It was only after his followers started tagging him did Devarakonda Varaprasad realise that he had made it to the Forbes Top 100 Digital Stars List. With 3.16 million subscribers on his YouTube channel ‘Prasad Tech in Telugu’, the 34-year-old ranks 54 on the list with 7,11,212 average views.
But these impressive numbers did not materialise overnight. This mechanical engineer with a passion for electronic gadgets started out in 2016. His resolve to educate people about electronic items in his native tongue, Telugu, is now reaping dividends for him, but in the beginning, he had to borrow money to buy an iPhone exclusively to post a review on his channel.
“But that idea bombed,” Prasad recalls with a chuckle. What worked is his constant flirtation with new ideas and an understanding of what his followers needed. And yes, the journey involved renaming his channel too.
“I make videos on electronic items like mobiles and laptops in Telugu. When I started out, there was no such channel in Telugu. Most Telugu YouTubers were giving tips and tricks regarding various gadgets. Initially, I bought mobile phones with my own money to review them. After 2-3 years, companies started to recognise me and sent me products for review,” Varaprasad, who launched his fourth channel two days ago, told News18.
In his social circle, Varaprasad was the guy everyone approached for guidance on buying phones and electronic gadgets. Due to his passion for gadgets, he used to keep himself up to date with all information through tech blogs and reviews. After doing this for a couple of years, he decided to share his reviews with others too. That is how his channel started.
“When we started out, I had 400-500 followers, most of whom were my friends and family. Then I thought that if I review an expensive mobile, I might go viral. That is when I bought the iPhone7. I borrowed money for that. However, it did not work. I then diversified my content and started making explainer videos on topics related to technology. This brought me 30,000-40,000 followers in three months. One video titled ‘Don’t do these 5 things in mobile’ changed the game for me. I reached one lakh followers in another 3-4 months. I then started reviewing budget phones that most people buy. The viewers loved my videos. I grew gradually over six years,” shared the YouTuber.
The Forbes digital star, who hails from Ongole in Andhra Pradesh, pursued BTech and MTech degrees in Hyderabad. “I am constructing my own office now. In the beginning, I used to make them in my home. I have a team of five people who help me in making and editing the videos. I know what people want from me. On average, I work eight hours a day to make content for four channels — Prasad Tech in Telugu, Prasad Lifestyle, Prasad the Gamer, and Prasad Automobile. My followers love my voice and my command over technical aspects,” added the content creator. His team helps him to shoot and edit the videos.
“Before posting the review of a phone, I test it for a week and rate all the performance parameters like software, battery life, camera, etc,” added Varaprasad.
His channel’s old name was ‘Tech in Telugu’ but it did not show up in search results by Google. However, adding his name to the channel increased its visibility.
In his lifestyle channel, Varaprasad gives glimpses of his personal life to inspire his followers. The star of the channel is his furry friend, Rocky, who is a hit with his viewers.
On Independence Day, the content creator launched a channel on automobiles. “I will be finally using my mechanical engineering degree,” Varaprasad added with a smile.
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