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YouTube star Phan: Internet is a 'gold mine' if you know where to dig

Michelle Phan has 7.65 million YouTube subscribers and 1.1 billion views. She is the most popular female on the video-sharing site since beginning her beauty channel in 2006. Along the way, she has also launched a beauty and media empire worth a reported $100 million and has inspired many others to follow in her footsteps.

Phan tells Yahoo Finance that her videos have resonated with so many people because she starting posting to YouTube so early. “I started my YouTube channel in 2006 but I’ve been a public online figure since I was 16, back in 2003,” she says. “I was blogging and so because I had all that training and knew from the beginning how to communicate with my followers and grow my influence I had a better backbone when I launched by YouTube channel.”

Phan says what she does isn’t that special, and that anyone can do what she does—it’s about finding a topic that you’re passionate about and can focus on. “The Internet has widened the market space so much. Anyone online can find their niche audience and the idea of niche is no longer small.  It can mean tens of millions of followers,” she says.

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Phan has advice for those who are looking to start their own YouTube channels. The most important thing, she says, is to ask, “Why?” In other words, she says, “Why do you want to start a YouTube channel? What are your real passions and true gifts? Because the Internet unlike most jobs out there is a 24/7 store or workplace and you’re always going to be working.” You have to love what you do or you’ll burn out quickly, says Phan.

“If you want to start a channel on YouTube or you want to develop your online following the most important thing is to find your voice and your message and build your community from there,” she says.

Phan has opened her own production space, which clocks in at around 8,000 square feet and is helping others create content for social media sites. “I want to share what I’ve learned and pass that knowledge on to the next generation,” she says.

Phan says, “America really needs a reinvigoration of our economy and you have to inspire the youth and get them to work.” She wants to change the mindset of working America and provide another outlet for creativity and income. “The Internet truly is a goldmine—you just have to know where to dig and that’s what I’m trying to inspire more people to do,” she says.

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