Matt Steffanina breaks down why creators should have an online platform
From the basic top 8 from Myspace to private Facebook Groups We've all been member of a group through social media. Through the years the platforms for social media let creators create flourishing communities in both private as well as through public comment.
But, as it gets more difficult to solve a number of issues that social media has been unable to fix, it is losing its place as a community building tool and administrator it was once. As a result, entrepreneurs and creators all over the world are beginning to recognize the shortcomings as such.
The Facebook outage of 2021 may be to blame for the initial shift in attitude. A short six-hour period when the platform was down led small businesses and creators alike to lose access to their audience and website traffic, causing widespread revenue loss. Some reported losses of up as $5,000 in dollars.
To better understand the significance of hosting a community off the social web, we had a conversation with the online community master himself, Matt Steffanina. He is a world-renowned choreographer and the founder and owner of DNCR Academy.
Since launching the YouTube channel in 2009, Matt has grown a relatively small fan base of 30 million users across all platforms. He's known for dancing with stars like Taylor Swift, Jason Derulo, and Meghan Trainer. Not to mention the appearances he has made on television shows like So You Think You're a Dancer.
Through his YouTube dancing tutorials as well as in-person classes, Matt formed a tight-knit community of passionate dancers, but when the pandemic struck and the #IRL classes stopped, YouTube simply wasn't cutting it for a method for him to engage with his fans and earn a living. This is when he turned to online classes as well as an online community to bring lasting value to his audience and create a sustainable business.
Take a look at our Q&A of Matt to find out how he's grown an extremely successful business as well as online community, and why he believes that it is the most important factor to creators controlling their fate.
Note: Responses are lightly edited for clarity.
Send us an elevator pitch of your background and what you do.
Hello, my name's Matt Steffanina, and I'm a music producer and choreographer in L.A. But the last twelve years of my life have been primarily performing and dancing. When I first started out in the business, I was working with artists, but throughout the process I started my own YouTube account, sharing videos about my classes, my personal life as well as my performances. Basically, following along in a vlog-style. One of the hard aspects of being a dancer, especially ten years ago is that you had to rely on your agent as well as the dancers to offer opportunities. It was impossible to generate opportunities as an individual dancer. So in my early years I was always waiting at the end of the line for a chance to audition. At first, YouTube was a way for me to stay productive and keep working on my skills, and also to market my dance career. I never imagined that it could do the things it did. I had a year where I added around a million users, which in the moment was quite an impressive amount. From it, I ended being offered opportunities to work with Ja' Rule and Taylor Swift, and Meghan Trainer.
The other thing I really loved was teaching. In the beginning, I launched a second [YouTube] channel named the Dance Tutorials Live, where viewers could be taught how to dance. I gained a fan base of dancers across the world. What has been the most enjoyable part of everything that I've been doing is listening to the tales of my students' successes. They're truly incredible because, at the time, I was just recording tutorials at the local studio using my tripod. I was unaware that I would make an impact at all and it's been an interesting journey, to put it mildly.
Have you ever thought about the YouTube channel becoming what it has become? Do you have plans to bring your channel to where it is today?
No, there's no way anybody could have imagined that it would do what it did. When I posted my first film, I was in Virginia before my move into L.A., and I wanted to find ways to inspire myself and meet other dancers. When I first started, which was 14 years ago I was one of the very first dancers to join the platform. I could never imagine what would happen. Now the channel has like thirteen million users and 3 billion views. My first video was released and was viral, I remembered people commenting from other countries, and the concept of someone watching from another country seemed unimaginable. I couldn't comprehend it, but here we are today with me performing tours all over the world, because of social media and the ability to put my music out on the internet.
Take us on a little time-travel journey. Let us know what went out first? Was it your YouTube channel? Did it become your job?
Many people believe that getting success in the mainstream and Hollywood industry will lead to success online, but it actually converts less than one would imagine. The shows I participated in were shows like the Tonight Show, So You Think You Can Dance, The Amazing Race as well as other shows. I was getting a lot of opportunities on television that were traditional, but that actually didn't convert much for long-term success. These were also short-term possibilities, but however, they were amazing.
What really gave me the long-term success in my career and the ability that I am still doing it over a decade later is building a community.
