This Full-Time Harvard Student Went From 0-250K Subscribers in 1 Year with Sienna Santer: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 205
“Who cares if I stand out a little bit, I’m here to do something different.”
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What’s the TRUE power of a niche? You hear so often that picking a niche is super important, but how much of a difference does it really make? Our guest this week, lifestyle YouTuber Sienna Santer started vlogging her experience with #dormlife at Harvard and virtually overnight became a viral success. We’re peeling back all the layers and exposing every single detail. No stone will be left unturned!
Sienna was always passionate about filming and editing videos for her friends and family from all the YouTubers she enjoyed watching. So when she took her gap year and traveled, she decided to throw up a few videos. They didn’t do great for her growth, but she enjoyed the process. When she moved into Harvard, she filmed her moving and dorm room decoration and thought she’d make a vlog one day, but with a new school and environment, time got away from her and she shelved that idea. That was until December. She edited together the videos she filmed on her iPhone and uploaded it. It went viral. Within a week it got over a million views – it’s sitting at over 5 million views right now. In 2 weeks she went from 2k to 35k subscribers. Now she has over 332k subscribers!
“I have a really loyal fanbase that supports me no matter what I do.”
People were hungry for her Harvard student perspective, and not many people were sharing it. So that was the niche she decided to stay in and dominate. She had an opportunity being a new student to speak to an audience that wants to go to Harvard themselves one day, or who wants to know what it’s like from someone seeing everything for the first time. As she levels up, there’ll be more and more opportunities to show different perspectives as she herself changes. One thing we need to pause and remember is that there are many viral hits that go extinct when the fame dies down. But she’s done what all of them wish they could do: turn those curious viral viewers into an ongoing raving and caring fanbase who want to know about HER – the person. We’ll be talking about how she did that in this episode, and so much more. Enjoy!
“You’re not always going to be perfect. You’re going to slip up, and there’s a beauty in that.”
4 Key Interview Takeaways
- Follow where your interest leads. Sienna has always been interested and curious about YouTuber life. And she felt like she wanted to do vlogs about her new Harvard journey and did not let that feeling pass. It didn’t matter that she only had an iPhone for her camera or that she had no idea about thumbnails and titles and tags. She dove in, satisfied her interest and it paid off in a big way. Sometimes the past of least resistance is the right path to take.
- Dominate your niche. Sienna was perfectly placed to make big waves because she had a combination of things working in her favor. Your perspective matters. When you stop to be more aware of yourself, you might realize, like Sienna, that a lot of things add up for you. For her, she was a woman, who was also starting college, Harvard of all places, who loved being on camera, who had been seeing great video after great video as inspiration for years. Her creation was unique and authentic to her, and we saw how everything came together. What is your combination of advantages that make your perspective unique and attractive?
- Embrace failure. You’re going to make mistakes. It’s inevitable. on your quest to stand out and make a name for yourself, you’re bound to go beyond the boundaries that you or anyone has set. That uncharted territory is called uncharted for a reason. You haven’t been there before, hardly anyone has. So don’t expect you’ll always have the right answer, or you’ll be able to find the right guide. How fun would it be if you knew every move you’d make before you made it?
- Hire yourself a manager. Find someone who’s value aligns with yours and who’s interested in you and your goals. Avoid the people who rub you the wrong way, or try to pressure you or who are only in it for themselves. A good manager is a blessing for your brand because they will get you deals you wouldn’t be able to get yourself because they’re clued into a world and have a skill set that you don’t have, and won’t need to worry about.
Mentioned In This Episode
Sienna’s Videos:
- COLLEGE MOVE-IN VLOG! Freshman Year at Harvard University
- A Day in the Life of a Harvard Student
- HOW TO GET INTO HARVARD: 7 Tips That Will Actually Get You Accepted
Connect with Sienna Santer
Resources
Add your name to the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
FREE GUIDES:
Getting Started on YouTube: YouTube Niche Workbook
How to get onto PR lists and receive a TON of free product even if you have a small following: PR List
YOUTUBE OPTIMIZATION PLUG-IN I RECOMMEND
TubeBuddy [Use the code ErikasBuddy to get 20% off]
MY FAVORITE BUSINESS TOOLS
Course Creation: Looking to create a course? Kajabi is the BEST platform hands down. I use this for my course after extensive research on all the other platforms.
Live Calls and Interviews: I use Ecamm for my podcast interviews, both audio and for YouTube that you see here on YouTube. It makes it super easy to share my screen and create the split-screen with my guest. I’m not super techie and this software is really easy to use!
Webinars and Live calls: I use Zoom.us for my group coaching calls in my private membership group for female YouTube creators. It’s also the software I use to record my Road to 100k YouTube Subscribers Masterclass!
THE BEST YOUTUBE/PODCASTING EQUIPMENT
After interviewing HUNDREDS of successful YouTube creators, these are the pieces of equipment that hands down get mentioned time and time again. You can’t go wrong with anything on this list!
- 4k Camera: Great for starting out and vlogging
- Lens: This lens is recommended highly by many of my podcast guests, it gives the blurry “YouTuber” background look.
- Audio: If you want to upgrade your set-up, audio should be one of the first investments (after a good camera). This microphone is unanimously the favorite amongst my podcast guests.
- Podcast/Voiceover Microphone: If you are looking for a great microphone for a podcast or video voiceover, this is it! This is the one that you see in all of my videos and the one I’ve recorded my podcast on for years.
- Webcam: For my interviews, that you see in my videos, this is the webcam that I use. Super inexpensive and easy to set up!
- Inexpensive Lighting Kit: Need to pick up some lights but don’t want to spend a ton? This is a great set that will get you started and help improve the look of your videos.
- Ring light: Looking for that beauty look? Invest in a ring light! This is an inexpensive light that does that trick!
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Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
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**Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledged. Links in the description are typically affiliate links that let you help support the podcast at no extra cost.
