Meet Evan, a cute little 8-year-old with the world’s best job. He rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars while doing what all kids do – playing with toys. He is the face of EvanTubeHD, a family-friendly YouTube channel that reviews toys and video games. Evan’s videos regularly exceed a million views and the channel earns him a whopping $1.3 million a year.

This is one of those internet success stories that make you wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?” It started out as a playful project between Evan and his father Jared – they would make stop-motion videos using clay models of Angry Birds. “When we started, we were making about a video per month as a fun little project,” Jared recalled. “It was interesting to see who was tuning in.”

The videos were so cute that they started to get really popular, and when their first video hit 1 million views, Jared realized how huge it was getting. It wasn’t long before the channel became a serious business model. “By doing toy reviews that are a bit ‘out of the box’, we try to provide information about the product as well as have that creative flair,” he said.

EvanTubeHD now has a dedicated sales team that sells ads and negotiates deals with brands and businesses. “These include both ads that appear in and around each video as well as products actually featured in our videos,” Jared explained. “The majority of the revenue is generated by the ads placed on the video itself. Outside of the networks, YouTube/Google handles all ad placement within the site.” Jared also revealed that all proceeds from the channel go into investment and savings accounts for Evan and his little sister.

I headed over to the channel to check out a few videos, and I have to say, they are super adorable. Evan has great camera presence and his reviews are so compelling that you’re going to want to go out and buy those toys yourself, regardless of your age. His 6-year-old sister Jillian makes cameo appearances, increasing the cuteness factor a million times over.

There’s this one video where the two kids are playing with Angry Bird Softee Dough toys at the park – they proceed to tie their mom to a tree and throw the softee toys at her. A warning appears on screen: “For your safety, we do not recommend tying your mom to a tree and throwing toys at her. It may result in a serious time out.” Believe it or not, the video has over 50 million views!

So how does all the fame and fortune affect little Evan? It turns out, he’s as normal as any other kid. “For the most part, Evan goes about the day like any other second-grader,” said Jared. “He goes to school, he does his homework, hangs out with his friends, attends karate class, and, of course, he has his computer time. I don’t think he realizes the magnitude of the channel’s popularity.”

Jared, who runs a photography and video-production company, said that he and his wife would like to keep Evan’s life as normal as possible. That’s why the channel has no information about their last name, or any other form of identification. “My wife and I are a bit hesitant about publishing anything that could be used to track where we live or where the kids go to school,” he explained.

The family also has two other YouTube channels – EvanTubeRaw, which features behind-the-scenes content, and EvanTubeGaming, which focuses on father-and-son video game commentary and gameplay. And Jillian says she wants to have a channel of her own called JillianTube. “There’s a pretty big market for makeup and fashion related videos, but I think we have a few years before we have to start worrying about that,” said Jared. “At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.”

Sources: Business Insider, Businessweek