Would you think I’m crazy if I told you I’m subscribed to a bunch of make-up tutorial channels on YouTube?
I’m a straight dude who only wore make-up briefly over a decade ago (eye-liner for drama class, foundation to hide my acne). Since then I haven’t worn make-up. I don’t deal with make-up in any way. And I also don’t subscribe to a lot of YouTube channels.
So why makeup channels?
You can learn more about business and entrepreneurship by watching some of these YouTube channels than you can from any business class or self-development book.
It’s not just make-up channels I like.
I’m also subscribed to a rock-climbing channel and a yoga channel both run by young girls.
Your masterclass in creative entrepreneurship syllabus includes:
- Anna McNulty (stretching/yoga channel)
- Jenn Sends (rock climbing channel)
- Zoella (make-up/lifestyle/fashion channel)
So what can creators learn from these channels?
Lesson 1 – Start with what you know
People get overwhelmed when they start a content business.
They think they have to do a million-and-one things at once or they think they have no value to give at all.
Start simple.
Start small.
Very small!
You’re an expert in something.
And, no matter how small, they will be audience for it.
Heck, there’s a YouTube channel dedicated completely to some dude eating war rations (and he has 1.2 million subs at time of writing).
If you’re not an expert in anything yet, take one of your interests and show the process of you becoming an expert.
Matt D’Avella does something like that – he gives himself a 30-day challenge, like taking cold showers or going vegan, and documents the results (he has 1.8 million subs at time of writing).
These girls have taken one thing that they know and started from there.
What you’ll find is once you’ve established an area in which you’re the expert, branching off is way easier.
You get a halo-effect, where authority in one area means people trust you in other areas.
- The core of Anna’s channel is stretching videos, but this branches out nicely into skin care tips, travel vlogs, and morning routine videos.
- The core of Jenn’s channel is bouldering videos. Her channel is still young, but she’s in the growth stage and if you watch her channel over the next year or so, I’ll bet she could branch out to health, wellness, and diet advice – and her audience would love it.
- The core of Zoella’s channel has always been fashion hauls and makeup, but now she does everything from challenge videos with other YouTubers to mental health advice.
Lesson 2 – become good enough in multiple areas
You could have the best content in the world, but if your packaging, branding, and marketing suck, you will struggle finding an audience.
When you watch these girls, you’ll see they’re not just masters of their core topic.
These girls know:
- How to create compelling thumbnails for their YouTube videos
- How to manage social media accounts (specifically Instagram)
- How to edit videos with nice transitions and music
- How to take good videos and headshots
- How to affiliate market products
When you become a one-person media company, you have to learn to service every area of your business.
The bigger you get, the more you can branch out.
Maybe you hire people to edit your videos for you.
Maybe you transition from affiliate marketing to sponsoring your own products.
Where you start helps where you end up.
Learn about selling someone else’s product via affiliate marketing so you later have the skills to sell your own product.
Learn how to edit your own videos so you can later outsource it and teach someone else how to do it.
Lesson 3 – master the art of the consistent personal brand
The girls I subscribe to all use their own name for their channel.
- Anna teaches stretching and yoga, but uses her own name.
- Zoella does fashion hauls and makeup tutorials, but uses her own name.
- Jenn teaches you how to get better at bouldering, but uses her own name.
Personal branding is key!
People don’t just want to learn how to get flexible. They want to learn flexibility specifically from Anna. Why? Because she brings a certain delivery that is different and preferential to any other yoga channel. She brings her personality to her videos.
People don’t just want to learn how to rock climb and boulder. They specifically want to learn it from Jenn because they value her unique insights, her background, and her personality.
The same goes for Zoella, who eclipsed a million subs not because of the content of her channel but because it’s HER delivering that content.
Today, people are getting sicker than ever of big impersonal corporations.
Why do you think big companies like Netflix and Baskin Robbins are on Twitter cracking jokes and trolling like real human beings?
Because real human beings connect with real human beings.
We live in an increasingly globalised, yet increasingly isolated, world and more than ever we value human connection.
You can’t get that through impersonal brands.
So remember: You are YOU.
You’re your own media company.
Whatever you decide to talk about, remember that you can differentiate yourself by being yourself.
There are thousands of make-up tutorial channels.
Health and fitness channels are a dime a dozen.
Movie and music reviews sites are incredibly oversaturated.
But there is still room for you because there is an audience waiting and perfectly ready to connect with your personal take on these things.
Lesson 4 – Connect with your customers and fans
This is an addendum to the personal branding lesson.
Seeing as your strength as an individual is in being personal, you have to be personal.
That means engaging with those who support you.
Look at these girls and you’ll see they respond to a lot of comments. If they don’t respond personally, they’ll like a lot of them. They’ll do whole Q+A videos addressing questions from the audience. And they’ll throw out questions and poll their audiences to find out what they want.
I’m not a huge Gary V guy (though I’ve read his books). But you know how he built his Wine Library TV business? By going online, searching for people talking about wine, and answering every single question he could find.
Gary’s the master of engagement (he even sent a video clip of him expressing his appreciation to me when I tweeted about his books).
You need to keep your finger on the pulse of what your audience wants.
You do this by engaging with them.
I personally do this with my email newsletter.
Anyone who sends me an email gets an appreciative personal reply back.
I rarely respond to most emails, text messages, and social media in my real life. I ignore 99% of people on Tinder and HelloTalk. I ignore basically every “business” enquiry my website gets. And friends and family know not to expect timely responses to WhatsApp messages (receiving a reply within a day or two from me means you’re pretty special to me).
But when it comes to people who support my work, I am extremely attentive, grateful, and appreciative. All of those messages are answered.
This is what these girls do well.
But there are plenty of personal brands out there that don’t do this well.
Sure, big people are extremely busy and it would be impossible to reply to everyone. But while you’re growing your business, if you have the ability to reply you really should. It’s extremely appreciated.
I know recently when I received personal replies from a couple of authors and artists online (like Aaron Poochigian and Marina Amaral) that I was super stoked.
Lesson 5 – Consistency over time
Look at these girls’ back catalogues.
People marvel because Anna hit a million subs so young (she’s sixteen at time of writing). But look when she started. She’s been going strong for three years.
Everyone who builds a committed fan base has a regular posting schedule over years.
Don’t just put out three videos and complain that you aren’t getting noticed.
You won’t be noticed for a long time.
The key is to stick to your message, keep being you the best that you can, and deliver quality (and as much of it as you can) over a long period of time.
Figure out a production schedule that works for you.
Weekly videos seems to be the frequency that most people can comfortably adhere to while still keeping a social and working life.
But remember – it’s no coincidence that PewDiePie has the largest YouTube following in the world (100 million subs at time of writing) and posts multiple videos a day.
Don’t let this stuff overwhelm you either.
The best thing you can do is just get started.
I love looking back at the first videos of big YouTubers.
Check out Zoella’s first video.
Check out Joe Rogan’s first video.
Check out PewDiePie’s first video.
There’s a night and day difference between where they started and where they are now.
So don’t compare yourself to where someone else is today.
We all start out without the best equipment, without the best delivery, without really knowing what we’re doing. But that’s the best way to learn. And with a healthy amount of passion and ambition you’ll grow, develop, learn and your business will flourish.