4 YouTube "Influpreneurs" Who Started Their Business Empires

Instead of reading an entire book, traveling to a conference, or enrolling in an online course, you'll see many people going on YouTube.  

YouTube is one of the most prominent digital marketing tools in Miami that content creators use to get visibility, demonstrate their expertise, and generate leads.  

The social media platform transforming these content creators into influencers and entrepreneurs, helping to build business empires.

It’s no wonder why almost everyone wants to start their own YouTube channel nowadays!

In this article, we’ve handpicked four awesome influpreneurs who successfully used the platform to build their brand and create million-dollar business empires.  

What are Influpreneurs?

Influpreneurs is a term used for influencers or online stars who built businesses that made a huge impact in their industry.

They don't just collaborate with existing brands or businesses and promote them in their channel. They also create their product line or services.  

As a result of their popularity and an extremely loyal fan base, people trust their recommendations. Every product they launch gets sold out in hours, and high-profile companies collaborate with them!

Top 4 YouTube Influencers Turned Entrepreneurs Who Built Business Empires

1. Cassey Ho

Cassey Ho is a certified Pilates and Fitness instructor who turned free YouTube Pilates videos into a health and fitness empire.  

Today, Cassey has over 6.65 million subscribers on her channel.  

What Sets Cassey Ho’s Channel Apart?

Cassey Ho combines awesome fitness tips with a winning personality, making it easy for her to build a relationship with her audience based on trust.  

She says trust is the most important thing a brand can have with its customers.  

By allowing her true personality to shine through her videos, her followers got to see who she is, what she does, and what she stands for.  

Her authenticity and transparency enabled her to get closer to her community and allowed them to become a part of her journey.  

Because her followers knew the person who designed their activewear and formulated the workout routines they were doing, her fans had absolute confidence in her products.  

What Can You Learn from Cassey Ho?

• Believe in your ideas. Everybody will doubt you and think you're going to fail, even those closest to you. That's why you need to believe in your own ideas. This is how you power through those long nights at the office and make things happen. Your success depends on you.
• Set a clear goal for each video. Your followers should be able to get a takeaway from every video they watch. Before creating content, ensure your video has a clear goal and contains actionable tips.  

• Include a call to action to communicate what you offer. Want your audience to check out your blog? Download a calendar? Buy a product? Tell your audience clearly and make it easy for them to do so.
• Promote your other channels to stay connected with your audience. Just like Cassey, mention your social media accounts or pages in your YouTube videos. Include this in your overall digital marketing strategy in Miami. It's a great way to get more eyes on your material and allow followers to connect with you outside of YouTube.  

2. Andrew Rea

Our next influpreneur is Andrew Rea, also known as Babish. He is a self-taught chef, American YouTuber, and cookbook author.  

He is best known for his YouTube channel Babish Culinary Universe, which has almost 10 million subscribers. He has a bigger audience and a much wider reach online than Jamie Oliver, Ina Garten, and Martha Stewart combined!

Today, Andrew Rea has his cookware line, best-selling cookbooks, and a six-level home and studio.  

What Sets Andrew Rea’s Channel Apart?

What makes Babish's channel unique is that he didn’t want his cookery videos to be polished like on TV. This inspired an idea: what if he made dishes for the first time?  

That means he had to try making a dish, fail, and repeat until he got it right.  

Later on, he also developed the series Basics with Babish where he teaches his viewers basic recipes, from flatbreads to gnocchi.  

These videos are straight to the point, educational, and short, making them attractive to millennials who want to learn how to cook.  

He also started a series where he made pop-culture dishes from animated series like The Simpsons, King of the Hill, and many more.  

He said that a lot of times he thought about the food he saw on TV and wondered what it would taste like. Thus, the series Binging with Babish was born.  

His channel started to gain traction and it wasn’t long before celebrities and stars started appearing in his videos.  

What Can You Learn from Andrew Rea?

• Be genuine and authentic. Andrew Rea showed that professional cooks don’t always get it right the first time. They also fail and try again before they can perfect a dish. Andrew fails at cooking so his audience doesn’t have to. A lot of viewers look for authenticity in your personality, brand, and delivery, so be sure to incorporate this into your content.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment and evolve. Babish started two series: one is focused on recreating pop culture dishes while the other is simple recipes. Don’t be afraid to evolve and experiment with content. It’s a great way to give your audience variety. Just make sure that you listen to what your audience like because they might not like the new direction you’re heading.
• Provide actionable tips. Make sure your videos provide value to your viewers and make it easy for them to follow by giving actionable tips. You don't want your viewers to think they just wasted time watching your videos.  
• Building success doesn’t happen overnight. Andrew Rea started his channel in August of 2006. That’s 16 years in the making! His channel has grown over the years, and his brand with it. Through perseverance, determination, and digital marketing in Miami, you too can build your channel into something wonderful.  

