Despite being successful in my own right, it’s hard not to feel a twinge of envy when I see the young guns, the YouTube millionaires who are raking in millions before they even hit their mid-twenties.
But as someone who’s been around the block a few times, I know that success isn’t always what it seems on social media. In fact, I’ve identified three big lies that many of these young YouTube Millionaires are telling their followers:
- Young YouTuber millionaires are not necessarily cash millionaires.
- It’s not easy to replicate their success, despite their claims.
- They often try to empower and motivate others to do what they did, but it’s usually not realistic.
I have to accept I’m not a young man anymore.
The grey hairs in my beard are kind of a giveaway and the lines are old friends at this point… but it’s starting to sink in.
I’m seeing things happening around me, which make less and less sense.
For example… I find it frustrating to come across marketing gurus who make false promises and fail to deliver, as well as witnessing the influx as well as witnessing an influx of individuals on YouTube who claim to have become “millionaires” before even reaching their mid-twenties.
The young guns who can eat and drink garbage and still maintain a 6-pack.
I doubt they even make a sound when they get up out of a chair.
Surprising as it may be – I’m not resentful.
But I know the poison of social media can breed resentment, when all you see are the sparkles.
So I’m going to deliver a dose of reality.
This isn’t to make anybody “feel better” – it’s only to do my part in balancing the bullshit.
Here are the big 3 lies young YouTube Millionaires are telling you…
Lie #1 – Millionaire, really?
You might think “millionaire” is a fairly black and white term, but there are grades. You have, for example…
Grade A) The Cash Millionaire…
This is your bona fide “has a million US dollars in the bank” millionaire, real as it gets.
B) Asset Millionaire…
This is your guy who technically has a million dollars… but they’d have to sell everything they own to become a Grade A cash millionaire, which they’re probably not going to do… so they can’t exactly ‘live like a millionaire’.
C) Income Millionaire…
They have generated $1,000,000+ in sales, but not necessarily profit. They may have actually lost money. But they “made a million dollars”.
D) Run Rate Millionaire…
They had one good day, say making $3,000 (also, quite possibly still just sales and not profit) and extrapolate that out to a 365 day period. It’s very possible they too, lost money.
F) Exchange Rate Millionaire…
They took $10k to Japan and bought Yen.
Without an audit, it’s hard to say which grade of millionaire they are. Same goes for anybody
My point here is – just because they say they’re millionaires on YouTube, doesn’t mean they have 7-figures cash in the bank (and no, I’m not counting to 2 figures after the . )
For my part…
When I talk about AmpiFire as an 8-Figure Business, it’s because we do 8-figures in sales. As in; we generate over $10M per year in sales. Our profits are fairly close to break even.
Why?
Because we’re a self-funded startup…
… we pay our staff and affiliates well…
… and we invest everything we can into the platform to make it better.
I guess that gives us a C+? B-? … Try harder Munch!
Lie #2 – You Can Do It Too!
One problem with being a social media millionaire and having attention of hundreds of thousands…
… is it’s very easy to alienate people and make them turn against you.
Andrew Tate leans into it and calls anybody who isn’t a millionaire onlyfans agency owner a cuck beta loser… that’s distinct branding. Smart.
Most young social media millionaires can’t pull that off…. they have the wrong brand of mental illness.
So most go the path of “trying to empower and motivate people to do the same as I did…” They keep saying “You and me, we’re the same! I started with nothing! You can do it too!!” Usually that’s bullshit though.
A 22-year old with millions of dollars and subscribers… isn’t like anyone.
They’re total outliers, speaking to the silent majority, who feel more like this…
I will say this, though… It takes a lot of guts to appear on camera and speak to an audience.
It Takes A Lot of Consistency, Skill & Good Decisions
To Get That Big At Any Age, In Any Business
Their success can be attributed to their personality traits and as we know personality plays a significant role in marketing. Many of them have a strong personal brand that resonates with their audience, and their personalities are often part of what makes them popular.
Personally, I’m 15 years in and only a fraction of where I want to be. It took me a LONG time to get comfortable with being on camera and a LOT of practice.
Eventually I had to put my real (ageing) face out there, to show people I stand behind my words, my products and my business.
It was about trust. Both ways.
People deserved to know I was real and they had someone real they can trust – and I had to trust them (you), to put myself out there like that.
