In an era where off-beat professions have never had it so good, many wonder how social media artistes — including TikTok stars, YouTubers and influencers — make a fortune by building a career online. As an upcoming event, Social Nation, is set to bring social media stars for an interactive evening, two music creators, Bhuvan Bam and Jonita Gandhi, let us in on what goes behind the making of the web world's superstars.

Exploit your market

Only 21 when he began to play around with the video-sharing platform, YouTube, Bam shows that he still had the acumen of a businessman when creating the product he was set to sell. "In India, daily soaps work well. People are eager to know what's happening in someone else's home, which is why a show like Bigg Boss has the highest TRP. I thought there would be no better way to portray the problems of a middle-class person than by employing comedy," says Bam, who only began sharing his skills as a musician after securing himself with a hefty follower base acquired through the comic videos. "Given my followers, I have people who pay attention to what I do, but it is only my music's content that decides its fate thereafter."