In my travels around teh interwebz, I have discovered great ideas people have had, but nobody has pulled the trigger on most of these ideas. That just got me to thinking about what it takes to get an idea off the ground, particularly in trying to establish a web presence for oneself. As I thought about it, there are some startling parallels between setting up a web presence and starting a business. Here’s why I think that:
- One needs access to resources, preferably affordable ones, in order to change the idea into a reality, whether it be a product that one physically consumes or a YouTube channel that somebody subscribes to. There are monetary constraints, equipment constraints, and availability constraints which will be discussed later.
- One needs to commit time, and find other folks that can commit similar amounts of time to a project in order for it to get off the ground and noticed, but sometimes “life” happens. Deadlines get pushed back, contributors are unavailable for personal reasons, and so on. This can make producing a web presence difficult when it is not your full time job.
- One needs to be cognoscenti of how a product/web presence looks/behaves/attracts attention. That, in and of itself, seems to be a huge time-suck, and can often lead to some disappointing results. Just by being careful, one can go their entire Internet career and not get noticed, simply because pushing boundaries is the exact purpose of the Internet. To shape and connect the world via a very large network that can reach anywhere. For that, I am grateful that we have the opportunities that we have to make ourselves known… even if by total strangers.
That said, there are some folks that have been able to establish successful web presences, with fans that keep on wanting more and this has not only opened up opportunities for them, but also causes more of their products/presence to be marketed and put forth. One of my favorite web celebrities that I have come to follow is theRadBrad on YouTube, aka King of the YouTube Walkthrough. theRadBrad is a gamer that records himself playing video games from start to finish, creating series of multiple videos for each game. He has a very pleasant demeanor and is very respectful and thorough while playing through the games. I have gotten through some games simply because he did some things first, and I’m very grateful that he decides to do this for a lot of different games. theRadBrad comes highly recommended if you want to be entertained with funny commentary while playing games.
Another popular web group is Team Four Star, creators of Dragonball Z Abridged and Hellsing Ultimate: Abridged. From day one, these guys and girls have made me laugh with their videos of the shortened, hilarious, and often raunchy versions of both of these series. Over time, I have noticed that the editing, writing, and commitment to these shows have improved greatly. They even make LP’s of different video games in person and in character, which has provided my friends and I some really great ways to laugh. The most amazing part to me is that they do all of this for free in addition to living lives outside of their web series babies. I’d go as far as to say that they could go pro as voice actors, video editors, and producers. That is the quality of work that I see them doing. Team Four Star comes highly recommended, and I support them in any future creative endeavor.
Anyway, if you want to make it big, take a page from web celebs like theRadBrad and Team Four Star, and start busting your ass in your free time. That seems to be the only way to be web famous (hence the reason I don’t think I can be that right now). You can aspire till the cows come home, but it takes the drive to pull the trigger that makes the difference. On the Internet and in life in general. Go forth and be famous! But get off your ass first…
No comments:
Post a Comment