By Larissa Faw, Forbes
YouTube superstar Michelle Phan is a perfect representation of today’s millennial hustlers. She started off filming short videos to teach women how to apply makeup and, within a few years, built an empire that includes a beauty social network and sampling program, her own YouTube network, and most recently, a collaboration with L’Oreal for a makeup line named EM.
Michelle Phan. (Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic)
Still, while Phan may have carved a new definition to what it means to be a millennial mogul, her tips to success are easily replicated by anyone with drive and ambition. In fact, in order to be successful today, says Phan, all one must do is think of life as the ultimate road trip:
The first step is to know your vision, says Phan. ”Just like you wouldn’t set out on a road trip without knowing if you are going east or west, you have to know what you want to accomplish,” she says. “I knew I wanted to inspire women and build confidence, so everything [from that point on] was built around that goal.” Her vision also started small. She wasn’t driving across the U.S. in her first attempt, so to speak. When she first started posting her makeup tutorials in 2007, she attracted a mere 40,000 views.
Still, her first milepost was to make enough money from her YouTube videos to quit her day job as a waitress. It seemed like it was never going to happen. In 2008, Phan became a member of YouTube’s partners program, which shares advertising revenue with creators, she was earning only $0.25 a day. Her quit-her-job metric was $50 a day. Within a year of joining YouTube’s partner program, she met her goal, which enabled her to spend more time creating content, that in turn, attracted more fans.
The second step to success is to find the right vehicle. ”Pick a car, whether it’s a Prius or Mercedes, but you have to make a commitment,” says Phan. This advice is best transferred to the online world by focusing on one or two social media platforms rather than attempt to have a presence everywhere. Phan, for instance, concentrates on YouTube. Though she does spend time each day on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter TWTR -0.91%, her main priority and attention remains on YouTube.
Read the full article by Larissa Faw from Forbes.
