A civil engineer from IIT, Kharagpur, who decided to become a pilot, Gaurav Taneja a.k.a Flying Beast is also one of India’s biggest vlogger /content creator. It was after Gaurav fell in love with fitness and weight training and won several state and national level bodybuilding competition, he started his first YouTube channel. Today, he runs two successful YouTube channels (Flying Beast and FitMuscleTv) with over 3 million subscribers where he shares his vlogs, daily life stories and knowledge on fitness and nutrition.
Recently, when ISRO’S Chandrayaan 2 was to land on the moon, Gaurav decided to watch it with his fans at India Gate. Within 3 hours of the announcement, over 2000 people landed up to cheer for India along with their favourite creator. Clearly, Taneja is an influencer with an ability to draw massive crowds. In an interview with us, he lets us know what’s the key to creating a brand for yourself and what is the one thing aspiring influencers should know.
What’s the one thing aspiring YouTubers should know?
Always have your own style and personality. People subscribe to your personality, they want to see you as a creator, so do not copy anyone or try to be someone else.
What is that one moment in your YouTube journey that you will never forget?
I tried to do a random meet-up in Delhi at India Gate. I put up an insta story and gave a mere four-hour notice to my subscribers. The meet-up was scheduled at 1 am. I wasn’t expecting a lot of people before I left home and Ritu, my wife, told me to reconsider the meet-up because she felt no one would turn up. When I got there, I wasn’t able to get out of my car, almost had to cancel the meet-up.
What are issues Indian YouTubers face?
When I go out to Vlog, I have many challenges, people often ask me to put the camera down saying “sir yaha camera allowed nahi hai”, I don’t face this problem when I travel abroad.
What is the one thing aspiring influencers should know?
Always value your people.
What’s the key to creating a brand for yourself?
Work to achieve constant excellence in your niche. Establish a real connection with people, that’s where people go wrong you know? You can only have that if your online and offline personality is the same.
