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. Today’s post is something special and one of the first of a series called “YouTube from the Perspective of a Small Channel”. In this series, small YouTube channels share their successes and struggles, how they got their first subscribers, why they started, and more! If you want to be featured, you can send me an email (thecreatorconfidential@gmail.com) or DM me on Instagram (@thecreatorconfidential). Over the past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Neve, and here is the finished result. Enjoy!
Introduce yourself!
Hey!! My name is Neve, I’m 16 and I’m a small YouTuber from the West Midlands! I started my YouTube channel (Dreamy Nevey) 4 and a half years ago, and it’s safe to say it’s been a tough 4 and a half years. I started my channel because I wanted to make something of myself, I didn’t want to just watch YouTubers and be inspired by them, I wanted to BE one. My content has a very wide range. The videos I create range from performance videos, to challenges, to hauls, to sit-down-and-talk-to-the-camera videos, and I honestly love it SO much! I watch so many YouTubers, so I have been inspired by many people. The YouTubers that made me want to start my channel were AndrewTMI, Sam & Colby, Jake Webber and so many more! Little secret about me: I have a Twitter fan page dedicated to them all!
How did you, personally, become more integrated with and interact more with the YouTube community/fellow YouTubers?
For a while, I didn’t have an Instagram dedicated to my YouTube channel, which meant it was SO hard to grow for me because I only had my main account. It’s crazy for me because my main account and my YouTube Instagram account are like two completely different worlds, with two separate groups of people supporting me in whatever way. I decided about 1 and a half years ago that I would start my YouTube Instagram account and let me tell you this now... it was the BEST decision I have ever made! It was hard to start gaining followers on my account, so I brought over a few people from my main account to get me started a little bit and it just went from there.
I interacted with other people’s content such as Grace Ariya, Lauren Nicole, Annie Long, AndrewTMI and so many more and I gained followers just through commenting some things on some people’s posts! It’s taken me awhile to get to where I am now, as I’ve said, 4 and a half years of doing YouTube with only 600+ subscribers. it’s not too bad, but being on YouTube for a long time is definitely a setback! I couldn’t thank my friends enough, though. They’ve been so supportive throughout it all, promoting my channel, my account, everything! Another thing I used was direct messages. I messaged a lot of other content creators asking to be friends and we exchanged channels and it went from there! I’m also a part of many YouTube help group chats and have connected with many more influencers just like me!
How did you get your first few subscribers?
My first few subscribers were obviously my friends and family (even though my mom still hasn’t subscribed to this day hehe but we don’t talk about that!) I asked many people to promote my videos and channel, and I also promote it on my SnapChat story when I have released a new video! That way all my friends on there can see what I have going on in my YouTube life!
Have any funny stories that might've occurred during filming or editing? :)
Trust me, I have MANY! Let’s start with my family being the noisiest people to ever walk on this Earth. I mostly film my videos in my room so it’s easier to block out sound on the camera, but even then my family's voices are just so annoying! There’ll be times where they are super quiet for ages, and then all of a sudden it’s like World War 3 broke out in my house! I was filming a video the other day (it was a Q&A so quite serious) and I was answering one of the questions and mid way through I had to shout “Can you be quiet please I am filming a video!!!” They were so annoying after I said that and my mood changed completely in the video! My personality is very bubbly and I don’t argue with anyone, but I feel bad for the way I shouted at them to be quiet.
I’ve had many editing stories too! I’ve done the most stupid things when it comes to editing. I split my editing sessions over a few days. So I film my video for Wednesday on Saturday/Sunday and use the time from then to get it ready to upload. Then, I film Saturday’s videos on Wednesdays and again, use the time from then to get it ready. The amount of times I’ve accidentally deleted footage or the editing part has not saved properly and I’ve had to improvise at the last minute is ridiculous! I’m a really organised person when it comes to planning and sorting my content out, and little things like that can really tick me off!
What inspires you to keep making videos?
My subscribers are the people that really keep me motivated. It’s crazy how a small group of people that support you can have such an impact on your life. I get out of bed because I want to please them. I look forward to waking up to see messages from them saying how much I’ve changed their lives for the better. Owning a fan page myself, I know what it’s like to have someone affect you in an amazing way and it really makes me happy that I can have that sort of an impact on someone! I always reply to my YouTube comments because I know how much it can mean to someone. I also had my first edit made for me the other day and I was so heart-warmed by it that I started crying!
