How To Start A Successful Channel, Monetize, Get Sponsorships As A Small Youtuber 2021 | Ayiyi Hair

Hey y'all welcome back to another video, so on today's video we are going to be talking things pertaining to being an influencer or youtuber. So i opened up my questions to you guys and you asked so i'm here to tell you what it's like being a youtuber. Also we're going to be installing this beautiful wig, courtesy of a yayai hair. So, if you're interested in seeing how i got this look - and you want to see what i have to say about being an influencer - then stay tuned on today's video. We are going to be doing a install and i'm also going to be giving you guys a little bit more detail on the inside of what it's like to be an influencer. So i opened up my question box on ig. So if you're not following me on ig, you need to be following me, so i am just a small little influencer y'all for the moment, but i always get approached in my dms. Actually, people email me um in comments all the time. They'Re, just always inquiring about you know, influencer related things, so i decided to take your questions that you guys asked me, along with some of the most commonly asked questions that i get asked and just put them down in this video. So that's what we're going to be talking about today, but since we are doing a hair install of course we have a sponsor and today's sponsor is a yayai. So they sent me over this very season. Appropriate, wig y'all, look at this. It'S already highlighted and the best part of it is y'all. This is 26 inches, so this is a frontal that we're going to be working with today, it's a straight wig, it's highlighted, and it's 26 inches. So thank you to a yaya for sponsoring today's video. Basically, what i'm going to do is i'm going to go ahead and install the wig at the beginning, then i'll come back and we'll get into the questions while i actually style the wig okay. Just so you guys know. This wig is literally coming straight out of the box. I said that i wasn't going to bleach the knots or anything. I do, however, think i am going to tint my lace with the true match. Lace conceal. I use this in my last um wig style video and i absolutely love it. So the only customization we're going to be doing to this week today is going to be tinting the lace, because i know a lot of you guys y'all like easy styles uh. So if you do purchase this wig, i do want to show you exactly how the install will look without bleaching the knives doing. All of that, because i know just the thought of bleaching knots or like doing a lot of customization to a wig. You know that's kind of just like a and i don't even blame you, because that's exactly how i was bleaching the knots i still have not mastered that i'd be over bleaching, but we make it work so um, like i said this is coming straight out of The box - this is what your wig will come in. My box is a little smashed up from delivery um, but inside of the box you will get goodies. Of course you have this bag. It'S gon na have some lashes edge brush. Oh clip a clip that we need and you're also going to get big caps and then also, oh, it looks like it actually comes with two packs of lashes and then also you're going to get this um satin band to tie to layer edges. So that's that i'm gon na go ahead and spray this. So this is the true match: lace, tinning! I have it in the color bronze. So you all right. So the week has been installed. I can go ahead and start styling. It now and we're going to go ahead and start with our questions alrighty. So let me just start out with some basic information about me and youtube just a little background on my youtube, so i currently have been doing youtube for two years now, those two years. I have not been consistent um. I would say that i've been consistent with my channel, probably a little over a year. So while i was pregnant, i basically pretty much stopped doing youtube almost um. I would just post just randomly, so i really wasn't consistent with posting regularly on my youtube until um pretty much. I went on maternity leave before having berkeley, so that was probably around february ish of 2020. So, like i said, it's just been a little over a year that i've really been consistent with my youtube channel, so i was able to get monetized that same year that i decided to be consistent, um so from i would say, march or february, um to november. That'S when i actually was monetized. I was monetized in november of 2020 um and when i say consistent, i mean posting weekly at a minimum of weekly um. So i was posting a video once a week every sunday, that's pretty much what i do now still um. So yeah i was able to get monetized within that same year. I had made it a goal. I said i was going to be monetized and i got monetized um because i had. I could tell just the amount of work that i was putting in and that uh monetization would be possible for me um, so yeah i was able to get money time. I said i was going to be monetized by the end of the year and i was i was monetized in november now for me to reach my monetization. My biggest thing was getting subscribers. The watch hours was not an issue. I had hit the watch hours in time frame that i needed to. I still was just waiting on the subscriber requirement, so in order to actually be monetized on youtube to be accepted into the youtube partner program, that's basically, where you make your money directly through youtube off of