Bh. influencer Mirza Demirović: I did not get into this job for money; views and likes are not decisive

Bh. influencer Mirza Demirović: I didn't get into this job for money; views and likes are not decisive Demirović started his YouTube channel in 2014 and still has over 140 thousand followers today. The journey began by filming weddings, and he also did it for FK Željezničar. In recent years, the audience most often watches him through vlogs where his wife Amila and son Mak appear. For those who are just getting to know him, Demirović revealed who the person behind the popular nickname actually is. "First of all, my wife and father. These are the two roles I carry with the most pride and for which I am always most willing to stand. Everything else comes later. Besides that, I am just an ordinary man who lives a normal life, surrounded by family and friends, loves sports and social media. Since middle school days, I have been recording almost everything I experience with a camera. Over time, I realized that the greatest value is not in big moments, but in the small, everyday things I share with my loved ones. It is in them that I find the most joy, and I believe that the audience recognizes this for that reason," he said. His story with the camera began long before creating content became a serious business path. Initially, it was an opportunity to express creativity and record his own experiences, and the idea of living from that someday gradually developed. "At the beginning, it was pure love, without any calculations. Everything started in 2013 when I started a YouTube channel with friends. The camera has always attracted me, and my first dream was to become an actor. At that time, the first creators started appearing on YouTube, and I was fascinated by the fact that one person can be a screenwriter, cameraman, actor, and editor of their content. This complete creative freedom immediately won me over," he recounted. After his friends gave up on the joint project, Demirović decided to continue alone. So in 2014, he started his own channel, which still stands as Neki Jutuber today. During the same period, he began to seriously engage in photography, and he got his first camera from his father. The first paid engagements were wedding photography. "My friends quickly gave up because it didn't appeal to them as much as it did to me, so I started my own channel in 2014, the same one behind which I still stand as Neki Jutuber. Love for photography quickly followed. My father bought me the first camera and I started photographing everything, from family moments to weddings. This phase did not last long, but it gave me a feeling for the mood, the light, and the story. Today I see that I have photography and video, two passions that grew in parallel, which finally merged into one job," he said. The first paid engagements were wedding photography, a job that entailed great responsibility because it involves events whose most important moments cannot be repeated. Although he was very young then, he approached every obligation seriously. "My first paid engagements were weddings. I was very young and, honestly, I didn't fully understand the weight of the responsibility I was taking on. Wedding photos of people preserve a whole life, they are moments that cannot be repeated. Today, from this distance, I see how bravely I stepped into something so serious, but I gave the maximum every time. Earnings were not the motivation then. My love for the job guided me, and everything else came naturally," he said. This experience, as he says, taught him precision, responsibility, and respect for the people he works with. New clients came over time, and work for FK Željezničar especially took a place among the business engagements. "These experiences taught me responsibility, precision, and respect for the client, and these are values that I still apply in my work with brands. As I grew, so did the clients, and one of the most beautiful moments on that path was the period of work for FK Željezničar, a club that has been my heart since childhood. If it wasn't decided for me to represent it on the field, I had the opportunity to contribute through what I do best. This was the fulfillment of a dream and a milestone that I am extremely proud of," he recounted. Although he created content for years, Demirović initially did not think that YouTube could be a source of income for him. At the time he started, the market for such work in Bosnia and Herzegovina was significantly less developed. "Honestly, I experienced YouTube as my place long before it became a job. In the beginning, there was no talk of income, because the market for that simply did not exist for us. I filmed out of pure satisfaction. Only when the industry developed and when brands recognized the power of the creator, what I had been doing out of love became a profession. I think that this is precisely why I remained consistent. I didn't get into this job for money, and my motivation wasn't lost when there was no money. It is said that he who does what he loves never stops doing it. I truly live this. My job is a pleasure in which we all enjoy," he told us. "I wanted to build something of my own, a project that depends solely on me." Today, after years of work and many collaborations, he wants to pass on his experience to those who are just trying to find a place in the digital industry. It is from this idea that Clickbait by Mirza was born, a project he had long planned but wanted to start only when he was sure that he could back it up with enough experience and credibility. "Clickbait by Mirza is an idea I have had for a long time, but I waited for the moment when I could stand behind it with full credibility. I thought that before I start teaching others, I must prove that what I say actually works. Today, after collaborations with some of the world's biggest brands, numerous successful campaigns, and a community of over half a million people who follow me, I feel that the time is right. Young people want to express their creativity and build a career from it, and I want to shorten the path for them and pass on everything I have learned in the last 13 years, knowledge that has allowed me and my family to live well solely from this job," he revealed to us. Besides the desire to help young people, starting his own project is also seen as an important business step. In an industry where creators often depend on campaigns and collaborations with companies, he wants to build a brand that will develop and promote itself through the channels he has built over the years. "There is a deeper, business reason. In this industry, creators largely depend on brands and campaigns. I wanted to build something of my own, a project that depends solely on me. I believe that this is the highest level a creator can reach: to work for their own brand and promote it through the channels they have built themselves. The academy is dedicated to creating quality content that attracts an audience, keeps them, and ultimately attracts brands that recognize and want to pay for that value. I don't promise quick earnings, as they don't exist, but it is much easier to walk the path when you have someone who has already walked it with you," he said. Views and likes are not enough for success on social media. Social media today are very different than when Demirović started. The number of creators is growing, and many young people in this field see an opportunity to build a career. However, he believes that greater competition does not mean the market is closed to new people. "I am honestly happy that this job is so popular today, because it was once considered a profession from which 'there will be nothing'. And actually, almost everyone of us has at least once filmed their journey, made a video, and gladly returned to it. People naturally want to keep memories, and