HIGHEST PAID YOUTUBERS AND MORE
Boasting legions of admiring fans, the most successful social media stars are raking it in big-time, thanks to massive ad revenues, paid product placements, lucrative book deals and money-making merchandise.
From cult beauty and fashion gurus and mysterious toy unboxers, to geeky gamers and cheeky pranksters, we reveal the regular people turned mega-influencers who are making millions from YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch.
Click through the slideshow to see more.
TANYA BURR (PIXI2WOO), NET WORTH $1.9 MILLION
Tanya Burr, 27, was working on a beauty counter at a department store in Norwich, England when she started posting celeb copycat make-up tutorials on YouTube in 2009.
Fast-forward to 2017 and the British beauty and style vlogger has 3.7 million YouTube subscribers and 2.46 million Twitter followers, not to mention a book deal and cosmetics line.
BETHANY MOTA (MACBARBIE07), NET WORTH: $2.5 MILLION
Californian haul queen Bethany Mota posted her first YouTube video in 2009 to help boost her confidence after being bullied at school.
Now one of social media’s most popular stars, the 21-year-old fashion, beauty and lifestyle guru has millions of fans, her own clothing range and has even appeared as a contestant on hit US TV show Dancing with the Stars.
BRIAN DIFEO (@BRIDIF), NET WORTH: $3 MILLION
Amateur photographer Brian DiFeo, 40, joined Instagram in October 2010, a few weeks after its launch.
One of the first people to recognize the earning potential of the picture-sharing site, the New Yorker soon built up a dedicated following, landed his first paid gig for Puma in 2011, and founded The Mobile Media Lab in 2012, the only creative agency devoted to Instagram advertising.
ALFIE DEYES (POINTLESSBLOG), NET WORTH: $3 MILLION
Now a well known celeb in the UK, 23-year-old Alfie Deynes began vlogging on his PointlessBlog YouTube channel back in 2009 while he was still at school.
The London-born vlogger’s viral and gaming videos, and collaborations with fellow vloggers and stars like Arianna Grande have garnered him a humongous social media following and three big-money book deals.
ZOE SUGG (ZOELLA), NET WORTH: $3.76 MILLION
YouTube’s power couple, Alfie Deynes has been dating 26-year-old fashion and beauty vlogger Zoe Sugg aka Zoella since 2014.
Rocking a whopping 11.6 million YouTube subscribers and 7.46 million Twitter followers, the internet sensation, who lives with her boyfriend in a $1.3 million (£1m) house in Brighton, England, has made most of her money from her beauty line and book deals – her debut novel Girl Online was the UK’s fastest selling book in 2014.
TOM CASSELL (THESYNDICATEPROJECT/SYNDICATE), NET WORTH: $4.72 MILLION
Another super-popular British vlogger, gamer Tom Cassell, 23, has just under 10 million YouTube subscribers, runs the most followed channel on gaming social video platform Twitch and is VP of a gambling website.
It’s not all been plain sailing however – the internet star has fallen foul of the authorities on more than one occasion for failing to disclose that he was being paid to promote various products.
TOBY TURNER (TOBUSCUS/TOBYGAMES), NET WORTH: $5 MILLION
Toby Turner kicked off his social media career using a camera his mother bought him in 2006.
Ridiculously popular, the 31-year-old internet comedian’s funny videos on his Tobuscus YouTube channel have attracted 6.4 million subscribers, and his gaming and vlogging channels have pulled in millions more. Turner has also appeared in several movies and TV shows.
GRACE HELBIG (GRACIEHINABOX/IT’SGRACE), NET WORTH: $5 MILLION
Enjoying a similar career trajectory, comic Grace Helbig, also 31, started vlogging in 2007 to kill time while she was house-sitting for a family in New Jersey.
Like Toby Turner, the popular comedian has notched up millions of subscribers, as well as presenting and standup gigs, TV commercials, movie roles and comic book deals.
Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/ordinary-people-making-millions-from-social-media/ss-AAmOuSR?li=BBnbfcN#image=10
Tags: ad revenues, earning potential, highest paid youtubers, lucrative book deals, making millions, net worth, ordinary people, paid product placements, social media career, social media stars, vlogging, YouTube subscribers, YouTube video
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