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. I had the pleasure of interviewing Nikki, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!
Nikki Blasi posted her first YouTube video 2 years ago and since then, her channel has grown to a fan base of over 56,000 subscribers and accumulated 3.6 million views. Her most popular video got almost 800,000 views. In this post, she shares her monetization process, why she started her channel, how to deal with hate, and much more!
"Sometimes, I feel like I work so so hard on a video and it doesn’t do well. But, I just keep going and never give up!"
What inspired you to create your channel?
I’ve always loved video editing ever since I was little. I used to create little videos and I always wanted to become a YouTuber. I looked up to older people doing YouTube and so I just decided to do it!
Do you remember one of the biggest mistakes you made as a small YouTube channel?
I didn’t make videos that were very searchable at first. I just made random videos. Also, I didn’t make them long enough so analytically that was one of my biggest mistakes for sure.
Did you tell anyone at school about your channel?
I did! Everyone knew about it and was talking about it. The day after I started my channel, I went to school and had a teacher actually play one of my videos on the screen. Everyone knew. There were both people who were impressed and people who thought it was sort of weird.
Do you think your family/background or where you grew up influenced your content? Can you talk about how your parents affected your YouTube channel?
My parents are so so supportive, they even helped me buy a camera which is so nice and it has been really nice having that sort of support system. They love my YouTube channel and they even help me film videos!
What motivates you to continue making videos?
I just love it. My passion really motivates me to continue making videos. My audience also helps a lot, the support I have from everyone and just having my own little community is awesome, so it keeps me motivated for sure. I’ve received so many good comments! People just sticking with me and my channel. I’ve had people with my YouTube channel since like two thousand subscribers, and seeing those comments really makes me happy.
How long does it take to edit one of your videos?
It depends on the type of video. A video that’s vlog style, it could be from anywhere to 1 to like 20 hours. It’s so different for every video.
Top 3 tips you would give to small YouTubers trying to start a successful YouTube channel?
My first tip would be to keep going because it’s a really hard industry to be in. Never give up, your time will come!
Really branch out with your audience and connect with them because that’s super important! It also helps you stay motivated.
Have fun with it! Create the content that you want, make it enjoyable. Get the most out of it!
Would you be comfortable with sharing your process of getting monetized?
Yeah, for sure! There are requirements (4,000 hours of watch time and 1,000 subscribers) which are on the YouTube website. And then, you create an AdSense account. It’s very complicated and you have to do stuff like taxes and a bunch of confirmations with your bank and address. Then, after you get approved, you just start making money from AdSense. I got monetized/started making money around 7,000 subscribers.
One of the videos on your channel got over 800,000 views! Was this success overnight?
No, it was definitely more successful right off the bat. It was shocking actually because it was a video I thought wasn’t going to blow up. Over time, especially because of quarantine, the video definitely boosted my views. But it kinda just hit that number out of nowhere. I was super super happy about it, however I try not to look at views too much.
How do you find new opportunities with brands? What is one of the best opportunities you've gotten from your YouTube channel?
For a while, I had brands reaching out to me. And every once in a while, I would reach out to them through Instagram DMs. But now I have a management company, so they help me find deals with brands and that’s really helpful.
I’ve gotten so many friendships! I’ve gotten to talk to so many people over facetime, have zoom chats, and do many fun collaborations with friends. Brand-wise, I’ve really been enjoying working with GymShark, a brand I love. It’s just so cool being able to work with a brand I’ve been using for a while.
You probably get lots of emails and DMs from different brands every day, so how do you filter some out and pick one? What do you look for in a brand?
I’ll just go on their website and from there you can really tell how legit the brand is. I definitely like to research and read reviews beforehand. Typically, I like to work with brands that I already know about and are legit over brands I don’t know much about to avoid issues like being scammed and also to make sure they have good credibility.
What is your experience with hate and do you have any advice on how to deal with it?
I definitely have gotten so much hate over the past few years but when it comes down to it the haters are just insecure and they’re spending their time being hateful. That’s on them. I just try to keep that in mind when reading comments. I really don’t let it get to me. My biggest piece of advice is to remember that it’s bad on their part. Don’t give in to the hate; that’s just feeding the hate.
Was there ever a moment when you felt like you wanted to quit your YouTube channel because of setbacks?
Honestly, there have been so many videos where I felt like I wanted to give up. But, the passion overrides any of that, luckily for me. Sometimes, I feel like I work so so hard on a video and it doesn’t do well. But, I just keep going and never give up!
Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Nikki for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:
Instagram: @nikkiblasi https://www.instagram.com/nikkiblasi/
Twitter: @nikkiblasi7 https://twitter.com/nikkiblasi7
YouTube: Nikki Blasi https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ80-bRkIrYC-XVn9x_kDQw
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