Small business owners can learn a lot about promoting their services from the people below.
Over the last number of years people have started to make a living by creating content, both video and written, and delivering it via Facebook, YouTube and other channels. As mobile has grown so has consumption of this content. All that’s needed to produce it is a camera and imagination. Video blogging can be a very powerful tool for small business owners.
Cian Twomey
Industry: Comedy.
What: If you haven’t heard of Cian Twomey by now then you’ve apparently been living under a rock. A Facebook content creator first and foremost, Twomey burst onto the comedy scene in 2011 when he began making comedy sketches. Twomey’s videos went ‘viral’ when he started creating videos impressions of his over-protective girlfriend ‘Emily’. With a Facebook following of over 4,000,000 and a YouTube subscriber list of almost a quarter of a million, the future is bright for this young comedian.
Sinead Cady
Industry: Beauty.
What: One of Ireland’s leading beauty bloggers, Sinead Cady began uploading videos to YouTube in 2010. Having started college, Cady saw her YouTube channel ‘The MakeUp Chair’ take off and made the decision not to return to college but to focus on creating content for her new channel. The aim of her channel is to teach viewers all of her make-up tricks and give style tips as well as reviewing products. The MakeUp Chair boasts over 55,000 Facebook likes while the YouTube channel has a whopping 800,000 subscribers.
Sean McLoughlin (Jack Septic Eye)
Industry: Gaming.
What: If you’ve never heard of ‘Jack SepticEye’ then you’ll be gobsmacked by his online audience. YouTube videos can certainly be big business and next we find ourselves in an area that is particularly lucrative to content creators – gaming. McLoughlin earns a living by recording himself gaming and adding a bit of ‘colour’ commentary to his videos. As recently as 2013, McLoughlin had only 2,500 subscribers to his YouTube channel. As of February 2016 he has 8,000,000+ subscribers, making him Ireland’s biggest ‘YouTuber’.
Suzanne Jackson (SoSueMe)
Industry: Beauty.
What: Known more so to the general public as SoSueMe, Suzanne Jackson has experienced a tremendous amount of success over the last number of years. Since 2010, Suzanne has amassed an incredible legion of followers with 200,000+ Facebook fans and over 1,000,000 visits to her website every month. Suzanne is one of Ireland’s leading fashion bloggers, with her website SoSueMe.ie, a go-to site for all news relating to celebrities, fashion and lifestyle. Suzanne has even found the time to release a top nail polish range.
Clare Cullen (Clisare)
Industry: Comedy.
What: ‘Clisare’ as she is also known, is one of Ireland’s biggest YouTube stars and holds the title of Ireland’s most-subscribed-to female comedian. Currently, Clare combines her content creation with her job as a video producer for Facts Channel. On her Clisare channel, you’re likely to find entertaining content. With sketches like the ‘Irish bucket list’ Clare has recruited an army of followers. 50,000 people subscribe to Clare’s YouTube channel while she also has over 18,000 followers between Facebook and Twitter.
Melanie Murphy
Industry: Lifestyle.
What: Melanie Murphy’s range of content is perhaps the most diverse out of the ten who have made this particular list. Melanie is very open about her past in the various videos she uploads, and she discusses topics such as depressions, anxiety and eating disorders, some of which she experienced first-hand. Not all of her videos take this form, though, and she also covers topics such as make-up and food in particular. Currently, Melanie has over 300,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Little Lizard Gaming
Industry: Gaming.
What: Our second set of gamers to make the list, Little Lizard Gaming was founded by twin brothers from Co. Meath in 2012. The brothers capitalised on the phenomenal success of Minecraft and are now making a living out of it. What is Minecraft you ask? Well, it’s is a game where you dig and build various structures using blocks in a virtual world. Ryan and Scott Fitzsimons record their ‘play-throughs’ as they create and act out different scenarios. Currently, the guys have over 2,000,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Pippa O’Connor
Industry: Beauty industry.
What: With one of the most user-friendly websites out there, it’s no surprise that Pippa O’Connor’s tremendously successful Pippa.ie is the go-to place for people looking to read about fashion, beauty and lifestyle. Pippa initially rose to prominence as a model. However, she has channelled her experiences into her website, and it has proved incredibly successful. Having added a travel section and with hundreds of thousands of followers across various social media channels, people continue to flock to Pippa.ie.
David Nagle (Daithi De Nogla)
Industry: Gaming.
What: The final gamer to make this list, we certainly couldn’t leave out Daithi De Nogla. Ireland’s second most-subscribed-to YouTube channel, Nagle has over 4,000,000 subscribers who tune in daily to watch his comedic video game commentaries. Having created the channel in 2012, Nagle has amassed his followers by creating content playing games such as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and many more. With his ‘unique’ accent and eccentric behaviour, the sky’s the limit for Nagle.
Rory O’Connor (Rory’s Stories)
Industry: Comedy.
What: Finally, we come to Rory’s Stories, which is a household name at this stage (especially in the GAA community). Rory O’Connor, the man behind Rory’s stories, recreates real-life situations and acts out various sketches that people can relate to. While the majority of his sketches are GAA related, Rory has diversified his offering and is now creating sketches about everyday life. Having made it a full-time job and with almost 200,000 fans on Facebook, he’s certainly one to watch.
Article by Patrick Masterson. Images courtesy of SoSueMe, Cian Twomey and David Nagle’s Twitter profile.
There are hundreds of great bloggers and video bloggers in Ireland. If you would like to nominate your favourite, please join the conversation on our Facebook page.
TOP TIPS: If you want to start promoting your small business, read our guide to starting a blog.