this job, in its essence, boils down to being different and recognizable," he pointed out. In his opinion, it is important to understand that there were times when, with fewer creators, there were also significantly fewer opportunities to reach the audience. Today the competition is greater, but there are also more people following content on the internet. "It is often forgotten that there were times when, with less competition, there were also much fewer opportunities to reach the audience, and success was not easy even then. Today there are more creators, but there are also incomparably more people following the content. Therefore, I don't believe that the market is saturated. There is room, but only for those who bring something new and authentic, and not for those who copy others' formulas," he stated. One of the challenges young creators face is the expectation that they will quickly achieve popularity and start earning money. Demirović understands such expectations, but emphasizes that behind successful profiles are usually years of work, experimentation, and content creation without a guarantee that the audience will recognize them. "The most important thing is to understand that this is not success overnight. I notice that one of the first questions young people ask is: when will I start earning? I understand that. They watch how others live and want the same, and there is nothing wrong with that, but sometimes we were filming out of love, because there was no income, and it was that love that held us through the years without results," he said. Therefore, he wants to bring to the young people the other side of the job that is not seen on social media. Views, likes, and popularity do not always represent the real value of the creator, especially when it comes to serious business collaborations. "It is extremely important to me, because that is where the biggest misunderstanding arises. Success today, for people who do not know the true picture of this job, is often measured by views and likes, but in the world of serious collaborations, that is no longer decisive. Brands increasingly demand quality and a loyal audience, even when it is smaller. In a time when views, likes, and comments can simply be bought, the only thing that remains true is the real quality, which is what makes you special," he emphasized. He did not always have the results he hoped for. He remembered videos into which he invested a lot of time, which did not attract significant attention, but also those that emerged along the way which became very watched. He believes that creators should not base their work solely on the expectation of viral success. "There were many failures and resignations. I had videos that I was designing and filming for days, and they ended with modest results. On the other hand, some that I filmed along the way became very watched. You can never fully predict the audience's reaction. What you can control is your consistency," he said. "I am extremely grateful that my family is with me in everything I do." The vlogs featuring his wife Amila and son Mak have become an important part of the content for which Demirović is recognized. Family life is not experienced as something that must be separated from work, as it is precisely in shared experiences that he finds the motivation to create. However, he stresses that this does not mean that every moment is intended for the public. "My family is everything to me. Everything I do, every video, every campaign, and every new project, I do for them and for them. They are my biggest motivation and the reason why I wake up every morning with a smile and the desire to be better. I am extremely grateful that my family is with me in everything I do. My wife Amile's support means more than words can describe. She stood by this today, with her heart, from the beginning, and there is our son Mak, who is an integral part of our story. I am especially happy that people today do not just follow me, but us as a family. I have always dreamed of this," he recounted. Joint content creation, as he says, is not a burden for them because everyone enjoys it. They share daily situations with the audience precisely because they want to remain natural and sincere, without the need to present their lives differently than they are. "It is not difficult for us, because we do something we enjoy together. Of course, there are moments we keep just for ourselves, but we share our daily lives without reservation precisely because it is ordinary and sincere. We have nothing to hide and we don't try to be something we are not. We do everything from the heart and without ill intention. I think that this sincerity is precisely why everything flows naturally," he added. Decisions about what to publish and what to keep to themselves are made through conversation. Demirović points out that he and his wife have similar views on privacy boundaries and that the most intimate parts of their lives have never been planned to be included in the content. "It is not. We talk a lot, about work and life, and almost always we have the same view. We both clearly know where the line is between what belongs to the public and what belongs only to us. Since we do everything sincerely and without ill intention, we rarely find ourselves in a dilemma about whether to show something. And the most intimate things have never been an option to film, so there is no need to discuss it," he said. Public presence implies exposure to various audience reactions. Demirović has encountered negative comments since the first day of content creation, when this type of work in Bosnia and Herzegovina was not common. Over time, he learned to distinguish constructive criticism from insults, to which he does not want to give much room. "Unfortunately, in our case, negative voices are often the loudest, but this is the reality of this job, and you have to learn to live with it. If you take every comment personally, sooner or later it will exhaust you. I have encountered insults and bad comments since the beginning because I started filming at a time when this was not even common for us. Perhaps that has just confirmed me. I sincerely value constructive criticism and gladly discuss it with it, because it makes me better. Insults, on the other hand, speak more about those who write them than about me, so I do not pay them attention," he said. However, he admits that comments about his family are the ones that affect him the most. He believes that public exposure should not be an excuse for insults and spreading hatred, and he hopes for clearer legal regulation in this area. "The only thing that can really hurt me is the comments about my family, because I am extremely protective of them. I am aware that by choosing this time, we accepted that people would comment on our lives, but I do not accept the view that public exposure gives the right to everything. Criticism and dislike are legitimate, insults and hatred are not," he stated. He advises young people who are thinking about starting their own business or career on social media that fear should not be a reason to give up. Instead of waiting for the ideal moment, he believes it is important to try, put in effort, and judge through experience whether the chosen path is right. "Fear is natural, but it should not be a reason to stop. Life is one, and you must defend your dreams yourself, because no one else will do it for you. If you feel that this job is for you or any other, try and put in everything you have. Only then will you know if it is really your path. Many wiser people than me have told me that we rarely regret what we tried, but more often what we did not. So, be brave forward. Keep working, give your all, and regardless of the outcome, you will have a peaceful conscience that you tried," Mirza Demirović concluded in the conversation for Klix.ba.