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Florida's Top YouTube Stars
Four Floridians are among those making a living from YouTube.
Natalies Outlet
Natalie Alzate earned an associate’s degree from Valencia College in Orlando and had started on a four-year degree at the University of Central Florida when her “nice hobby” of posting YouTube videos took off. “I didn’t even know you could get money out of it,” she says.
Today, she has 5 million subscribers to her channel, Natalies Outlet, another 465,500 on a Spanish-language version and 421,462 on a channel devoted to chronicling the lives of her and her longtime boyfriend and now husband, Dennis, who has his own channel. Like other YouTubers, she’s also a presence on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. Since going on YouTube in 2014, her videos have drawn a total of nearly 750 million views, and she looks forward to about 300 million more. “A billion views would be amazing,” she says.
The child of Colombian immigrants, she speaks Spanish but built her audience on English-language videos that began with fashion and beauty tips appealing to her audience of young women ages 13 to 24. She later moved into a popular YouTube genre — pranks — and whatever else comes to her mind but especially “life hacks,” do-it-yourself and comedy. Says Alzate, “I’ve always been a very creative person.” Also, she’s very animated, which helps on YouTube. “You’re always going to be your biggest asset,” she says. “Just be yourself, and you will find a niche.”
Initially, she produced her videos herself but now has a team. Making a six-minute video can take from four hours to 14, and she posts a minimum of three a week across her channels with new videos on her main channel every Wednesday and Sunday. “YouTube is like a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week kind of job,” she says.”
Income: Alzate brings in between $40,000 and $160,000 a month from YouTube alone, Social Blade estimates.
