Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Ricky Richards
from the well known Youtube channel of RickyRichardsTv.
What is the best thing about being a youtuber?
For me, the connection I create with my followers.
Connecting with my followers and really having a personal interaction with them.
What is the worst thing about being a youtuber?
I wouldn’t say I have a particular worse thing. The only
thing that you could say annoys me is when you sometimes get negative comments
and really bad vibes. There is a difference between constructive criticism and
someone being horrible. When you start Youtube you don’t set out to be put
down all the time, so that is the negative side and people who are horrible who
judge you and have perceptions of you. However I tend to put that negative spin
into a positive way and use their negativity and create it into something
better. I promised myself a year ago when I first started Youtube not to take things
to heart. It’s more like an online portfolio diary and sometimes you question
why you are doing it but then I take that negativity and spin in right round
and hope to turn it into a positive.
If you were to give advice to someone starting a youtube
channel what would your advice be?
The key thing about when you start a youtube channel is
to genuinely be yourself because there are many millions of youtubers across
the world. You could make amazing videos and have all the equipment and cameras
or you could have as simple of a webcam on your laptop it doesn’t matter. But I
think the best advice is to just genuinely be yourself because when people come
to your channel they come because they want to watch you. Editing and cutting
comes into place but people come back because they like you so just be
yourself. Stay humble because sometimes it can get a bit misleading because
sometimes I thought to myself I would go down the wrong route because you have
this so called influence saying on the internet and it can sometimes go to your
head. So stay true to yourself and stay humble because at the end of the day
you started youtube as one person and you should come out as the same person for
sure.
Some people do worry that youtubers only see the numbers of
their subscribers. What do you think?
Recently my Youtube count did kind of deplete a bit and
every day I may lose a few followers. You wonder what is going on but
people that have remained with my channel are specifically there just for me
and when you start counting the subscribers you kind of question your reasons
to why you do Youtube and how many subscribers you have. But going back to your
advice question, you could have one subscriber who is going out of their way to
watch you, they don’t have to but they are so I always say don’t take the
numbers into consideration and stay true to yourself. Be grateful for anything
because they are doing you a favour.
What or who inspired you to create your Youtube channel?
This is tricky, the person who actually inspired me was
Sammy, BeautyCrush, because what happened was, it was a year ago, I didn’t
want to get in the way and it was her thing but at that time she said “Ricky you
should do it”. So she inspired me. The people that inspire me the most other
than her are the people that watch me. Of course they weren’t there when I
first started but I remember when I first uploaded my first video which was my introduction
to my channel and it got some views and I remember people commenting “ Ricky
nice to meet you I look forward to your channel content” and were saying nice
things and wanted to see more of me . They inspire me a lot; they genuinely
keep me making videos. If it wasn’t for the people I wouldn’t have a chance.
Do your subscribers give you inspiration for your ideas like
certain videos such as requests?
Yeah some subscribers do have certain feedback. Being a
youtuber people will follow us for consistency because they want to know that
when they come to your channel at this time there will be a video. So I do get
good feedback but for me I don’t really ask for requests. I do sometimes but I
kind of just do it myself. Whatever comes
into my mind and what whatever I’m inspired by at the time of my life. The
people that do give me feedback I do use the feedback in a positive way and I
use that for my videos. At the end of the day you want to be yourself but then
you want to give people what they want to watch because again they are watching
you.
Do you get a lot of your inspiration from doing things like
going out and meeting people?
Yeah I have certain phases since being on Youtube through
my journey. But my biggest inspiration is genuinely talking to people like
yourself. People are their own types of protagonists and we are just a blimp to
them so when they come into my life and if I meet someone and they talk about
their life, expectations, journeys or experiences. I use that to make
videos to spear me on and to the reason why I’m making videos. Also I use my
own personal experiences to make videos because never say never, and my channel
is going in a certain direction. I
don’t do things that are pure entertainment I think that that my views are more
real and people can relate to it. As you
see me in videos and in person I am exactly the same. I don’t have a character
on the internet but I am as real as I am in person. So I think like that
because not everybody wants to share everything. You can choose what you want
to share and what you don’t want to share but I honestly think my experiences
in my life people can relate to.
If you could change one thing about Youtube what would it be
and why?
I don’t think I would change anything major. Youtube itself
is one of the best platforms in the world to get you out there. It is very media
drawn and is in a certain direction. And when Youtube came about we were like
hang on a minute there are people in their bedrooms talking about what they had
for breakfast and I think Youtube as a platform is just a magical place. It
gives me the chance to have this interview and gives me the chance to spread my
message to the world but I wouldn’t change anything. The only think I maybe would change
is not wearing so many snapbacks in my old videos because that was terrible.
So you would just change the little things?
Yeah because being a Youtuber we don’t make video in
regards to regretting them later. At that time it was something I wanted to do
so I don’t have any regrets.
Has Youtube given you amazing opportunities like Vidcon and
Summer in the City?
