Can You Be Controversial and Still Be Successful on YouTube?: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 272
“I really think that regular posting was the central aspect. It sends the message that you’re taking the content that you make more seriously.”
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Giulia-Christina is an Italian immigrant who moved to the United States for University. She has lived in 7 countries and speaks 4 languages! She has a Master’s degree and is pursuing a PhD, and her long-term goal is to teach at the University level. Giulia-Christina’s channel revolves around social commentary and crime. She has always gravitated towards weird stories and the uncanny. Her channel has over 663K subscribers and serves as an analysis of things that are atypical or that don’t make sense.
Giulia-Christina was a college student studying creative writing, but ironically, her creative writing program did not allow for much creativity. She made her first video in 2016 about wigs and makeup, which is much different from her current content. Her channel then slowly evolved as she experimented with different topics. She wasn’t posting regularly or frequently, but after awhile she started to realize that as much as she enjoyed makeup and wigs (and it felt “safe” to her, because anyone can review things as a consumer without a ton of credentials), it wasn’t her path. She wanted to talk about things that were more important to her as a person.
“I think I was like dipping my toes in a pool, and then I just kind of jumped in and said ok, we can keep going this direction as long as it’s interesting to me.”
The biggest turning point in her channel was when she decided to throw all caution to the wind and create a totally different video. When she had a couple thousand subscribers, Giulia-Christina made a video about the Michelle Carter texting suicide case. It was nerve wracking for her to post it because she was unsure about what the reaction would be, but it was mostly well-received and it took away her initial fear. From then on, she pivoted her content to true crime and social commentary, with a few beauty videos sprinkled here and there. When she ripped off the bandaid, she not only found a topic she was passionate about, but she started to take her channel seriously by making a schedule, staying consistent, and investing in better tools. Giulia attributes this strict, consistent posting schedule as the key to her growth and success. Despite a rigorous academic workload in her grad school studies, she was able to stay consistent on YouTube as a way to decompress and focus. With a niche involving controversial topics, she’s learned to take the haters in stride and deal with the frequent demonetization of her videos. Almost half of her content gets demonetized right off the bat, and of her themes and video topics can be seen as not advertiser friendly. This creates a domino When it comes to topics, GC will only create a video on a topic if: a. She is interested, b. There’s a lot of information about it available, and c. if it is significant enough to the bigger picture.
“You can take other people’s opinions into account, but at the end of the day it’s up to me to be able to sleep at night based on what I say.”
3 Key Interview Takeaways
- Maintain a schedule. GC credits her consistency as the primary contributor to the growth of her channel. By showing up consistently, you are sending the message that you are taking your channel seriously, and that will encourage others to subscribe to you.
- Know what’s best for you. You need to understand how to best get your idea across, and the format that is best for you. You don’t want people to get the wrong idea, so you need to put yourself out there in a way that best represents who you are.
- Small changes can make a big difference. Even something as small as a new backdrop that hides your messy room can make a world of difference in your confidence. Not everyone feels immediately comfortable talking into a camera, but these small changes can help increase confidence.
Mentioned in the Episode:
Connect with Giulia-Christina:
Resources
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FREE GUIDES:
Creating Content During Crisis: How to Create Impactful Content During COVID-19 Pandemic
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
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