adsense um. You have to have 4 000 watch hours within a 12 month period and it's a minimum of a thousand subscribers. That'S the current requirement that is required for you to be able to monetize your channel. So from there you'll go under review. You submit an application and you're going to review and they'll just make sure that you are actually producing content, that's able to be monetized and then they'll, let you know from there. So that actually was one of the questions that someone asked was. How do you make money being an influencer, so in my case i make money off of um ads. So anytime you see an ad on one of my videos. I would greatly appreciate it if you watched it, don't skip the ads y'all. That is how that's the first step in making money um being an influencer. I think that's going to be the ultimate goal. Um. The first goal, i would say, would be to be monetized, so you can actually start making money off of adsense um. So yeah you make that money through ads and i don't know if anyone, i'm sure people have said it but y'all you do not want to you. Adsense is not going to be your pot of gold. Let me tell you the money from ads: it ain't. It ain't where it said it's good. I mean it can be good, but it's not like y'all see all these youtubers that are like full-time influencers and you know they're. They have like a they're they're able to afford a nice lifestyle baby that is not due to ads on their videos. I can tell you that um, so yeah, that's gon na be the main. The first thing, the biggest way to make money, is going to be sponsorships sponsorship, sponsorship, sponsorship sponsorships. So basically a sponsorship is where a brand will pay you to advertise or inform your audience about their company or their products um. So there's all different types of sponsorships. I'M not going to get into all of that and with all those different types of sponsorships you know, there's different types of pay. That'S what you want! It'S great, that you get free product um! So that's another thing: some people were confused with if the product was the payment and no that's not how that works, they send you the product and they also pay you that's what that's what the sponsorship is. They will pay you, so you can do product. You can do a promotion in exchange for product, but basically what you're telling them is that you're a lot you're willing to just accept their product without getting paid like no, let's see what else, how do you get sponsors for me? Sponsors have approached me. Every single sponsor that i've gotten it has been because they have approached me now when i initially went into this, i was planning on um approaching brands to like pitch myself to them, so they could sponsor me um. So, in order to do that, what i did is i had created a um. What is it called it's a rate sheet, but it's also called a. I can't even think what it's called right. Now, it's a rate sheet and oh, a media kit, a media kit. So, basically, that's a resume for influencers on your media kit. It'Ll basically tell a little bit about yourself, um tell about, like your demographics, of your audience, any type of brands that you work for like what your niche is for your channel, um and then also with that you can include a rate kit. That'S going to tell them how much you charge and like i was telling you there are different types of sponsorships so, depending on what they're wanting you know, it'll be a different price. So basically, how brands have reached out to me is in the description of my videos. I have my email address for them to reach out to me. Also on my ig. There is a button to email me, so they have my contact information from my social media. Basically and they'll just reach out to you telling um telling you that they want to collaborate with you um what product they're wanting you to promote for them or in some cases, they'll. Let you pick what product um you know from their company that you will be promoting for them um, so yeah. All of my sponsors have actually reached out to me. There are so so so so many different types of ways that you can get sponsors like, i said you can reach out to them. There'S some um. There are some uh platforms where you can like sign up to be notified. If spons, if brands are looking for content creators um things like that, so that's how i get sponsors. I'M at the point where, like i said, i did think in the beginning that i would be reaching out to sponsors um, but i i haven't had to honestly um to meet my goal of how much i would like to make on sponsorships every month. Um. I have not had an opportunity to even reach out to sponsors because i've been so busy, so that goes into um another question. Somebody asked how brand brand deals are going for me. That'S basically sponsorships sponsorships are going great for me y'all and if i just want to take this time out to say thank you to y'all, because brands they're going to look at really the amount of subscribers and views. I mean that matters, but that's not what they really just look at they're, going to look at your engagement, how your audience responds to you how you respond to your audience, the type of content that you make if it's quality content, if you're consistent? That'S what brands are going to be looking at y'all to see you know if they're going to be, if it's going to be a good investment for them to spend their money for you to advertise for them. So, like i