FASTCLICK MAGAZINE

If you are an avid youtuber, you have probably watched or heard of the character called –ISHATONU.

If you haven’t, then let me introduce him to you.

ISHATONU is a YouTube celebrity who rose to that status in less than a year. He was recently featured on CNN and is one of the most subscribed figures on YouTube.

You can check his channel at www.youtube.com/ishatonu

How did he get that big ?

Great question, in fact the answer to this question is the core of the lesson you are about to learn.

It is the same thing that has made some businesses boom and some doomed.

It can be applied to almost any endeavor in life.

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN  FROM ISHATONU

1. Mystery

ISHATONU is a mysterious fellow; he wears a mask that has kept people wondering what he really looks like. This has become his distinct trade mark. This alone has added subscribers to his channel eager to see if he will one day take off his mask.

So how can this help a blogger or anyone succeed?

Well, you may not be able to add a lot of mystery to your blog (it could be counter productive because your readers must trust you-but you never know and depends on what you blog is about) but you must have a distinct style.

You have to be known for something? You have to be distinct in a way? You have to be different from others?

2. Recent , Controversial , Relevant And Current

ISHAT make videos on recent, controversial, public, and current events. Especially, events that are in the news or is making wave on the internet.

This keeps him and his videos current and relevant to people. His subscribers want to hear what he has to say about the next event, the next controversy, the next news.

Added to this, he curses and swears and even seems to insult his subscribers. All of this adds controversy to his personality and style.

For bloggers, you need to also be current. you need to know whats happening around you.You need to use recent events and occurrences to drive home your points.

Cursing and swearing at your readers may not be the best approach —but still you never know -but standing out in the crowd will surely work.

Using other forms of controversy on your blog will stand you out and move you to the next level.

3. Have A Unique Voice

Apart from his ever worn mask, ISHAT sounds very different (his voice), not like T-pain but something close. I have no idea if he uses a computer program to do this or maybe it is his natural voice, but one thing is sure, this has added to his distinctiveness and style.

This still drives home the point that you need your blog to be different and distinct even if it means in a somewhat bad way.

Your unique voice could be your style of writing, your content, your opinions, etc. Just be distinct.

4. Air Your Opinion Without Fear

ISHAT speaks his mind about issues and events; he says how he feels. He says it with curses and swear words. He doesn’t create a video to make you happy or amuse you, he makes it to air his views and people like him for it. Some don’t, but at the end of the day he doesn’t patronize any one and people love him for being himself.

Sometimes he goes out of style and goes very serious, sober and human. All of these still adds up to make him ISHAT.

As a blogger, do you love to follow everyone’s opinion? Do you follow the crowd? Do you wait for others to talk before you react? Are you afraid to air your views? Do you keep wondering what other bloggers or readers might say or think?

Acting like ISHAT, might just be your ticket to success, air your views but respect the views of others.

5. Engages Your Subscribers

ISHAT creates different ways to engage his subscribers. He asks them to do stuff, watch other videos, flag a video etc and guess what? People are happy and are willing to be involved.  It makes them feel like a part of the show.

He also creates competitions and gives prizes… (I personally have to start doing this on this blog).

He gives back to his subscribers. Shocking but true.

As a blogger, do you engage you subscribers? Do you give them tasks and assignment?

Do you have contests on your blog? Do you give back to your readers, maybe be way of links, exposure, recognition or information.

Many tools can help in achieving this on your blog. Do you have these tools or plug- ins?

Is there any other lesson you think we can learn from ISHAT or is there another fellow similar to ISHAT that you know?

Leave a comment to share.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 2:19 pm and is filed under blogging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.