Are you looking to embark on your very own journey to becoming a beauty, lifestyle, or health and fitness influencer? Most, if not all, influencers out there can be found on multiple social media platforms, the most popular of which are YouTube and Instagram. However, if you're someone who's just starting out, which social media platform should you get on first? Should you consider getting on both, or is it better to stick to just one? Instagram vs. YouTube – which one should you focus on more? Is it worthwhile to even compare the two? Our guests in today's episode may just have the answer for you.

"You have to have an element of free content."

Katie Dunlop of Orange County, CA is the creator of LoveSweatFitness, a women's health and fitness community focused on making fun and effective workouts accessible to everyone. After going through her own 45-pound weight loss journey, Katie has created a wonderful and motivating community, reaching more than half a million women through her social media pages and Hot Body Guides.

"Find a big topic and then create your own space inside that."

She first started Instagramming in 2014 to share more workouts and more inspirations to her students on the days when she wasn't teaching her fitness classes. A year later, together with her husband Ryan, they started the LoveSweatFitness channel on YouTube and have since grown their following to more than 200k subscribers. Listen to their story and be inspired!

"If you're determined and you're focused, you can get pretty good pretty fast."

What are you passionate about? Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to earn a living out of what you love to do? Has the idea ever crossed your mind? What is the secret to turning your passion into a profitable online brand?

"Even the stuff that didn't turn out great, it's always a learning experience."

Amber of SweetAmbsCookies started sharing her passion for cookie decorating on YouTube after realizing people were actually more interested in learning how she made her cookies than buying them. Her eye-catching cookie decorating videos became so popular she decided to stop selling cookies on ETSY and instead focus on teaching others how to decorate their own cookies through YouTube videos and in-person classes.

"I really think passion will show through and people will enjoy watching what you're doing."

Amber didn't originally set out to become a cookie decorating instructor, but she has always enjoyed baking and she's also an artist. By combining her two passions, she was able to create a profitable online brand that has allowed her the flexibility of working for herself as well as be able to help support her family by doing what she loves. Amber is a mother and she is able to work full-time producing cookie decorating tutorials.

"It's nice not to have to rely on one single thing especially as it gets more difficult to reach people."

Amber has over 1.1 million followers on Instagram, almost 700k YouTube subscribers, and 75 million video views.! Let's be inspired by her success and create a profitable online brand of our own!

"There's nothing to lose by starting a channel and trying it out."

Do you randomly blog or post videos in your YouTube channel, or do you plan and schedule your blog content? Well, today we will learn from our guest why it’s far better to do the latter and take a look at all the benefits you can get by keeping track of trends, events and holidays, and keeping a content calendar of what you’re going to post and when.

Nikole is the face behind the popular health food and lifestyle YouTube channel, HealthNut Nutrition. She is a passionate "health nut" who inspires her viewers to live an active, healthy, and balanced lifestyle by showing how easy and delicious it can be. Her "healthified" versions of fresh and tasty dishes are guaranteed to make your taste buds dance and prove that healthy eating doesn’t have to be tasteless or boring!

“Let yourself be creative and find your own groove.”

Nikole’s philosophy is all about finding a balance that works for you. It’s about listening to your body, surrounding yourself with positive sources, limiting stress, and enjoying the foods you love. She doesn’t believe in dieting, calorie counting, low-fat, or sugar-free labels. She believes in taking a holistic and intuitive approach to living a healthy lifestyle both inside and out.

“You have to do what’s right for you.”

Nikole’s philosophy is all about finding a balance that works for you. It’s about listening to your body, surrounding yourself with positive sources, limiting stress, and enjoying the foods you love. She doesn’t believe in dieting, calorie counting, low-fat, or sugar-free labels. She believes in taking a holistic and intuitive approach to living a healthy lifestyle both inside and out.

Nikole only started working full-time with YouTube this year, but already she’s had videos that definitely boosted her channel. She shares how important it is to schedule your blog content, have a reason behind your videos, have a bigger picture in mind. So, make sure you don’t miss out on this episode and listen in!

“Outsourcing and getting help from people is going to help grow your business.”

Gaining popularity as a blogger or YouTuber doesn’t happen overnight. It takes hard work to put content out there consistently and have people notice you. Since Instagram started, the platform has helped content creators gain subscribers from all over the world. It’s a safe bet that gaining followers using a growth hack for Instagram would also give you a bump in followers on your blog and an increase in your YouTube subscribers as well.

“Facebook is like Pinterest, it’s so underused by bloggers.”

So, what’s a good growth hack for Instagram? Let’s find out from our guest, Angela Lanter. In this episode, she talks about her best growth hack for Instagram, her journey as a content creator, and a whole lot more!

“New platforms come out all the time and you don’t know what’s going to take off.”

Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Angela took her first job as a hairstylist and makeup artist working at a small salon giving makeovers for Glamour photos at the age of 15. While in college, she continued to pursue her love of beauty by freelancing for proms, weddings, and other special events. Even after getting a “real job,” she continued to sharpen her beauty skills by watching YouTube tutorials at night for inspiration.

“I think YouTube will always be around.”

After many years of watching and learning, it was time to start creating her content. In February 2013, Angela launched “Hello Gorgeous” and, in October, her subsequent YouTube channel. By December, she was named as an official PopSugar Select Blogger and was featured as the #1 ShopStyle Lay Down Campaign Blogger. Recognizing her passion for Hello Gorgeous, Angela left her career to take it full-time. By providing her readers with fashion, beauty, and lifestyle tips, she hopes to help each woman feel and look her best inside and out.

“So much of fashion blogging nowadays has been diluted to just photos.”

The YouTube Power Hour Podcast is going on a small break to prepare for our new season of interviews. 

Stay in touch through instagram, our Facebook group, and our weekly newsletter. 

If you are interested in joining the next Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp, make sure you join the waitlist! 

Feeling like you’re always working but barely seeing results and enough return on your investment? Take the lessons and advice from Podcaster and Productivity Expert Haley Burkhead and optimize your time to optimize your life and your profits! Get ready to take note because really practical advice is coming your way, and you’ll want to implement them immediately!

“You don’t have to work as hard for money as you think you do.”

Haley helps entrepreneurs hit 5-figure income months while cutting their work time in half! This productivity queen started her online business in 2011 but pivoted 3 times before she finally landed on the path she really loved: coaching business owners in her Profit Planner Lounge membership site. She started with a fashion blog, and between that and where she is now, she learned that there was a better way to live than spending 16 hours a day, 6 days a week and making barely enough to pay her bills. She freed herself from that overwork, and she's helping emotionally-drained workaholic ladies do the same.

“The three things you need to do to make more money: systematize, outsource & automate.”

Haley is going to teach you very useful and totally transformative lessons about optimizing your life to reduce stress, spending less time doing the things you hate and focusing on growing your profit. As a YouTuber or aspiring YouTuber, you’re also an entrepreneur afflicted by the problems of overwhelm, busy work and limiting beliefs at times. But in this episode, Haley gives you the and tools and strategies she uses with her entrepreneur clients to defeat those problems for good.

“In everything free that you give, give them huge wins and breakthroughs.”

Check out the show notes.

Download your FREE guide: 6 Tools YouTubers Use to Get Thousands of Video Views

Don't forget to join the YouTube Power Hour Podcast Facebook group for collaborations, YouTube advice, support and more!

You can also follow me on Instagram