Paul Kousky: The Evolution of PDK Films; From 1 to 5.5 Million Subscribers
SAN DIEGO, CA- There are many unique jobs in the world, but being a prevalent content creator on YouTube may stand-alone. Paul Kousky, creator of the popular PDK Films has built up his channel over the last nine years to now have over 5.5 million subscribers for his Nerf Wars themed content. Kousky has a unique story of some decision-making he went through, including being in and out of taking the page seriously and things he had to do in order to create this amount of success.
“I started making Nerf videos when I was really young for fun, then when I got to high school I applied for the YouTube partner program and got accepted,” said Kousky. While in high school, Kousky was able to get monetized advertising on his videos and actually make an income off both his Nerf videos and airsoft videos that he dabbled with at the time.
“I was able to make enough money in high school to not have to work a normal job,” said Kousky. This thought of being able to make money doing something he enjoyed is what helped propel the channel and continue Kousky’s interest.
Kousky, a native of Brunswick, Maine, had some tough decisions to make his senior year of high school. At the time, PDK Films was up to around 800k subscribers but Kousky also had some other great opportunities available as well. “I got accepted to the Naval Academy which was my dream school where I always wanted to go,” said Kousky. “My dad went there as well as other family members and it was sort of a family tradition. I decided to turn it down and go to Boston University for engineering, enroll in ROTC and still be able to do my YouTube in my free time.” This was a tough decision for Kousky but he wanted to keep building what he started on YouTube, which he would have been unable to do so if enrolled at the Naval Academy.
After not really liking his experience in Boston, Kousky made the move out west enrolling in school at University of San Diego. While enrolled at San Diego things seemed to keep getting in the way of what he wanted to do on YouTube and eventually ended up stopping school to pursue YouTube full-time. “While in college, I was making money off of YouTube still but was really only making content every few months,” said Kousky.
YouTube content and exposure is based off of specific algorithms and data in which Kousky was immensely familiarized with, which created a lucrative situation despite not consistently creating content at the time.
“What people don’t realize is I spend only 10% of my working time actually making the videos and a lot of my time is spent doing metadata optimization and figuring out the YouTube algorithms to organize and optimize my channel, Kousky stated. “YouTube decides what shows up in the suggested and what videos are getting recommended so I try to update key words from my older videos to keep them relevant.”
During Kousky’s first time in California, YouTube changed its algorithm and some procedures, which resulted in far less views, less money, and the way creators were doing things. Now the videos need a much longer view time and it caused Kousky to make another crucial decision.
“I decided to leave California after a while and head back home to Maine where it all started for me,” said Kousky. “My channel wasn’t going as planned and I took a month to figure out what videos were doing well on YouTube and why.” Kousky’s move back home limited his distractions and he was able to produce a lot of content and really get the ball rolling in a big way. This was a crucial time that really boosted PDK Films into its current state. “I went from living in a pretty awesome apartment in San Diego to going back to my old room, sleeping in a bunk bed and just grinding,” said Kousky.
It took Kousky from 2009 to 2016 to reach one million subscribers and from his work back home in 2016 it has propelled his page and gained 4.5 million more subscribers in just two years. “I was able to figure out the YouTube algorithm, stay on a schedule of producing content and made a lot of videos with my younger siblings that became really popular,” said Kousky. “The video that really helped my channel was the Nerf Olympics video. It was during the 2016 Olympics and I was able to get on trending where the video became number one on trending worldwide. It got somewhere around four million views in just two days.”
Kousky used the Olympic video and many others to gain a ton of traction and become the top Nerf YouTuber and amass 5.5 million subscribers currently. Kousky now resides back in San Diego where he has many brand deals through his channel and has assigned YouTube partner managers as well as help from an agency.
“The agency helps with my finances, my relationships with advertisers and brand deals while my YouTube partner manager serves as a consultant,” said Kousky. “It is basically someone who works for Google and YouTube that I meet with once a month to get advice on my channel.”
Going forward, Kousky anticipates himself evolving while still making Nerf videos. His other channel called King Kousky features gaming videos, which Kousky says are super popular on the YouTube platform. “I have been dabbling with gaming a little bit on my other channel and there is a lot of money in the gaming industry,” said Kousky. “Gaming videos make about five times the amount per view because advertisers pay more for that type of content due to its popularity.”
King Kousky is another option Kousky says could increase in popularity when it’s officially launched and if done properly. “It has the ability to blow up and I could see it hitting a million subscribers in a year,” said Kousky. “It gives people who follow PDK Films an opportunity to see a whole different side of me.”
Kousky’s path hasn’t been guaranteed and it took a lot of thinking and strategically decision making to get to this point and he insists that you stay committed to the process good things can happen. “The best thing to do is have a good attitude, be enthusiastic about what you’re doing and be persistent,” said Kousky. “I started doing YouTube in 2009 and it really has only blown up in the last two years, you just have to keep at it and I can truly say I love what I do.”
