Beech Tree News Network

I’ve often wondered how people who have followings on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have time to make all the videos they create on a daily, and sometimes hourly, basis.  More importantly, I’ve wondered how they make a living.  They can’t have actual jobs, I’ve reasoned, because there aren’t enough hours in the day.  My daughter, Nikki, answered these questions for me while I was visiting her a couple of weeks ago.  She gave the example of a small structure called the Toki Hut.

                Nikki fosters rabbits through the local animal rescue shelter in New Orleans.  She takes care of the little bunnies until the shelter can place them in permanent homes.  She is currently fostering two large gray rabbits named Gandalf and Legolas—the previous owners were Lord of the Rings enthusiasts.  In the enclosure where they reside is an elaborate bunny castle.  It’s made from the same type of wood used in wooden puzzles or those small dinosaur models you snap together.  The castle has two rooms—one on each end.  A bridge connects the rooms, and there is a tunnel under the bridge.  Rabbits in general love to jump on things and crawl through things, so they love their Toki Hut castle.

                Nikki discovered the Toki Hut while following one of her favorite bunny “moms” on Instagram.  This particular woman loves rabbits and posts a steady stream of videos, featuring their antics, on her page.  Since most of America is currently obsessed with animal videos, this rabbit woman has a large following.  Enter Toki Hut.

                The inventor of Toki Hut, a young entrepreneur and rabbit owner herself, noticed the huge following rabbit woman had on Instagram, and decided to employ a bit of marketing genius.  She sent rabbit woman some of her Toki Huts, free of charge—the neighborly thing to do for a fellow bunny lover.  Now, whenever people, like Nikki, watched rabbit woman’s videos, they saw her bunnies weaving their way in, out and through the Toki Huts, and more importantly, they noticed how happy the rabbits seemed to be while doing so.  They needed Toki Huts, so their rabbits could be happy like rabbit woman’s bunnies were.  Thus, was born another American success story—the Toki Hut.

                My granddaughter follows a family on YouTube called the Yeagers. “Shot of the Yeagers” is the name of their channel.  The family is from Clearfield, Utah.  Their videos feature family-friendly content, filled with skits and challenges, involving the parents and their many children.  I’ve tried to watch it with my granddaughter, but I don’t see what all the hoopla is about.  As of spring 2019, there were 3.2 million Yeager subscribers who don’t agree with me.  Their videos have been viewed over one billion times.  Why are these numbers significant? You might ask.  I had to do a bit of research to answer that question for myself. 

                According to the YouTube monetization strategists, there are certain thresholds a YouTuber must meet before they can start earning money from their YouTube videos.  Once they obtain a certain number of subscribers and a certain number of views, they can join the YPP—YouTube Partner Program.  Advertisers will want to post ads on popular channels, and the YouTube network pays for content, as well.  The Yeagers are currently worth 2.6 million dollars.

                I’m in the wrong business or maybe I’m just not marketing my business properly.  YouTube has videos to help you market your ideas in such a way to attract subscribers.  One video gives you the 10 fundamentals to making yourself marketable.  They are: Shareability, Conversation, Interactivity, Consistency, Targeting, Sustainability, Discoverability, Accessibility, Collaboration, and Inspiration.  You know, we pretty much have those areas covered.  Maybe, I just need to hire someone to follow us around with a video camera.  You’d watch it, wouldn’t you?