Aaliyah Liaci, a rising influencer, shares her journey of starting as a high school graduate, navigating platforms like TikTok, and embracing her passion for YouTube. Her genuine connection with her audience, overcoming challenges, and exciting collaborations with renowned brands highlight her success in the influencer landscape. Aspiring influencers can learn from her advice on authenticity, engaging with followers, and adapting to industry trends.

All About Aaliyah Liaci and How She Started as an Influencer

Aaliyah Liaci, a budding influencer, made her mark during her senior year of high school, graduating in 2021 and launching her YouTube channel shortly after. As she navigated through various platforms, TikTok caught her attention, eventually becoming a significant part of her journey. 

“Until I saw a lot of people start taking off on it, and I saw it being like the new app,” she recalls. While embracing the allure of TikTok, Aaliyah’s heart remained with YouTube, her cherished platform of choice. “YouTube has always been my favorite app that I love to do,” she emphasizes.

Hailing from a close-knit small town, Aaliyah’s path led her to Penn State, where she pursued her academic dreams as a student theorist studying to become a physician assistant. Alongside her studies, she continued to nurture her influence in the digital realm. 

Drawing inspiration from influential vloggers like Niki and Gabi Demartino, Aaliyah decided to overcome her nerves and share her own life experiences with the world. “I just was like, whatever, I’m about to leave this town, I’m just gonna do it,” she recalls.

How Her Journey as an Influencer Evolved

Aaliyah reflects on the evolution of her influencer journey, acknowledging how it has transformed her life. Initially, she approached content creation as a fun activity, saying, “I was just kind of having fun.” However, as she gained traction, particularly during her college years as a Penn Stater, she realized the potential of her online presence. “People were like, ‘Oh, this is interesting,'” Aaliyah recalls.

The turning point came when she secured her first significant brand deal with the help of a manager. Aaliyah’s realization was profound: “Someone’s gonna pay me that much money to post a video online. I can’t believe that. Maybe I should really start doing this.” With this newfound understanding, Aaliyah began taking her influencer journey more seriously.

Since then, she has worked with dream brands and unexpected collaborators, opening doors she never imagined. 

Biggest Challenges To Date

One of the biggest challenges Aaliyah Liaci faced in her career was managing her time effectively. As an independent content creator, she had to develop self-discipline and better structure her days to maximize productivity. 

Another significant hurdle was dealing with negative comments and criticism. While Aaliyah personally doesn’t let it affect her, she empathizes with other influencers facing similar challenges. Her advice is to focus on self-love and write down positive affirmations, redirecting attention away from hurtful online comments.

Aaliyah emphasizes that it’s crucial to remember that the opinions of others online hold little significance. “It really doesn’t matter what they say,” she asserts. Aaliyah also recognizes that encountering hate comments can occur when a video goes viral. She recalls an incident where people expressed anger over her love for juice, leaving her bewildered. “People just get mad about things that they shouldn’t get mad about,” she adds.

Acknowledging the inevitability of criticism both online and offline, Aaliyah highlights the importance of finding coping mechanisms and not allowing negative comments to overshadow one’s self-worth. 

Memorable Achievements 

Hitting 10,000 subscribers on YouTube stands out as a significant milestone for Aaliyah. She reflects, “People actually like your stuff. 10,000 people is a lot of people.” This achievement fueled her ambition, now aiming for 100,000 subscribers.

Receiving emails from renowned brands like Pepsi and YSL Beauty left Aaliyah both excited and amazed. She remembers thinking, “What? You wanna work with me?” The opportunity to collaborate with these esteemed brands made her appreciate her journey as a “little hometown girl.”

Aaliyah reveals that her current collaboration with Home Goods, a brand she loves, is in the works. She never expected such brands to reach out to her. However, the collaboration with Pepsi holds a special place for Aaliyah, as it is a widely recognized brand that sponsors her alma mater, Penn State. She describes it as “one of the coolest” moments that made her realize how brands appreciate her.

