Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Russell.
Dylan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have been making little YouTube videos for fun since 2005 – skateboarding, drumming, stuff like that. In January 2014, I decided to start making some video game playthrough videos because I saw that it was getting popular and people were earning money that way. Sounded like a win-win to me, as I’ve always enjoyed video game as well as creating videos to make people laugh. I pitched it to my wife (girlfriend at the time) as a hobby that could end up paying my phone bill if I worked hard at it – paying the phone bill was actually my end goal for how much money I could possibly earn! I wound up quitting my job at Guitar Center in 2018 so that I’d have more time to make YouTube videos, by that point my YouTube earnings were far more than I was making at my job. Fast forward to 2020 and things are going well! I’m getting nearer to 1 million subscribers every day (683,809 as of this writing) and feel so lucky to have such a fun job!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
YouTube is very hard to succeed at if your definition of success is earning money. The platform is extremely saturated with people who have exactly the same dreams as you, and it’s not easy to stand out. Starting out, I would get about 15 views on each video that I made, which can get discouraging quickly. I always told myself the same advice I give to new YouTubers now – focus on improving one thing every single time you make a video and don’t pay too much attention to the numbers (views). Nowadays, I see between 60,000 – 100,000 views on an average video, and that’s still low compared to the bigger channels out there! I’m still following my own advice & focusing on how I can improve/stand out rather than obsessing over the numbers.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
“YuB” is the name of my YouTube channel. I started out exclusively making video game playthrough videos where I add my own commentary and reactions to the game. These days my content is more varied and doesn’t revolve solely around video games, although I do still post playthroughs pretty regularly. As far as what sets me apart, my answer is the same as probably any other YouTuber you asked that question to – it’s my personality. One of my pet peeves both before and after I started my channel is seeing YouTubers who are acting “fake”. I firmly believe that most people can just tell when someone is forcing a reaction or “hamming it up”. From the very beginning, I set out to avoid this and just be as true to myself as possible while still being entertaining. It’s like watching a movie with your friend who won’t shut up, but you don’t mind because they are funny and you’re having a good time.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Thus far, I’d definitely have to say my proudest moment was quitting my day job for YouTube (video here – https://youtu.be/TOOpPa2v_r8). It was incredibly validating after four straight years of working hard on the channel every day with NO breaks.
Contact Info:
- Email: yubplays@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/yubplays
- Facebook: facebook.com/yubplays
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/YuBPlays
- Other: www.youtube.com/yub
Suggest a story: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.