Hello! Right now you’re reading “The Creator Confidential”, a blog where famous YouTubers share their stories and tips they have for growing a YouTube channel. Over the past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Emma, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!
Emma started her YouTube channel “Emma Claire” back in 2014. Her first three videos each got over 100k views, and since then her channel has grown steadily to a following of over 108,000 subscribers and 5.6 million views! In this blog post, she shares a wide variety of advice including what app she uses for her thumbnails, how to deal with hate, why smaller channels probably shouldn’t sign with a management company, and more!
"Post consistently. Starting a YouTube channel is a huge time commitment and it can be so hard to post weekly, but it’s a game changer. The YouTube algorithm definitely favors channels who upload regularly, so they are more likely to recommend your videos."
What inspired you to create your channel? When did you start?
I started my channel in 2014 when I was in 7th grade, but I’ve been on YouTube ever since I was a little kid! I would spend hours watching the old beauty gurus like Bethany Mota & Amanda Steele and I thought they were so cool. I’ve always been a creative person, but I’m also pretty shy so I liked the idea of being able to express myself on the internet for complete strangers who had no idea who I was.
Do you think your family or background/where you grew up influenced your content? Can you talk about how your parents affected your YouTube channel?
In a way, where I grew up did influence my channel because I live in a pretty small town so I was constantly worried about people finding my videos from school, which wasn’t great because I was always anxious about what people thought of me. On the other hand, my parents have always been so supportive and proud of me which has had a really positive impact on my channel. I’m so grateful for my parents because I don’t know if I’d still be doing YouTube without them.
It looks like the first 3 videos you ever created on your channel went viral! Were you surprised when that happened? What was your reaction?
I was honestly so surprised that my first few videos did so well because they’re really random and nothing like the videos I make now. I was so excited because I got home from school one day and saw that my video was getting so many views. I’ve had other channels in the past that never did well, so I literally couldn’t believe that I was finally gaining some recognition.
Top 3 tips you would give to small YouTubers trying to start a successful YouTube channel?
I know everyone says this, but do YouTube because you love it. I know a lot of people do it nowadays for money and followers, but that often doesn’t come for a long time and people will be able to tell if you’re not being authentic. For me, I genuinely just have a passion for creating content which has kept me going, even when I hardly had any subscribers.
Post consistently. Starting a YouTube channel is a huge time commitment and it can be so hard to post weekly, but it’s a game changer. The YouTube algorithm definitely favors channels who upload regularly, so they are more likely to recommend your videos. This has definitely been a struggle for me throughout the years: when I took breaks in the past, my videos wouldn’t get many views, but once I started posting often, my channel grew faster than ever.
Make appealing thumbnails. Thumbnails are so important because that’s the first thing people see to decide if they even want to click on your video. Make sure they are high quality and eye catching because the goal is to get people to click! I know when I see an aesthetic thumbnail, I always want to watch the video. There are lots of different ways to make thumbnails, but I personally use an app on my phone called Phonto :)
How do you find opportunities with brands? Also, this doesn't necessarily have to be about brands but: What is one of the best opportunities you've been given because of your channel?
I’m fortunate enough to receive brand deals through my management company! Before I was with them though, brands reached out to me through my business email that I always included in the description of my videos. Definitely make sure to do your research about any management that contacts you though, because not all of these companies are working in your best interest and may try to take advantage of you, especially if you’re a smaller channel.
For someone starting out on YouTube, I don’t recommend having a manager because I was able to get plenty of great brand deals on my own! Only accept these offers if you’re sure they are legit, this goes for both management companies and brand deals. One of the best opportunities I’ve experienced because of YouTube is working with Pacsun last year. When they reached out to me, I actually thought it was a mistake because I had no idea why a company as big as them would want to work with me. I’ve also worked (and still do) with one of my favorite brands, Princess Polly!
How long does it take you to edit your videos?
Editing is my favorite part of the process, so it takes me anywhere from 3 hours to days to edit my videos. It’s where I get to be creative and add all the fun effects & details! You can really tell how much effort someone puts into their videos by the editing, so it’s definitely worth spending time on.
What's the biggest mistake you made in starting your channel?
As I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made throughout my YouTube journey is not posting consistently. This really negatively affected my channel because whenever I would miss an upload, the longer I waited to post, the more unmotivated I became. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months of not uploading. I’m sure if I had posted more frequently from the start I would’ve grown a lot faster, but the truth is it’s taken me about five years to get to where I am today & that’s okay!
What's your favorite video on your channel and why?
It’s hard to choose a specific video that’s my favorite because I’m a perfectionist when it comes to YouTube, and I try really hard to only post content I’m proud of! Most of my vlogs are my favorite because they show what my life is really like and document all of my fun memories, which is another reason I love making videos. I’ll be able to look back on them later in life. One of my favorites is my senior year homecoming week vlog, because that’s definitely something I’ll want to remember forever, especially since my senior year was unfortunately cut short. I also really like one of my more recent videos, “a fun summer day in my life ~alone~” because I worked really hard on the editing!
Finally, what is your experience with hate (either in real life and in comments) and do you have any advice on how to deal with it?
Hate has always been challenging to deal with because I’m human, and I care what people think even though I try not to. Dealing with hate in real life is probably the most difficult because when people first started finding out about my channel, they treated it like a joke. Though I’m sure some people may have said some things behind my back, I luckily never faced any extreme bullying about it in person, just a little teasing here and there. When that did happen though, I just laughed it off because there was never any malicious intent behind it. Unfortunately, I still do get really anxious about what people think, but what helps me deal with it is realizing that it’s most likely all in my head since most people I talk to are really supportive of my channel!
If anyone does have something negative to say, I just think that in a year’s time, their opinion will be irrelevant, so I shouldn’t care about it now. Thankfully, I don’t receive too much hate online either but occasionally I do see a few mean comments which I just don’t take to heart. It’s important to remember that these people are hiding behind a screen and have nothing better to do than try to make someone else feel bad, and I don’t waste my energy on that. There are far more sweet comments out there than hateful ones, so I just focus on the positive :)
Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Emma for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:
Instagram: @emmanordllund https://www.instagram.com/emmanordllund/
Depop: @emmanordlund https://www.depop.com/emmanordlund/
YouTube: Emma Claire https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQgcXIJwexNbadAChV1vzuw
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