How Seven Sidemen built a Multi-Million Pound Youtube Empire...
The Sidemen are the face of UK Youtube, they are a great example of friends coming together and building something truly exceptional...
Happy New Week,
The Sidemen are a group of friends who began playing video games online together in the early 2010s. The group consists of internet personalities; KSI, Miniminter, Zerta, TBJZL, Behzinga, Vikkstar123 and W2S. They are now the face of UK Youtube with combined subscribers of 130.9 million and total combined views of 33.9 billion.
The group started off when all members but W2S came together to create a Grand Theft Auto (GTA) group called The Ultimate Sidemen. They were all creating content individually then decided to join forces birthing The Sidemen. W2S joined the group in 2014, after meeting Zerkaa at a FIFA gaming tournament in New York. In 2014, KSI, Miniminter, and Vikkstar moved into a house together, which they referred to as the “Sidemen House”, this allowed them to collaborate more often.
The secret behind their success
Their system - The Sidemen have been able to build a system that works extremely well for them. They say don’t mix business with friendship but the group says being friends before anything plays a huge role in their success. There’s no hierarchy with The Sidemen, they all share equal responsibility and that means everyone must be held accountable and the responsibility never falls on just one person.
Each Sideman is supposed to organise and produce a video and the goal is for everyone to produce the same amount of videos. If you’re 30 minutes late to a shoot you get a yellow card and you lose half of a video, if you get two yellow cards you get a red card and lose a video and have to create another one to catch up. Putting this system in place means that everyone has to try and be on time, when shooting with a crew and that many people, timing is of the essence, and it’s important that everyone is on time.
Their Content - The group has five YouTube channels; Sidemen, MoreSidemen, SidemenReacts, SidemenShorts, and Sidemen en Español, where they publish a variety of videos including challenges, sketches, and video game commentaries. Sidemen were able to move from just creating Youtube content to creating TV-worthy content, partnering with Youtube Premium, they created and released a web television series titled, The Sidemen Show, a seven-episode series filmed around the world featuring a number of celebrity guests.
In order to create The Sidemen Show, the group needed more watch time, so they created their own series titled, Sidemen Sunday, every Sunday they uploaded a video to their Youtube channel. The group has been doing this since 2018 and its consistency has helped them gain worldwide recognition. With platforms like TikTok and the introduction of Youtube shorts, it is said that consumers’ attention spans are getting shorter and content created has to be very short and sweet. It is interesting to see The Sidemen still have many viral videos that are 1-2 hours long.
Strong Infrastructure - as you do in your early days, The Sidemen spent countless hours filming, editing, and all the other things that come with content creation. Now they’ve built an in-house production team that helps them create top-notch content. They’ve found the right people that understand what they’re trying to build and bring in unique value. In 2021, Arcade Media, a talent management agency, took over Sidemen’s management and have help them launch some of their major projects.
Business expansion - The Sidemen have been able to leverage their brand and monetise it through various ventures. In 2014, the group launched Sidemen Clothing merchandise, a clothing line that still exists today, they released a book titled Sidemen and embarked on a UK-wide promotional tour. The book became a number one bestseller in the UK. They have also entered the alcohol space, creating their own vodka brand called, XIX Vodka. With their demographic being 18-25-year-olds, it is a product that aligns with the lifestyle of their audience.
Sidemen have also entered the virtual restaurant space, creating Sides, a fast food restaurant that offers a range of fried chicken burgers. At the time of the launch, it was available in London and the UAE but has since expanded nationwide in the United Kingdom. Their only food outlet is in Wembley Boxpark, but they are “on track” to reach 200 locations by the end of 2022. They focus mainly on being a delivery food service, having various sites set up in and outside the UK, they are able to use their online fame to build a vast network of virtual restaurants.
Sidemen have also used their platform for good. They have hosted four charity football matches to raise money for various causes. Their first ever match was in 2016, where they raised over £110,000 for the Saints Foundation, the second and third matches in 2017 and 2018 raised £210,000 for the NSPCC and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust and £65,747 for the Young Minds Trust. In 2022, they hosted their biggest ever charity tournament with some of the biggest Youtubers like Mr. Beast, IShowSpeed, Callux, Chunkz, Filly, etc. They managed to raise £1,000,000 for CALM, Teenage Cancer Trust, Rays of Sunshine, and M7 Education.
It is amazing to see what The Sidemen have built and how creators have been able to generate income beyond Youtube ad revenue. The Sidemen are a great example of what can happen when fellow creatives partner and collaborate. It’s taken a huge level of sacrifice, determination, and commitment for The Sidemen to get to where they are. In today’s age, content is king, once you have the attention of many, with a good level of business savviness you can build an empire worth millions.