So while it was an immense and consistent effort on my part to ‘get good’ at speaking to an audience… I still don’t get the kind of results the young YouTube Millionaires do.
Arguably I’ve done more than they have.
Arguably I’ve worked harder than they have.
Arguably I’ve applied better methods than they have and made smarter decisions.
I still don’t have the results they have. So do not think for a second that kind of success, with that little life experience or time on the planet is even remotely normal.
Don’t ever expect you’ll inevitably get their results for doing the same things they do. And don’t expect their sympathy when it doesn’t go your way…
Success Is Rarely Overnight
It’s important to understand that success is rarely overnight.
This is something that Zoomer Millionaire YouTubers may not necessarily communicate to their viewers. Instead, they may present a narrative that success can be achieved quickly and with ease.
You need to know that success takes time, hard work, and consistency. This means being willing to fail and learn from those failures. It also means having a strong vision, the resilience to see it through, even when things get tough, developing a winning entrepreneurial mindset.
There is also usually a great deal of “right place at the right time” involved, which will never be mentioned (after all, who wants to admit they got what they got… down to 99.999% luck and 00.001% “not fucking it up?”)
But listen – there is still a hell of a lot of work and they get a lot of things right! You don’t ‘accidentally’ become that successful… you have to be doing the things to stand the chance.
It’s just the guy next to you can be doing exactly the same things and see worse results.
Though it’s true “The Harder I Practice, The Luckier I Get” (Arnold Palmer)…
For some… they just get lucky real quick… and they make the best of it. It’s not something to resent, but to appreciate. Good for them.
Don’t let it blur the reality you’ll probably need to be consistent for a long time to see the results you dream of… like most of us.
And bear in mind – you don’t have to be a millionaire to be content, fulfilled, secure and at peace. In fact it can work against you.
… having $10k coming into your account each month nearly always makes things easier. But that’s all a topic for another day.
Lie #3 – How To Make A Million…
Some people are lucky enough to hit a winner fairly early on… and ride the wave. Most people though, have to work consistently for years. I count myself as this second type, but with a weird element of the first kind.
You see, I had the good fortune early on to appreciate “The Value Of Being Boring”.
The results I’ve seen are a results of finding proven methods and working them over and over and over again – taking small wins as they come.
I didn’t splurge.
I didn’t do much self-sabotage.
I just got on with it.
I can tell you how I did it, because I know my only real superpower is the ability to Be Boring.
Any anybody can Be Boring…
The Young YouTube Millionaires can tell you how THEY made millions too… and they can probably quote financial / investment books they read as well…
But with all due respect – most haven’t been in their market or industry long enough to experience a full economic cycle. “My Sweet Summer Child” springs to mind.
This isn’t said to be patronising.
Plenty of 60 year olds are guilty of the same… Thinking recent wins are due to personal skill (despite being new) vs. getting lucky.
Most of the time; it’s about time served. It’s experience and having been through it ALL.
Don’t Ever Compare Yourself or Your Results to Anybody Else
Once again, I’m not a bitter old man, nor am I suggesting 20-year old YouTube millionaires are at all bad people.
My priority is making sure you know the truth of things and avoid feeling at all bad or resentful, because you might not have what they (reportedly) have at whatever age you may be…
And even if they really were everything they claim to be… good. So what?
Don’t even compare yourself or your results to anybody else – you aren’t them, they aren’t you – you can very easily have elements about you they wish they had. Made choices they wish they made.
Or maybe they’re just the natural winners who get everything right first time around.
I’m not one of them. So if you’re not either, we’re still in pretty good company, hey.
Besides – it’s not difficult to ‘rise above’ 99% of everyday folk (if you want to put it that way).
Two years of even casual, consistent effort on a business? I guarantee everything looks different. A 30-90 day sprint of seriously focused effort? You can accelerate those two year results.
Your choice. Always your choice. Remember that.
Because life can be pretty great when you’re pulling in $10k/mo cash and unplug from this digital fantasy-land long enough to enjoy it.
So don’t let the lies of young YouTube millionaires discourage you from taking action and building a profitable online business.
If you’re interested in learning more about content marketing and how to develop a strategy that actually works… if you want to discover some real business opportunities, book an appointment with the our team