What She Wishes She Knew Back Then

Aaliyah admits that she wishes she had known how people in her life would change as she entered the industry. She shares, “It’s weird. Some people try to come back into your life because you have a new spotlight on you, while others get jealous and undergo significant changes.” This unforeseen aspect of her influencer journey taught her the importance of being prepared for personal relationships to be affected by newfound success.

While aspiring influencers can research the time commitment and business aspects of the industry, the impact on personal relationships is often overlooked. Aliyah emphasizes that no one really warns you about how jealousy or opportunism can alter the dynamics of your personal connections.

Changes in The Influencer Industry

“I feel like people still had longer attention spans,” says Aaliyah, reflecting on the changes she has witnessed in the influencer industry. As platforms like TikTok and Instagram reels gained popularity, she acknowledges that the preference for shorter videos has grown. “No one wants to watch longer videos anymore,” she observes. 

Despite her personal affinity for longer content, Aaliyah recognizes the need to adapt to the evolving landscape. “If that’s not what’s gonna get the views or gain traction, then I started making the shorter videos,” she explains. However, she highlights the challenge of standing out in a sea of similar short-form videos. 

She believes that longer videos provide an opportunity for individuality, allowing creators to showcase their unique editing styles and personality. “You can’t copy someone’s personality unless you’re real like them,” she asserts. 

In terms of engagement, Aaliyah dismisses the notion that longer videos guarantee more engagement as viewer preferences have shifted. 

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Strategies for Building Her Online Presence and Connecting With Her Audience

“Replying to every single comment in the beginning really helps because then you gain more of a friendship rather than just a fan base with your followers,” shares Aaliyah. She emphasizes the importance of engaging with her audience and building a connection. 

Aaliyah also highlights the significance of consistency in building an online presence. “Posting somewhere on every platform every day is good,” she advises. 

On Brand Collabs

“When deciding which brands to partner with, I look at how a brand represents themselves and their values more than their product,” advises Aaliyah. She highlights the need to work with brands that align with her values and have a positive reputation. Aaliyah believes that authenticity is crucial for new influencers and recommends being selective with brand collaborations. 

“It’s worth it in the beginning to only take the deals you care about. Then, as you grow, focus on the ones that resonate with you and what you’re doing,” she explains. Aaliyah highlights the significance of authenticity in building trust with your audience and achieving better results in partnerships.

Collabs with Influencers

Aaliyah opens up about the importance of collaborating with other influencers and shares her experiences:

“I actually collaborated with Peter Pasta. I’m not sure if you know of him,” Aaliyah reveals.

She continues, “With my best friend, Katie Feeney, who’s also an influencer, we come together to make videos. They’re kind of like my favorite collabs because someone can actually relate to someone on a more personal level. They understand the life [of being an influencer].”

Aaliyah emphasizes the authentic nature of these collaborations, saying, “I’ve never asked for money from one of them, or like, they’ve never asked me for money in return. It’s kind of just like we both mutually love to make videos. So we kind of try and find a fun way to collaborate together. And I think it’s really fun. There’s no pressure.”

When asked about her most significant collaboration, Aaliyah responds, “Probably Peter Pasta. He’s really taking off right now. He’s so cool. And he is such a nice person. He is so humble. I really enjoyed working with him.”

Authenticity in the Influencer Industry

Authenticity holds immense importance in the influencer industry, as Aaliyah shares her own experiences and observations. She believes that being true to oneself is the most crucial aspect of being an influencer, stating, “I would say it’s probably the most important thing about being an influencer is not trying to be someone you’re not.”

According to Aaliyah, both brands and followers desire genuine connections. She explains, “Brands wanna get to know you. Your followers wanna get to know you. They don’t wanna get to know someone that you’re not.” 

