- Many successful YouTube creators aren’t doing it all themselves and some have assistants and video editors to help with production.
- But for many social-media stars, handing off part of their work load to someone new isn’t easy.
- Business Insider spoke to five talent managers who work with YouTube creators across the lifestyle, gaming, beauty, and fashion verticals to learn what it’s really like to manage influencers.
- The managers shared that one of the biggest challenges to managing a digital creator is convincing them to start delegating tasks, instead of doing it all on their own.
- Editing videos is the largest time suck for a YouTube creator, the managers said. But influencers are often hesitant in hiring someone new to take over.
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Even though YouTube creators are the face of their brand, they usually aren’t doing it all by themselves.
Some of the most successful creators on the platform, like MrBeast, David Dobrik, or Shane Dawson, have an entire team of people, from multiple assistants to video editors to help with the production.
But taking that big step in their business and building out a larger team around them isn’t easy.
Business Insider spoke to five talent managers who work with YouTube creators across the lifestyle, gaming, beauty, and fashion verticals to learn what it’s really like to manage influencers. The talent managers, whose identity is known to Business Insider, shared their experiences anonymously so they would be able to speak more freely.
The talent managers shared that one of the biggest challenges to managing a digital creator is convincing them to start delegating tasks, instead of doing it all on their own.
"These are people who have done it all, for the most part, themselves, and so they often don't understand the value of a team," one manager said. "They don't understand why they can't do certain things, especially ones who have been on YouTube early when there were no rules."
The managers said editing is the largest time suck for their YouTube clients, but influencers are often hesitant on hiring someone new to take over.
The first step to building out a larger influencer business is often signing with a talent manager who can secure major deals and diversify their online brands. Talent managers typically advise clients against promoting products that could damage their careers and help in operating companies and selling direct-to-consumer products.
The next step is often hiring a video editor to help free up a creator's time and give them the flexibility to create more content.
But for a lot of social-media creators handing off their memory cards or extra tasks to someone new isn't easy.
Typically, a YouTube star's career launches from videos filmed in their childhood bedroom, and they've had complete control over every aspect of the business for several years before they've turned it into a full-time job.
Some creators feel like their unique video editing style could be hard to replicate or that they will lose all creative control if they pass off the editing to an outside person, the managers said.
"Editing is the big time suck, but it's always 'oh no one could possibly edit my videos' so often I'll be like hey is there a way someone can do the first 70% that takes up a lot of your time?" one manager said. "That's a way to get them to give up the more time-intensive stuff, freeing them up to do more and actually have a personal life."
For many young creators being an influencer is their first, and maybe only job. Part of a talent manager's role is to educate and guide their clients toward making smart hiring decisions.
"It's also about getting them to really invest in hiring the right people, instead of random people that aren't so reliable," one manager said. "Once they start hiring editors and building out a team it's like 'Hey, do you have NDAs and work-for-hire agreements with these people?'"
The talent managers also shared that their job consists of chasing down their clients for a response to spending hours talking them through a sudden PR disaster. Some managers shared experiences when a brand didn't take their client seriously or tried to sneak in agreement terms on a contract.
