Young, Black, Fabulous & Successful [PART 2]

Here is the final half of our interview with Natasha E. from TheYBF.com. In this half of the interview, she talks a lot more about the business aspect of the site. We talked about a lot of things that didn’t get included in the interview because we were just talking casually. Our discussion touched on a lot of interesting stuff, so be on the lookout for a followup interview in the next couple of months. Also, we should note that the income she makes from the site is not just TheYBF.com alone. She is working on a few other businesses, some of which you will read about in this interview.

Be sure to checkout PART 1 of the interview if you have not done so already. Also checkout the interview we did with T.SLACK from BPE if you have not done so already. Let me know what you think of these interviews and who you want us to interview next. I appreciate all the feedback, and I want to give yall more of what you want. Here is part 2:

Part 2

CT: One major problem a lot of companies have is dealing with growth. TheYBF is LLC’d and has it’s own domain name, even though when your site first started it was hosted on Blogspot. When did you realize it was time to expand the site, and how did you go about doing so?

NATASHA: I realized that a while ago. I just honestly didn’t want to do it because I didn’t want to pay. I was like, “Why put in money in overhead? For what reason?” I honestly didn’t see why anybody would want to do that. I thought, “Blogger is a free software. Everything is taken care of, so why would I want to pay anybody?” Then I started looking at the benefits, and I looked at other sites that are in the position that I wanted to be in and all of them had their own domain.

In order to have good credibility, [I decided to get my own domain name]. People don’t want to refer to “Somebody at blogspot.com,” credibility wise. It always seemed like the natural next move. Also, the Blogger template is very hard to change, so it would be much easier for me to have my own domain name and my own host. Then I can just start from scratch, instead of using the Blogger template and trying to tweak it how I want to tweak it.

Eventually, I got my very own design. I am a big stickler about everything being very unique. I think that was a main concern of mine. Then I saw 50 million other black blogs trying to pop-up and I was like “oh, no!” (especially because they were not doing it right.) I felt like they just thought, “Let me just post anything.” So I wanted to do something that was very professional; something that looked professional, but still fun. I wanted to set a standard that people can follow, although they don’t have to follow if they don’t want to.

I want to be different. I am not like every other black gossip blog. That’s not what I want to be. So I thought, “Let me do something that sets myself apart” and that’s why I got my own stuff.

CT: You were once quoted as saying the site has zero overhead. Is that still the case?

NATASHA: Oh no, that has definitely changed.  There is no more zero overhead. People would still kill to have the amount of overhead that I have.  Because, compared to what income I have, it’s next to nothing.  It’s a good thing, but still a challenge because I am very, very particular about where and how I spend my money.  Everything has to have a purpose.

Every time I spend my money, it’s an investment. I cannot be, “I just feel like giving out money” or just “trying” something. No.  Unless I see that it’s going to make me a profit in a certain amount of time, I won’t spend it.  That’s why I don’t mind putting out money to build something later.  Now I do pay for my domain, but domains are really easy. It’s like $20.00 a year.  I also pay for my hosting, which is A LOT! It is a lot of money and a lot of headache.  Every month me and my hosting place, Mediatemple… That’s Mediatemple.net, since we are trying to enter a partnership; I am trying to get them some shine.

Anyway, every month we are looking at different ways we can optimize the site so I am not paying thousands and thousands of dollars in hosting fees every single month.  It’s a hard thing and very frustrating, especially since I don’t know anything about servers.  I had to find a web developer, find a web designer, and I had to get help, generally speaking, on the business side of things.  Now I have a full-time person that helps me on the business side, and I have a staff now.  But it’s all an investment because now I am making more, and I know credibility wise I will look more professional.  It’s all for a reason that I put money into overhead.

CT: Do you actively promote the site, or is the popularity due to word of mouth?

NATASHA: I’ve never paid for promotion. I’ve never paid to advertise.  I’ve never actively promoted anything.  But I’m starting to re-think that.  That’s something me and the people on my staff have been talking about doing differently.  However, up until today, I have never done it.  It’s all been word of mouth.

CT: Has being a law student proven beneficial to operating the site?

NATASHA: I think I know how to stay up days at a time and work, which is not healthy. I also have connections with different professors that ,incase something came up, I could email them and be like “Tell me the law on this. What do I need to do?” Because people stay threatening to sue you in this kind of industry.  So now I have connections and I know how to work under pressure. I also know how to juggle more than one thing. Being in law school and running this site was ridiculous. So now that I am just juggling this site and other businesses I’m spinning off, I can do that.

CT: They say a good marketer understands his or her audience. Every girl I know, and even a few guys, visit TheYBF.com at least 3 times a day. How are you able to connect so well with your audience? What is your secret?

NATASHA: I don’t know! I wish I knew because I would do it more. I don’t know. I’m just me. Everything you see written [on the site], that is how I talk. That’s how I talk to my friends, and I think that’s why my friends love it. They are like, “Man, every time I read this, I can hear you saying it. That’s what cracks me up because I know you just said that to me.” It’s like I was saying before, it’s not a staff. It’s not just this “general being” that no one knows who this being is. It’s me! I put myself into it, although I’ve kinda taken my personal life out of it.