She highlights the importance of maintaining authenticity, stating, “It’s hard for a long period of time to pretend like you’re someone. But if you’re just you, you’re not putting on a show, it’s not sustainable.” She stresses that pretending to be someone else is not sustainable and can easily be detected by others, while authenticity is valued by followers when choosing which influencers to follow.

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Importance of Finding a Niche

“Finding a niche is something everyone asks me about, but I never found one myself. So I don’t even think it’s that important,” shares Aaliyah. She believes that being confined to a specific niche puts influencers in a box, limiting their creative freedom. 

Aaliyah also highlights the evolving nature of the influencer industry, where people are showcasing different aspects of their lives. “People just wanna see you rather than seeing one thing every single day,” she says. Aaliyah emphasizes the importance of authenticity by opening up one’s life to various interests. She attributes her fast growth to showing her life as a whole, as people are genuinely interested in her life, not just one specific thing.

Changes or Trends Taking Place in the Influencer Industry

When asked about major changes or trends coming to the influencer industry, Aaliyah reflects on the current landscape, saying, “Right now, the person that everyone wants to be is Alix Earle. We’ll probably see another change in that. It went from Charli D’amelio to her.” 

She acknowledges the dynamic nature of trends and advises influencers to stay updated while maintaining their unique identity. Aaliyah shares her approach, stating, “I like to vlog my everyday life, so I can do that, but I kinda like to plop in those little ‘Get ready with me’ even though I don’t really love filming them. But that’s what people love to watch.”

Regarding platforms, Aaliyah notes the growing popularity of Instagram and its new features. She mentions Instagram Threads, stating, “It seems like Instagram’s becoming pretty popular with their new Threads.” 

However, she admits her cautious approach to adopting new platforms, saying, “I’m trying to see if that actually becomes a thing before I get on, even though you’re really supposed to do it the opposite way. I just kind of sit back and see.” Aaliyah emphasizes the importance of observing platform trends before fully embracing them.

Handling Negative Criticism and Feedback

Aaliyah shares her perspective on handling criticism or negative feedback from her audience or followers. She mentions that receiving criticism is rare for her, and most of the comments are unrelated or bizarre. According to her, these comments often stem from individuals having a bad day and quickly expressing their frustration on her account. Aaliyah attributes her ability to cope with criticism to her strong-minded nature, stating, “Thankfully for me, I’ve always been really strong-minded, so it’s really easy for me to deal with that.”

While Aaliyah personally finds it easy to handle negativity, she acknowledges that not everyone may share the same resilience. For aspiring influencers, she advises considering their mental strength before entering the industry, as she believes, “If it’s not easy, you have to be kind of strong-minded if you want to get into the influencing world, or else it can tear you apart.”

Upcoming Projects

Aaliyah has exciting projects and future plans in the works that she’s eager to share. One of her dreams is to create merchandise for her followers, telling us, “I’ve always had a dream of making merch. So maybe I’ll do that. It’s always a thought in the back of my head.”

Additionally, Aaliyah expresses her enthusiasm for potential collaborations with brands she admires. She mentions, “There are some brands that I would really love to work with. I have a manager.” While she is cautious about divulging specific details, her interest in partnering with notable brands signifies her ambition to explore new opportunities and expand her influence in the industry.

Advice to Aspiring Influencers

Aaliyah offers valuable advice to aspiring influencers seeking to establish meaningful connections within the industry. She emphasizes the importance of engaging with their audience and responds with the following insights:

“I always try and answer anytime I see them comment. I try and respond to all my DMs if I can. At least responding to ten comments, some people can see that you’re responding and that you are a genuine person.”

Aaliyah believes that taking the time to get to know your audience is crucial for building authentic relationships. She encourages influencers to go beyond a one-way interaction and treat their followers as friends. She states, “Who wants a one-way friendship? So I always try and answer. Try and get to know your audience.”

By actively engaging with followers, Aaliyah believes that influencers can foster a loyal and supportive community. She advises influencers to see their followers as individuals and to prioritize meaningful connections.