The foundation of the community was my dance tutorials, which was not planned, but was the most smart thing I did; being an outstanding teacher and leader in the space and pushing a group forward is harder as a dancer. It was really my work with tutorials and teaching people on the web that made me build a solid community which continues to thrive until today.
Can you take us on the process of starting DNCR Academy? How did you turn it into an actual company for you?
I launched DNCR Academy right at the start of the pandemic. It was something I had wanted to create for a long time for a number of reasons. It's a subscription platform, that allows people to study dance tutorials. This is a different experience from my YouTube video. When I upload content on YouTube the content I upload isin a somewhat irregular manner, and the quality isn't always the highest. This means that we aren't able to invite lots of guests or instructors. There are a lot of dancers who have been enjoying YouTube tutorials and want to get more training. So I created DNCR Academy for the people who are more focused. With it, I'm able to attract top instructors like Bollywood dancing, shuffling, or dancing fitness instructors; styles that I'd never normally use on my YouTube channel. But on the platform of [DNCR Academy], it's completely acceptable and truly amazing to offer a ton of styles for our students. In the early days of COVID, I knew I couldn't tour and I had the time to finally dedicate to thisendeavor, so we took some time and developed the platform . That was June 2020. Then it's been 3 amazing years. I thought we had a large community on YouTube However, it took the strongest of that strong community and put them into an environment of bubbles. We have everyone supporting each other. Not only do they have the support group, which is studying with other people all over the world, but they also have an emotional support system with members who push on each other. It's just become an extremely positive aspect of my life, and, I believe, for all the dancers of DNCR too.
Do you have any more details about the community , and what was what drove you to start DNCR? The community existed prior to DNCR Academy, or did it come in conjunction with it? Do you have any idea of it being an integral factor to the success of the academy?
I really felt it over COVID. I believe a lot individuals felt the same. It was hard to stay excited. The process was challenging to establish the routine when you're inside the home and don't have access to anything. Dance in particular is something that's a communal activity. People do dance on their own, but the thing that I love about dance is the feeling of being in a dance space with my peers and the excitement that comes with that. If all of that goes off, it's hard to get motivated, even for me as choreographer. It was hard for me to find motivation to continue, and so I thought that if I'm going through this, I'm sure another aspiring dancer is also struggling in the same way and would be helped by a close-knit group. The community already existed through the YouTube tutorials. However, like I mentioned, there was no consistency. To become a master at something it is my opinion that the number most important thing in dance] is consistency with your practice. This community has let us have each month challenges. This I consider to be the greatest aspect we could have done at DNCR. This isn't just posting tutorials, but it's a focus on one aspect that we're all going to work on together. The group is working together at this task and we'll submit our video by a deadline. That's where we found enthusiasm; it was the joy that comes from seeing the other members posting videos as well as the interesting or even constructive feedback which resulted from it. is about becoming a part of the community and really encouraging each other to grow, which I think was the part that was difficult to do just through YouTube since it felt that everyone was doing this (the videos) on their own. The community allowed everyone to be part of it together, which is a huge change, I think for myself as a choreographer, and also to the students who were capable of learning consistently.
Any customer stories from your neighborhood that you remember? Who in your group has made an impact on you?
One of my top clients is one named Ray. He's located in Washington D. C. He's a lawyer. He began dancing when he was in his 40s. He'd come home each working day with his suit of lawyer and make the table to the side in order to work on hip-hop dancing, and eventually, he would dance with his kids. They created a lot of videos, particularly over COVID and learning routines together. He was able to appear to a Disney Channel show and won the competition. This is a man who, aged 40 did not have a single dance class in his life and found his love in the dance community, and became one of the biggest inspirations for the members of our community. I believe this kind of accomplishment is crucial to celebrate because I too was a complete stranger to the world. It wasn't until I was 18, but most people don't see that and most of the time, they are seeing me performing with famous people and in music videos. It's more difficult to understand the difficulties I had to face early. If you see those who are currently experiencing the journeytogether] and watch how they come out on the other side and have this amazing journey-- it's incredibly powerful. And, it really inspired everyone in our community. There are plenty of stories like that, but Ray was truly a unique one.