I use to be very personal when I first started. I never knew I could ever have more than 25 readers, so I was like, “I am going to school today and these are my classes I’m studying for. This is where I live.” I use to talk about everything, but now I’ve learned I can’t do that. I’m still personable to a certain extent; I just make sure I am always talking to my audience. It’s us having a conversation like, “let’s talk about somebody together.” It’s not just me; it’s like we’re talking about it together. That’s why I will always leave my comments on the site. People have been trying to beg me like, “No, take the comments off. They’re making it look bad.” But I don’t care. It’s a way for [my readers] to participate. It’s a way for them to talk to me. I think that is the difference between me and a lot of other sites that post under “Staff.” They just post just to post. They are not making a connection and putting their personal self into it. Everything I say (like I said), I say to my friends.

CT: Some blogs range from being very objective to somewhat subjective. How much of your personality is actually represented in the blog?

NATASHA: It’s all me. That’s just who I am. Now I have to look at it as more of a business because [the site] has an “image.” So I’m not 100% flashy and Kimora. That’s not me 100%. For some reason, maybe because I talk about the fabulous people, people expect for me to be this fabulous chick. I’m just like, “Wait, I use to just sit at home in my pajamas and write about people. I’m just like you; a girl walking down the street. Why do I now have to be different?” I still don’t know why, but I just given into the fact that that is just the way it is. It’s my personality. I’m never gonna be fake. Everything you see [on the site], that’s me. But I do do it more on the site than I do it in my personal life. I’m actually kinda quiet, I think. But I still do talk about people [just like I do on the site] in my everyday life.

CT: I’ve read you were inspired to start the site due to a lack of Black Hollywood coverage in the mainstream media. What impact do you think the TheYBF has had on helping to bring Black Hollywood to the forefront? And what advice would you give to some of our readers out there who are interested in starting their own online business?

NATASHA: Hopefully it has been a driving force in the black community, and putting Black Hollywood in the forefront. Because honestly, when I first started, I didn’t see any black people. I didn’t know any sites. I didn’t see them in Intouch Weekly, I didn’t see them in Star, I didn’t see them in People, and I didn’t even see them on TV. Now, I see them EVERYWHERE. And I think it’s because, not only me but, people are now starting to accommodate to Black Hollywood. Now we’re like, “Let me talk about what Eddie Murphy did today.” And so of course “E” is going to pickup on that and they are going to talk about it.

The fact that we post it on our site makes them start to pick up on it more. Now black people are starting to be put more in the limelight; the good and bad. I still think all publicity is good publicity. Good or bad, people pickup on it. Now It’s not a crazy thing to hear about a black celebrity on the news.

CT: I’ve read that in the past TheYBF has hosted a few events. The tag-line for the site is, “it’s a brand name.” With that in mind, do you have any plans to expand the YBF brand? An online magazine perhaps?

NATASHA: Oh, funny you should ask. I actually do have an online magazine kicking off mid January. It’s called “TheYBF Extra.” Right now it’s a bi-weekly publication, but that could change. It’s going to be all the extra stuff that I did not include in that week of rumors and pictures. The main focus of that E-magazine will be to bring fabulousity to the everyday girl or the everyday person. It’s for men and women. So now EVERYBODY can live the fabulous life. We’re going to talk about: cosmetics that are great and fabulous, trips that you can take, and first hand experiences. I’m going to have a section where I talk about something I did that was fabulous that everyone can do. So I’m going to talk about my trip to Paris and everything we did. We’re also going to be talking about reviews of fashion.

Everything you see on the site that celebrities do, we’re going to show you how you can do it too. It’s going to be more oriented on the reader. We’re also going to have a section called “YBF featured business of the month.” You will be able to pickup the magazine and see somebody just like you who started their own business, and they are catering to you. Or you can see someone who is just like you that’s a “Fabulous doctor” and we’ll profile [him or her].

That’s 1, and we have 4 other [businesses]. There is a mobile site. It’s up right now. Now you can just go to YBF on your phone and see a very streamlined version [of the site]. Instead of seeing the whole site (because my site is very content heavy), you just pull up the links to every post. You can click on the link and then you will see the full post with all the pictures and no sidebars, so it loads [really fast]. My readers are very professional. I have a lot of professional readers; a lot of people on the go. Most people read on their phones or PDA. Now it’s an easier way for them to do that.

CT: Do you have anything you would like to say to all the people out there?

NATASHA: People, start your own stuff! If you want to do it, do it! Honestly, this was not a planned thing. I just started because I felt like it, and I thought it would stop at 25 readers. You just never know what you can do with it. Take a chance. Choose to be happy! I was not happy doing what I was doing. I hated being at law school and I was just like, “Why don’t I turn my hobby into a career?” Anybody who is even thinking that, try it! You have just one life, why not just try it? If it doesn’t work, go back to your career. It’s always gonna be there. Just try it!