With 1.9 million people out of a job in 2008, it's heartening to know that any one of us could make six figures on YouTube. 27 year old Cory Williams makes $20,000 a month on YouTube and 33 year old Michael Buckley pulls in over $100,000 a year from YouTube ads.
It doesn't cost much to get into this business. Buckley spent $2,000 on a Canon camera, bought a $6 piece of fabric for a backdrop and a pair of work lights from a hardware store. He gets 100 million views for his "silly" "What the Buck?" YouTube videos on celebrities -- like joking segments about Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus -- which he produces three times a week.
Williams has 180,000 subscribers to his videos such as "The Mean Kitty Song" -- which introduces his evil cat. Williams gets half his monthly take from advertisements and the other half from sponsors -- such as The Coca Cola Company (NYSE: KO) -- that embed ads in his videos.
With all the people trying to mimic the success of Buckley and Williams, it's a bit of a lottery, but why not give it a try? As more people succeed, they're going to give the big media companies a run for their money.
Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. Portfolio will publish his book about Boeing, You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing, on December 26, 2008. He has no financial interest in Coke securities.
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