said, i want to say thank you to you guys because i just feel like i have like a really good, loyal group of subscribers and followers. You guys are always so interactive and i absolutely love that i absolutely you know. I love that. So another thing i want to say about brand deals: is they are they're, so so so many sponsorships? I have to turn down because at this point i am just a part-time influencer, so i'm pretty much just doing this part-time. Therefore, i don't create enough videos to fit enough to have enough slots available for any more sponsorships than i actually a lot on my calendar, so um yeah, i'm constantly turning down so many sponsorships every single month and even if i'm not completely full or booked or Whatever every sponsorship is not going to be right for you um for one, if it doesn't align to like your channel um, then no i mean that's just pretty much. I feel like that's a waste of my time, because it's like you know, sponsor brands, can be like really particular about what they expect from you, like out of the video of the content that you're putting their promotion in so they'll have like a whole list of Requirements um, and i mean it's like if there's something that i'm not even interested in, i know my audience is not even interested in like i'm not doing it just to get paid. You know um, oh, that hairspray. So yeah that's one thing, but what i can say is about the type of channel i have. I pretty much have like a lifestyle channel. So that's basically just i take a camera out and i just record my life bits and pieces of my life. Like you know, from all different aspects like from parenting from working full time from you know, motherhood from being a wife from just everyday things from our journey with our home from you know, when i had my boutique from a business owner from just a whole bunch Of stuff, so there are so many things that fall into lifestyle that i'm able to just pretty much um appeal to a whole bunch of different brands, because i do so i mean it's my life, you know that's pretty much. Anything can pretty much fall into that category um, but there has been some that i just feel like. No, this is not for me, the type of channel that i have you know i have a very family friendly channel for the most part i would say, and i've had like a whole bunch of uh stuff - that's not appropriate. Let me just say that um, you know offers being made for me to promote on my channel and i'm just like. Oh no so yeah, that's kind of funny, so yeah, but that's how brain deals are going for me. They'Re going great i've been able to meet my goals um and exceed them. Thanks to you guys, i really really appreciate it. I cannot stress enough how much i appreciate you guys, okay, so how do you stay consistent when you have a full-time job and family? Okay? Y'All, this is like a big one. It is hard, it is not easy, i'm not going to be the one to sugarcoat it and make it seem like it is easy, because it is hard. It is so hard, especially when, when you have a full-time job and kids, especially um since having berkeley, is super super hard, because you know she is a baby, so she requires so much attention and it's just like. I feel like i'm being pulled a million different ways, because, yes, i need to work on you. I go to my full-time job. I need to come home. I need to work on youtube, but there's so much other stuff that i want to work on as well. Like i want to complete, i want to complete our house projects. I want to get that wrapped up, uh, just all kinds of stuff, it's just so much stuff that i want to like give my time to, but i just have to honestly just give a little bit here a little bit there um it's hard y'all. So the only thing i can say is at this point: youtube is a job for me. It'S not even a hobby at this point because it it's a job like once. You have brand deals like you are signed in contracts with this, so it is a job. You have to deliver. You do not have a choice. You know you have to deliver um, so you have to treat it just like. You know your full-time job. If you were going to clock in for somebody else, you just have to be really dedicated um. That'S one thing i can tell you guys, there's so many people that always reach out to me that want to start a youtube channel. They want to start a youtube channel and what i always tell them is make your content make sure your contact. Your content is something that you actually enjoy because, if you're just doing this thinking that it's about to be quick, you're about to make money, quick, you're just going to burn yourself out you're going to be so disappointed and you it's not going to work. It is not going to work um even with money. In my case i make money and it's still, you still have to be very dedicated and you know consistent, so you have to actually make content that you enjoy. So there's many many days like today. I just finished editing a video um and it took me - oh my gosh, so long because i just was really just in a funk for real, like i did not want to edit. The video y'all like editing is like that is the worst for me. That is the worst part of being doing. Youtube is having to edit these videos um it's fun, because it's creative and once you see like the end product, but it's like once, if you don't have the time that you need to edit and especially the type of content i make vlogs vlogs, are not easy To edit y'all, they literally take days for me, they