Have you heard of Sophie Michelle?
Chances are you haven’t, but if you have you will know that you will need to open your ears and listen really carefully because Michelle likes to whisper very quietly.
I know what you are thinking.
Why?
Well she whispers because she makes an incredible income from it. Plus it is very easy to do.
Sophie who is 21 and comes from Chester in the UK was recently interview on morning TV. She has also appeared in several papers all asking her about her incredible YouTube business.
Her very strange and unique YouTube channel is funding her study at University … leaving her with plenty left over.
It has been called by some as ‘Whispering Porn’ because some people find the whispering to be a little sexual but it does actually have powerful non-sexual benefits.
The Perfect Home Based Business?
Sophie records and shares videos of herself whispering very quietly into microphones for the purpose to induce feelings of autonomous sensory meridian response – known in short as ASMR – such as sleep-inducing tingles which run down your neck and spine.
Some of Sophie’s videos have been watched over 2.5 million times resulting in her having a £60,000 a year passive income.
For every time her video is seen adverts are shown and when adverts are shown or clicked on she earns a share of the advertising revenue. Being part of the YouTube Partner Program Sophie will earn around 55% of the advertising revenue generated.
ASMR For Stress & Anxiety Relief
Sophie fell into the strange niche of ASMR when she was struggling to sleep at a time of great family stress.
Her brother was being treated for a brain tumour in 2015 and she was struggling to sleep so she turned to YouTube in a desperate bid to find videos which would help alleviate her stress and anxiety and lull her to sleep.
She found many videos of ambient music and sounds such as rain falling or the sounds of the sea lapping on the beach but then she found ASMR as a suggested video.
Instantly she fell in love with it. It helped her to fall asleep. She also began to listen to ASMR during the day as it helped alleviate anxiety and calm her down.
Sophie – a performing arts student- decided to launch her own ASMR channel in 2017 after discussing the idea with her boyfriend who supported her idea 100%.
Being a performing arts student lent itself perfectly as she began to perform in front of the camera speaking softly reading out books or sometimes role-playing as such things like a doctor or a mermaid.
Sophie uses tools like brushes and bubble wrap to generate other ASMR sounds. Holding items close to the microphone or gently rubbing the microphone itself she creates gentle soft sounds which induce the ASMR feelings in the viewers.
The Science Behind ASMR
People react differently to sounds. What triggers ASMR in one person will not have any effect on another. The euphoric tingling sensations felt on the skin, upper neck, spine and scalp have been labelled as an ‘attention induced head orgasm’.
The most popular ASMR triggers include:
- Soft speaking
- Role play (personal attention focused such as talking directly to the viewer)
- Water sounds
- Hair brushing
- Scratching
- Ear brushing
- Tapping
- Grains of rice being poured
A recent study at the University of Sheffield found that people who experienced the ‘tingles’ generated by listening to ASMR sounds had a reduced heart rate and showed significant increase in positive emotions. They also felt very calm and relaxed with a greater sense of social connection.
The experiment found that only half of the people tested experienced the ASMR tingles but those who did were impacted considerably.
The popularity of ASMR has been helped by celebrities like 26 year old record-breaking American rapper Cardi B who has declared her love for ASMR videos and spoken out about the benefits it can have on anxiety and some mental health conditions.
The Popular & Profitable World Of ASMR Videos
Sophie’s 199 videos are a small drop in the YouTube ocean amongst nearly 13 million ASMR videos on the video network.
Doing a quick YouTube search for ASMR pulled up two videos by two different channels which had a combined viewing figures over 1.2 million within a week of being published.
If you think that is impressive check out the next screenshot. The 10 minute video uploaded by Valeriya ASMR which was uploaded on the 5th of December 2018 had been viewed over 2.8 million times within 5 days.
Since that screenshot was taken, the video – below- has been seen over 9 million times!
If that is not a clear example that there are people looking for ASMR videos then I don’t know what is.
Sophie loves being able to help people with anxiety and depression, reducing the amount of panic attacks they experience by increasing their coping mechanisms.
She regularly receives thank you messages by people who are grateful for her videos. She nearly gave up at one point though, she had 30,000 subscribers and thought that she was not getting anywhere with her channel.
That was until one video about hypnosis suddenly went viral and was watched over 2.5 million times. She now has over 275,000 subscribers with videos being seen regularly by tens of thousands of people.
This is yet another perfect example of persistence and not giving up too soon.
Sophie’s videos are strictly non-sexual but some people who do not fully understand what ASMR is or what she is trying to do have accused her of creating fetish content.
There maybe some people who get a sexual kick watching her videos but that is not what they are made for.
Sophie has her own little studio where she records her videos and generally uploads 3 new videos each week.
Could Making YouTube Videos Be Your Profitable Side Hustle?
If Sophie can make a good income from her videos on YouTube by whispering and playing with sounds and noises is there something that you can do?
ASMR is a niche most people do not know about yet there are videos regularly getting millions of views.
Is there a niche which you think can do well on YouTube. A niche that you could dominate perhaps.
As we have seen with the ASMR, just because you or your close friends and family have not previously heard of something doesn’t mean that it isn’t popular with other people.
That hobby that you like which no one you know shares an interest in could have a potential global audience of millions. Your hobbies, likes and passions might be a potential profitable income stream if shared on YouTube.
Remember, we all now have access to powerful cameras on our phones which can record video and webcams are also very cheap today. Starting a YouTube channel need not be expensive. You do not necessarily need a studio either.
Is there anything that you could do and share with the world which people would want to see?
If you want to learn how to make money, save money and generally manage your money better as well as join a growing community of fellow Smashers with the opportunity to enter competitions and challenges with prizes then join the SmarterCash forum here: (Coming Soon)