Do you make use of your social media and community customers to experiment with new concepts or products you're considering for your business?
One of the things that we're constantly working on is helping to reach more people. What can we do to reach out to more individuals? The community of dancers that would like to master dancing is a bit tiny, which is why we are trying to provide classes on our platform that can get someone to an elite level. However, we are also focused to make it easier for those that just wants to learn the basics every now and then, or anyone who would like to go to the gym and feel comfortable. We're also doing a lot of stuff that deal with fitness through dance. I'm an instructor for personal training and really believe that dance is one of the best ways you can stay fit both physically and mentally. We're even starting a wedding class because I receive a lot of requests for choreography at weddings but I, unfortunately, do not have time for it and so this course will take the bride through all you have to learn. The goal is to be more open to requests I've been getting in the past, and I've always stated that if I had the time and energy to accomplish this I'd be awestruck and help a lot of people. We're now trying to find the time to offer these courses.
Could you provide us with the most basic overview of what your strategy on social media is like today? What has changed since the first time you started using YouTube?
The technology has changed significantly in the last ten years, just like the various generations of YouTube as well as social media generally. In the beginning there was no competition which meant I could simply uploading my class. It was that simple. After that, I began to realize the power of video and the connection with creators. I began vlogging behind-the scenes content which was incredibly successful between 2016 to 2019. We then began to implement more challenges like the ability to learn a routine in just only ten minutes. Those did really well.
As COVID hit in 2020, we started to be successful with TikTok and other short-form media. The world changed drastically after. It is my opinion that a lot of viewers of dance moved to short form, TikTok in particular, because dancing was so popular there. I was still posting on YouTube, but a lot of my strategies were centered on shorter-form content, like 15-second dances, instead of 45- to minute-long dances.
The problem with social media that most people don't understand unless you've been around for a couple of generations it is that there's going to never to be a solution that works for all time--because regardless of the field you're in, if you find something that works, eventually everyone else will copy it and this is what happened to dances. Dance class videos started exploding and it [social media] became saturated with dance teachers sharing their dance classes. Then, I needed decide on my next step, and it became replicated. You're always playing this game similar to any other profession that requires you to constantly reinvent yourself as well as come up with creative strategies. And, the only way to find those ideas that work is to play darts on a board. Most of them are going to fail, but that's how you find the one idea that people really like. It's difficult to know and therefore we take the approach of, If I've got the idea to do something, then I just go for it. We can try it, and if it does not work then good. Try something different. It's probably the most effective suggestion I could offer anyone that's trying content creation. Don't be apprehensive and don't think that just since something did not work the first time it will not work the second or third time around. Sometimes you have to tweak an idea, mold it and suddenly it happens.
That segues well into the one aspect we did not cover that is social media algorithms. How have algorithmic factors been a part of your plan? Do they impact your ability to reach your customers?
If you've ever used Instagram is likely to find it the most obvious there. I can remember an instance when I was able to post a tour flyer that might receive 100,000, 200,000 likes, and thousands of responses since it was shown to my entire 3.9 million Instagram followers. If I had posted the flyer tomorrow, it would most likely receive only 10% of that [engagementas the algorithm has changed. You must therefore be inventive.
Instead of a brochure now this is a video in which the dance takes place cities are popping out and users can navigate to the caption for more. It's up to you come up with different strategies to operate within the algorithm because it is the case that at the end the day, you can't manage the algorithm. So we watch a lot of things [metrics] on time retention. YouTube is shifting from being an online search engine, to becoming being more of a click-through-rate-based platform. Do your title and thumbnail strong enough to get the attention of viewers? It's possible to create the most impressive video ever made however if your title and thumbnail aren't appealing to people, the video will fail. If people watch the first ten seconds or so of the video, and later leave it and click elsewhere, YouTube is going to tell you that everybody is loving your thumbnail, but the video is not performing, so we're not going present it to your subscribers. This is exactly how the algorithms work nowadays. The the strategy of a video has become more focused on ideas. I am pretty sure that we can make engaging content and great videos, but if the video is getting used to a routine There are millions of different ways to package the thumbnail and title, as well as the duration of the video as well as the style of the video. All of this can affect content success. I was averaging 30 million views per video for about two years. That's absurd. For people who are aware about the monetization issue due to copyright issues with music, I was not capable of monetizing all those videos, but when it came to expanding my channel was concerned was concerned, that was stupendous. The landscape has definitely changed from that time a bit in particular with TikTok and Instagram dominating so much of the market portion.
