I am in the office of Kiran Raj Singh, waiting to meet the lady I had accidentally bumped into at a Mumbai mall where she had organized one of her Meet and Greet for her YouTube fans. She walks in and calls out my name, in the same down to earth, simple and sweet way that she speaks on camera.
At just 28 years of age, Kiran has achieved tremendous success in a short span of time. Born in a family that wanted her to do the ‘regular’ things in life, Kiran always “knew I would never work for someone. Whatever I did, it would be my own.”
She first started blogging seriously in 2013 with her blog Beautiful Hamesha, and though it got famous in a few months “there was something missing.” She had single-handedly written more than 3000 posts and reviews.
These days, almost everyone has a startup but Kiran’s idea of being an entrepreneur began when these terms were not so common in India. “I always enjoyed being in front of the camera and my earliest videos were when I would take shots of my home and share it with my parents. There was no concept of vlogging in India and barely anyone had watched the international YouTubers.”
In 2015, she joined YouTube to create and share her own videos. “I love dressing up, I love trying out home remedies, putting on makeup, basically all those things that most girls love doing. I thought it would be fun to bring in some excitement in the everyday routine and share it with others.”
It was tough. “I learnt everything on my own. Starting from what editing software and camera to use, which light or mic will work best, reading tons of reviews, tutorials, step by step instructions, spending hours learning then putting that knowledge into my work – I did it all. There was never a single minute that I was not doing something.”
Her vlogs were, and still are very ‘everyday’ – you’ll see her at home, cooking, experimenting with healthy recipes, trying out DIYs, ranting about a bad day, reviewing something useful she came across – as if you’re spending time at her home in your pajamas and talking to a friend. By the end of the year, YouTube called her to be a part of the YouTube Creator event. “I actually asked them if they really wanted me (me!) to be there? They said they had noticed the content on my channel was very different, and wanted to work more with me.”
Kiran has three channels on YouTube, which have a strong and growing fan base of 7,50,000 subscribers, 3,17,000 subscribers and 32,000 subscribers! She is also working on setting up another channel and another website.
And there is good reason for the love her YouTube family members shower her with. No matter how busy Kiran is, she makes it a point to read all the comments and reply. “I consider them my family; whatever I have achieved in life is because of the love and constant support of my YouTube family. I can never take them for granted.”
Her fans have travelled from other parts of the country to come and meet her and the sweet Kiran tries and obliges as many people as she can.
Incidentally, this is where a lot of YouTubers go wrong. “When I was still very new on YouTube, the established YouTubers would tell me that soon I would stop reading or replying to the comments anymore. They said tum bhaav dena band kar dogi. I can never do that.”
Being a YouTuber is something that many youngsters are looking at as a career option these days.
“Anyone who has a good understanding of social media, some marketing, networking and is confident about being in front of the camera can start a YouTube channel. But you can only sustain and be successful if you really have that passion for it. You also have to be really patient. The first few months can be really tough, you may not see any positive response and make no money at all. But spend time on research and make sure that your content is original and has value; something your audience will connect with. When I started, there were many people who made fun of me and wrote very negative comments because I would speak English in an Indian accent or because I would mainly speak in Hindi. But I saw no shame in that. Hindi is our own language and if I am comfortable in it, why should I pretend to be someone else on the camera? What you see is me, and I think that is one of the reasons my audience loves me, because they can relate to me.”
YouTube can open up your personal life to the world. “I am very careful. Make sure you don’t give out your personal details, address, names of places you regularly visit. This will ensure you don’t fall prey to any harm.”
Kiran is happy she gets to do what she wants, makes good money out of it, and has met so many wonderful people through her channels. “I am happy I continued and didn’t give in to the negative comments or to the doubts. Today, I am proud of myself and I am trying to work harder and make my YouTube family happy too.”
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