DIGITAL and technology are providing content creators with opportunities to publish their interest and monetize it.

The same is available to journalists and the media, said Carlo Ople, vice president of PLDT Digital Marketing Strategy and Consumer Disruptive Business.

Ople was the speaker in the forum “Reaching out to Future Journalists: Journalism Transformations” held at the Marcelo B. Fernan Cebu Press Center on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019. The event was organized by SunStar Cebu and sponsored by Smart Communications Inc. and Cebu Parklane International Hotel, among others, as part of the Cebu Press Freedom Week celebration.

Nearly 300 mass communication students from different schools attended the forum.

Ople stressed that in digital, content is king and gadgets are just secondary.

He spent just a few thousand pesos for his cell phone and didn’t even have a tripod when he started.

A Youtuber himself with 500,000 subscribers, Ople said the content he produces is all about his hobby, collecting shoes.

He also stressed that content should be authentic.

The Youtuber also shared his strategy in creating content and making money out of it.

In creating effective content, one should have a platform to share its content. Ople suggested YouTube as the base platform since the attention span of a person in Youtube is four minutes, compared with 15 seconds in Facebook.

A content creator, though, should be in other social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for a wider audience share.

Thumbnails, titles and the first 15 seconds of the video or the vlog are the components that could make the people click and view the vlog, Ople said.

As a promotion strategy, Ople shared that family and friends are the basic support system of one’s vlog by asking them to like, share and subscribe as it may create more connections. Next would be posting content in online communities like Facebook groups. Another way to promote the channel is to collaborate with other Youtubers with the same content.

As a monetization strategy, a content creator should use advertisements in his or her vlog.

The creators can also have brand deals with companies.

Since Ople wears several hats—from being an executive to being a Youtuber and a husband—he manages his time by following his “7-1” principle. “8 a.m. to 5 p.m. is for building your career, while 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. is for building your dream,” he said. KFD