There’s a massive internet community that’s obsessed with videos of brain-stimulating and mind-tingling sounds. And behind this demand are the people who earn up to thousands of dollars a month for these types of content.
What is ASMR?
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response or ASMR, refers to the particular tingles in the brain and spine some people feel when they hear certain pleasurable sounds. These sounds are commonly heard when another person whispers, molds slime, eats a particular food, among many others.
What causes those tingles varies from one person to another. It could be a subtle activity as taking a haircut, whispering, flipping through magazine pages, or eating juicy pickles.
Unlike most streams, ASMR videos are all about listening – not watching. In fact, there are hours-long videos where content creators induce ASMR to help certain people calm down from an anxiety attack or even drift off to sleep at night if they have insomnia.
Since 2010s, some Youtubers have been producing ASMR videos from one minute to five hours long and these channels grew surprisingly to become some of the most wildly-popular channels on the platform.
Some streamers were able to make full-time jobs out of ASMR videos, here’s how you can also make money with ASMR as a girl:
Tips on How to Earn Money Doing ASMR as a Girl
Ads/ Monetize your content
Using ads is only one of the ways you can generate revenue off your content. Since ASMR videos and streams are considered rather special compared to other types of videos on major streaming platforms, it’s more likely to be replayed many times or even bookmarked by viewers if it’s effective for them.
This makes it easier for an ASMR video to get more views. A great amount of profit can be made through ads alone, especially if your content has a high average viewer rate.
However, do note that ASMR videos are typically a peaceful and quiet experience with gentle low whispers. Having blaring video ads can burden your viewers with loud, distracting noises. So it’s better to place some display ads instead.
Accept cash donations through Paypal or Patreon accounts
In case you’ve got some generous fans who’ll gladly donate to your Paypal or Patreon accounts, this is one good way for them to show their support and appreciation to you.
It’s okay to ask for help, especially if you’re just venturing into the ASMR industry with a part-time job in the morning or as a working student. You could use the extra money to buy food to chew on your next upload, or another set of ingredients to make your own slime.
Doing so will encourage you to push for more content to offer your supportive viewers, and at the same time – build a tighter connection and rapport between you and your audience.
License your content on Spotify or Itunes
If you are quite confident about the quality of your ASMR output, you can opt to sell your work on audio streaming platforms like Spotify or iTunes.
As we’ve mentioned earlier, ASMR videos are mostly all about hearing. Uploading your work on various audio streaming platforms can generate additional revenue to add to your total profit.
Making money isn’t easy for most people. If you’re aiming to make serious money off ASMR, you need to put in more effort on your content. Invest in high quality microphones and research trending video formats and themes to increase viewership. Your viewers would likely not object to pay for certain premium content.
Be consistent in your streams
Start off by slowly posting one video after another, but as you begin to monetize your content, it’s better to ramp up your uploads.
Why? As the old saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. If your latest upload gains a boost in views, you would want to take advantage of said boost by offering a variety of other ASMR-related content to your viewers.
It’s not necessary to post everyday, once a week or once every two weeks can be a great start for aspiring beginners. This is done to avoid newcomers from getting overwhelmed, suffering a “burn-out” syndrome, or realizing they might not be interested in ASMR videos after all.
Chances are, they might be looking for another ASMR video from you if they enjoyed your previous video.
Expand to other platforms
Relying on only one platform to monetize your ASMR content can be quite a challenge.
Avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. Don’t concentrate all your potential money-generating prospects or resources in one platform. Branch out through other streaming platforms and services, like Patreon — which allows users to build a subscription service for their content.
Major streaming platforms like Youtube provides a platform for ASMR videos, but it’s not the most dependable source of income since it relies heavily on ads and viewerships. There’s no steadiness if you’re only a newcomer to the industry. Some days your views may go up, some days they may go down.
Promote one or two products in your content
Partnering with brands or becoming a brand ambassador can provide additional income in your ASMR endeavors. The trick here is to find services or products which are relevant to what you’re promoting.
If you’re a food ASMR, consider sponsorships from food companies or restaurants. Aside from offering you an influencer’s talent fee, they may give you a sample of their food, completely free of charge of course!
There are also other services you may partner with, like an online counseling service. Since a lot of people who watch ASMR videos undergo some sort of anxiety, stress, or depressive episodes – it would be ideal to provide such a relevant service to them in the midst of your content.
Sell customized content
If your viewers want to request specific ASMR-inducing sounds, like ear-licking or teeth tapping, you can direct your viewers to other sites to sell your customized content.
One leading site is Etsy, where you can sell personalized recordings. If you are planning to offer suggestive or adult content (sexual ASMR videos), you might want to check out Patreon.
Are you planning to make it big as a streamer? Aside from gaming content, you can choose to offer your viewers ASMR videos among the many other non-gaming content you might want to check out. The opportunities are far too many to count, if you only know where to find them!
