When "My New Haircut" video came out on YouTube it received over 10 million views in just a few months, making the main actor Brett "Broski" Tietjen an international celebrity. Tay Zonday's song "Chocolate Rain" has received more than 25 million views and has landed him a spot on tonight's show. Blendtec's videos "Will it Blend?" are regularly viewed by millions and have generated millions of dollars for the company in brand awareness.



Mark Leung's "College Saga" has been seen by millions and has landed him a job at MTV. These and many other videos are turning regular people into celebrities. So what is a secret formula to YouTube's popularity?

Poke fun at your neighbor: Brett "Broski" Tietjen is a 28-year-old NYIT graduate with a master's degree in film production. In his "My New Haircut Video" Brett plays a rude and arrogant musclehead from Long Island who swears incessantly, takes steroids, and demeans women. The video is unique and funny in content. It makes fun of typical guidos from Long Island, where Brett grew up. The secret to success in his video is evident: Brett found a unique way to make fun of a specific social group without really offending anyone.

Make a parody on a game, movie, or a show: Mark Leung, on the other hand, has a different approach to YouTube popularity. In his videos he avoids making fun of any social group but rather focuses on producing quality content. In his video "College Saga" Mark portrays his life as a Final Fantasy game. The movie begins with a blue screen and alphabet (just like in a game), where Mark types up his name. All of the conversations, movement and camera angles in the video are almost identical to that of Final Fantasy. His video is a mix of hard work and great humor. He avoids making fun of people but focuses on producing high quality and unique content using the ever popular game Final Fantasy as a basis for his film.

Think outside the box and turn your videos into money machines: Blendtec's CEO Tom Dickson has used YouTube to promote his blenders and has been incredibly successful at it. With just a minimal investment Tom was able to generate millions in brand awareness for his company. In his videos, he demonstrates how Blendtec blenders can crunch to smithereens everything from hockey pucks, to iPhones, to strongman Chuck Norris action-figures. The videos are silly and fun to watch. His secret to success was to create an extremely unique and fun to watch content.

The YouTube popularity has a lot of perks to it. For Tay Zonday that meant getting a record deal and becoming a professional singer, for Mark Leung that meant getting a job at MTV. As for Bret Tietjen, YouTube popularity has allowed him to do a nationwide tour of bars to promote his production company.

In the era when internet has become increasingly more accessible thanks to Wifi, iPhones and Blackberry's, site traffic on sites like YouTube is experiencing exponential growth. A recent study showed that 6 out of 10 Internet users now watch video content online [CITE YOUR SOURCE]. Studies also show that people now spend as much time on the Internet as they do on TV. ComScore Video Metrix report for July 2007 showed that nearly 75 percent of U.S.

Internet users watched an average of three hours of online video during the month. This translates into nearly 134 million Americans watching more than 9 billion videos online. People that make unique videos are now becoming celebrities overnight. Back in 1968 Andy Warhol said, "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes," Bret's My New Haircut, Mark Leung's College Saga, Tay Zonday Chocolate Rain, and countless other success stories prove that statement once and for all.