Hang on I wasn't recording I just remembered.
This is the Great British Youtubers Podcast
with me Neil Mossey - it's great to have you
here.
Today we're going to meet Elle Meadows.
Elle has been youtubing for six years and
has 55000 subscribers.
Elle Meadows!
Hello!
It is I!
This, this is slightly awkward because I feel
like I'm going into our interviewer mode but
we've actually worked together before haven't
we?
We have indeed!
On the, the BBC Earth Kids Youtube channel.
Yep.
You were brilliant because you, you brought
your dog - Frank.
You were so good that this pilot actually
went out.
The, the BBC actually put the pilot out.
Which is crazy because that never happens!
You have 55000 subscribers.
I do.
Uh 3.3 million views.
Indeed.
You are so far ahead on this journey that
I can only gaze from the distance!
What is your biggest tip for someone starting
Youtube?
Find your niche.
A hundred percent.
Like there was a time and a place for like
people chatting at a camera, and youtube was
very oriented around personalities, and if
you were personable and people liked you then
you could get away with just doing pretty
much whatever and they tune in for you.
So that was kind of what the world was like
when I started my channel and whereas these
days Youtube is a lot more about like niches
and specialities and you can't appeal to everyone
anymore.
Like you can't say, like oh I want to appeal
to girls between 15 and 30 like... you have
to be like i'm targeting 11 and 12 year olds
who are specifically interested in this specific
toy and like, you do really have to be specific
these days.
And then obviously once you've kind of gained
a bit of a following you can diversify and
branch out but yeah knowing your niche which
is like the biggest thing I'm struggling with
at the moment is definitely the way to get
started.
What is the struggle?
I made scripted comedy for teens and - teen
and tween girls and at the time because I
was like 18, 19 when it kind of like picked
up pace I didn't really realize that I had
fallen into that specific market in that specific
niche but that was what helped me gain momentum
because I was actually without realizing it
appealing to a very small group of people
of which there are many.
Even though that's a very small niche there's
a lot of people who fall within it.
But these days I don't want to produce content
for teen and tween girls.
I want to be like growing up, aging up, making
comedy that I would want to watch but unfortunately
there isn't so much of a market for that because
I fall into a huge demographic which is just
18 to 45 or something...
or 18 to 50 is generally like I'm kind of
just in adulthood now and yeah...
being funny and appealing to those people's
not specific enough to really gain any traction
um unless you somehow manage to create like
a viral video.
I, I want to ask you so much about your journey
on Youtube but can I just ask you just out
the back just so we get to know you what is
your favourite video on your channel?
I did a video about lgbt labels - so talking
all about how like labels are just language
and language can fail you when it comes to
labeling yourself and talking about spectrums
like versus categorization and that's probably
my favourite just because it's the most meaningful
and helpful and like genuinely there's a reason
for it to be made that isn't just like escapism
or entertainment.
But aside from that...
I mean my most recent video is one i'm really
proud of which is me playing loads of different
characters on like zoom.
Should we spread some more love?
Yeah
Are there three youtubers, three random youtubers
that you've watched this week can we go through
them for like a minute?
Yes I have been binge watching Jenna Marbles
and I said...
I like started saying that sentence with a
really happy face and then I have just remembered
why exactly I started watching loads of Jenna
Marbles um because obviously she's sort of
stepped away from her main channel.
Have you, I assume you've heard about this?
I've heard and I've, I've not watched.
It's basically just for anyone who missed
it uh Jenna Marbles is like the something
like the second biggest female youtuber on
youtube, and she was like just og Youtuber
gang and she stepped away from her channel
because in the past she's made some uh what
can be considered like offensive content,
um that she is not like proud of and doesn't
want to associate herself with so she stepped
away and I have to say like there's been a
lot of like you know over the years there
have been plenty of youtuber apologies, but
she's one of the few youtubers where I've
watched the video and been like "fair play!"
Like this is real, you can tell that they're
actually what she really thinks and being
honest and truthful and taking responsibility...
And that's, that's the minute fantastic!
Is there another youtuber that you've watched
this week at random?
So I can't pronounce it because it's German
I think but "In A Nutshell" or like a science
channel that they do all these like animated
videos explaining lots of things about science
and some other things um
And I babysit some kids and I was trying to
explain to them about like they were doing
threats to humanity in RE, and I was showing
them videos about like Chernobyl or Chernobyl
and like solar flares and all these kinds
of technology... artificial intelligence videos...
