My steps to a successful Youtube Channel

After I started my first Youtube channel, I reached 100,000 subs within a year. I would say this is pretty good. While some people clearly blow this out of the water and reach this feat within days, I am still proud of my continuous growth. 

I was just like you. I started with zero editing skills, I didn’t have a camera, a mic, and I surely had no idea how to be on camera. Actually, I would bet a lot of money right now you are ahead of me when I first started my channel.  Yet, through trial and error I made it happen. 

Now as I venture into starting my second channel, I want to take you through my process of optimizing my chances of having a successful channel. 

I will take you through my pre-channel thoughts, how to optimize posts, and how to continue growing.

Connect with people from all platforms. For whatever reasons, people are going to have their preferred social media platform where they enjoy watching videos. 

This is why it is important to integrate your channel into all forms of social media; letting viewers, subscribers, and followers on other platforms know there is a new video out.

One way you can do this is by taking clips from your Youtube video and posting it on other platforms. The best would be a clip which really leaves your video in a cliffhanger, so the viewer will want to go to your Youtube and watch the rest.

Every channel has its niche. 

The more niche you can make your channel the better. If your content is all over the place, people will not know why they should visit your channel. In my opinion, I think it is better to be known as the person who does “one thing” rather than the person who does XY and Z. 

If you have other video ideas then I would advise a completely different channel. 

Now, not saying you can’t play around with different video ideas, styles, etc. However, I wouldn’t post about video games and then randomly make a cooking video. 

Let’s take this a little deeper at another way to think about your content. 

If there are other people in your niche(there probably will be), think about how you can be different. What is something that your channel will give viewers that other channels do not? 

Find that “thing” and work it like crazy. 

Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the “I need to upgrade my equipment” mentality. It’s a huge struggle I still deal with to this day. 

Yet, there are people with professional grade equipment who have a few hundreds of followers and people who use their Iphones who have millions of subscribers. It’s not about what you film with but what you put on the film. 

Think about what equipment you will need the most. If you are doing Makeup tutorials you are probably going to need a tripod and definitely lights. If you are doing action videos, you will probably want a small action camera, that’s okay to get thrown around. 

If you are wondering what area you should upgrade first…

To me, audio is the SINGLE most important thing in a video. I can watch bad, I can’t listen to it. 

For example, I was on a huge trip once, I filmed so much content and didn’t realize my audio wasn’t working correctly. I tried saving it and I went ahead and posted it. Guess what? It was my least watched video to this day.

I won’t bore you with all the technicals, it isn’t my strength anyways. However, just know there are many options in video editing software  from which you can choose. 

Keep in mind what you will need. 

Are your videos going to need some serious transitions and effects that free programs can’t offer? Or do you just need the basics?

How much are you willing to spend? 

For me, I ultimately went with Final Cut Pro X. The thought of a one time payment as opposed to monthly payments was appealing to me, as well as, the fact that I own a Mac. 

Also Final Cut is a little easier to learn for someone who has no idea how to edit(me), than say After Effects which has a little bit of a learning curve. 

However, the one time payment may be something you are not willing to risk or you don’t own an Apple product.Make sure to think about what aspects you will need the most. 

And of course, if you really want to keep the investment small, there are many free software choices as well. 

This can pertain to so many things so let’s look at some examples:

• Know what you are talking about. I know this sounds redundant, but knowing something and then knowing something well enough to talk about it are two different things. This ties back to the very first tip, “Content is King”. Anytime you can add value to your videos is a plus. 
• Know what does well on Youtube in your niche. Certain themes, trends, and styles will come and go so make sure to know what is hot in your niche right now.  Pro tip: Always stay aware of Youtube’s trending videos. See if you can find a way to integrate trending videos themes into your niche channel. 

Alright, you’ve made a video, created a thumbnail, and now all you have to do is throw in some words and you’re done. However, this is not the time where you want to relax. The title, description, and tags are essential components for having your video easily discoverable in YouTube search. 

Title

A keyword-rich title and description can go a long way. Don’t make the title too heavy as you want key words to “pop” and standout.  You’ll be able to see what works for your videos as you progress.

Description 

This is the section you can relate to like writing a blog post. Fill this section with key words that describe your video and have a high search rate. Of course be tasteful about it. 

Tags

Another section where you can optimize search by finding the key. Two main points to pay attention to:

1. Especially when your channel is still a small channel, avoid highly competitive words. If you make a video about street foods in a particular country, the tag “street food” isn’t going to help you out. It’s too competitive at this point for your channel. Try something more detailed. 
2. “Street foods in Vietnam” and “Vietnam street food” are two completely different things. They each will rank differently in your search, yet they help Youtube figure out your niche. So make sure to find a way to word a topic as many ways as you can. 

Another reason this section is so important is due to that if your video is well optimized for YouTube, this can extend to search engines as well since YouTube is a Google-owned product. 

This gives you the opportunity to have your videos ranking high on both YouTube and Google.

No more asking people to like and subscribe. I believe everybody knows how Youtube works by now. 

What you can do instead is think about how you can tie your videos together. 

Just as a music artist creates multiple songs for an album, you should find a way to connect all your videos. 

Here is how you can do it:

• Create Playlist: A lot of great things happen when we create a playlist. Youtube will rank your video better for SEO, which is always a plus. If someone makes it to the end of your video, other videos from the playlist will be displayed, increasing the chances of the viewer watching another video. 

• In Video Connections: There are two ways you can incorporate this into your videos.
  • Example 1: Say you filmed a two part series. Of course during both videos (especially the second) you are going to want to create a link and tell your viewers to check out episode one if they haven’t already. 
  • Example 2: Say there is a product in a video where you highlight it, but you already made another video where you gave a complete review of this product. Let your viewers know. Tell them to check out the link at the top of the screen (make sure to place a link) if they want to go and see your complete review of that product. 

Find ways to connect videos and get viewers interested and want to watch multiple videos. 

Reach out to other Youtubers or social media personnel who are in your living area or niche. 

In my opinion this is the easiest way to reach a new audience. 

It’s a fun way to make new and exciting content that can give a fresh kick to your videos as well. 

A typical rule of thumb, is a one to one video trade off. However, it’s really up to you and the other creator with whom you work.

I read every single comment. I also have thick skin and spend almost zero time on negative comments. 

However, the reason I do this is so that I never miss a chance to connect with people who are generally interested in my content or someone who is new to the channel. 

If people are taking the time out of their day to watch what you created, I think the least you can do is say thank you. A simple thank you or reply can go a long way. It has even resulted in people who even hated my channel at first see it in a different way and now they are regulars.

Let your audience know! 

If it’s once a month, once a week, four times in a week, get on a time schedule and stick to it. 

Not only will this help your viewers know when to return, but it will help your videos do better. If your video does really well when it is first posted, it’s going to give it a boost in the Youtube algorithm so make sure to let everybody know and keep it consistent! 

Also, great for workflow. 

You can always do better. 

Now we are a few months from the start, let’s get a bird’s-eye view of how your channel is performing. 

Analytics will allow you to get insight on the people who are watching your videos, which allows you to hone into your target demographic even further. It’ll also give you a better idea as to why one video may have performed better than another. It’s a powerful tool for your budding channel.

See if you can find the trend or types of videos that are working best and hone in on them. Continue to polish on your skills and how you create videos. 

“The secret to getting ahead is getting started.”

― Mark Twain

You’ve made it this far so I know you are interested in starting a channel. So now is the time to get off here and get started. 

You need to gain experience in getting in front of the camera, getting behind the camera, using your editing program and more.

The time is now, good luck.