In light of the possibility of monetization, did it at all affect your plans to create DNCR Academy, or was it just strictly to move offline on the web?
The thing is, whenever people's attention was diverted away from YouTube to split between TikTok and Instagram, numbers across the board on YouTube decreased, which was the main way that I paid for the videos, and all of that was through the monetization process...
During COVID, people wanted an increase in content However, there wasn't many monetization opportunities on the channel--it just wasn't really possible to scale in that way, which was one of the aspects that made DNCR. Now, we have members who pay an annual fee for membership so that we are able to collect these funds and reinvest them back in new and improved courses and production. Basically, into all of the things that I wanted to accomplish which YouTube was not able to provide enough earnings to do. So it was a powerful way financially to be able to expand the content of my tutorials as well as the platform as well as to offer students what they were asking for.
What can you do to deal with burnout associated with all of social media's producing content?
I don't feel like I'm that old, but in social media, I've been there from the beginning of time. It's pretty crazy how many generations have come and gone. The reason why I believe people are tired is due to some of the things. I believe they set their goals and set their schedules to be a bit too ambitious and heavy at the start. For instance I recall a time from 2016 until 2017 when all of my friends decided to do every day video blogs. For anyone who's tried daily vlogging the experience is exhausting. It's a lot of work to keep up with editing, filming, and concepting daily is almost impossible. I've always kept my channel with a couple of uploads a week. A level that I was able to keep. I was sure I traveled. I ensured that I took breaks. If there wasn't a great song out one week or I didn't feel inspired to dance, I cancelled my class. I made sure that this [creation of content] was something I could do repeatedly, which allowed me to maintain longevity.
One thing I've done to avoid burnout is to set realistic goals for myself. It's my opinion that in the beginning, when you're only getting started, it's best to focus on one at a time or on two different platforms. Make it easy. With YouTube it's a good idea to upload at least twice per week, and then make edits to the content, and then cut it down to short form for posting the content on Instagram and TikTok. Make it easy to manage. It's best to develop slow and yet still possess that spark of passion and the desire to keep making content 5-10 years from now, and then work hard for a year, then burn yourself out, and the next year, it's time to slow down. This is about being consistent. It's a long-term strategy, even though it feels like things are happening at a rapid pace.
Do you have additional suggestions for creators who want to make use of social media to drive visitors to their site or product, or setting up their own communities?
It's the most difficult thing to figure out , if you were your viewers, or your client's position, what could make you want to quit the platform and enter into a subscription model or a course. It's true that a lot of times we feel like 'I'll just do this and that' and we're thinking about it through our own perspective. So I do a lot of polls--I ask my readers regularly what kind of course you hope to take next or what would you feel the most enthusiastic about. Sometimes I'm thinking they'd love to choreograph this awesome dance which is extremely difficult and complex that they're thinking "Look, Bro, I'm just looking for a couple of moves I could show off in a celebration. Then I'm saying 'Okay, this week, let's master moves that we can perform out in a dance party. It's fun to put yourself in the shoes of others.
The other thing too is providing the value. If you're able to offer value and without asking for anything back, without asking for any kind of compensation to build relationship, trust and community, even if you decide to provide a free offer or a course you already have that trust. It's already been a great value and you've already made their lives so much better through what you've provided that they're more than happy to join in and become a part of the process. Sometimes, I believe we make the mistake of trying to get the sale before we have established relationships with customers. And that's one of the greatest things about social media, you have the opportunity to be present with your followers all day long in whatever way, be it dancing tutorials or sharing your day-to-day life, and through it building rapport, building community, and the next thing you know, 'Oh you know it's great that you've been enjoying all the things you've done then here's the next step where we go a step further. It's an easy transition for people to take instead of getting to know you out of the gate and trying to put the group in the middle of nowhere.
Many creators in this field believe that the only option to make income is through brands and affiliate-style deals on social media that you've proved to be incorrect. What advice would you give young creators about increasing their earnings?