Most Common ASMR Categories
ASMR works differently from one person to another. What effectively triggers a good and tingly feeling in some may trigger nothing or even instill negative feelings in others.
Everyone has different triggers. The trick is to find out what is yours. Here are some of the most common and popular ASMR categories:
Whispering
Considered as the most popular ASMR sound, a whisper triggered at the right time is generally the first way that we get to discover ASMR.
Sometimes, whispering sounds can be binaural. This means that the sounds are usually recorded in different channels which allows you to listen to voices that are spoken from a left side speaker to your left side — thus creating a much more “real” experience.
This category may also include soft talking, softly spoken words, whispering, and other inaudible whispers.
Scratching and Tapping
Scratching on a microphone or tapping on different surfaces are also well-known uses of the ASMR trigger. Many content creators tap on various objects that they are holding to come up with the extra sounds.
This category also includes tapping, finger tapping and nail tapping. Sounds coming from the nails are usually linked with tapping, and scratching is among the most powerful ASMR triggers. Most women maintain long nails used to efficiently produce tingles.
Blowing
Blowing into someone’s ear gives viewers the feeling of the cool air brushing against their skin. The sound that your mouth produces as you do this particular task is also considered as an effective ASMR trigger to many.
Moving from one ear to another helps convey this trigger to a lot of people.
Physical Touch
Did you know that a gentle touch on the skin can also be considered an ASMR trigger?
But, this process can’t be confirmed by video. The most efficient way to test this is by using a manually-operated head massage device. For most people, it creates intense tingles that are incomparable to any other audio ASMR trigger.
It is most effective when somebody else uses the device to massage you, although you can also opt to do it yourself.
Other physical touch videos include scratching, rubbing and massaging.
Personal Attention
The personal attention trigger can create a rather intimate moment between the viewer and the content creator.
A lot of us unknowingly experienced ASMR during our childhood, but we did not know what the feeling was. From early memories such as visiting the dentist or being in a class with your teacher can be likened to ASMR-ish circumstances.
That is the personal attention a lot of creators are trying to stimulate. Some other popular personal attention situations are makeup tutorials, makeup roleplays, hair play, and having your ears brushed.
Page Turning
As an audio-stimulating ASMR type, turning the pages of a book usually offers a delicate sound as pages flit together.
The brushing of a paper, the hardcover back flipping gently, and the softer noise that it brings is considered to be very relaxing. This particular type of ASMR is most effective among people who enjoy reading and know the sounds close to their heart.
Visual ASMR
ASMR is not limited to audio alone, even if it’s a mostly-hearing activity.
Sure, you may need to focus on the sounds more than what you’re seeing on the video but there’s also a type of ASMR which can be rather visual.
This often involves hand movements. Although not the most popular ASMR triggers, it is included in this list because it’s very unique from the other triggers. Visual triggers may also involve physical touch, hand movements, and other light movements.
If you have tried all the other audio-stimulating triggers but they just cannot bring the tingles, maybe visual ASMR will do the trick for your viewers.
Eating
Watching people eat can be rather off-putting or unpleasant to some individuals. Nevertheless, the sound of someone chewing food with great gusto can sometimes be a bit relaxing to some individuals.
A few individuals have the skill to eat with zest or in an elegant manner. This requires a bit more effort to succeed in as it needs the right food as well as texture so as to create a sensible sound.
A lot of Korean streamers are famous for this particular type of ASMR, which they call as “Mukbang”. It is a live online audiovisual broadcast in which a host eats scrumptious food while interacting with their audience in the process.
Types of ASMR videos
Generally, most ASMR videos can be classified under three distinct types:
Trigger heavy videos
The type of ASMR videos specifically made to trigger the tingling ASMR feelings. These videos often focus on one very specific sound such as microphone brushing or ear cupping.
Casual roleplay videos
These are casual roleplays with the occasional triggering sounds and visuals. It may include soft voice narrations and playing out specific scenarios, such as impersonating a movie or book character or playing out a particular scene that viewers request.
Generally, these are fun videos crafted to entertain fans but they are also proven to trigger an intense ASMR reaction among certain individuals.
Visual trigger videos
There are people who are best at triggering their ASMR with visual stimuli. This can be achieved by imagining someone gently caressing your face or softly playing with your hair. If certain picturesque triggers like turn on your ASMR switch, then you might want to try being visually triggered through many visual ASMR videos.
Every ASMR video is designed to cater to a certain trigger or a group of related triggers, based on the fact that every person has different ASMR experiences in real life.
Others may like soft talking in videos, while some may prefer to focus listening on the sounds. There might be people who find talking in videos as a rather distracting trigger. Inaudible whispering may trigger ASMR in some, while loud talking voices do not.
Popular ASMR girls
Life with Mak
Makenna “Mak” Kelly used to be your average adolescent girl making home videos on an old camcorder.
