Rhett & Link: How The Original Kings Of YouTube Built A Lasting Brand And Became Career Creators

Best friends since grade school, the two former engineers—real names Rhett James McLaughlin and Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal III—began posting comedy shows on YouTube in 2011. Today their Burbank, California, entertainment company, Mythical, employs more than 100 people who create YouTube series like the daily variety show Good Mythical Morning, the Mythical Kitchen cooking series and sketch comedy channel Smosh for their 18 million subscribers. The pair produces podcasts and live summits too. Their online store hawks merch ranging from hoodies to kitchen tools to toiletries.

Creators. Influencers. Streamers. Vloggers. Whatever you call them, these powerful social media personalities are calling the shots in entertainment and advertising.

This year, the 50 honorees on our second annual Forbes Top Creator list harnessed their combined 2.6 billion followers to haul in an estimated $700 million in earnings. That's up more than 20% from 2022's $570 million score. To rank the world's Top Creators, Forbes crunched data on the earnings, follower counts, engagement rates, and entrepreneurial activities of thousands of internet personalities with the help of the creator marketing firm, Influential.

The result: The fifty people tapping their massive fan bases to reshape the worlds of media, marketing, entertainment, and taste.

0:00 Introducing Rhett James McLaughlin And Lincoln Neal
0:12 Rhett & Link Explain The Mythical Brand
2:52 How A First Grade Friendship Became The Basis For The Brand
3:48 How Rhett & Link Blew Up Their YouTube Audience By Balancing Creativity With Analytics
8:34 Pioneering The Early Days Of YouTube And Brand Partnerships In 2006
11:07 How Rhett & Link Monetize The Brand Today
14:26 Growing The Business And Evolving With The Audience
17:23 Why Rhett & Link Are Investing In Young Upcoming Creators
20:40 Approaching Brand Deals And Choosing The Right Partnerships
22:06 The Most Important Habit For Building An Audience
24:09 What Do Brands Need To Consider Before Partnering With A Creator?
25:41 How To Monetize A Brand Without Sacrificing Authenticity And Value
28:30 Why Rhett & Link's Dream Collaborator Is Lionel Richie
30:23 What Rhett & Link Want Their Legacy To Be
31:55 Managing Co-Founder Disagreements Without Sacrificing Friendship
34:22 Advice To New Creators

Read the full story on Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenber...

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