NOT GROWING after 10 years on YouTube, She did THIS and finally BLEW UP!: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 270
“You have to put your ego aside, in anything in life, really. There’s no way we can know it all”
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!
LaToya Ebony is a professional actress and YouTube video content creator. LaToya began her YouTube channel journey in 2010 when she decided to document her journey embracing the natural texture of her tightly coiled hair. As a woman with 4c hair, her channel offers fun and easy to digest natural haircare tips and hairstyling how-to videos for women with type 4 hair. Her current YouTube channel was started in 2012 and has since garnered 5.5 million views and 85k subscribers with most of the growth happening in 2020 during the global pandemic battling Covid-19. LaToya is a mother, wife, blogger, and continues to act professionally while running her YouTube channel centered around natural haircare and sprinkles of fashion. She strives to inspire women to confidently showcase their highly textured hair to the world.
LaToya was at around 42k subscribers for about a year and a half, not seeing growth when she joined my Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp. She would spend hours (even days) on her content, she would feel good about it, and then her videos would not perform, she wasn’t retaining her audience, and she was feeling discouraged. Her YouTube channel almost felt like an abusive relationship where she would give and give and give and get nothing in return. After joining the bootcamp, her channel grew by over 30k subscribers! During her time in the bootcamp, LaToya tried to be as present as possible. She dove right into the lessons and into the group coaching calls, and tried to learn as much as she could. By doing the internal work within the lessons of the Bootcamp, LaToya discovered her why and discovered her passion. Once she let her passion loose and gained the confidence she needed, she really started to notice a change in her channel.
“There’s opportunity for everyone in any niche and any environment, and you sort of have to seek out your mentors. You have to do that, or you will stay stagnant.”
When it comes to YouTube, there’s a lot of internal work that has to happen. LaToya asked herself what was really special about her. The answer? Her personality and her quirks. Instead of hiding her personality or hiding the quirky things that made her who she is, she decided to bring them forward, and embrace them. She started to talk to her audience like she was chatting with girlfriends over tea, and truly embraced who she was inside and out. As her channel started to grow, LaToya really dove into her analytics to see what was working, what wasn’t working, and why. She even studied the analytics of other channels to see what she could bring to hers. LaToya also began to really engage with her comment section more and utilize her community tab to really build relationships with her subscribers to keep them engaged and keep them coming back for more. After 10 years on YouTube, it only took 6 months for LaToya to nearly double the amount of subscribers it took her 10 years to build!
“It’s been an amazing growing experience for me, and it’s a journey that I think I’ll always be on because everything is constantly shifting in YouTube.”
3 Key Interview Takeaways
- The age of your audience matters. LaToya found that connecting with a younger audience helped her channel, because younger people tend to have more free time than the busy mom age group. They tend to watch more and engage more, and once she figured that out, she was able to continue to cater to that age group. LaToya also says that those in the mature age group also tend to be huge engagers!
- What makes you special? One of the turning points in LaToya’s YouTube success was that she really dug deep and analyzed herself and figured out what made her special and what set her apart from others. Instead of hiding that away, she amplified it. Figure out what makes you who YOU are and put that on center stage.
- What matters most? Some of LaToya’s best advice is to really nail down your titles and your thumbnails, and take advantage of cross-promoting on your platforms. If you have a blog, make sure you have a pinterest. With pinterest, LaToya gets traffic to her blog, and that traffic on her blog turns into YouTube views and subscribers.
Mentioned in the Episode:
EASIEST 4c WASH N GO I’ve tried!! 😳 Anthony Dickey.. WOah!
Connect with LaToya:
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!
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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.
