How YouTube Rising Star Shallon Lester Gets Nearly 5 Million Video Views A Month On Her Channel: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 208
“If you don’t know why you got the good things, you won’t be able to anticipate the bad things.”
Are you ready to take the first step to explode your YouTube channel and step into YOUR role as a YouTube influencer? With just ONE HOUR of your time, you can watch my FREE Road to 100k Masterclass and gain the confidence and clarity you need to go from zero to 100k+ subscribers on YouTube!
Everyone wants the scoop! This YouTuber has found a way to deliver dating advice while spilling the tea on all our favorite celebrity couples. She’s a genius! She’s going to teach you how to do the same, take what you’re great at, and mix it with something people are hungry for right now. Shallon Lester has been blowing up on YouTube for the last year and she’s sharing all her secrets on this episode!
Shallon Lester is an author of 2 books, MTV personality – she had her own reality TV show called Downtown Girls and now a dating expert on YouTube with over 300k subscribers and getting almost 5 million video views a month. She got bitten by the YouTube bug in 2012 when she was hired by Howcast to do a series on kissing, that series went onto be a hit, getting 35 million views per video. She knew she was onto something so she started her channel. But it wasn’t until she was laid off her job as deputy editor at Star Magazine that she started taking her channel seriously. When the video she did on Red Table Talk blew up, getting 100k views in 4 days, she knew she could be big and could carve out a living on YouTube. She’s been doing that full-time ever since.
“It’s always better to share advice via a story. That’s why church is effective.”
Shallon believes that if you want it bad enough, keep at it because your break is just around the corner. She was able to use her strengths being in entertainment and around celebrity gossip, and knowing psychology and dating to help her audience with their relationships. In this episode you’re going to learn how you too can make the best out of your unique circumstances and gifts, how she creates her videos from idea to execution, working with brands and staying true to yourself and so much more. Enjoy!
“I didn’t take chirping on the ice and I don’t take it now on the internet.”
3 Key Interview Takeaways
- Timing is everything. Keep trying. If you have a dream to make it big on YouTube, keep going after it. It may not happen when you expect it to, but the right set of conditions are just around the corner. It’s only a matter of time. Shallon’s channel blew up at a time when people were craving dating advice, and they wanted to understand what’s really going on behind-the-scenes of these celebrities’ lives. The right combination of needs will coincide and you will be the unique and perfect person to meet them, so don’t give up.
- Analyze your growth. Over time, you’ll build rapport and a relationship with your audience and they’ll start to rely on your videos for your personality. But even when that time comes you still need to be aware of what drives them to watch some of your videos than others, what drives them to watch one video to the end and stop another one short. If you want to continue to attract them and give them what they want, and even attract new people to keep growing, you need to be aware of what keywords, trends, topics, etc keep them watching.
- Know your strengths, outsource your shortcomings. Shallon knew she was great at giving dating advice and had a background in entertainment and knew a lot of celebrity news. But the tech side, the editing, getting brand deals, that wasn’t her strong suit. So she hired them out, the management company she works with handles all of that so she can focus on showing up doing what she’s strong at. Make your life easier by outsourcing the areas you’re weak at or just don’t want to do.
Mentioned In This Episode
Shallon Lester’s Videos:
- How to Kiss series on Howcast
- RED FLAGS FROM JORDYN’S INTERVIEW: How To Spot A Liar & Manipulative People
- TRAITS OF A NARCISSIST: Red Flags Of Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez’s Engagement
Connect with Shallon Lester
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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