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. Over the past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Francesca, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!
This is the YouTube journey of Francesca Grace. Her story is incredible. She dropped out of college to pursue a YouTube career after one of her videos went viral. Today, she has over 50,000 subscribers and 7.1 million views! She makes more money than her parents at a young age, just from her YouTube channel. In this blog post, she reflects on her highschool and college path, describes the night after her viral video blew up watching those numbers climb, and how other small YouTubers can follow her path to success.
"Ah yes, the room makeover. That is my most viewed video on my channel so far. That video was what gave me the confidence to drop out of college. It completely changed the dynamic of my channel and it showed me that making YouTube a career was completely possible."
What inspired you to create your channel? When did you start?
I started my current channel just over two years ago, but this is actually my third attempt at a YouTube channel. I have always dreamt of having one since it started getting popular when I was a child. I started two other channels before I decided to make this one (both of which I was never very consistent with). When I started my third channel I decided to take it very seriously, because I decided it was now or never if I wanted to follow my dreams. I was not really inspired by anything in particular, I just knew it was a dream of mine and I had to follow it.
Do you think your family or background/where you grew up influenced your content? In a positive or negative way? Can you talk about how your parents affected your YouTube channel?
I think I grew up in a very creative environment and it helped me a lot with my channel. Not to push the idea of stereotypes, but I believe I was considered to be an “art kid” in high school. I spent most of my time in the art room and I hung out with all the other art kids. I was surrounded by so many creative people and I think this point in my life really shaped me to be able to make content the way that I do today.
I walked into high school wanting to be an orthodontist, and when my art teacher had found out about that he told me to stay after class. He told me that no, I didn’t want to be an orthodontist and he made me sign up for his two year art program. He told me I was meant to end up in a creative field. Within those two years of working with him I decided I wanted to be a full time artist. I ended up going to college for illustration for one year, and that’s where I learned to edit. From there, things just started falling into place with my channel. My parents are very supportive of me and my channel. They supported me dropping out of college to pursue making YouTube a full time career. My dad is 62 years old and doesn’t quite grasp the whole world of social media, but he is still one of my biggest cheerleaders. They are so proud and happy with what I am doing on the internet and they have been nothing but helpful when it comes to my channel!
One year ago, you posted an "Extreme Bedroom Makeover" video that blew up and has over 5.5 million views! How did this affect your channel? Was this overnight or gradual, and what was your reaction?
Ah yes, the room makeover. That is my most viewed video on my channel so far. That video was what gave me the confidence to drop out of college. It completely changed the dynamic of my channel and it showed me that making YouTube a career was completely possible. If that video were not to blow up, I think I would still be in school wondering what I was going to do as a career. I knew the video was going to do well before I uploaded it because I worked very hard on it, but I had no idea to what scale. I remember I stayed up all night watching the numbers climb after I had released that video, and it felt like I was dreaming. The video a year later is still growing steadily, which is amazing. It brought me so many opportunities, and it provided me with my first little loyal fanbase.
Top 3 tips you would give to small YouTubers trying to start a successful YouTube channel?
The most cliche of them all. Be yourself. It sounds dumb, but seriously. There are a million people sitting in front of cameras and uploading to YouTube every day. You need to stand out and connect with your viewers through your personality. I don’t know if it’s just me or not, but if my favorite creator uploads a video on something I am completely uninterested in, I will still click it because I love and connect with that creator's personality. I am a fan of that person. Viewers don’t want a fake smiley person on camera, they want the real, raw you because it is more relatable. Your personality is what is going to get your fans to stick around. So don’t be shy, just be your natural self! I promise it will pay off.
Make content on trending topics to grow your channel. If you see that a lot of bigger YouTubers in your niche are making a video all around the same topic right now, it is a good time to make that video with your own twist. A good example of a YouTube trend is the “eating what the person in front of me in the drive through ordered” video that was extremely popular last year. That was absolutely huge and I saw so many creators making that video. When you see something like that happening, hurry and make your own because it is a hot topic and those larger creators videos will start suggesting yours. Do not wait to do that video later because the trend may have died already or became over saturated. Hop on these trends!
Be consistent! I see so many people hopping on YouTube, hoping to upload a video and find overnight success. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but that’s a one in a million chance. YouTube favors your content more if you upload it at the same time every week AT LEAST once a week. You are not going to grow if you cannot upload at least once a week. I always say the more you upload, the more likely you are to get found. If you upload once a week, that is 52 chances a year to get found. If you upload twice a week that 104 chances a year to get found. If you can upload more than once a week that is awesome! But whatever you do, if you want to grow you must upload at least once a week on the same day. Consistency is key folks!
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?
Personally, I just leave my business email under my videos and let brands contact me directly. I know a lot of other YouTubers reach out to brands they want to work with, but I have not attempted to do that. Just leaving my email brings me enough opportunities.
I guess the best opportunity my channel has brought me was being able to drop out of college. Between money earned by my videos and sponsored work, I am earning more money than my parents at a young age doing something I absolutely love. I know YouTube is not a forever thing but it is allowing me to work on other business ventures in the background right now.
What's your favorite video on your channel?
I have a few favorite videos, but I would have to say right now my favorite is my road trip video with my two best friends. It is also the longest video on my channel, and it took me about a month to make. It’s a video from a very special trip that I will remember forever. That’s the beauty of YouTube. It allows you to step back in time and experience those sweet moments again.
Finally, what is your experience with hate (in real life and in comments) and do you have any advice on how to deal with it?
For the most part, I have not experienced that much hate. Of course there are going to be those few annoying internet trolls, but I have gotten pretty lucky with the positive little community that I have been able to build on my channel. I do receive hate comments from time to time, but it doesn’t affect me. You have to remember it’s just an angry person behind a screen. As for in real life, I have never actually experienced hate in regards to my channel. That could just be because I am out of highschool and I only interact with close friends and family at this point in my life, but I’m not sure. Everyone has been pretty positive and accepting of my channel!
Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Francesca for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:
Instagram: @frankii.s https://www.instagram.com/frankii.s/?hl=en
Twitter: @FrankiiShirey https://twitter.com/frankiishirey?lang=en
YouTube: Francesca Grace https://www.youtube.com/c/FrancescaGrace1/featured
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