Vloggers: The most famous stars you've never heard of

Video blogging, know colloquially as 'vlogging' by the young audience who make it so popular, is a trend that has spread like wildfire over the past year.

Now one of the UKs biggest vloggers, famed for filming himself playing video games, is set to take to make history at a historic West Midlands theatre when he becomes the first vlogging star to take to the stage there.

Olajide Olatunji, also known as KSIOlajidebt or KSI, may be a complete unknown to people over the age of 21, but his YouTube videos have been watched more than a billion times.

The 22 year old has turned his channel into a money making machine, to the point where his net worth is estimated to be around £2 million.

More than 10 million people subscribe to watch his videos, which mainly show him playing FIFA in his bedroom.

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To put that into context, David Beckham's official YouTube channel has less than 20,000 subscribers.

This week KSI will embark on a national tour to promote his first book, including a date at Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre, in a one-man show in which he promises to be an 'all out assault on the online universe', covering everything from trolls and scammers to his fellow YouTube stars - as well as his top tips to becoming an internet kingpin and FIFA success.

KSI is one of a new breed of young media entrepreneurs that are taking the Internet by storm.

While basic YouTube videos don't make money for those who uploads them, once they are 'enabled for monetisation' it is a whole different story.

This gives YouTube permission to put adverts on videos and channels.

It then shares the money with the vlogger. Of couirse the more followers you have the more attractive your channel is to advertisers.

With more and more people making a living solely from their videos, the stars of the scene are becoming celebrities in their own right, to such an extent that the vlogging world even has it's own Posh and Becks, in the form of Tanya Burr and Jim Chapman.

After starting out as a make-up artist on the beauty counter of a department store, Tanya started creating video tutorials showing how to recreate celebrity make-up looks in 2009.

She now has more than two million subscribers to her YouTube channel, while her other channel Tanya's Vlogs has had 24 million views.

Meanwhile, her new husband Jim is a model and vlogger in his own right, who counts beauty bloggers Pixiwoo as his sisters.

One of YouTube's biggest stars is Zoe Sugg, better known as Zoella.

The 25-year-old is a fashion and beauty vlogger and such is her reach that her debut novel, Girl Online - released last November - broke the record for highest first-week sales of a first-time novelist since Nielsen BookScan began compiling such records in 1998.

As of this month, Sugg's main YouTube channel has more than nine million subscribers and more than 525 million video views, and is the 50th most subscribed channel on the website.

Her second channel "MoreZoella" has more than 3.4 million subscribers and over 290 million video views. She also has over three million followers on Twitter and over 3.5 million on Instagram.

Her younger brother Joe, who got in on the act on the back of his sister's success is seeing similar results.

Despite his videos including nothing much more deep and meaningful than playing pranks and joking around with his flatmate he recently had to hire out Arsenal's Emirates Stadium for a book signing, with tickets selling out within hours.

Meanwhile, closer to home, Birmingham vlogger Cherry Wallis has racked up 201,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel, MsCherryGoesPop.

Her videos cover topics including beauty, travel, cooking, happiness and body confidence and have been watched more than 12 million times.

She has revelled in the creative freedom offered by YouTube and believes the success of vlogging is down to viewers feeling a 'personal connection' to the people they are watching on their smartphone or tablet.

Cherry, 25, studied Art and Design in Bournville at BCU before dedicating herself to making videos.

She said: "While I was at University, whenever I wanted a new creative hobby, I always watched YouTube.

"A girl called Grace Helbig really inspired me to pick up the camera, I am still a huge fan of hers.

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"Once I realised people were actually watching my videos, I continued and never stopped.

"I like being able to make what I want when I want.

"That's the great thing about YouTube, there will always be a place for whatever your passion is.

"It is easy to feel a personal connection with YouTubers, we talk directly to you - we're not told what to say and do by a huge corporation.

"We are who we are.

"I think it's very easy to feel a part of our lives, when we put so much of ourselves out there for you.

"I think when you're honest and genuine, people can see that - and it forms a virtual friendship.

"A lot of my viewers are teens, and they just want someone to relate to or look up to, so I try to be the best role model I can be to them."

As with traditional TV stars, a big personality is key to being a successful vlogger.

However, Cherry believes that there is no set method that is guaranteed to find you success.

She said: "There isn't a specific recipe to make someone a successful vlogger, and it's not something that will happen overnight.

"I think if have a good energy about you, that could help but as for success, a lot of hard work and dedication is required.

"I don't think a lot of people realise the work that goes into being a YouTuber, we work hard.

"It's not your typical 9-5 job, we don't have end of office hours and I wouldn't change that for the world."

Mark Brill, senior lecturer in future media at Birmingham City University said that the popularity of online vlogs, particularly among the younger generation has been increasing for some time

He said: "For me, however, the real watershed moment was last year, when an OfCom media study showed that younger audiences are watching half the amount of TV that the adult audiences are.

"However, they aren't turning away from screens, they are just getting their entertainment from sites like YouTube and Buzzfeed, at times when it suits them.

"A lot of vloggers views can come through a third party, where someone is linked to a video from another site, but on the other hand, plenty of them have built up a solid, committed audience of subscribers who will watch everything they do.

"Young people today are very visual when it comes to taking in information, they are on Instagram, Vine, YouTube and other sites where they can look at things rather than reading.

"In my opinion, as this audience grows up, that will become the norm.

"Anyone in media who doesn't move with the times will be left behind."

KSI's tour isn't the first time the world of vlogging has come to the stage - however he is one of the first to take to the stage alone.

Last year, the Amity Festival Tour saw nine popular vloggers come together for a live tour, which took in the Birmingham Institute.

Hannah James, deputy marketing manager at the Alexandra Theatre, said the team is delighted to host the show.

She said: "We are very excited to be welcoming KSI to Birmingham as part of his debut tour, such a great opportunity for his fans to see the man behind the YouTube videos in person."

Tickets for the show at the theatre on Sunday are £25, including a copy of the book.