What do you think is the best and worst thing about YouTube?
Ooooo this is a great question! The best thing about YouTube is having love given to you by groups of people you don’t know and also making so many friends! I’ve done a BUNCH of collabs with some of my closest YouTube friends and it’s honestly the best feeling when it all goes to plan and you gain a better friendship! Another thing that is amazing as well is when all your hard work has paid off. I work really hard on all my videos, and when they get the love that they deserve, I feel so over the moon about it and it makes me want to film again straightaway!
But with YouTube, bad things come too. The worst thing about YouTube is definitely the haters. I get a few hate comments and they do knock me back a little, but I always brush them off and power on through. In fact, they make me more motivated because I want to prove them wrong! At the end of the day, they’re just jealous of you!
I actually have a little story about my haters. A few weeks ago, I had a video planned. This video was called “Reacting to my subscribers’ confessions”. Now, for a better response from my followers and subscribers, I made sure that the app I used was anonymous. I nearly had 100 confessions! But my haters thought it was funny to confess their hate for me through this app. Best to say I wasn’t too pleased about that. I had to address a few of the comments on my story to tell people to stop writing hate comments in the app because that wasn’t what it was for. It broke my heart that my other followers had to see those horrible paragraphs because they felt like they had to message me to see if I was okay. Which I was, but it shouldn’t have to be like that! It breaks my heart that there are people in this world that make it their mission to hurt others with their words. But at the end of the day, there are only a small handful of people that do that!
What types of struggles do you go through as a small YouTuber? Do you have any advice for other small channels on how to resolve these issues?
A major struggle I have with my account and channel is having my followers and subscribers engage with my content. I’m constantly having to search for things that my subscribers like. A helpful tip for anyone starting a YouTube channel is to make sure that you know what your subscribers would want to see. If you are making videos and want them to engage with your videos, ask them for requests on what videos you should do! My views fluctuate all the time; one video could do really well but another video may be doing really bad when I upload it. It’s okay to be upset by that! You just have to make sure you know what people want! Another struggle I have is choosing which thumbnail is best. I always make multiple thumbnails for my videos, and I give my followers on Instagram the chance to choose their favourite thumbnail. Doing this can give you a better opportunity for people to click on your video because they have chosen the thumbnail!
Do you have any special apps that you discovered that really helped your editing or filming or anything?
Oh my gosh! I have tons! I’ll start with the editing. The apps I use for editing are: iMovie and VLLO. I use iMovie for my first edit, where I cut out any spaces or unnecessary clips, and I also use it to zoom in on my face with any funny parts. Once I’ve completed the first edit, I export it to an app called VLLO. I use this app for my second edit. VLLO is a great app to use! It has 2 options: normal use and premium use. It is £10 for a premium lifetime use! This app is really good because it gives you so many logos for you to make your videos better. For thumbnails I use Phonto and PicsArt. Phonto is for the rough base of the thumbnail. Then, I export it to PicsArt and add any other extra bits that I would like on my thumbnail. PicsArt also has many logos and pictures you can use!
What are your hopes for the future of your channel? What will your channel look like 2-10 years from now?
It’s been a hard 4 and a half years on YouTube. I’ve grown very, very slowly. I’ve used my time in lockdown to the best of my advantage and my channel has gone from 350+ subscribers to nearly 700! I really hope I will be at 1,000 subscribers at the end of this year because then I’ll know that all of my hard work has paid off! In 2-10 years I really hope that I will be at 100k+ subscribers, and I hope that I have gained a really loyal fan base!
Finally, why should people subscribe to your channel?
People should subscribe to my channel because I work so hard on my videos. I engage with my followers and subscribers all the time, because I believe that that’s so important to do! My channel is unique because I’m always myself in front of the camera, I feel like it’s a lie if I’m not, and many YouTubers do this to please others when really it’s just disappointing! My channel is also unique because I don’t just stick to one group of videos, I have a huge range!
Thanks for reading! A huge thanks to Neve for taking the time to answer all the questions. Here are the links to all her socials:
Instagram: @dreamyneveyofficial https://www.instagram.com/dreamyneveyofficial/
YouTube: Dreamy Nevey https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_6H13lNeTKdntecbC7Exdg
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