Student fashions herself into a YouTube star

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Lauren Riihimaki was minding her own business as a student at Ryerson University in Toronto when she turned to YouTube to post a video. Now the business in minding her.

Want to make your own kimono? Turn a simple hoodie into a snazzy fashion-forward jacket? Ms. Riihimaki’s LaurDIY channel can show you, through her simple yet well-produced instructional videos telling viewers how to create custom clothes and accessories.

“My story on YouTube actually happened completely by accident,” she says.

Ms. Riihimaki, 21, has run a blog since 2012, and she began using YouTube to upload do-it-yourself sewing videos onto her site.

Ms. Riihimaki’s videos are breezy yet practical, taking viewers through easy steps to make jewellery, Halloween costumes, fancy tops and scarves, and offering tips on makeup, nails and hair. Combining peppy enthusiasm with clear explanations, she has been able to use social media to leapfrog over the typical routes to self-help stardom, such as securing a specialty TV channel show.

“This turned into a career and dream job. YouTube offers the opportunity to monetize your videos as soon as they start gaining views, so they were the influencer in turning my channel into a revenue stream,” she says.

Her channel now has more than one million subscribers and her videos have been viewed more than 45 million times.

Ms. Riihimaki, a fourth-year graphics communications student, makes money in two ways through YouTube. “Ad revenue is paid out by my YouTube network [through ads that accompany the videos] and also through direct advertising and product placement integrated into my content,” she explains.

Advertisers approach her either directly to collaborate on a video or through her manager, Scott Fisher of Select Management Group.

Ms. Riihimaki, who graduates next April, is remarkably casual about how she has turned what were essentially home videos into a slick production company with a six-figure revenue.

“This will probably be really disappointing, but I don’t have a business plan, finance strategy or anything intense,” she says. “To get started you really just need a few pieces of key equipment: editing software and a camera that shoots in HD [which smartphones now do].”

Recently she incorporated LaurDIY and has added some extra equipment to boost production quality – high-aperture lenses, tripods and recording microphones.

“I owned a DSLR camera with a recording feature prior to starting my YouTube channel, and then using the money I earned from my website and videos I was easily able to afford equipment upgrades and extra things like the lenses,” she says.Also read here:SheinDress backless prom dresses