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Dayton Business Journal...
Student pays for
college with YouTube videos
by Brittany Hart, DBJ Staff Reporter
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Bill Cooper is known online at The iPod Kid and earns enough money from
his popular YouTube videos reviewing various Apple Inc. tech products
to pay for his University of Dayton college education.
A University of Dayton student’s YouTube stardom is helping him pay for
college.
First-year business major Bill Cooper, known online as “The iPod Kid,”
has more than 68,000 subscribers to his YouTube account, placing him
among the top 1,000 accounts out of more than 48 million. His videos —
mostly reviews of applications for Apple Inc.’s iPod, iPhone and iPad —
have been watched more than 6.3 million times, with his most popular
video receiving more than 720,000 views.
“I was able to buy more and more products to review, companies saw it
was going well, so they started sending me products to review,” Cooper
said. “Before you know it, I’m paying for one of the best colleges in
the world with just my YouTube money. That’s a pretty sweet deal.”
Cooper credits his YouTube success to being authentic and interacting
with fans.
“Just enjoy what you do. Be honest — my reviews are never scripted, and
I’ve turned down offers to endorse products I don’t like. I respond to
my commenters, and I give the people what they want,” he said.
Luck also was in play.
At 16, Cooper happened to be the first person in Ohio — and one of the
first in the country — to buy the Apple iPod Touch. And that gave him
an idea.
“I know people love to see unboxings of new products, and when I got
home, I couldn’t find any videos on YouTube of the new iPod,” he said.
So Cooper decided he’d be the first, and uploaded a video on Google
Inc.’s YouTube service. And within hours, tens of thousands of people
from around the world had watched his seven-minute “unboxing” video.
The next day, the video reached more than 100,000 views.
He uploaded a second video featuring the iPod Touch, and a week later
he had uploaded his first review of iPod apps.
Soon people began asking for more videos, making recommendations for
apps and products that he should review.
“Two days in the Internet world is like 10 years in real-life, so I had
to go buy a new case or accessory every week, and being a 16-year-old
with no job, it was pretty tough to do off of allowance,” Cooper said.
Then, three months after he posted his first video, YouTube contacted
him inviting him to become a partner. This allowed him to have
advertising on his page and to earn revenue. He created a limited
liability corporation — App-A-Day LTD — and “The iPod Kid” was born.
Advertisers and sponsors include such companies as Best Buy Co.,
Microsoft Corp. and Office Depot, and he even did an iPod Touch
giveaway for his 40,000th subscriber that became the No. 1
most-discussed video in the world within 24 hours of being uploaded.
He has branched out from just Apple products, and even has reviewed
Sony Corp.’s popular Playstation video game console, individual video
games by Electronic Arts Inc., as well as services such as Skype,
Twitter and Netflix. Check out his work by clicking here.
But Cooper said he doesn’t plan to be “The iPod Kid” forever. He wants
to be the next Steve Jobs.
Read it at Dayton Business Journal
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