Hello! Right now you’re reading “The Creator Confidential”, a blog where famous and successful YouTubers share their stories and tips they have for growing a YouTube channel. Today’s blog post is something special, because instead of interviewing a successful YouTuber, I interviewed a successful TikToker! The app TikTok has been all over the place lately, as people like Charli D'amelio have blown up. Anyways, over the past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing TikToker Alana Lintao, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!
Alana Lintao’s story is very unique. She started out as a YouTuber - she posted consistently (since she was 5 years old!), but her YouTube channel went nowhere. That’s when she decided to move to TikTok. Only THIS YEAR has her TikTok videos blown up, with one in particular gaining over 2 million likes and 6.2 million views! She’s collaborated with big YouTubers like Olivia Somersille and Jazzy Anne, worked with many brands, and even been featured on the New York Times. In this blog post, she shares how she gets her haters to turn into her followers, top 3 tips to becoming successful on TikTok, and which influencer marketing websites creators can use to connect to brands.
“Everytime someone left me a hate comment, I would click on their profile and leave them a compliment and a spam of likes. Then I would go back to my notifications and, more often than not, they delete their hate comment and start following me.”
I know you’ve been a YouTuber when you were younger, so what made you want to switch over to TikTok/start making TikTok videos?
Yes! I've been on YouTube since I was 5 years old. After 8 years of my channel(s) going nowhere, I decided to let it go and that YouTube might not be the platform for me.
Then just this year, I was able to build up a following on TikTok.
To this day, I still share my old YouTube videos to my TikTok account!
Around April you posted the “every teen girl YouTuber” TikTok video and it BLEW UP with over 2 million likes and 6.2 million views! How did you come up with the idea to do that in the first place? When you posted it, were you expecting it to blow up?
When I posted my TikTok, I definitely was NOT expecting it to blow up to the extent that it did. The day I made that TikTok, I actually was thinking of starting a new YouTube channel because I was super bored in quarantine. Before I made my channel I wanted to browse YouTube and try to get inspiration for my new channel! As I was browsing YouTube I was like, wait these YouTubers ALL have the same mannerisms and they talk the same. Which led to my TikTok parodying their iconic phrases and intros!
Top 3 tips you’d give to aspiring TikTokers?
Post content that you would want to send to your friend
Try to keep your videos under 15 seconds.
Finally, do whatever you need to do to get your audience to watch till the end of your video! (As long as you aren't putting anyone down or being hateful in doing so.)
I saw that you worked with Jazzy Anne and Olivia Somersille in two of your TikTok videos! How did you reach out to them? Will there be more collaborations like that in the future?
Absolutely! I'm actually working on a few collaborations right now!
Jazzy and Olivia were both SO cool about collaborating. I was never expecting either of them to answer my DMS!
I reached out to both of them via DM and I have to thank my followers for the rest. If it weren't for my followers constantly tagging the girls in my content, I'm not sure I would've been able to collaborate with them!
How do you balance school and everything that comes with having a successful TikTok account? Have any time management tips?
I actually really struggled with time management the first couple weeks of my TikTok account blowing up. I was so excited about my newfound clout that I just constantly wanted to be pumping out content. Which resulted in me falling behind in my assignments.
However, I've gotten a lot better with managing my time now! Something that really helps me stay on track is having videos ready to post, saved in my drafts! Having a planner with a to-do list has really helped me out as well!
How do you find opportunities with brands?
A lot of my brand deals come from brands actually directly DMing me! If it doesn't come from a DM or email, it's from an influencer marketing website that connects brands and creators for brand deals. I use Social Native, Popular Pays, and HeartBeat!
Also, this doesn't necessarily have to be a brand deal but: What is the best opportunity you’ve gotten because of your TikTok account?
The best opportunity I've gotten because of my TikTok account is definitely my New York Times feature! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/25/style/hollywood-fix-influencer-videos.html?searchResultPosition=1
I was actually out with my friend when I got a DM from Taylor Lorenz (NY Times Reporter) and we both started freaking out! It was super unexpected, but I was so excited.
What are your plans for your YouTube/TikTok in the future?
I honestly am not sure! I definitely want to continue to do more collaborations with my favorite creators and brands, but as of right now, my main focus is school.
What is your experience with hate (in real life or in comments) and how do you deal with it?
I remember when I was just starting out, I didn't handle the hate very well. When I get hate comments, it usually comes in bunches as a result of getting on the FYP.
On the first day of my virality, I just remember waking up to 5 back-to-back hate comments. That was when I used to let the comments get to my head. I had become so used to the positive comments that I didn't know how to handle the negative ones.
After I was done letting it get to my head, I experimented with my haters a little bit. Everytime someone left me a hate comment, I would click on their profile and leave them a compliment and a spam of likes. Then I would go back to my notifications and, more often than not, they delete their hate comment and start following me. Kill them with kindness!
Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Alana for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:
Instagram: @alanalintao https://www.instagram.com/alanalintao/?hl=en
Tiktok: @alanalintao https://www.tiktok.com/@alanalintao?lang=en
YouTube: Alana Lintao https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo-YTDONPvwPFe3ev8lOLDA/featured
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