take days um, so this new system that i'm that i was supposed to start implementing, i just i'd, be falling off is every day i'm gon na set aside two hours to edit for my weekly vlog um. So i don't have to just do like eight hours a day on one day over the weekend or something and just be completely burnt out um, because oh it's for the birds but, like i said you have to make content that you actually enjoy, because it really Shows like it shows, if you're, making content that you don't enjoy that energy. It shows on the camera through your videos through the way you edit the amount of effort that you put into it like. If you don't like it, you just don't care and it'll show. Okay wow, so my camera just cut off from overheating. I don't even remember what i was saying um. I think i may have left off saying that um just because you reach your your your monetize. You still have to actually be consistent with putting out the content. Um to actually make money off of ads, it's it's crazy and you won't even get paid until you reach at least a hundred dollars. So some people actually really do struggle with that um. They they put all of their energy into you, know getting subscribers and all of this, but if you're literally just pretty much just kind of like begging for subscribers and your subscribers are not genuine they're not going to watch your content. So it's like you need to have your audience grown organically, for them to actually engage with your content without you know any funny shady business going on um, because you're just going to be at a standstill, it's like all that was for nothing like all of those Dead subscribers people that don't even interact with your content, that's just like uh, no um, so yeah, that's just how that goes. Okay, so someone asked they said, they're curious. The number of subs is no longer on your channel. Is that a business strategy? So basically, my subscriber amount of my youtube is still hidden um, and that was actually something that i was experimenting with a while back um to see, if, because a whole bunch of small youtubers, we were in this group, and a lot of people were wondering if You know there was any truth to hiding your subscriber amount would actually help people enjoy your content, more versus just focusing on numbers, and i honestly felt like that was the case when my subscriber amount was actually not hidden. I did find it was a slower process for me to gain subs now. I feel like the reason for that is, and i'm guilty of this too partially people, even if you make a very good video, um people, they're gon na look at your subscriber. The number of subscribers and they're gon na be like okay. Well, there must be a reason for this person to have only 100 subs. You know if they have good content, then they would have more than 100 subs, so you're either going to be thinking like. Oh um, they don't post on the regular um. All of their content is not as good as one of the videos you may have watched or anything like that um. So that's how some people are like they'll. Just look at numbers they're, so much more focused on numbers and actual content, but what i actually start like that, what that was my initial thought like if i watch a video like if it comes on, like my recommended page it my recommended page or it automatically Plays or something like that and i actually enjoy the video. What i do is i actually go to the person's. You know main page see how many subscribers they have see how many um videos they have. I go look at their other videos to see if they have any other videos that i like that's similar to the one that i just watched, see how often they post how long they've been posting, because i'm one of those people where i don't just subscribe to. One person off of one video um like if i see that you haven't posted a video and two. You know you post a video every two months like i'm not subscribing to you, i mean that's kind of how it is like with netflix shows like i don't watch netflix series that only have one season, because it's like okay you're, giving me good content, i'm i'm Locked in and then you just you're gone like i don't even know if you're coming like. I don't do that. So it's the same with content creators and that's why i say it's very important for you to be consistent because um, if you are content, credit creator, you'll know like a lot of the times. You'Ll get way more views on the video than actual subscribers that you actually have, and if you start digging into your analytics, you'll see that um, like, i think for me. It'S like maybe 40 something percent of people that like watch a video they're, not actually even subscribed to me. So it's gon na take time for you to build or grasp grab that viewer's attention to. Actually you know reel them in and get them to subscribe. So um yeah - i actually did notice that by hiding my subscribers that people were actually able to just focus on my content, um they're, actually they're, actually able to focus on my content versus focus on the amount of subscribers. I had at the time - and i saw a very rapid increase in my um subscribers. I mean at this point now. I don't think that's the case because that's yeah, that's it's not like that. Now i mean because clearly i mean this is when i was getting like: barely any views on videos or anything like that, so um yeah, so yeah, that's why my subscriber amount is hidden um. I may actually go