We're hot for teacher! Marina Orlova is not only the face, but the mind behind Hot for Words, a wildly popular YouTube channel and website. Born and raised in Russia, the former high school teacher turned her love of etymology (study of words) into the basis for a daily internet program. Utilizing a combination of brains and sex appeal, Orlova posted content day in and out for over a year before finding success. Her efforts have lead to over 5 million views a week on YouTube, multiple guest spots on The O'Reilly Factor, and a bi-weekly Maxim show for Sirius Satellite Radio! Ms. Orlova was kind enough to take time out of her educating to share a few words with Onscreen Chemistry!
How does one go from philologist and high school teacher to sexy internet
tutor? Were you both a model and educator and decide there would be a market if you combined the two?
I was a school teacher back in Russia.. came to the United states 5 years ago on a
program and ended up being able to stay. While here I did a little modeling here and
there.. but my passion has always been etymology.. so when I decided to launch my YouTube
channel.. I thought.. here is a great opportunity to use some of my modeling pictures to
attract the attention of the viewers, and once I had their attention I started teaching
them etymology!
Were you overwhelmed by how rapidly the success came? Your Youtube
page launched in 2007. In a little over a year, you're now receiving millions of views a week, making appearances in both magazines and television shows, and hosting a bi-weekly show for Maxim on Sirius Radio. Does this surprise you or
was the media takeover all a part of your plan?
It was a good year of solid work, day in and day out, every single day without seeing
dime one. During that time all my friends wondered why I "wasted" my time doing this..
as I was making no money.. but I persisted.. and eventually it started to work out
financially as well. I was told by a good friend that if you stick with something for a
year, you can achieve any level of success you want.. but you need to stick with it for a
year minimum. Everybody I know bails out after a few weeks or months at the most.. but I
stuck with it.
I am surprised at how well it's going.. but not really.. as I believed in myself right
from the beginning.
I always felt that the Internet was a great way to build an audience, far more
efficiently than in traditional media, which is cost prohibitive. So now that my videos
have been seen over 112 Million times and are watched 500,000-1 million times a day, it
doesn't surprise me that traditional media now looks to me as a great way to help promote
them as well.
The opening slogan for your show is "Intelligence is Sexy." Do you think that
part of your success stems from the fact that, publishing on the medium of
the internet, you resonate with a more cerebral audience? The "computer
geek" crowd who appreciate a beautiful woman as much as the next guy, but also happen to respect brains as well?
From the beginning I always wanted people to get excited about learning... so I thought
the tag-line, Intelligence is Sexy would make people feel that there is a certain sex
appeal to someone who is smart.. I've always thought intelligent people were sexy... so I
wanted to spread that message.
You would think the Internet crowd might be more cerebral than normal people.. but that
is no longer the case... as EVERYONE is on the Internet now! BUT.. you are correct, I am
able to attract those that ARE smart to my site and YouTube channel.. but there are
plenty of people coming for just the eye-candy as well! My goal is to turn some of those
"eye-candy" people into wanting to learn word origins as well... and it seems to be
working!
Following up on that last question, you were voted "World's #1 Sexiest Geek"
by Wired magazine? Is the geek title one you hold with pride?
Totally! I am a TOTAL geek.. on the computer 24/7.. and when not near the computer.. I
am checking it via my iPhone!
How much of your fan base consists of women? Is your show targeted primarily
to the male population, or do you feel women can enjoy it as well?
I am about 60/40 men vs women. The women that can get beyond their initial prejudice of
thinking I am some bimbo end up REALLY loving the show! I love the emails I get daily
from women thanking me for breaking down the dumb-blonde stereotype as well.
How does one achieve the coveted "teacher's pet" title?
All you have to do is sign up to my website and leave a comment. I pick them randomly :-)
Can I be the "teacher's pet"?
Of course.. just give me your screen name on my website .. and you can Fedex an apple
to.. no.. just kidding!
Seeing as how you were kind enough to grant this interview, I pretty much
have to take advantage of the opportunity. How did the phrase "on-screen chemistry" start?
Well.. the on-screen part is obvious.. the chemistry part is not so obvious. The idea
behind two people having good chemistry, being attracted to each other, you would think
comes from the idea of pheromones.. the chemical scents that attract people or animals to
each other.. but the idea behind chemical attraction actually goes all the way back to
around the 1600s to the days of the Alchemists... who I believe may have searched for
those magical mixtures that would draw two people together..... I guess back then it
might have been called "alchemical attraction"!
Marina, once again, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us.
We really appreciate it and will continue watching your show! We're hooked!
Thanks so much!
Learn a thing or two! Visit Marina at:
HOTFORWORDS.COM
and
YOUTUBE.COM/HOTFORWORDS
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