Influencer Spotlight — How a broken TV created a YouTube Star
Editor’s Note: As the VP of Influencer Success at AdMass, I research and create dialogues with all the social media influencers we work with, and I was amazed by some of their incredible stories. These posts are designed to give you an inside look at how the most powerful influencers of today became who they are. Each story is so full of passion and creativity that we felt obligated to take a deeper dive.
These…are their stories…(Cue Law & Order intro music)
Meet Denise aka @DeniseVlogs on all her social channels.
She’s a veteran YouTuber and all-around badass. Having accumulated over 30 million views across her personal channels on YouTube, Denise is an expert on content. She’s currently traveling the world taking a stab at a new genre — you guessed it, travel. And when we’re not bugging her with bad jokes and late-night ideas, we’re trying to learn from her.
This is Denise’s story:
Pat: What made you start filming YouTube videos?
Denise: Long story short; My TV broke.
Short story long; I moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn after graduating with a Film Production degree. I wanted to break into screenwriting. My first job in LA was as a receptionist at Anonymous Content. Eight months later I left to work as an assistant to a reality TV agent. My life was consumed with work and I was sort of miserable. Wasn’t sure how I would ever get my creative work seen, didn’t make much money and literally hated the kind of work my boss’s clients created. A wanna-be screenwriter working for a REALITY TV agent? Couldn’t be further from a good fit.
Most of my free time (which wasn’t much outside of my working hours) was spent watching movies on my TV. Until one day my TV broke. So I turned to my laptop in search of movies/television. I thought YouTube was what Netflix and Hulu are today. I was bummed to realize it wasn’t that… but this is how I first discovered “vloggers.” I got addicted to the format, realized it was a way to share my creativity with the world without having to jump through any barriers, and soon decided to venture into it myself. This was in 2008.
Pat: How has your content changed since you began?
Denise: I started out by telling “ghost stories” directly to the camera and having people vote on if they were true or not. This did okay but I realized the popular genres at the time were music and comedy. I couldn’t sing so… I tried out the comedy format.
I did pretty well and this is how I gained my first 40k subscribers. It’s also how I got involved with Maker Studios and came into a situation where I was able to get productions funded.
When I was able to get productions funded I took a total ‘180’ to focus on what I really enjoyed working on again: horror & psychological thrillers. I started making short films under the series “DV Presents”. I quickly gained my next 50k subscribers.
Now I’m in another transition period. A lot of what I enjoy and care about creating has changed. I’m currently traveling the world and still trying to decide what kind of content I’d like to create at this point. It’s a work in process but it will definitely be different than my comedy and horror periods. Maybe a mix of both somehow with a sprinkle of travel? We’ll see.
Pat: Do you consider your online content to be a hobby or work? Or maybe both?
Denise: I consider it both. I enjoy creating content, I make some earnings from it, but it definitely doesn’t make up for my entire income. Of course it would be great if it did but I’m okay with the current situation. I’d rather enjoy what I’m doing creatively than get rich off of creating work that I hate or that bores me. It’s hard to find balance in being successful and true to yourself but I’d rather focus on finding that than getting rich as quick as possible.
Pat: What is the main reason you attribute to your loyal following?
Denise: Collaborations are what made the biggest difference. I think that’s probably similar across the board for many people other than those that found a niche that blew up on it’s own. The more you collaborate with various other people the more you expose yourself to other audiences.
Pat: What social media platform are you on the most these days?
Denise: Snapchat. It took a while for it to reel me in but they finally got me! I think it’s the filters that got me hooked. Automatic makeup with no effort? Yes, please! Also, it’s the easiest and most immediate way to share my travel adventures.
Pat: What do you hope the future on influencer marketing looks like?
Denise: I hope the future of influencer marketing remains in the hands of creators themselves. Sometimes I worry “The Man” will take over somehow like always. The best part of internet content is how genuine it is.
Interested in being featured as an Influencer Spotlight?
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Follow all of Denise’s adventures on YouTube HERE!
And don’t forget about her other awesome social outlets:
Instagram: @denisevlogs
Snapchat: @denisevlogs
Twitter: @denisevlogs
Facebook: DeniseVlogsFB
