Why You MUST Niche Down on YouTube with Bootcamper Kimbyrleigha: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 154
“You don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of followers to have influence.”
Don’t miss out! Apply to the waitlist for the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp now to ensure you grab your spot!
Are you afraid of getting SUPER narrow with your niche? If you’re afraid you won’t find your audience, we’re crushing that myth today! Phone fashion YouTuber and Bootcamp alum, Kimbyrleigha, returns to share how she became the Pop Sockets Queen with 200k subscribers.
The last time Kimbyrleigha was on, she spoke about how she got started with YouTube as a creative outlet in 2015. She was only hoping to earn enough YouTube money to quit her gruelling full-time job and take care of her daughter. But by 2017, not only did she leave that job, but she had started building her affiliate empire working with over 100 companies.
“Anything that can make me better, why would I not do that?”
Now, she’s back and better than ever! Kimbyrleigha niched down even further to focus on phone cases and Pop Sockets and has opened a thriving store selling her own phone cases. She’s even been dubbed the Pop Sockets Queen!
“If I don’t feel a video, I shouldn’t do it… YouTube is going to be there tomorrow.”
Kimbyrleigha leaned into her excitement and passion for phone fashion, and with her new niche, she’s getting the brand deals she had dreamed of. She’s sharing everything about how that advice and others she received in the Bootcamp helped her take things to a whole new level. Kimbyrleigha now has over 200k subscribers and 14 million total video views.
“A year on YouTube is like 10 years… that year you can tremendously grow, change and evolve.”
7 Key Interview Takeaways
- A lot can happen in a year. I know sometimes we get frustrated with the traction we are getting for our videos, but be encouraged and keep pushing forward because you never know which video will explode or what new ideas you’ll get that will send you down a path filled with opportunity.
- Niche down as much as possible. Niching down makes it easier for you to stand out in the sea of channels on YouTube and to find ideas and topics for your content. Another hidden benefit of niching is that it makes it a no-brainer for brands to work with you. If you run your narrow niche like Kimbyrleigha runs phone cases, you’ll be the go-to person for those brands. And, as you’ll hear on the episode, that’s huge!
- Trust the power of your analytics. Your intuition and gut feeling are powerful, and you should learn how to listen to them, but don’t overlook the power of your YouTube analytics. That’s the quantifiable evidence of your videos’ performance and your audience’s reactions to your content. You might even find things you didn’t realise, like how Kimbyrleigha found that her channel’s Pop Sockets interest was exploding.
- Turn to the YouTube creator community for support. The insights you’ll get from people who’re in the trenches with you is priceless. Being able to share your burdens, celebrate your wins, and work on solutions with people who truly get what you do is something you should seek out as soon as possible. Get on a plane, go to an event, find an online group… anything. Find a community of your peers and connect.
- People are drawn to authenticity. Your videos come out better when you’re truly passionate about the topic and the content. Focus on identifying the things you’re authentically interested in and build that. Don’t get caught in the consistency over quality trap either. You get caught in that trap when you compromise on your standards to get the next video out on time. If you aren’t feeling it, don’t do it. Your audience will smell that desperation and inauthenticity.
- Brands are looking for audience and influence. Here’s what’s bad about buying followers: they don’t equal influence. They may like your videos or add a random comment, but they will never trust you and they will never buy anything you recommend. Brands are getting wiser to what being an influencer really means so having a big audience is no longer enough. And don’t forget, you don’t need a very large audience of hundreds of thousands of viewers to have influence. Work your niche and create great content and you won’t have to worry about audience size or influence.
- Test your impact before you start your own thing. Kimbyrleigha was able to branch out and start her online phone case store, which is now growing from strength to strength because of her channel. Even so, she says it was important to sell other phone cases before building her own. That’s because she had to test her influence first. She had to first prove that she could sell something well on her channel before she took the risk of doing her own thing. That’s good advice. Use your brand deals and affiliate relationships as a proof of concept for your future sales if you have the desire to build your own products down the line.
Resources
The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 98: How to Get Subscribers on YouTube Fast with Kimbyrleigha – Part I
The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 99: How to Get Subscribers on YouTube Fast with Kimbyrleigha – Part II
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 Kimbyrleigha
Kimbyrleigha’s Phone Case Store
Kimbyrleigha’s Phone Cases on Instagram
Facebook Group:
Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
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