the world on YouTube. The money he makes comes from advertising that is displayed before, during, and after his video.

PewDiePie, whose real name is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, is a Swedish gamer, with nearly 40 million YouTube subscribers. He launched his YouTube channel about 5 years ago after dropping from the Chalmers University of Technology. Being a student of Industrial Economics and Technology Management wasn’t enough, and hence, PewDiePie up and quit. Interestingly, making YouTube videos wasn’t an idea that caused him to quit. His disappointed parents cut off his funding since he dropped school, forcing him to seek other means of securing a livelihood. Working days at a hot dog stand, PewDiePie started making videos for YouTube during the wee hours of the night.

By late 2013, PewDiePie had the most subscribed channel on YouTube, with more than 39 million subscribers. His videos had collectively garnered more than 10 billion views, topping pop icon Rihanna at the time. Interestingly, “Gangnam Style” hadn’t happened yet.

Despite his enormous success and having earned $12 million, PewDiePie’s technique hasn’t altered much, and the man even made a video in which he attempts to highlight the most basic aspects that helped him. In each of his videos, PewDiePie is seen playing a video game. However, he doesn’t just record himself playing a game, but offers a running commentary, which his viewers have found to be funny and energetic. Many point out that his commentary could do with a little less profanity, but majority of his fans keep coming back for more and eagerly await his next video.

In the video titled “Let’s Talk About Money,” PewDiePie strongly maintains that it was never about the money that motivated him to make videos on a regular basis, reported the Spreadit. His primary intent has and will always be to make videos that are highly entertaining and engaging. He adds that it doesn’t matter what one does to earn money, as long as one keeps the eye on the ball and pursue what makes one happy.

“The fact that I could make videos was so much more important to me than [that] I had to spend a few hours a day doing a job that wasn’t that prestigious. I knew people were big at other types of videos, but there was no one big in gaming, and I didn’t know you could make money out of it. It was never like a career that I could just quit college to pursue. It was just something I loved to do. And here we are five years later and it’s exploded.”

Interestingly, PewDiePie maintains that money isn’t his primary criteria, and says he is just as happy making videos now as he was five years ago. He also added that his channel made over a million dollars that went to charity, but laments that the world seems obsessed about his income.

PewDiePie’s $12 million make sense after considering each of his videos has more than 10 million views. Despite the wide variation of topics he chooses, PewDiePie stresses it’s critical not to lose sight of who the core audience is and then cater to them and ensure they share it further.

[Image Credit | YouTube Screen Grab]