'You have to be dedicated': Victoria YouTubers give advice on how to start career

If you ask a couple of Victoria-based content creators who have managed to turn their passions into full time jobs, they’ll tell you that success does not come overnight.

"People need to know that if you’re going to do this, you have to be dedicated to it," said Billy Reid, co-creator of the Pancake Manor YouTube channel.

Pancake Manor was created 11 years ago. Since then, the creators have made nearly 150 children-focused music videos, garnering 2.6 million subscribers and around 1.9 billion views.

Because the channel's programming is directed towards children, generating revenue through YouTube can be tricky.

"It’s very different than the average YouTuber who could have a sponsor every single video and promote a product," said Reid. "We can’t do that."

That means the channel has to rely on views. Co-creator Reb Stevenson says Google, which owns YouTube, will often change the rate of pay for those ads.

"So an ad that you’ll get on your video in August might pay you 10 times as much as an ad that you get in January," said Stevenson, even if it’s the same ad with the same number of views.

According to YouTube Canada, if a channel has "made for kids" content, it will use YouTube’s quality principles for kids and family content to determine the monetization status of that video.

In order to diversify Pancake Manor’s revenue streams, the couple has begun selling merchandise. They have also just signed on with a UK-based music label, after releasing their 10th album.