and hide it now to see now with the amount of subscribers that i have to see. If that makes a difference like oh okay, i mean that may be like. I did get feedback um from other youtubers too. That say: well, they do not hide their subscriber account and they say that they feel. Like that's shady, if someone has their subscriber account, they feel like that's shady i'm just like um. I don't know how that's shady, because what is it to uh um, a viewer like it? Doesn'T it doesn't cost money to be a subscriber or anything unless you want to get a a youtube premium account? But i'm just like - i don't know what's shady about that, but you can disclose whatever you want to disclose um on your channel, so yeah but yeah some people - that's just like they don't want to subscribe to you, because you have your subscriber count here and that's Absolutely fine with them, but there's also people a whole bunch of people that don't want to subscribe to you, because, even when they can't see your subscribers, so it's just like basically do whatever works for you, um, whatever you want to do with your channel. Basically, okay. Next question: oh: will you ever be a full-time influencer? You know it's so crazy because with me trying to juggle everything, it's so crazy, because i never even knew how much money you could make being um an influencer and i'm just really on youtube like i don't even really just be aggressively um active on any other Social media besides youtube, but for me to be such a small youtuber like under 10 000 subscribers and to make the amount of money that i make just doing it part time i'm just like. If i did this full time, i just couldn't even imagine how much money i could make so, of course, the thought of doing it. Full time has crossed my mind, but i just want to give it some time because, like i said it hasn't even been um, it hasn't even been that long, but i've been doing it consistently for me to actually see. I haven't even been monetized for a full year. That'S the main thing, so i want to actually see like how all of the seasons go with youtube. I want to experience the slow months. All of that, because right now i do definitely see that it is a slow season um with youtube like as far as views and stuff. So i just want to go and experience like all of this, because once i actually did get monetized, it was at the end of the holiday season um. So i want to actually go through, like a full holiday season, see how sponsorships go through that um. A whole bunch of factors, because also being in the middle of a pandemic, helped youtubers. So so so much everybody was stuck in the house, so they were like glued to youtube. So that was an advantage this past year. So i want to be able to actually experience youtube like on the regular, not in the middle of a pandemic like i want to go through all of the seasons and experience exactly how it would be and exactly um what type of money i can make and All of that, like, like i said right now, the money is great. It'S good just to be part-time um, but for me to actually quit my full-time job, there's a whole bunch to take into consideration um yeah because yeah i yeah, there's a whole bunch of stuff. You know, like there's, there's benefits of me having my full-time job. Even if i do make more money, i can make more money on youtube. There'S still a whole bunch of benefits, um to me having my full-time job, just the type of job that i have the you know the feel that i'm in um the company i work for all of that, there's some benefit to it, but and plus being a Full-Time entrepreneur, is it ain't easy, so i mean being a part-time entrepreneur is not easy. So i already know that entrepreneurship is not it's not going to come easy. So i'm just weighing my options, but i definitely have thought about it and i'm not going to just say no, i'm not going to do it or who knows, i might wake up tomorrow and just be like chum deuces, my job, no, i'm not doing it, but Yeah, so i definitely have considered it, but it's not anything that i will be doing soon, so yeah um. What camera do? I use it's so funny that you guys asked that because this camera uh okay, so if you've been following then you know like i just recently got a new camera and computer and all of that so for my actual vlogging, i use the sony zv1. That'S what i'm recording on right now um and i it has benefits and it's a whole bunch of stuff that i'm starting to i'm not saying not like about it. But i just prefer my canon over the sony on some things for one: the battery life sucks on this sony camera. If you watch my vlogs, you know i'm always complaining about the batteries going dead. You have to have the battery in the camera for it to charge unless you buy the battery pack like that, i just recently bought. I do not like that it just overheated. I never had that issue with my canon. So when i say my canon, i have the canon m50 so yeah. I use that for like taking pictures and sit down videos. I don't know why i didn't get that one instead of getting this one but yeah. So that's where we're at right now try to see, because i want these curls to be just really loose i'll put some hairspray on them. So the last question is what editing software do i use i actually use filmora. That'S the only editing software i have ever used, you do have to pay for it. Um, it's not free um. I think it's like sixty dollars 70 or something like that. So yeah, that's