Entrepreneur: Dee (she doesn’t use her last name publicly because of privacy concerns)

Biz: The Healing Room ASMR

The Tilt: ASMR content for relaxation and entertainment

Time to First Dollar: 6 months

Primary Channel: YouTube (41.3K)

Other Channels: The Healing Word on YouTube (2.36K), TikTok (177), Patreon (43), Instagram (3K)

Rev Streams: YouTube ads, Patreon

Our Favorite Actionable Advice

  • Let your audience choose: Dee delivers her videos in two forms – with music and ambient sound and without. 
  • Stand out with creativity: In a crowded ASMR content world, she treats each video as an art piece, making it aesthetically pleasing and as immersive for viewers as possible.
  • Start with education, not creation: Dee advises potential content entrepreneurs to do their research before creating their first content. 

The Story

Dee knew she was entering a difficult market when she decided to start experimenting with ASMR content. That didn’t stop her from trying to create a soothing, inviting environment on YouTube, though, and she succeeded incredibly fast. Her YouTube channel now has over 55K subscribers. 

Creator of @healingroomasmr uses #ASMR content to create a soothing, inviting environment on #YouTube that's attracted over 55K subscribers. #ContentEntrepreneur Click To Tweet

ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. It’s the sensation people get when watching stimulating videos – some describe as the tingling feeling running through the back of your head or spine. ASMR content is one of the fastest-growing niche content markets online. It’s taken over TikTok and YouTube with people using the whispering technique to provide relaxation, anxiety relief, and sleep aid to viewers globally. 

Dee credits Latte ASMR as her first inspiration as she birthed The Healing Room ASMR, a successful YouTube channel with a focus on customization. Much of Dee’s content combines role-play with personal attention, a style of ASMR that focuses on digitally pampering the viewer. Some of her beautiful escapes include a rain forest spa, a sleep clinic, and even an airplane where she masquerades as a kind flight attendant. No matter the setting, Dee’s content allows the viewer a unique opportunity to forget their real surroundings and feel like the subject of someone’s attention. 

It’s obvious that Dee isn’t following a standardized script in her ASMR content. Her first channel, which she began in August 2020, gives her ample room to use her creativity in an ever-changing way. “I feel like a child at a candy store when making sets and themes for videos. I enjoy the process of set design and making something as aesthetically pleasing and immersive for the viewer as possible,” she says.

Dee continues, “There is something so satisfying looking at the list of videos I have on my channel and seeing each one like an art piece. The beauty of scriptwriting, costumes, creating your own sets and environments is you are creating an atmosphere that simply cannot be attained with a green screen. My heart is in every video. Choosing patterns, materials, color schemes, creating characters, scripts, editing – it is a complete creative process that I never realized I would enjoy so much.”

My heart is in every video. It is a complete creative process that I never realized I would enjoy so much, says Dee of @healingroomasmr. #ContentEntrepreneur #CreatorEconomy Click To Tweet

That’s the way Dee stands out from others in the ASMR market. While others create spa, massage, and personal attention videos, Dee’s attention to detail and design in each video allows the viewer to step into her world, if only temporarily. Each video is nearly a theatrical production with Dee’s talent on display. And not only is she phenomenal at creating “tingles” and ASMR relaxation, but her content is thoughtfully produced beyond creating an ASMR feeling.

Because of the relevance of ASMR today as people recognize the value of mental health and crave comfort in a pandemic world, the growing competition makes it harder to keep her followers. ASMR itself also has expanded. Once strictly limited to close, repeated noises in high-quality microphones, it’s evolved into numerous unpredictable niches. To combat this, Dee creates personal relationships with her followers so they truly feel supported offline, too. 

“Relationships with subscribers are just as important to me as creating (content),” she explains. “Each message is read, liked, and responded to. Each Patreon (subscriber) that signs up is messaged and thanked. 

Relationships with subscribers are just important to Dee, the creator of @healingroomasmr as creating content. #ContentBusiness #Community #ContentEntrepreneur Click To Tweet

“Each livestream consists of two to three hours of laughs and sometimes even tears. This community means so much to me, and as I always tell them, I don’t see them as ‘fans’ but as friends. While I love the platform, I do not view it as one I should be worshiped on. I love people and want them to know this is a place of common ground, and we are all in this together.”

Dee creates between three and four videos per week, which are uploaded on her primary channel, her Christian-inspired ASMR channel, and her Patreon platform. To cater to viewers’ preferences, each video gets uploaded twice – once with music and ambient sound to support the ASMR and one without. 

Most of her revenue comes from YouTube’s Adsense program and her Patreon account (subscriptions range from $4.50 to $21 a month). As a creator, she’s a fan of YouTube because the ad revenue is predictable from month to month. And she gives back to followers by helping new ASMRists figure out how to monetize their platforms.

“Just like any person, artists should never starve. I have had the honor of coaching new ASMR artists who have these exact questions of ‘How do I start this?’ and take about three to four clients a month in helping them start their ASMR channels,” Dee explains. 

Dee has big plans for her ASMR channel, including bringing it offline. “I would love to create ASMR on locations such as beaches, cabins, resorts, and retreat centers – so somewhat creating sponsorships through real-life experiences at their locations – and more immersive experiences for viewers,” she shared. “For example, to create an ASMR cozy cabin in the woods video in an actual cozy cabin in the woods would allow me to live my dream in traveling and creating.”

Advice for content entrepreneurs

Among Dee’s advice for content creators who want to become content entrepreneurs: “I encourage new creators in any niche to educate themselves as much as they can before jumping into content creation. Podcasts about SEO, TubeBuddy, Vid IQ, niche-specific trends, etc., are vital. And plan. Sit down and write down your biggest goals and work backward. How do I get there? If there is a niche, then there is an audience. If there is an audience, then there is always room for more creators.”

Advice for #ContentEntrepreneurs from @healingroomasmr: Educate yourself as much as possible before jumping into content creation, from SEO to trends in your niche. #ContentBusiness #CreatorEconomy Click To Tweet

About the author

Kelly Wynne is a journalist and creative writer living in Chicago with her pet dachshund. She's an advocate for women's rights, mental health, and chronic illness.