It’s a weird thing because a lot of Youtubers get many
opportunities and I say this loosely but a lot of bigger Youtubers than myself
have a lot more opportunities because they have been doing it for years and
years, but I have had opportunities such as people wanting to work with me, subscribers
wanting to meet me and being invited to events but personally it’s a really
weird. Because my channel is a certain way I get people wanting to work
with me and some don’t but in general for sure it has helped me to get
opportunities then you would ever imagine.
When you’re not on Youtube what is your favourite thing to
do?
Right now I have a job, so I work as well. A lot of
people have a perception that a lot of youtubers don’t work and when I first
started Youtube people thought I didn’t work but I’ve always had a job I just
didn’t tell people. So I spend most of my time working and on Youtube. People
don’t realise that cutting and editing is all learnt for ourselves and when I
first started Youtube I didn’t know anything, I didn’t even know how to use a Mac
book or turn on a camera so it is very time consuming. So I would say working
and exploring the world in good time.
Do you think some people take it for granted when watching
youtubers?
I believe that if you have not experienced it yourself
and you don’t know it then you can’t have a say on it. It doesn’t matters what your trying to create, what your trying to
do, what editing software you have or what camera equipment you have, there is
a lot of back detail that people don’t know about before we upload it. A lot of
people have this preconceived idea that we just upload a video.
What do you love about your subscribers?
They are the one thing that reminds me why I’m doing
youtube. The feel like they genuinely know who I am, of course when on the screen
you can only see me for 5 -6 minutes a video and that’s it but I have this philosophy
that when I first started youtube that I only wanted people to know a certain
things, but then I had this epiphany that I’m setting myself out there and they
have the right to question. The best thing for me is the interaction with them,
everybody is different for sure and there a lot of other youtubers not just me
but sometimes I feel some youtubers don’t interact with their subscribers like
replying to comments. But for me I make it my mission to talk to as many people
as I can. And some people see it as a downfall but after all how hard is it to
reply to a subscriber. So the interaction I have with them and being able to
talk to them is the best!
Of course I can’t reply to everybody because there are a lot of
people and putting myself in other youtubers shoes they have millions of
subscribers. I understand it is difficult to reply but if I am ever in that
position I would make damn sure to would try to reply to as many people as
possible.
What are your future hopes and plans for your youtube
channel?
It’s been a crazy few months and as of now I really want
to reinvent myself and I want to take my channel in a different direction. I’m
not sure what I want to do yet, but I feel people haven’t seen the other side
to me, the other side of being by myself and what my channel actually holds and
what I can perceive on the internet. So I’m not looking for fame or looking to
get a lot of money. I’m not looking to be someone that I’m truly not. My main
mission is to keep on making videos as much as I can and when I can and make
sure I remain humble and to never forget where I came from. So if my channel
does take off in the future or it remains as it is now it is perfect for me. My
hope now is that I can keep on creating a different content for people just to
enjoy and for people to say “Today I watched RickyRichardsTV and I had a really
good time watching him” and that right there is a blessing to me.
If you could meet anyone from youtube who you haven’t met
before who would it be?
That’s a good question there are so many, there are two
people in particular that I would want to meet the most because there a
millions of youtubers out there but the two who I would like to meet the most for sure is Fun for Louis, I would love to work with him in the near future
but for me he is just genuinely one of my inspirations, so him and ClothesEncounters
so Jenn because she is just awesome. The two of them I would love to meet. The difference between me and Fun for Louis is he has been doing youtube
for a while since he was a kid so the ways I see Fun for Louis is he is very
caring and considerate to other people he meets.
If you were to live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Right now it would be back in Canada in Toronto. It was
the first time I had travelled by myself and people, have this perception that
youtubers get loads of money and that isn’t always the case. I went to Canada
on my own money and the reason was to get out of the country and just do some
soul searching. For sure Toronto has a place in my heart. The vibe of the city
and the people are just amazing.
Have you ever thought about travelling the world?
For me first of all hell yeah! I would love to travel the
world, if I had the money I would go tomorrow. For me it would be Asia
either the Philippines or Vietnam just because there is something about their culture
that really absorbs my interest, also Seoul and Japan. Their culture is so
different and I think only recently their internet has developed like youtube
and stuff so it would be interesting.
When you were growing up as a child who was your role model?
It would have
to be my mum.
When you’re out and a subscriber recognises you or you meet
some subscribers what is your first feeling?
People may feel differently but I am always surprised and
shocked because I always tell myself that never ever get used to strangers
coming up to you because again I’m not famous but its very heart-warming and overwhelming
when people come up to you. Sometimes
from what I’ve seen people take it for granted, but I make sure that I give
them some time of my day to talk to them and thank them. It’s very nice that
people across the world or from another country recognise you on the street. It’s
a great feeling because someone knows you and they are excited to see you and when
someone is here to see you it make you so happy inside and makes your day.
If you could say one thing to all your subscribers what
would it be?
I would just say, and its very cliché but, it would just
be that I can’t thank them enough for going out of their way to watch me and it
genuinely means the world to me. To the people out there who watch me and use their
time to contact me I hope I RickyRichardsTV can keep on creating videos for you.
And to stay true to yourself!
I hope you enjoyed this interview and I will speak to you soon!
Amy xx
