Many people wish to turn their passion into a steady stream of income. Shevon Salmon made it a reality at a young age.
Before Shevon Salmon, a tech and lifestyle content creator, began sitting in front of the camera for hundreds of thousands of viewers, he picked one up to take photos of his newborn sister. Simultaneously, his passion for videography blossomed, sparking the creation of his YouTube channel.
Shevon Salmon, who was born and raised in Jamaica, relocated to Toronto, Canada in 2016. This was also the point in his life when he began to post regularly as a YouTuber, combining his interests in consumer technology, fashion, and lifestyle.
The 24-year-old creator’s content consists of conducting consumer tech research — receiving tech products to test from companies such as Apple and Samsung — and teaching his audience about the products.
Salmon now has nearly 300,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel alone.
He went from making $25 in 2016 thanks to one of his early videos to his highest-paid month thus far after moving to Toronto and building his audience.
Salmon claims to have made over $100,000 in October 2022 from brand deals, YouTube revenue, and his digital store.
While others may have been discouraged after earning $25 from their content, Salmon’s determination was ultimately what kept him going.
“It may not seem like much, but it was what really motivated me to start [creating content] full-time on YouTube,” Salmon says.
The determination appears to have paid off as well. During his highest-paying month, he worked with household names such as Google, Samsung, Intel, and Staples.
Furthermore, as of this writing, Salmon’s highest pay was $45,000. He told AfroTech that he received the five-figure payment from an unnamed media technology company for a YouTube video, an Instagram post, an Instagram Story post, and a TikTok video.
In terms of leveling up, Salmon attributes his ability to receive higher payouts to having a manager.
“Brands tend to take things more seriously because they’re not really talking to me directly, “ Salmon explained. “I realized that I [was previously] taken advantage of. Certain companies used to pay me like $5,000. My manager stepped in, they’re paying like $10,000, $15,000. When it comes to exclusivity and all that stuff, I didn’t know anything about that.”
He continued: “So, Staples reaches out, they’re paying $10,000 and they’re like, ‘Oh, you can’t work with any competing companies.’ So, now, they have to pay for exclusivity, which is like another $5,000 or $10,000 for a time period of like one to three months. That’s what I was missing out on [while] working on my own because I didn’t really know the ins and outs.”
Salmon has gone from being underpaid to earning over six figures in seven years.