A 7-year-old is proving that you’re never too young to become an entrepreneur.
Ryan, the star of Ryan ToysReview, is reported to be the highest-paid person on YouTube. According to a Forbes report, the tyke has made $22 million from June 2017 to June 2018.
The premise behind Ryan’s YouTube videos is very simple. He’s presented with a toy and plays with them. During the process, he gives his impression of the product. An unseen person sometimes prompts him but the videos are purely Ryan – his reactions and impressions.
Like any regular boy, he does have some preferences when it comes to toys. The description on his channel states that he “loves Cars, Trains, Thomas and Friends, Lego, Superheroes, Disney toys, open surprise eggs, play-doh, Pixar, Disney cars, Disney Planes, monster trucks, minions.” His channel has also branched out to include food for kids.
The idea behind the YouTube channel came about simply. In 2015, a then 4-year-old Ryan saw a toy review video and wondered why he can’t do his own reviews.
Since his parents launched his channel in March 2015, Ryan has garnered 17.3 million followers and has acquired over 25 billion views. His personal channel is also a very active one, with Ryan, or more accurately his parents, uploading a video almost daily.
Ryan is just another example of how videos can rake in serious revenue. There are other YouTubers who have almost the same clout as Ryan, like Jake Paul ($21.5 million), Dude Perfect ($20 million), DanTDM ($18.5 million), and Jeffree Star ($18 million).
Ryan’s toy review videos have also been instrumental in opening other doors for him. He now has a line of toys and clothes that are sold exclusively at Walmart. He also signed a deal with Pocket.watch and his videos are set to be repackaged and distributed on Amazon and Hulu.
But what is it that makes the little entrepreneur’s videos popular? According to Ryan, he’s “entertaining” and “funny.” It could also be that people love watching unboxing videos. So far, his most popular toy review is one where be opened several huge eggs that contained more than 100 toys from Paw Patrol and Disney’s Cars. This video received almost 935 million views.
One marketing expert suggested that unboxing videos are universal in their appeal. Children who might not be able to own a particular toy will be able to experience the next best thing when they watch Ryan – the chance to see someone else happily playing with it.