Friday, September 18, 2015
Jelly and Day On Living The Youtube Dream
It's a fascinating new world out there in terms of media, where YouTube stars (Youtubers) are often more popular than traditional celebrities--and where, amazingly, everyday people apparently are able to make a living just being themselves on camera. Two of the people who are demonstrating how this all work are Angelica Perez and DayLynn Contreras (or as they go on YouTube, Jelly and Day) --whose full time job is to make videos and post them to their channel (http://www.youtube.com/JellyandDay) on YouTube. To get an insight of how the two Austin residents make it all work, we caught up with Jelly and Day (mostly Day, as Jelly was under the weather) to hear about how they ended up on Youtube and how it all works.
So, for those who haven't seen your Youtube channel, tell us a bit about what you do?
DayLynn: We have been doing Youtube videos for a little close to three years now. It all started up in a super weird way, and at the time, I actually didn't know what I was doing. Eventually, it became something I loved to do, and which is something we now do for a career, all making Youtube videos. We do a variety of different videos. My new favorite is what we call skits. We take something very funny, and relatable, and which we enjoy doing, and make a funny skit about it.
Who are the viewers who are taking a look at your channel?
DayLynn: We have a wide range of people who are watching our videos. According to Youtube, our viewers are mostly ages 13 and up, all the way up to 60. 91 percent of our audience is female, and the other 9 percent is male.
What about your content is so interesting to them?
Angelica: I think, if someone accidentally clicked on one of our videos, or is telling friends about our videos, is it's about our personalities. We're really funny, and we're actually an awkward couple, who are complete opposites of each other. I think people enjoy seeing how we interact with each other.
Did you ever thing you'd be making a living by posting Youtube videos?
DayLynn: Never, we just started this as a hobby. We just posted a video whenever we could, and didn't have much time for it. We just started making videos of our dogs, of us walking in the park, and it just developed into something much more. We never knew it was something people would watch, and that hundreds of thousands of people would be watching our videos. Sitting here at home, and working from home, is the coolest job we never thought we'd have. And it happened so quickly.
How quickly did it happen?
DayLynn: It just happened in 2014. We quit our jobs this year. Angelica quit in March, and I quit in May. I hadn't even planned on quitting my job until December. It's been really cool, and I never thought we'd get anywhere this far.I understand that was due to connecting with Famebit?
DayLynn: Yes, we found Famebit(www.famebit.com) in December of 2014. If it wasn't for Famebit, we'd actually still be at our full time jobs. They actually made it possible for us to quit, and to do everything that we wanted to do, and do the things we do. We owe them our lives.
What's the most important advice you'd give to other creators like yourself?
DayLynn: Stay true to yourself, and don't get a big head. It's not about if your numbers are bigger than others. Don't let fame, or money, change you into a different person. We have seen that happen to a lot of people, including our friends, and it's really sad. You need to stay true to yourself.
What has been the biggest lesson you've learned form the world of Youtube?
DayLynn: I think the biggest thing we've learned, is that there is a side of people you love, and a side of people you hate on Youtube, which are those who only care about money and being famous and so on. On the other side, there are people there to make friends and connections, and have a great time. They're coming to your channel to escape for a few minutes, to watch and enjoy your video.
So they watch your videos to escape?
DayLynn: Of course. That's one of the most common things we get from our viewers. They tell us we help them escape for awhile, that we make them laugh, that we're funny, so that they look at our videos every week, and our blog videos every day. We do what we do, and that gives people a chance to escape and have fun with us for a few minutes.
Finally, any last advice to aspiring Youtubers?
DayLynn: I would say, don't look at the numbers. If you go into this, looking at the numbers, you're going to fail. You need to go into this first looking at the fun part of it, and really be true to yourself. Don't let the numbers get into your head. Also, don't trust just everyone, and focus on being true to yourself, and don't take anyone else down and down it the wrong way.
Thanks!