N. by Lothungbeni Hamtso
New Delhi, January 6 (IANS Life)
‘Blooming Brands’ writer Harsh Pamnani and debut writer Manish Pandey, who released ‘Blooming Digital Stars’, a tribute book to India’s maker economy and future growth, talk to IANSlife Want to change your passion, let’s talk about the desire to inspire them. in a career but is hesitant due to factors like lack of guidance, motivation and support.
The book chronicles the lives of some of India’s most well-known creators, including Bhuvan Bam, Ashish Chanchlani, Kabita Singh, Nikunj Lotia, Prajakta Koli, Ranveer Allahbadia, Madan Gowri, Team Naach, Yashraj Mukhate, Abhi and Niyu, and Ujjwal Chaurasia .
What inspired you to take this extra step to write a book about India’s creators economy?
Harsh and Manish: The way engineers, doctors and lawyers were attracted to become engineers, in the same way today youth are also attracted to become YouTubers. Furthermore, given the new market conditions, especially related to COVID-19, more people are exploring how to monetize their passion through the Internet. A major reason for this growing interest is the financial windfall of digital creators, especially those with over a million followers. Undoubtedly the maker economy is booming and the market will inevitably see a multitude of creators.
When a market is crowded, the customer (demand) has many options. But the plethora of options also confuse the customers. To avoid confusion and achieve the desired price, customers use brands as a quality-guaranteed shortcut to making choices. In fact, they pay a higher price for a trusted brand, even if an unknown alternative is available at a lower price. Like the product market, the manufacturers market also gives priority to brands.
Many books have been written on how to become the CEO of a large corporation or build a rapidly growing start-up, and business schools teach how to build and manage an admirable brand. But it’s hard to find a book or business school course on building and managing a single-person brand in the emerging creator economy. That’s why we have written this book.
What were the challenges faced while writing the book? Did any of your findings surprise you?
Harsh and Manish: We started writing this book in 2020. During this period, on the one hand, traditional entertainment sources such as Bollywood and shows were breaking down under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the other, new sources of entertainment such as YouTube channels and video games were spreading. Therefore, many digital producers were too busy. It was difficult for us to find his time. So we had to be patient and persistent in our follow-ups.
There are some findings that surprised us. But the number of surprises for readers will far exceed our experience. Social media usually portrays the glamorous aspects of creators’ lives. However, a tremendous amount of hard work is done behind the scenes. To earn millions, creators need millions of followers. And it’s not easy. More than 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. It is not easy to make a name for yourself in a crowded market. When a manufacturer becomes famous, brands approach for collaboration. When doing brand collaboration, content needs to be presented in a way that is good for the audience, effective for the brand, and credible for the creator. Re-checking all three boxes is not easy. The book details how India’s leading manufacturers face all the challenges in the backend and make their audience happy in the front end.
How do you think this book will help up-and-coming/young creators? What impact do you plan to make with this book?
Harsh and Manish: Although the size of the producer economy is vast and the opportunities available are immense, the chances of creators getting lost in the crowd are more than likely to get noticed. Having said that, India has seen the rise of an entirely new breed of first generation creators who have established powerful personal brands through their content, entrepreneurial mindset, and social media. In this book, up-and-coming/young creators will find 11 stories from prominent Indian creators and gain insights on:
– How they started from scratch.
– How they gained popularity in a highly crowded and competitive market.
– How they identify new ideas for content creation and brand collaboration.
and many more. The lessons in these stories will help up-and-coming/young creators build their brand in their chosen niche.
How has the reaction been?
Harsh and Manish: By the grace of God, the response has been great. The book became a national bestseller within 15 days of its launch. It also became the #1 bestseller on Amazon in the Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Starting a Business, and Internet and Social Media categories. We are thankful to all the readers for showering so much love for the fast growing digital stars.
future plans
Harsh and Manish: This book is not only a tribute to India’s producer economy, but also a small contribution to its further development. With the rise of more creators, the demand for their stories will also increase, so you can expect us to write more volumes of these inspiring stories. We look forward to the day when the creators we will include in our future books tell us that our first book has played a meaningful role in their journey.
(N. Lothungbeni Hamtso can be contacted at lothangbeni.h@ians.in)
Source: IANS