If you are interested in spicing up your fashion and beauty style and you are looking for inspiration, look no further, Dimma Umeh is your best bet!
Dimma is a beauty, fashion and lifestyle vlogger cum blogger who has not just made a name for herself, but has also become a major influencer, both online and offline.
Dinma has been blogging and sharing beauty tips since 2011. In 2012, she published her first YouTube makeup tutorial and currently has over 254, 000 subscribers. Dimma’s YouTube makeup tutorials have also garnered over 12 million views and she has been featured in big publications such as Essence magazine. She is well known for supporting both Nigerian and international brands.
Her blog Dimmaumeh.com won ‘Best Beauty Blog’ by popular votes and Judge’s choice in the 2013 Nigerian Blog Awards.
Asked what the secret of her success is, Dinma says “it was just hard work and consistency in all honesty. People knowing that you are putting out things regularly and knowing that they could always refer back to what you have created.”
Dinma explains why it is necessary for Nigerian brands to share their talents with Nigerians:
“From personal experience, something very important in my opinion is people being able to relate with your artistry and how talented you are. It is really important people relate to what you are doing. What made me stand out and grow rapidly as I did was the fact that people could come to my YouTube channel and watch an eyebrow tutorial and I’d say I bought this from a particular market or beauty store and its value in Naira. It made it a lot easier for people to relate. That was what pushed me out there and made people get on board when it came to the kind of videos I made.”
Ever wondered what keeps this make-up guru motivated?
“At the level I’m at now, the key motivation for consistency is just how much I stand to earn and growth because the thing about growth is there isn’t any feeling and the more you grow, the more opportunities you get and come your way. It is ridiculous the kind of people I’ve worked with just because of my numbers here in my little corner in Nigeria and not even including those outside of Lagos. Outside Nigeria, you are reaching people in Africa and outside Africa, you are reaching people that look like you because most people who watch my videos are black Americans, in the West Indies, Caribbeans, Jamaicans and there are brands that would also want to work with you to reach those people for them so it keeps me motivated.”
Dinma also has the perfect advice for people who want to start a beauty vlog or blog.
“First of all, I’d just say, ‘start’. People get carried away on all the logistics, what you have to do and the things you need to get ready before they do something. I’d just say ‘start’. You don’t need a fancy or big camera to start but get anything within your budget. These days, smartphone cameras are amazing and you can start making videos with yours. The thing about over-saturation is true but the truth is, when I was starting my channel and blog in 2012, a lot of people and critics told me at that point, it was saturated. I remember thinking at a time that people wouldn’t want to listen to me with my non-American accent and you see, it is all about being relatable and people finding someone they can relate to. It dawns on you after doing it for a short period of time that there are so many people consuming content in this industry that they never had someone representing them. For instance, there are lots of black YouTubers at so many layers and levels. I thought of all these things then and told myself I was just going to do my thing and people started eating it up. You don’t have to be like anybody.
Read the full interview here