Brands and affiliate marketing are a part of the piece. The monetization aspect is the other component of the puzzle. But ideally, you want to have an element from social media platforms that are also providing an source of income because at the end of the day, you never know when the algorithm or the rules are going to change. This is something I've learned through the years because there have been periods where I made the bulk of my money from YouTube and was earning the majority of my money via live events and tour as well as times where I earned the majority of my money through TikTok and Instagram as well, and today, it's . Through different times in my career, that thing changed so many times, and if I had all of my money in one place and I was simply waiting for brand deals or YouTube to alter their algorithm so I could make more money, I would have been in a position where I was stuck.
Start building a community. Then, you can begin moving your followers from social networks towards a subscription-based service for example, where you are in charge of the content and members. You don't need depend on an algorithm that serves your community the content you have. It's just, boom, in DNCR and the users are able to access it at any time they want. It gives the power back to the creators--things are rapidly changing and it's more difficult than ever to rely on branding deals or monetization in the absence of knowing what the social media platforms will be next.
Could you explain to us about the part it helped you be in control of and take ownership of your future as creator?
The platform gave us to place content where the rules will remain the same. This is my opinion as the top feature. As I mentioned in the past that there was a period when I was getting 30 million viewers per clip on YouTube. But now, with possibly MrBeast as well as a few other instances, it's virtually impossible--even with a channel of 13 million users. The majority of them are getting my contents. It's vital to, as you're building your community, transfer the subscribers to a place where you are able to connect to them, and also be able to access your content regularly. At a fundamental level such as an email list and a text-based list are excellent to have, but having them within a community apart from social media platforms is the most effective method to keep in contact as well as to build a passive income as an artist, particularly if you're working with a subscription. It's a great option to know that your friends are together in one location that you can talk to them, and they can contact youas well, but also provide the steady stream of income.
What's the best tip you'd provide to an entrepreneur who's just beginning within the field?
I'd suggest you heavily research your field. Before you ever upload a single piece of content on TikTok take a look at one month of videos on Tiktok. You can tread your wheels and create content but I see lots of wasted time because people aren't doing some research before they start. If you love fitness and would like to establish an online fitness business Find the top ten individuals working in this field on social media, watch ten hours of their videos, learn how it functions and create your strategy for content starting there.
It's true that right now there's more information than you've ever been able to access, specifically through YouTube and TikTok The answers are right there. It's not necessary to completely re-invent the wheel completely and perform an exercise routine that nobody has had before, is it? You just need to come up with a method to accomplish it that's unique, in your personal style and with your unique voice. You can accomplish this by studying people that who you admire, and taking what they've done well, adding in some of your own stuff creating a content strategy around that. But I think understanding the need to accept the fact what you're not aware of. It's exactly what I'm doing currently. Each year at least, I take a few weeks in which I play pretend that I don't know anything and then I sit back and watch. What is it that the youngsters on TikTok who are just 14 years old who are doing something different that we OGs in the business aren't able to comprehend? You can argue that one dances are silly, or whatnot it is, however there's a purpose that people can identify with it, and I have to know why it is that I can continue to grow and develop myself creatively, but also for my own business. The time you invest to research is crucial when you're developing your content strategy, and when you've finally got your plan, it's time be able to push the envelope.
Take control of your future with digital products
The creation economy is expected to experience a massive growth in online communities in 2023. Social networks are also aware and are responding by making their own community features.
As Matt said, in order in order for creators to connect with their target audience in a meaningful method and generate passive income, they need to move their audience away from social media.
"Brands and affiliate marketing are just one of the pieces of the piece. Monetization is another piece. But ideally, you want to be able to take advantage of platforms on social networks that are in turn generating income as, at the conclusion of your day, it's impossible to be aware of when rules or algorithms will be changed. This is something I've learned over the years since there was a time when I was making most of my earnings via YouTube or TikTok but now it's ."
has already supported over sixty thousand creative entrepreneurs, earning a collective $4.9 billion. The number of entrepreneurs supported is increasing each second.
We're ditching middlemen so you can keep all of your earnings, as well as own your customers, model of business, and brand.
If you're looking to begin diversifying your income with digital products, test out your options with a free 14-day trial.