what i use and i actually love it. I watched one youtube video. When i decided i was going to start my youtube channel. I was trying to figure out which editing software i would needed to buy, and i just literally googled or youtubed editing software watched one video on how to use it. I had never edited a video before and i bought it that same day, pretty pretty easy for me. I just want to give some advice or some words of encouragement to anyone. That'S looking to start a youtube channel. I don't know if there there will ever be the perfect time to start a youtube channel. Actually let me take that back. The perfect time would have been while we were on lockdown, honestly um. That was like a perfect time for someone to start a youtube channel, but outside of that, i don't think there's a perfect time unless we're ever in a situation like that again where the world is on lockdown um and i actually hope we're not so what i Have to say to you is: there's not going to be a perfect time. So if you want to start at a youtube channel, just start and it doesn't even you don't even have to start out investing in all of this camera equipment, and you can literally record right on your iphone or whatever phone you have. You can people actually even edit on their phones like if you have an iphone people, be editing on imovie, so you don't even need much um to start a youtube channel. Just do it, i mean. Do it try it out, so you can actually see the work that it takes, because you're gon na have to record you're gon na have to edit you're gon na have to be consistent with all of that. So just try it out see how you know. You'Re able to juggle it with home life and all of that and see you know how how it is main thing is just have fun doing it have fun doing it. Like i said i actually started my youtube channel for two reasons. It was when i was starting my business and i just turned to youtube to get so much information on how to start my boutique, and all of that i wanted to do the same, and i also wanted to document my journey of starting a small business and Who knows what it would have turned into, but that business is now closed so but yeah. That was my intention of doing that, and also with me being a vlogger i wanted to document. You know make memories and have them documented, especially with my children growing up for them to be able to look back on there's many times where we will actually just sit down and just go back and look at my videos, like even from when berkeley was born. Like her whole year, life basically was documented because i've been vlogging for her entire first year of life. So i just kind of actually regret that i didn't do the same for dallas, because it's really awesome just to have these memories to make with your kids. You know we vlog our trips: we've we've vlogged our entire home building process, selling our old home berkeley's delivery, just everything um our vacations. So even if you're not just looking to start youtube to actually make money. Just um just know. That'S gon na it's going to take time for you to get to that point. So what i'm just trying to say is make sure that you actually enjoy the content that you're putting out, and i also want to be able. I also want to tell you guys that you don't have to stick to one thing. Like i said my youtube started out. Um like abyss for business related things um. Then it went to like motherhood when i was pregnant. Now it's just lifestyle. I actually kind of feel like i went through this phase where people were looking for me like for home advice. I know a lot of you. I got so many subscribers from our home building journey, so you don't have to stick with one thing: um just try. It out see what works for you um and then just go from there like. I said it's never going to be a perfect time to start um. If you've been thinking about it, just do it, it doesn't cost any money. As long as you have a phone - and you can get some editing software on that phone, you have nothing to lose just give it a try, see how it goes and just go from there anywho. This is how the hair turned out. I just did. Let me totally get some earrings really quick alrighty, so this is how the hair turned out. I just did like some really like loose kind of like these kind of actually look like some beach wave kind. It'S kind of curls or beach wave beach, wavy, hair yeah. So this is how it looks. This color is beautiful. Y'All, look at that so yeah. This is how it turned out. I absolutely love it just keep in mind y'all. I didn't do any customization to this wig, except for tint the lace with the spray. That is actually all that i did to this hair. I didn't even put any powder or anything i didn't do anything to this. Just look just look at this. Nothing so yeah. This is it. This is the hair i'll. Have all the information linked down in the description below this was a good, install y'all. This was a good install. I absolutely love this hair. If you are interested in this unit or any of the other units, um then make sure you check the description box. I have all the information linked down below. I hope you enjoyed today's video if you have any other questions, um anything pertaining to youtube, influencer life. Anything like that, just drop them down in the comments um or follow me on instagram. You can dm me all of that. You know we are always in the dms and interacting over there. So until next time guys bye, you