Only a few months ago, she started posting ASMR videos on her Youtube channel, where her following skyrocketed to 1.61 million subscribers and over 100 million views.
Today, Mak is collecting YouTube ad revenue. She’s also a brand ambassador and promoting marketing companies’ products on her social media channels.
MaryJLeeee
Mary J Lee used to work as a dental hygienist. Shortly after, she started uploading ASMR videos on Twitch, whispering peaceful sounds into a microphone.
Soon enough, she realized she was earning far more money murmuring to internet strangers than she ever did cleaning coffee stains off crusty yellow teeth. She saw an opportunity and decided to jump on an emerging trend by working hard to grow their audience.
She later quit her day job to move to Austin, Texas and pursued a full-time career as an ASMRtist.
ASMR Darling
Quite a popular ASMRtist, she has over 2.43 million subscribers on her Youtube channel.
ASMR Darling mostly makes content that are intended to help her viewers relax from an anxiety attack, sleep better, focus at a certain task, and basically feel the sensational tingly ASMR feeling.
Her channel also features whispered gameplay videos for content variety. In particular, she tried to play Fortnite as relaxing as possible, which a lot of people enjoyed.
Heather Feather ASMR
Heather Feather’s channel is suited for people who are having a hard time sleeping at night or are battling with insomnia on a frequent basis. To help you deal with the said problem, she offers gentle tingle videos for ASMR seekers.
Her content ranges from original stories to roleplays, guided meditations, sound assortments (brain percussion), pure sounds, and many more.
She doesn’t believe in setting creative boundaries when it comes to ASMR, and so she does a lot of experimenting as is observed in her uploads.
Gibi ASMR
From watching ASMR videos that she first discovered by accident, Gibi realized that specific visuals, movements, and sounds made her feel relaxed and at ease.
She then saw the growing potential of the ASMR online community, and decided that she would like to be a part of it as well.
Her Youtube channel offers a variety of videos, including (but certainly not limited to) cosplay, roleplays, binaural ASMR, makeup tutorial videos, and a lot of her own original characters.
Gentle Whispering ASMR
Are you suffering from sleeping problems lately? The Gentle Whispering ASMR channel can provide you the peace and relaxation you are craving for.
Her relaxed and stress-free soothing videos are guaranteed to make every viewer feel comforted, loved, and totally cared for. During hard times, you’ll be in good company as you drift to sleep with her videos playing in the background.
Why become an ASMR Streamer?
There are various reasons as to why becoming an ASMR streamer can be a good decision on your part.
First, producing ASMR videos helps you become creative with what available items you have to make an appealing sound. If you’re one to challenge the limits of creative boundaries, this genre is perfectly suited for you!
Next, ASMR videos are probably less costly than game streaming since you’re not required to have high-end gaming equipment. Aside from a high quality microphone and a good streaming camera, you’re good to go even without the latest graphic card installed on your PC.
The props you need in a typical ASMR videos are also budget-friendly. Some videos may even not require you to spend a single cent, since you may just whisper the entire time.
Another reason is that ASMR videos help you relax as well as your viewers. There are numerous physical and emotional benefits to ASMR and many professionals are increasingly recommending for people try it out.
Just like meditation, there’s no harm in trying it out. You may find ASMR to be a powerful, drug-free answer if you suffer from loneliness, anxiety, depression, mood swings, and poor concentration.
And lastly, you probably don’t need to talk a lot in order not to disrupt the ASMR-inducing sounds. Unlike streaming your gameplays where you need to chat and entertain your viewers, ASMR videos on the other hand require you to produce the limited noises as possible.
Are there benefits of watching ASMR?
ASMR videos can be likened to meditation, where you allow yourself to relax and be at ease as you listen to gentle sounds that may trigger the happy hormones in your system.
That said, if you are suffering from frequent feelings of mood swings, loneliness, grief, difficulty sleeping, poor focus, overwork, or general stress — ASMR videos may give you the physical and emotional benefits that you need.
It is also proven to stimulate the body’s natural Oxytocin release, known as the love and bonding hormone. It may also be classified as the happy hormones, since you experience a similar Oxytocin high when you cuddle up with your beloved pets.
This intimate experience may be the reason why a lot of ASMR channels have such a loyal fanbase. The video format in itself forms an unusual closeness between the viewer and the content creator. Whenever you watch an ASMR video, the personal experience you get from it is bound to make you feel that particular video was crafted just for you.
Conclusion
The opportunities to monetize off your ASMR content seem to be endless, especially if you’re a girl. Thanks to a variety of reasons far too complicated, controversial, and not entirely explained — the ASMR community tends to majorly favor women more than men.
This may be because a lot of girls are far more effective in providing soothing whisper sounds. As a result, many girls whispering to a camera turned this opportunity to become their primary bread and butter.
