Been so busy lately I feel like my head might explode. Big news soon, but first, I received an email from an aspiring shred filmer asking if YoBeat was my “job” and how I did it. Despite not knowing what day it is, I took the time to answer, and will now re-purpose it into a blog so that in the future, I can simply respond with a link.If you care:
I started Yobeat 15 years ago and I spend about 17 hours a day running it, updating, etc. There’s a lot more to it than putting up videos and writing funny stories, and I actually have a job running another website “professionally,” but I will not be working it at much longer, as we are starting to sell enough ads that Yobeat will be able to pay my bills. Obviously it’s been a long time coming and it’s not as glamorous as it appears. I’ve been writing about snowboarding and worked for magazines, websites, even the X Games for years, not to mention waiting tables and stuff to make ends meet. I also have a college degree, which I think was useful, but not entirely necessary.
If you want a job in the snowboarding media, you’re on the right track… make stuff. make good stuff and then make better stuff. Talk to whoever you can and meet as many people who have the jobs you want and ask them how they did it. Who you know is at least as important as how good you are at what you do. Plan on it taking way too long and never paying enough. Also plan on working harder than the next guy. If you do all of that and keep doing it even after you’ve been doing it for years even after you’ve given up on it ever working out, then you may be able to make ends meet, someday.
That said, I love my job and the fact that Yobeat will actually be a viable business soon is a dream come true, so it is definitely possible.
