How I Would Start a YouTube Channel if I were Starting Over

Jul 7

So you took the leap and you started your YouTube channel but you fear one thing…crickets. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately, your channel is NOT going to grow overnight. It takes a lot of time, plenty of practice, and some failed attempts along the way to get your channel to grow. On a positive note, I’m here today to share all my TOP tips on what I would do if I were in your shoes and starting from 0 right now.

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00:00 Intro

01:00 Be True to Yourself

02:07 Do Your research

03:59 Titles & Thumbnails

05:31 Befriend the Algorithm

07:31 Engage Your Community

08:17 Test Videos

09:47 Create Videos in Series

11:29 Study Your Analytics

12:43 Get Over Yourself

Be True to Yourself

Remember, you’re starting on a new platform and it’s going to take time to see it grow. This means, you have to show your audience again and again that you are the person or channel for them. It’s not an overnight process. So be patient and be consistent. Show up as yourself so that over time, you will earn that know like and trust from your audience.

Do Your Research

Really determine what your channel is going to be known for. One thing you want to avoid is being too general. If you’re trying to create content for everyone, you’ll end up creating content for no one. The reason is that this is true is because if you’re creating content that is all over the board, you confuse your audience. They don’t know what to expect from you! It also confused the YouTube algorithm and they won’t know where to categorize your videos or who to show your videos to!

So take time to do the research to determine who you’re trying to reach and what kind of content you need to create to provide them with value!

Titles and Thumbnails

Your titles and thumbnails are nearly as important as your video. Why? Because if no one is actually clicking through to watch your video, then it really doesn’t matter how amazing your content is. This means you need to spend time on your thumbnails and titles!

I like to plan out my title and thumbnail before I even film. This means I can ensure that my title ties into my video’s hook and that I’m getting a great photo for my thumbnail. The thumbnail needs to be a good photo but you also want text. That text shouldn’t be the same as your title, though. Instead, it should all tie together.

Befriend the Algorithm

Instead of focusing on subscribers, you want to pay attention to three things. These are the major algorithm metrics that will help you grow!

Click Through Rate- Did people click through to watch your video?

Watch Time- Are people watching your video? How long? Did they make it to the end?

Engagement- Are people commenting? Are they liking the content?

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Engage Your Community

You want to make sure that you’re engaging with your audience. This means replying to comments and even doing calls to action through the video requesting comments. You see, the more people are engaging with your video, the more YouTube knows that your content is valuable and will push it out to others!

Test Videos

Another thing I would do is create test videos. This would be 6-8 videos that you would create to test. Instead of doing a ton of tags research, just create videos that you want to create and once you have them all up, analyze that content!

This also gives you an opportunity to connect with your audience further by sharing your stories!

Create Video Series

One thing that YouTube LOVES is bingeable content. If you can create content that makes people watch back to back to back, you’re going to see more growth. This is why creating videos in series is such a big deal. Not only does YouTube love it but it makes people want to come back!

Instead of thinking of one video idea, think of how you can take a topic and turn it into a series of videos!

Study Your Analytics

YouTube is giving you the answers to your success through your analytics. This is why it’s important to dig into your monthly analytics to see what’s working, what isn’t working and you’ll be able to see where you can improve and grow!

Get Over Yourself

When I first started on YouTube, I was worried about being perfect and making sure everything else was set up perfectly. Now, I wouldn’t waste time on that! Instead, I would be more real and get out of my head so that it feels like a coffee chat instead of me talking to a camera.

In other words, let myself come through that camera to build a connection!