Meet JPelirrojo, February's YouTube Success Story!

 
We have loads of partners across Europe that are taking advantage of the YouTube Partner Program, and becoming highly successful on YouTube.  We've asked some of these partners to share their experience on YouTube and within the program, shed light on how to best utilize the platform.  This month's featured partner is JPelirrojo, please read on for his story and best practices!

Introduction:
Please tell us a bit about yourself. What is your name, your channel name? Where are you from, your fan base?

Hello!
My name is Juan Miguel Flores, however nobody calls me Juan Miguel. My main YouTube channel is youtube.com /JPelirrojo and almost everyone calls me " JP ", " Jota" or  mostly " Pelli ".
I was born in Madrid and I still live there, but I travel a lot. A couple of years ago, I've lived in Ottawa (Canada) for a year and now I travel to Utrecht whenever I can, because my girlfriend lives there.

History:
Please tell us how it all started. How and when did you start creating videos? When did you decide to be active on YouTube and become a partner? What was your first video on YouTube?

My first videos were all music videos. I make rap music and I have two albums released in the national market here in Spain. Because of this I got a website and to upload my videos to my website, the simplest way was hosting them on YouTube .

Some time later, in Canada, I was not allowed to work or study, so I started spending more time on YouTube, I started to follow American vloggers and finally started to create my own vlog combined with what I knew about music. Then I wanted to become a partner, in particular to further customize my channel, but I could not, until the third attempt.

Channel:
Please explain your channel. What's the story behind your channel? How did you come up with your channel concept?

My channel is a mixture of humor, music and special effects and editing. These are basically my main influencers: MysteryGuitarMan, freddiew and DeStorm.

YouTube Partnership:
Please share your experience of being a YouTube partner. How has being a YouTube partner helped/changed your business and personal life? Were there any surprises? What are your plans for the future of your channel and YouTube partnership?

Being a partner has changed my life completely. Thanks to "YouTube NextUp" I took part in and managed to win. That allowed me to quit my job at the time (worked at nights at a gas station) and devote myself exclusively to my videos, my music and my acting. Now I make my living with it all and does not look like I will have to find a job that I like in a while. Because this is growing and growing!

My future plans are certainly living exclusively of my videos and AdSense, not to depend on anyone and I can continue doing what I enjoy doing. Like now, but without having to look for sponsors, focusing only on the creative :)

Success:
How do you define success? How did you become successful on YouTube? What were your goals for your channel, and how did you achieve them? What would you recommend to newbie partners to be successful on YouTube?

For me the greatest success is to live as you like. I always enjoyed doing too many things and it was hard to focus on something ... But YouTube not only offered me the opportunity to unify everything, but also being able to live of it. That is why I think I'm succeeding. I don’t need to wake up early if I don’t want anymore! I choose my own schedule, I do things my way ...But yes, I work longer hours than in any other job I've ever had ... but with a smile on my face ;)

My advice to "newbies " on YouTube is: Dont be in a hurry, focus on doing what you like and be good at it instead of thinking about being seen and subscribers. If you do what you like and you're good at it, time will attract a lot of people to your channel, for sure.

Creative Inspiration:
Please tell us what inspires you. Do you have a particular creative aesthetic? Are there other YouTube channels you watch, creators you admire?

I am inspired by my life, day by day, all! Many people ask me where you got so many ideas, and all I want is to have more time to capture far more than I have. I never lack ideas, I lack the time to take them all out.

Since childhood I have always been more interested in drawing, music, acting, poetry and computing than anything else. My books are full of pictures and instead of doing my homework in the college, I spent the class drawing and writing songs. It is something that has always been there.

Of course most of my inspiration comes from what I consume and the people I admire. My biggest role model in life is Will Smith. In YouTube, as I said, MysteryGuitarMan, freddiew, DeStorm and many more like Julian Smith or ShayTards.

Key Takeaways:
Anything you want the YouTube audience to know about you, your channel, or being a YouTube Partner?

Well, just to tell everyone that YouTube has a space for everyone, it is your own window to internet and therefore the whole world. No matter what you like and what inspires you, here is a place for you. I would encourage everyone to try it, it's addictive, healthy and you will go big.

JPelirrojo, YouTube Partner, recently watched “ Time To Reply”