Since the inception of the World Wide Web in 1991, like-minded users have congregated, first on web forums and bulletin boards, then on blogging platforms, and most recently on social media. Canny marketers approached influential bloggers and forum moderators in the early 2000s, asking them to promote products in exchange for freebies, and later for cash. This process was accelerated by the establishment of YouTube in 2005, Twitter in 2006, and Instagram in 2010 – the platforms of choice for the majority of influencers. Today, there is an army of influencers: social media users, with a large, devoted following who share a carefully curated version of their lives with their followers.
Social media allows you to reach billions of people with a single post. It’s brimming with opportunities for business expansion. To thrive on social networks, you must be creative, and diligent, and bring out your best people skills. Social media influencers have grown in popularity just as digital media platforms have grown in popularity in recent years. These influencers, who usually have large followings on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat, frequently use these platforms to promote products or brands.
YouTube is home to a plethora of unique and fascinating channels. Whatever a viewer is interested in, he or she will be able to find a niche channel that celebrates a similar interest. The beauty of YouTube is that niche channels can grow and reach the same number of people as general interest channels. One such channel is Vlad SlickBartender.
Vladymyr Buryanov, better known as Vlad SlickBartender, is a Ukrainian-American YouTube star, digital content producer, social media influencer, bartender, and online celebrity known for posting videos about bartending product reviews, and other topics on his YouTube channel.
Born on June 22, 1982, Vlad was raised in Ukraine before moving to the United States after becoming a world champion flair bartender. He created the Las Vegas Flair academy before moving on to open the European Bartender Schools in Las Vegas and Miami.
In 2015, while operating his school, he began uploading videos to his Vlad SlickBartender YouTube channel. The vast majority of these videos were created with the intention of assisting in the advancement of bartenders with less experience. Between 2015 and the beginning of 2020, he amassed a sizable following of around 160,000 subscribers, with a few hundred thousand views per week.
The first Vlad video, titled “Most Popular Working Flair Move with One Bottle,” was uploaded on YouTube on March 29, 2015. His first 100k views came from his debut video, which made him believe that he possesses all the qualities of a refined content creator. In addition, “10 easy working Flair techniques that anyone can master in 60 minutes” was the first video on his channel to go viral and receive over 500k views. As of now, he has numerous viral videos and his channel has accumulated more than 1.5 billion views. Majority of his YouTube videos have received one million views each, and his channel continues to grow with every new video he uploads.
According to Buryanov, it was the time of the pandemic when the number of people tuning in to his channel skyrocketed. Because everyone was stuck inside and Buryanov was sure a lot of them will go on YouTube to look up drink recipes to try at home. The larger following assisted him in landing endorsement deals with several companies. This made him wonder if it was even possible to make a living out of YouTube. Several people suggested him to start posting on TikTok as well during the pandemic and this was what Buryanov did to uplift his popularity.
Buryanov assisted his followers by stating that he firmly believes they should always be open to new opportunities and ideas to ensure that their channel not only continues to grow but also thrives with time. Now that his primary channel has grown to such an extent, and he is on the verge of reaching one million subscribers, Buryanov is motivated to work even harder on his other channels. Furthermore, he wants to try everything that he can to give back to the community and encourage other content creators to keep working hard.
