BBC News, Yorkshire

In the 20 years since its advent, YouTube has grown from humble beginnings to billions of movies being watched each day – however can posting movies at the platform be offering a viable profession? We spoke to a few of South Yorkshire’s favorite creators about how the web site modified their lives.
‘Think about your ability’

Ruth Amos from Sheffield runs Kids Invent Stuff. The channel has 71,000 fans and has been going since 2015.
Primary faculty kids ship of their invention concepts and Ruth and her colleague Shawn deliver them to existence.
“There’s lots of different ways that you can make money from YouTube, there’s ads, sponsors, collaborators or you can have things like Patreon, where people support the work that you’re doing.
“Quite steadily, it you are a content material writer you do a large number of the ones other ways, no longer simply a kind of issues,” she says.
“When I used to be rising up you could not watch anyone’s channel about robotic making or cookery and that’s the reason what is wonderful about YouTube – all of our leisure pursuits have discovered a house on there in addition to a few of the ones viral moments.”
The channel has run collaborations with Channel 4 TV show Taskmaster and had a go at breaking Guinness World Records.
According to Ofcom, more than 80% of three to 17-year-olds use the site. A survey by the Lego Group in 2019 suggested a third of young Britons and Americans wanted to be vloggers.
However, there are more than 100 million channels on the site – some with only a handful of followers or video watches.
Would Ruth recommend the career to the children who send her their invention ideas?
“I feel this is a profession someone can do as a result of if you are desirous about growing content material, and you are ingenious, it is in truth one thing a lot of people will have a cross at,” she says.
“If anyone desires to be a YouTuber I might additionally consider your different talents, as a result of one of the hottest channels are channels the place individuals are filming themselves doing one thing else. So consider your ability.”
‘Constant plate-spinning’

Lee Hinchcliffe, from Barnsley, has been filming content for the platform since he was 15.
He began with gaming videos before trying skit videos and then challenge videos.
His channel took off when he started playing McDonald’s Monopoly. He spent hundreds of pounds at the chain trying to win a £10,000 prize ticket.
“I by no means gained it, I misplaced some huge cash, however other folks noticed that video,” he says.
“I’ve at all times had the affection of making movies and entertaining all my existence, in order that’s why I’ve long gone at it since faculty.
“YouTube is my university and I got my degree there, because you can watch back everything I’ve done.”
Off the again of his channel, Lee was a TV presenter with CBBC, starring on display along madcap puppet Hacker T Dog.
He mentioned his YouTube enjoy had made the transfer to tv a lot more straightforward.
“Instead of doing a screen test and auditions, it was like, ‘we’ve seen your videos, here’s your mic, here’s your earpiece, off you pop’,” he says.
“It’s an obsession and it’s grown into a career I’m able to do every day. There’s no switch off because it’s hard to switch off from something you love so much, and it needs constant plate spinning.”
‘Do one thing you like’

Steve Garbutt, 55, runs Yorkshire Car Restoration in Doncaster together with his son Shane.
The pair were growing YouTube movies for the previous 5 years and their industry has boomed.
Steve says that they had long gone from a 1,000feet warehouse to 10,000feet – and from 3 or 4 vehicles to greater than 40.
“You have to put many hours into YouTube, because you not only have to do the work, you’ve got to change camera and lighting, and you’re doubling your work load. Then you’ve got to go home and edit all your footage,” he says.
“I’ve always been a bit of a techy, I like my gadgets and things. My original training when I left school was in computers. And then at 21 I changed careers because I thought there was too many people doing it.”
They started at the platform via providing unfastened automotive recovery to well-known YouTubers similar to Mat Armstrong, who has 4.5m fans.
“You’ve got to be very clever, you’ve got to look where the opportunities are. Rather than money it gives you a lot of opportunities.
“Our first alternatives have been to revive well-known YouTubers’ vehicles without spending a dime, in alternate we were given them promoting for us and sending us other folks to observe.”
They have also worked with The Stig from Top Gear, Mike Brewer from Wheeler Dealers and Jonny Smith from The Late Brake Show.
Originally they hoped the channel would make money but they soon found the support they received more rewarding.
“We get such a lot of just right feedback it makes you wish to have to make every other video. Even if the monetary praise is not there, as a result of until you are anyone like Mat Armstrong it is not as successful as everyone thinks,” Steve says.
“The quantity of hours you installed does not warrant that more or less cash, you will have to be paid extra. But the praise is very large.
“I would encourage someone not to just do YouTube, to make sure they get a career and base their YouTube on something they love.
“Don’t assume your area of interest goes to blow up and make you well-known.”