The Surprising Truth Into What It’s REALLY Like To Be A YouTube Celebrity with Cora Diane AKA Vintage or Tacky: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 179
“I never take on sponsorships that I feel compromise my morals or I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending to a friend.”
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Grab your seat by the fireplace and get ready to hear the wisdom of another YouTube veteran! Wanna learn about what it takes to remain relevant on YouTube for over a decade and how the handle and thrive under the toll it takes? Our guest today, beauty, plus-sized fashion and now lifestyle YouTuber Cora Diane takes the hot seat and authentically shares her journey with us!
Cora started her channel in 2007, doing it for fun as everyone was at that time. She was inspired by the makeup videos and wanted to start making her own. It was until 2010 that she realized she was making more money from YouTube than she was at her job at the Mac store. Now she’s a YouTube celebrity who’s been reinventing herself and staying ahead of the game while making a full-time living from her channel.
“You’re gonna have moments when you question what you’re doing. There’s never a trajectory that’s always on the up.”
She’s super passionate about sustainability and preserving the environment. She’s really played her part in being the voice of using cosmetics that aren’t harmful to yourself or the environment. What really inspired me about Cora is that she’s very in tune to what’s truly a fit for her. She isn’t just doing her channel about the money and she isn’t satisfied with the current state of the beauty industry on YouTube. In this episode, she shares her experience remaining relevant and toeing the fine line between keeping in integrity with herself while also making a living on YouTube.
“People love to watch people who are unapologetically themselves and passionately aligned with their purpose.” – Erika
3 Key Interview Takeaways
- Be true to who you are. Cut out the things that make you uncomfortable and do more of the things you enjoy because you’ll show up your best that way. Yes, everyone may be doing paid product promotion in every video, or the market may want the latest and greatest product reveals, but if it doesn’t appeal to you, don’t change yourself to fit anyone. You won’t love the content you’re creating and your audience won’t love a tense and forced video.
- Negative comments and bullying have nothing to do with you. One of the most deplorable things I’ve ever heard happened to Cora. After she opened up on her channel about her mother’s passing, she was a victim of bullying about it. But Cora came on today’s episode stronger than ever and with a unique perspective. Overly critical people, negative people and bullies are dealing with issues internally that have nothing to do with you. When they speak their hateful words, they are speaking to themselves more than anyone else. So you can choose to ignore it because it’s none of your business.
- Approach your videos like a business. One thing Cora wished she did earlier was to view her channel and her videos like a business. That would have helped her create better, more targeted videos. It would have helped her to see and pick better opportunities and it would’ve given her the extra push she needed to be consistent so she could consistently grow. Are you viewing your channel as a business or a hobby? Times are different now and there’s more opportunity all around us than in 2007, but if you don’t view your channel as a business you won’t be able to capitalize on them.
Resources
Cora’s Camera Setup Video on YouTube
The True Cost Documentary on Netflix
My favorite free SEO tool for YouTube: TubeBuddy
(Discount code ErikasBuddy for 20% off the paid version)
PR Guide: How to Get onto PR Lists and Get Lots of Free Product
Getting Started on YouTube: The #1 Downloaded Free Niche Discovery Workbook
Connect with Cora
Facebook Group:
Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
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