- Blog: AbiolaTV.com
- Niche: Relationships/Sex/Lifestyle
- Founder: Abiola Abrams
- Twitter: @AbiolaTV
Putting one title on Abiola Abrams is simply impossible. The proud Caribbean and Harlem-based owner of AbiolaTV.com does it all. What started off as an online hub for interview and opinion videos developed into a multi-platform mini-empire that includes books, TV appearances and product lines. What drives her? Passion. That mission statement is embodied in her site tagline: “Life is not a passive experience. It’s a passionate one.â€
Abrams’ motivation is to encourage women to live their best lives everyday. Her “passion†has also lead her to publish two books (one of which, The Official Bombshell Handbook, hits stores soon), be a lifestyle expert on the CW’s Bill Cunningham talk show, pen regular advice columns for Yahoo Shine and contribute to the teen site Gurl.com. Despite having monthly traffic of 30,000, over one million YouTube hits and 14,000+ Twitter followers, Abrams is still humbled about her success. Now, as part of BlackEnterprise.com‘s Black Blogger Month, she discusses the business of running a passion-focused site, the importance branding and what drives her passion everyday.
The difference between blogging and vlogging is…
Like magazines to TV. It depends on the approach that a blogger/vlogger takes. I do a mix of videos from those that are highly produced–shot with two cameras and edited–to those that are just me and a Web cam. A few years back I had a great conversation with Melvin Van Peebles. I asked his advice about knowing what needs to be said and in which medium. He said to let the work dictate the medium, so some things may be a book others a blog, Web series or film.
The secret to making good TV and keeping segments from getting stale is…
Realizing that, yes, blogging and vlogging are a business but I am at service to my readers and viewers. My blog is about passionate living. So it all comes back to that. My objective is to build passionate living as a brand the same way that Martha Stewart built home keeping as a brand. She took cooking, gardening and home design and combined them under the home keeping banner. I am doing the same with “passionate living,†combining love, sex, dating and relationship advice with food, parties, empowerment, self-love affirmations and inspiration.
People trust my brand because…
A few years ago folks were calling me the “Black Carrie Bradshaw,” which I rejected as being sort of ridiculous. I am a Caribbean chick living and loving in Harlem, sharing my successes and failures. If I can have a fabulous life and help my sisters at the same time, then all is well. I say all the time that my whole reason for being is to help others know that they can live a big, fat, fun, juicy life. Carrie doesn’t eat curry chicken and struggle with her weight and student loans and the media telling her that Black women are doomed every time she turns around!
My best branding method is…
A combination of transparency and living out loud. It was very scary at first because I talk about self-empowerment but I also talk about love and sexuality. Those things are scary to talk about when working in Black media. But I realize and learn every day that the more comfortable I get, the more doors open.
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The biggest mistake I’ve ever made in business…
Was building my platform on other platforms first and then my own second. I think it should be the other way around. In 2008/09 I was blogging and posting videos for Black Planet at Interactive One and they were incredibly supportive. I built a base there of several hundred thousand “friends.†But when that platform fell out of favor, we lost our people. So I learned that it’s critical to build on a home base that you own even if you contribute to other places.
Also, viewers and readers need a call to action if you are looking to build a platform or monetize. That was another mistake that I made, not giving a call to action. It can be as simple as telling readers to subscribe or sharing a product that you think will benefit them–where you can receive a commission for providing that service. If your blog is a business you need to have a constant “call to action.”
I think the most important thing to consider before launching a blog is…
To
focus [more] on finding your voice and revealing your brand than spending money. There are bloggers right now who have been tapped as brand spokespeople for fashion brands after building a blog on the free BlogSpot platform. My blog has been tremendous for me in many ways. It’s gotten me booked to give speeches and appear on TV. One might not view that as direct income from the blog, but you have to. I was a Teen Dating Coach on the MTV series MADE and that opportunity came as a direct result of my articles and video episodes at The Passionista Playbook. When you build a strong platform, then the people you are looking to build with often find you.In 20 years I see myself…
Sitting on a multi platform empire. As a lifestyle brand, I see myself sharing and having ownership via all of the channels I currently work in and being able to sell my audience products that I endorse and create to improve their lives.
I’ve always wanted to do this because…
I went to an all-girls prep school in NYC where I was one of the few Black kids. To make matters worse, I grew up in an “outer borough.” One of my old classmates reminded me that when we were teens I told her that I wanted to write books like Maya Angelou, host TV like Oprah and make movies like Spike Lee. Although my voice is markedly different from those great people, and I would never put myself even close to their category, I feel like that’s what I’m doing in my own way. Different voice, different mediums, but the same objective that I started with.
I measure success by…
The ability to impact lives. It means so much to me that some of the most hard boiled folks get in touch via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to say, “Abiola, I may not have been listening that day but your words impacted me. You influenced my life in a positive way.†The other way that I measure success is as a businesswoman and entrepreneur. In the beginning I saw myself only as an artist: author, filmmaker, broadcaster. Now I see myself as a businessperson. My blog will be the base of the empire I plan to build going forward.
Be sure to check out the rest of the digital thought leaders as they’re revealed each day by logging on toBlackEnterprise.com/BlackBloggerMonth.
Watch below as Abrams reveals the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of AbiolaTV’s success.
Video shot and edited by Brain Food Film. Shot on location at the 40/40 Club New York.