And I love it because it's really informative
but also it's nice to be able to show the
kids something that's like actually interesting
- learning like interesting education...
And finally let's spread the the love for
for one more youtuber?
I like Buzzfeed Unsolved maybe watched a few
of those this week...
Did you say bustly when soft?
No!
Buzzfeed unsolved!
My favorite episode of buzzfeed unsolved is
the goatman bridge episode so basically you've
got these two chaps going to haunted places
and trying to communicate with ghosts and
demons and stuff and they go to this bridge
in - I want to say Texas but i'm not sure.
Yeah they go to this bridge and try and communicate
with the devil and it's very entertaining.
Those those are wonderful thank you.
I feel like we've got a little uh portal into
your youtube brain there.
When did you know that your channel was a
thing?
I started making like videos and short films
when I was really young so I was about eight
that's when I started learning to like edit.
So for a long time and still currently editing
it's my strongest skill, um and so I was making
all these videos and I was like I don't know
what to do with them, what's the point?
Discovered youtube.
Grace Helbig who at the time was dailygrace
was like my absolute like inspiration for
my channel and so I just started posting them
on my channel around 2013 and then maybe even
earlier than that, 2012 - and then I made
another channel which is my current channel.
And it was then when I became friends with
Alexis G. Zall - who is like a big American
youtuber now and at the time she had like
something like 20, 20000 followers and I just
like reached out to her and made her some
like graphics and stuff and she gave me a
shout out in exchange and then we became quite
good friends and yeah.
That was kind of the point, that was how I
got my first thousand subscribers, was just
off her because between me sort of meeting
her and her giving me a shout out in a video
she'd become really close to Shane Dawson
so she'd gone from 20000 subscribers to like
200000 subscribers or something crazy.
Yeah, I got my first thousand subscribers
just from that one shout out and that was
kind of like the push I needed to like really
commit.
You just shared a really great tip there the,
the life lesson which is that reaching out
to someone and offering to help them brought
back something disproportionate
Yeah for sure like again I feel I wonder how
relevant this is these days because it's just
youtube is a different ball game, and again
like back then everything was personality
oriented and I would, I would have encouraged
like collaboration over doing what I did because
I had a skill that I could essentially give
away in return for exposure which is something
that we don't support these days, but back
when I was like 17... like it was fine so
yeah, like your best bet is to collaborate
with people who have a similar audience to
you and are about the same size because you
never know who's going to randomly blow up.
If only also to I guess improve your own skills
and, and not go nuts while you're making these
things by yourself?
Yes.
The thing that really got to me with youtube
was how time-consuming and like just genuinely
grueling it is to make it's really hard and
you're doing it all by yourself and I basically
didn't have weekends for sort of all of my
like ages 17, 18, 19 like I would go to school
come back work on a video.
I wouldn't stop over the weekend I wouldn't
see friends because I was just like working
all the time and so if especially if you're
just starting out and you have a full-time
job as well it's just really hard work and
you like won't see anyone.
You have to really commit if you want to do
kind of the one weekly, two weekly videos,
it's tough.
What kept you going through, through that
time?
I was quite lucky that every time I posted
a video there would be a reward so you know
because I had these first thousand subscribers
it kind of like set me off on like a burst
and then I went to like, got to know a lot
of other youtubers and just so happened that
I was getting able to like go and go to conventions
or then I'd like meet someone and they'd give
me a shout out or I'd be in that video, and
then I get a load of subscribers and like
that was just kind of in a very lucky like
string of events just lots of little wins
and like successes that kept me like striving
for the next one.
So it didn't matter that I was working seven
days a week and then like full-- you know
full-time education and working every spare
second I had because you know every month
or so I was doing something that I was like
yes!
And like then I started interviewing celebrities
and that was another thing that made me go
like yes!
And then yeah they go to and then eventually
you end up going to conventions and having
friends there is just so much like reward
in it but yeah if I hadn't had that like now
for example when I have less engagement posting
content is just kind of hard work without
much reward and it's a lot harder because
you have to just be able to, the reward is
congratulating yourself for making something
that you're proud of.
And please hit the subscribe button if you
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All the links are in the description below.
I'm Neil Mossey and I'll see you on the very
next episode of Great British YouTubers.
