HUGE Mistakes Beauty Channels Make When Trying to GROW on YouTube with Whitney Hedrick: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 213
“Everyone has a story to tell, everyone has an angle. Really hone in on your strengths and focus on that, and don’t worry about what anyone else is doing.”
Be sure to check out my FREE eBook: How to Create Impactful Content During COVID-19 Pandemic! This 32 page guide will walk you through how to create content during a global crisis PLUS it includes over 75 YouTube video ideas that you can use TODAY to grow your channel!
Whitney Hedrick is a professional makeup artist-turned-YouTuber whose success exploded when she made the controversial decision to stop buying makeup. Once she stopped doing the trendy videos everyone else in the YouTube beauty community was doing, and made the kind of content she felt passionate about instead, she was not only more successful, but happier. In this episode, Whitney shares her best advice for people looking to grow their YouTube channel about being yourself, connecting with your audience, and not being afraid to go off the beaten path.
Whitney Hedrick has been avidly watching YouTube beauty content since 2007. When she became a professional makeup artist, she decided to join in, create a channel, and give back to the community that taught her so much, but she struggled a lot internally on whether she should focus solely on her MUA career or her YouTube. She decided to focus on YouTube full time in 2017 when her channel had about 60k subscribers. At first, she started doing what everybody else was doing thinking it would work, but got discouraged when it didn’t. She couldn’t even bring herself to be excited or passionate about the trends in the YouTube beauty community, and she found herself increasingly unhappy with her YouTube channel. That’s when she said, “screw it.” Whitney threw all caution to the wind, ditched the trends, and decided to post what SHE wanted to post and say what she wanted to say, which ended up being much more sustainable than just doing what was trendy. She stopped buying makeup in 2019, which forced her to be creative with what she had. The video she made about this decision was an absolute game-changer. Whitney now doesn’t buy any new makeup at all with the exception of replacing something when she runs out.
“Once you start doing what you really want to do, there is an audience for everything and everyone.”
Whitney gets ideas from the questions people are asking, both in her videos and in other people’s, and believes in the importance of paying attention to the audience that isn’t having its needs met. As far as generating an income from her channel, she decided to go in a different direction, and instead of using affiliate codes, she started a Patreon, and is one of very few people in beauty who use Patreon. With Patreon, Whitney has the opportunity to limit her relationships with brands and truly connect with her audience, particularly her “true fans,” and not just her subscribers. With her Patreon and her facebook group, she’s been able to be there for her audience and she has found that it has truly helped them support and follow her in return.
“If you really just pay attention to what the audience is talking about, what their questions are, and what their interests are, it’s immediate content.”
3 Key Interview Takeaways
- The YouTube Beauty Community is always evolving. Whitney has been following YouTube beauty since 2007, but she believes that it blew up and became what we know it to be now in 2014. But people get older and they move on. When you get to a certain age or life experience, your interests change. How will that affect your channel? How can you plan for that?
- Be yourself. Whitney loves makeup, and she’s so passionate about teaching others how to use it, but when she followed the YouTube beauty video trends and did what everyone else was doing, she was so unhappy. It wasn’t until Whitney decided to be herself and use her own voice and make the content she was passionate about that she rekindled her love for her channel. When you are true to yourself, your subscribers and fans will appreciate you more. You can’t make everyone happy. Make yourself happy and the cool people will find you.
- Don’t be a slave to SEO. These are tools, but they are not the end-all, be-all, and they didn’t always accurately predict Whitney’s most successful videos. Sometimes your best videos have a bad SEO score and vise versa. Use it as a tool, but don’t depend on it. Trust your gut.
Mentioned In This Episode
- My FREE 32 Page eBook: How to Create Impactful Content During COVID-19 Pandemic
Whitney Hedrick’s videos:
Connect with Whitney Hedrick:
Facebook Group: War Paint with Whitney Hedrick
Resources
Add your name to the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
Watch my replay of my FREE Zero to 100k Subscribers Masterclass
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!
FACEBOOK GROUP
Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
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