The Elusive World Of Social Media Influencers.
Laudco Media’s exclusive with Praval Sharma and a sneak peak into the life of a Tech YouTuber
Mr. Praval Sharma is the face of the YouTube channel, Sharmaji Technical. The channel, which has over 1.69 million subscribers, is the first tech vlog to do reviews in Hindi. In an exclusive interview with Laudco Media, Mr. Praval told us about his corporate life, the switch to YouTube and how he became what he is today.
Q) Your channel is the first Hindi tech channel which is a niche category in itself. How did you start out and what difficulties did you face at the start of this venture?
A) Initially, there was a shortage of tech videos and the ones available were all in English. Hence, producing them in a regional language like Hindi was a very big challenge. I had to buy all the products that I reviewed when I started out in 2015 as companies didn’t value YouTube a lot. They considered TV and Newspapers to be the only mediums of influence. However, I followed my passion and that has brought me here.
Q) The younger generation of YouTubers are bringing out a lot of videos related to technology. What advice would you like to give these aspiring artists?
A) Do something different! That is the main factor that will help you become a household name. If you do the same things that I do or follow what others do, why would anyone listen to you? You need to give them a reason. And frank opinions matter a lot. All these movies that spend crores of rupees in promotion and stuff, if they don’t add value, no one watches it. Compared to them we are just small budget YouTubers.
Q) Tell us something about your journey from corporate life to being a YouTuber and what do you prefer: career-wise and financially?
A) I had worked in corporate for 8 years. 5 years in a big company in Bangalore. However, there was no growth and no change. Life was very stagnant and there wasn’t any increment in salary. I gave a 5-months notice to my company even though only 90 days is required and I started reviewing products on YouTube. Slowly what I thought would be only an additional income, suddenly became more than what I actually earned at my job. That was it. That’s when I decided to quit my 9-5 job.
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Q) What is your opinion on the age-old debate- iOS vs. Android?
A) I feel people who buy an iPhone don’t even consider the software system. They just buy it so that they can put it on the table and show it off. However, that’s not the case with everyone and people do buy it for the features and software as well. Also, I don’t think you can customize it and there’s not enough freedom with the phone. Hence, I’m personally an android guy. I also like the windows phone.
Q) Since you review gadgets, why haven’t you made a video on gaming consoles like XBOX or PS?
A) When I was younger, I never had the opportunity to play on these consoles or my parents never bought me all this. Whatever games I’ve played are usually on my laptop or my phone. And I personally feel when I can buy a graphic card and do the same thing, why would I waste money on a console?
Q) Any trade secret which you would like to share with our readers which could help them become a big influencer like yourself.
I believe in 2 things when I’m making a video:
The connection with the viewer is very important. You need to communicate with them in such a way that they feel that someone close to them is telling them something.
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The other thing is that I follow is the rule of 3 Q’s-
Quickness: that’s the response time
Quantity: if you don’t publish or post videos daily the viewers might shift to some other channel
Quality: don’t give them something which is not useful or which doesn’t add value. Always continue to improve in every aspect.
Q) Last question for you, as you’ve worked with Laudco Media for several campaigns, what has your experience been like?
The experience with Laudco has been great. The connection with the team is very strong and I have never encountered any communication gap. It has always been straightforward, they always ensure that we are all on the same page and whatever is promised is delivered. A special shout out to Mrs. Geetika Nijhawan, Laudco’s Corporate Communications Manager. I’ve always had a good experience whilst doing business with her and overall it has been an amazing journey.
