Influencer
Daniel Jones: Net Influencer Interviews Daniel Jones
Daniel Jones of The Aspie World has a mission to inspire and help individuals with autism. Keep reading to learn about his content creation process, thoughts on the creator economy, and advice for aspiring creators.
Daniel Jones of The Aspie World was diagnosed with autism at 26 years old after struggling with symptoms for years.
After trying to find information about his diagnosis online, Daniel realized there was a complete lack of information available.
He said, “I have 26 years of experience, no support, and I’ve survived. Maybe I could offer some help to people? I uploaded a video, and people wanted more.”
Daniel Jones continued posting and won the YouTube NextUp 2017 award, giving him access to additional educational opportunities through YouTube and Google headquarters.
He shares that he is continually inspired by parents of children with autism and individuals with autism who give him feedback about how much his content has helped them. To expand on the ways he can help, he offers coaching sessions, both individually and in groups.
Influencer Daniel Jones Of The Aspie World An The Importance Of A Business Mindset & His Mission To Help Individuals With Autism
Content Creator Challenges
One of Daniel’s biggest challenges as a creator has been putting himself out there and being fully transparent online.
He comments, “The first struggle you face when you are online as an influencer is you are agreeing to be transparent, and that’s not by choice because a lot of influencers will try and hide some of their life.”
For example, he shares that a friend of his with a family channel experienced a lot of drama after his audience discovered that he had been previously married and had another child. It’s a risk that influencers should be ready to take because as you grow, people will dig into your past.
Daniel Jones shares that finances as a creator are also challenging because fluctuating views, ad revenue, and brand deals impact your finances. He recommends constantly looking for new revenue streams to counteract this challenge.
Memorable Moments as an Influencer
Despite the many challenges that come with creating content online, Daniel shares that there are many amazing opportunities, and he feels incredibly blessed to have the chance to impact others in the way that he does.
One memorable moment for Daniel is landing a book deal with Page Street Publishing. His book, Autism for Adults, is available for preorder and comes out on September 26, 2023.
While writing his book, Daniel realized he needed physical, tactile feedback to help him cope with ADHD symptoms, prompting him to dictate his book while on the treadmill. In only two short weeks, he had completed his first draft.
Another significant moment for Daniel was going full-time as a YouTuber in 2017.
Although his channel struggled financially at first, within three months, Daniel grew his audience from 20,000 subscribers to nearly 100,000 subscribers by working long hours and dedicating himself to his audience and mission.
TikTok: A Unique Medium for Connecting
Daniel Jones shares that two aspects make TikTok incredibly unique.
The first is that it’s accessible; anybody can share on TikTok if they have a smartphone. The second reason is TikTok fits the trend toward short-form content.
Daniel says, “I think TikTok makes content personal. I love that because people are so much more engaged on short-form content than long-form content.”
He believes this is because the content is much shorter, so people are more likely to absorb the information and comment.
Daniel’s Content Creation Process
Daniel’s day-to-day life inspires him when brainstorming content ideas.
Anytime an idea or experience occurs that may make for a good content topic, he records it in Trello. Afterward, he’ll take the idea and use Chat GPT to generate more inspiration. From there, he’ll remove ideas that aren’t relevant and film the content.
Heropost is his preferred tool for scheduling content and creating a seamless daily content-posting schedule.
What Impact Do You Hope to Have on Individuals with Autism Through Your Content?
Daniel Jones replies, “What I would like to achieve with the people I reach with my content is the ability to change their perspective to urge themselves towards an existence that is beneficial for them. Autistic individuals seem to serve an existence that is only beneficial to people who are not autistic. They strive to fit into this box and narrative, and there’s no need, and it causes all this harm.”
He urges everyone, regardless of their situation, to use and engage with any tools available to create an amazing life. An optimistic mindset about each day is something he personally uses to help him tackle each day.
The Importance of a Business Mindset
Daniel Jones shares that influencers must have a business mindset, particularly as ad revenue has dropped off on YouTube and other platforms.
New challenges, like short-form content being the most popular content consumed, but being difficult to monetize, make it more difficult for creators to create sustainable incomes.
To counteract this, Daniel uses each post as an opportunity to share his free e-book and website to diversify his income and approach content creation with a business mindset.
Daniel Jones explains, “If you are not building your audience outside of social media, then you’re going to fail. When you are in the business of influencing people, social media is audience traffic that you do not control, but when you have an email marketing list, you control it.”
Diversifying your income streams and finding ways to reach your audience outside social media platforms is critical to creating a sustainable content creator career.
Daniel does this through his membership website, which provides access to an extensive library of information, new monthly drops, a chat, and broadcasts from him.
In addition, Daniel advises creators to be careful not to make a quick buck off their audience with inauthentic brand deals, which can damage your audience’s trust.
Daniel’s Advice for New Creators
Daniel says, “My advice is to put out as much content as you can to see which types of content your audience resonates with – that’s how you build your audience.”
From there, he recommends immediately looking into ways to build an email list so that you always have a way of reaching out to your followers, separate from volatile social media platforms. Always offer something of value to your audience in exchange for their email address, such as a free e-book.
Clicks Talent Agency
Daniel signed with Clicks Talent Agency several months ago and was immediately impressed.
He likes that the agency has a WhatsApp group for influencers where weekly tips are shared, along with new opportunities like campaigns.
Daniel says, “They want the best for their influencers. I’ve never seen an agency that actually cares about your well-being as a creator.”
He adds that Clicks Talent Agency is positioned to help creators grow on TikTok because they know people on the platform, which has helped him out.
Daniel’s Future Plans
In the next four years, Daniel plans on having a million followers on every platform so he can help autistic and disabled individuals find better life opportunities. He would also love to impact the healthcare system and help kids in underprivileged schools.
