Jordan Watson, 33, is the creator-entrepreneur of the tongue-in-cheek How to Dad YouTube parenting channel, which has 1.19 million subscribers. Photo / George Novak
Jordan Watson can see why people might scratch their heads at him being a paid YouTuber.
"Like, what is it they do?
"But it's full-time, and it's a lot of pressure," he says.
Watson, 33, is the savvy creator-entrepreneur of the tongue-in-cheek How to Dad "Kiwi bloke" parenting channel, which has 1.19 million subscribers.
People have viewed his YouTube videos more than 142 million times and this year he received his 1 million YouTube subscribers plaque.
Watson, from Pāpāmoa, is the size of a rugby player (6'1); sports a beard; says "gidday"; drives a 1979 tan Ford Cortina; and dresses in a green fleece top, stubbies and jandals (unless he's barefooted or in Red Bands).
His no-frills, short comedy clips such as "how to travel with a baby", "how to support her through pregnancy" and "how to teach a kid New Zealand slang" have sustained an online career that's been full-time for the past four years; and generates a six-figure salary, which allows Watson and his wife Jody to work for themselves from home.
Income comes through ad revenue through YouTube and brand collaborations from partnering his content with the likes of Hello Fresh, Ford and Air New Zealand across all his social media platforms.
Initially, YouTube was a slow burner compared to his now 1.7 million Facebook following.
But when Facebook started selling advertising space, he had to "hit a lot of ticks" to get his content pushed out.
"It's much harder to go viral on Facebook these days," he says.
"At the time Facebook started slowing down, my YouTube started putting its hand up and saying: 'Hey, I'm coming at a rate of knots'."
His biggest audience is in the United States, followed by India. And in Australia, audience numbers outweigh New Zealand.
Ask him why he's so famous and he says he has no idea.
"Maybe no one was doing (parenting videos) from a dad point of view back when I first started, and with comedy."
However, as sought after as he is, he still finds it awkward explaining to people what he does for work.
He calls himself a "Z lister" in a world of creators and influencers, who, according to the New York Times, now number more than 50 million around the world and have become a formidable business force.
"There's definitely bigger YouTubers in New Zealand than me, who are making much more than I am."
Data from SocialBlade, a YouTube analytics service, shows he's ranked 19th in New Zealand.
He's put his finger in as many "pies and opportunities" as possible, including writing two books and headlining overseas events.
He also throws his social weight behind the charity KidsCan, acting as an ambassador and promoting its annual winter appeal.
If it sounds easy-peasy, he says it's not.
"Eighty per cent of my job is fighting for your rights with these brands.
"We (my wife and I) have turned down really good paychecks because the people won't bend and flex with what we find funny or is our kind of style.
"My biggest advice to (others pursuing this lifestyle) is to hard out fight for your rights. You know your brand better than anyone else."
The beginning of the How to Dad brand has been well reported: In 2015, he decided to make a video for a mate about becoming a dad.
Using baby daughter Alba, he demonstrated different ways to hold a baby - the baby Jesus, the box of beers and rugby ball hold - stuck it on Facebook and it went viral, generating 250,000 views in 10 hours.
Encouraged to keep going, he Googled "How to make a good YouTube channel", learning the biggest thing was to be consistent.
"So, we committed to doing something every Monday, and have stuck to that since we started (full-time from 2017)."
He says "we" because Jody is his executive producer.
There have been teasers of Jody in his videos, and she has her own How to Mum Instagram page, but she likes to keep her face obscured.
"We've just never comically shown her and so my audience who followed me from the start, they all know that, and they love the trickery."
The pair met at polytech in Jody's hometown of Tauranga (Watson wanted to become a broadcaster and the next Neil Waka) but changed tacks and both went to film school in Auckland. He became a "props building guy" for various television shows, before getting a job as a director on Jono and Ben.
When it comes to filming and editing his own videos, he's a one-man: "There's no lighting, just set up the camera on a tripod."
As his children get older (Mila is 8, Alba, 6, and Nala, 3), he's expanding his content while still tackling parenting issues.
"I always get the comment 'time to have another baby'."
His answer to more kids is: "No, no, no. I think three is most likely us. We're not far enough to go for the snip, yet, that's real concrete, but we're close to."
Plus, they bought a dog in December, Choc, which is like having a fourth kid, he reckons.
"I'm not one to freak out: 'I can't do any more videos with a baby'. Like, even if I had no kids in it, I'm still confident I can make relatable parenting stuff, even if it's just me in the video."
Right now, his eldest daughters are rarely in videos so they're not annoyed at school being "that How to Dad kid".
"We want them to have a pretty normal school life.
"You'll always get people (who say): 'Oh no, I'm here for the cute kid factor', but as long as I can still make people laugh, and be relatable because there are a million things that us parents come across that you can turn into videos, I don't stress about it.
"My little document list of videos is about 10 pages long.
"There's a lot of ideas."
"People say: 'Oh it must be amazing'," but people can be "real idiots", he shares, telling of fans wanting selfies at McDonald's when he's got half a burger hanging out of his mouth and a daughter crying.
"There are times where you are like 'come on guys, pick your moment', but it's cool."
Fame hasn't changed him, other than he's more "introverted" but locals are used to him in Pāpāmoa, where he's lived for 18 months after shifting from Auckland.
"I'm the 1 per cent of online people who don't get hate," he says, sharing that fans jumped to his defence when he posted the video "how to wash a baby in a sink".
"I was obviously taking the mickey: 'Next time you wash your dishes, don't waste the water, just chuck your kid in there, keep their togs on, give them a bit of a scrub, and they're all done'.
"One lady said: 'I'm going to (Facebook founder) Mark Zuckerberg. I cannot believe that you've posted this online'. And before I go to even comically write a rebuttal, it's already full of 100 replies from fans. 'You don't know his humour, go away'."
Whether he's playing himself or a character is a bit of a "blur".
"The very first video I did: 'how to hold a baby'; I went a little bit more drawly, not so high energy. I've just kept that throughout but it's still very much me. My wife says she can't tell the difference anymore."
The stubbies, and the fleece shirt (he owns three "not as many as you'd think"), were inspired by dad Gary who lives at Port Waikato.
"My dad's dad was an eel fisherman, my dad was an eel fisherman, my brother is an eel fisherman, and I'm a social media guy.
"(Dad) was a lot of inspiration for the initial set-up when I had that first brainfart. It's definitely tugging at the Kiwi bloke and that's him."
Watson is the third of four kids. His mum and biggest fan Julie died 18 months ago.
"Every night she'd be reading (online) comments ... I could smear the wall with poop and she'd say 'that's the best poop ever', she was that kind of mum."
In short, you don't. Watson's not sure what's next for How to Dad but he's happy to wait and see.
"At the beginning, I was putting way too much in, and almost burning myself out. My wife said 'pull back. You don't have to be trying to launch a Hollywood bloody movie from New Zealand'.
"Well, man, it would be cool if they knocked on my door, but no lie, I'm just really happy doing what I'm doing.
"I love where this whole How to Dad stuff has gone and what it does - gives people a laugh, and I really love being funny, and trying to be funny, and give people a smile."
