It’s Take Your Vlogger to Work Day. We Shadow A Glittery Life to See How It’s Done.

Aspiring beauty vloggers, you might want to quit your day jobs. That’s because business is booming for a large number of these unassuming tastemakers and influencers more than ever, says a new report developed by YouTube marketing group Pixability.

"Makeup videos have gotten 9.8 billion views on YouTube, hair care videos have gotten 1.2 billion views, and nail videos have gotten 959 million views. Each month, YouTube shows 700 million beauty videos,” says the report. Now for the interesting part: “Only two percent of those views come from viewers who subscribe to channels run by major beauty brands, and YouTube currently has 45,000 beauty channels not run by brands.” Yes, beauty is one of the biggest genres on the popular video-sharing site. For evidence, you only need to look as far as the success of notables like Michelle Phan, Wayne Goss and Kandee Johnson, who’ve built entire empires from their watch-and-share content.

It’s a success story shared by Trisha of the popular site AGlitteryLife.com whose video channel offers beauty tutorials, product reviews, how-to’s, recommendations, and insider tips. Although her online portals have only been active for a year, her tip on where to find NARS’ popular “Ita Brush” led to a loyal following and a subsequent partnership with the brand giant. Now Trisha is the only vlogger to tout that relationship with them.

Working as a freelance makeup artist for NARS at the prestigious flagship boutique on Melrose (in Los Angeles), Trisha was already loyal to the brand. “When I posted about the Ita Brush on my blog and the brush sold out, I got their attention. They said, ‘If you have that much reach and influence, we want to work with you.’,”  she recalls, noting she does not get paid by NARS to write about products. Instead, her YouTube channel profits from increased views and clicks.

It’s a sign of the times as more and more brands are reducing their traditional media budgets for old-school ads and campaigns and instead partnering with people like Trisha. “Word-of-mouth is the most powerful commerce driver,” she says. “It used to be that companies would only partner with you when you had a massive presence on YouTube but now they’re focusing on up-and-comers with good quality, lots of content, and a crossover audience.”

And Trisha, who does celebrity life coaching in addition to her freelance makeup gigs, is starting to find ways to monetize her project with increased views and partnerships. “Hopefully one day it will be a full-time job for me,” she says.

Essential Vlog Startup Tips

With new beauty vlogs launched every day, you have to stand out from the crowd if you want to get into the game. Here are Trisha’s tips on how to make yours successful.

• Prioritize quality first. Start with quality content right from the get go. Professional content will help you draw an audience. “I started out by purchasing the best equipment, and filming in HD. You don’t want to be vlogging from your iPhone, because with so many choices people aren’t going to watch a poor quality video,” says Trisha.

• Know your niche. “I know I’m more knowledgeable of high-end products. If I threw in drugstore buys, I probably could grow my site because there’s a larger demographic, but it’s not my area of expertise or what I use in my kit,” Trisha explains. Also, she recommends posting about what you’re most interested in: “Last summer I did an 8-piece series called Real Talk Tuesday that gave inner beauty tips”—a topic she’s passionate about.

• Build your brand. Come up with a catchy name and expand upon it. “On Saturdays I do my Glitter Report, which ties back to my brand. You’ll want to think long-term about it and have a strategy and roadmap before you launch your channel,” she suggests.

• Show your true self. “People have to be drawn to you. I let my real self out on video and I’ll be funny or do stupid things, while I’m also giving good information.”

• Engage with your audience. “There are so many channels out there. If you’re just sharing info, people are not going to watch. Anytime someone comments on my video, I respond so people feel like we’re friends, and we’re building a relationship. It’s helped me gain a really loyal following.”

• Tag and tag some more. Many times new viewers will find you through search-engine results, so to rank higher, you want to use appropriate tags and keywords, and also create content about topics that people are searching for. “My blog gets more traffic than my YouTube channel simply because I have thousands of people coming to it every day after searching for the Ita Brush,” says Trisha.

• Shout it out. “The best way to grow is to give shoutouts to bigger channels and build those relational ties. Keep working within the industry and build your contacts.”