3. Rosanna Pansino

Our third influpreneur is a baker, best-selling author, singer, and YouTuber, Rosanna Pansino.  

Rosanna started her channel Nerdy Nummies way back in 2009. Her content is all about baking mouth-watering desserts, quirky recipes, and eye candy treats!

Ro’s channel has over 13.6 million subscribers and she has released a baking line in collaboration with Wilton, her merch, cookbooks, and many more!

What Sets Ro’s Channel Apart?

Ro doesn't just love baking but also gaming! What sets her channel apart is that it’s a geeky cooking show where she bakes nerdy recipes.  

This means she’ll bake Minecraft candy pops, angry birds cupcakes, Mario Kart cake pops, and the list goes on.  

What Can You Learn from Rosanna Pansino?

• Combine two niches. Rosanna Pansino is a nerd who loved to bake. She combined both her passions to create unique content that resonates with her target audience. If you want your channel to stand out, consider combining two niches and appeal to more than one type of market.  
• Give your content your unique twist and personal touch. There are a lot of baking channels on YouTube, but none of them are like Nerdy Nummies. Ro's personality injected into these high-quality videos makes them fun and engaging!

• Be consistent in releasing the video. Ro filmed through significant life events, even during the passing of her father. She said she doesn’t want to miss an upload even if she was sick, and just couldn’t do that to her followers. To build a solid brand, you need to be consistent with your content, including how often you post videos. Uploading regularly is also a great way to boost your organic visibility and get your content in front of many viewers.  
• Optimize your channel for search. You want your channel to appear when users search for the kind of videos you publish. Follow best practices, such as using keywords in your captions, including closed captions in your videos, and using hashtags, to boost your channel’s visibility.  

4. James Hobson

James Hobson is an engineer and YouTuber who turns fictional ideas from movies, video games, and comics into real working prototypes. He started vlogging in 2006 where he documented his engineering projects.  

It was in 2014 when he first went viral. In his video, he engineered an exoskeleton that enabled him to lift 170lb of concrete and steel.  

Today, his channel has 12.3 million subscribers, 21 employees, and a 13,000-square-foot production facility in Canada.  

Hacksmith has worked with Warner Brothers and 20 Century Studios by engineering sci-fi tech into reality and promoting upcoming games and movies.  

Today, Hacksmith is considered the 1most subscribed tech channel on YouTube.

What Sets Hacksmith’s Channel Apart?

What sets Hacksmith’s channel apart is the fact that it’s turning fictional technologies and gadgets into reality!  

They engineer and create James Bond and Kingsman spy gadgets, Iron Man suits, Captain America shields, and many more.  

Although these projects don't have real commercial viability, it’s still pretty cool to know that fictional ideas can become real. Plus, his channel is funny. Who doesn’t love humor?

Hacksmith’s videos also get a lot of sponsorship. Brands pay them to recommend their products because Hacksmith’s audience trusts their word.

What Can You Learn from Hacksmith?

• Understand your target audience and focus on your niche. Before you start creating content, understand who your target audience is and focus on publishing videos that you know will pique their interest.  

• Create content that resonates with your audience. Hacksmith’s audience consists of people who are interested in technology, education, and DIY projects. Because of this, he continues to make engineering projects that they’re interested in. This is how he motivates his subscribers to return for more. Make sure you provide your audience with content that provides value and resonates with them.  
• Be unique in the way you deliver your content. Be creative with the way you present your content to your audience. Just like Hacksmith, make sure you get into character and play your part. You can even dress up and prepare some props to excite or humor your audience. Their videos are incredibly fun and engaging because of this. It’s a major plus to viewers!

Take Your YouTube Channel to The Next Level and Start Building Your Very Own Business Empire!

Now that you know what made these YouTube influencer-turned-entrepreneurs stand out from the crowd and succeed in building their business empires, take the best points and incorporate them into your digital marketing strategy in Miami.  

Determination and consistency are two of the most important traits when developing your brand and your channel to grow your business.  

At Digital Resource, our digital marketing experts will work with you to create a custom content plan that will build your brand and grow your following online.  

Whether you’re using YouTube to grow your existing business or to become an influpreneur, we can help kickstart your channel to success! Contact us today!

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