Yes, a select few real people are making good money on YouTube, at least according to this Meet the YouTube Stars post on Yahoo Finance. 
Here’s the lead:
There are 10 independent YouTube stars who made over $100,000 in the past year, according to a study done by analytics and advertising company TubeMogul.
Yahoo Finance lists the 10 people, describes their videos, and estimates their annual revenues.
I don’t want to be too cynical here, but still, if this strikes you as easy money, think again. By my rough calculation, the odds of making more than $100K per year on YouTube are about the same as winning the lottery or finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Still, there you are. Some people are making good money on YouTube.
What’s much more interesting to me, from a business and entrepreneurship point of view, is all of the companies using YouTube as part of business strategy. Think about the Old Spice Guy series, which has doubled revenues for Old Spice in recent months. That’s where the real pot of gold is. And where it’s much more accessible.
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
