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YouTube Question Fresh start
- Thread starter xigame
- Start date
- 2,641
- 25
- Subscriber Goal
- 250000
I actually love this question... I can not answer it but I am happy to provide the things that you need to be taking into consideration with your channel. Might make the conversation more difficult, but it really is worth taking the time to put a pencil to paper and figure all this stuff out.
Pick Something That You Want to Excel At
You don't need to be the absolute best at the thing you want to start a channel about... but by the end of your channel you will be a master of that thing. So be prepared for this to be a long journey and be ready to spend a lot of time mastering this craft. If you are just learning it remember that these first videos on your channel are part of that learning process and they are also your channel's backstory. There is value in being able to go back and see where you came from. There is no better example of this than by going to see the first videos that Mr. Beast was putting out versus the ones that he is making today.
Be Ready For A LONG Haul
You need to go into your channel with the understanding that you will need to make over 2,000 videos. It is going to take you 100 videos just to get to your starting point. I am sorry to say that these numbers are inflated 10X if you are focusing on Shorts content. You will need to be prolific. Therefore you are going to need to pick a subject for your channel that you can make 2,000 videos about.
What Do You Really Want?
I know what you want. You want to hold up a phone and make a million dollars a year. I am afraid that is not how this works. If you are doing this for fun... if this is a hobby or something that you want to do because you genuinely want to help people or be an authority in a niche there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you need to recognize whether this is the case or not. You are reading this because you want one of three things: You want the clout of a big subscriber count, you want to do what you enjoy or you want to do YouTube because of money. These three things do not go hand in hand. For starters, the clout of a large subscriber count needs to be tossed aside. That's not real, it is a vanity metric and not one that ever gives you any satisfaction. If you decide you want to do content about something you enjoy you are likely sacrificing good CPM's (we'll tackle that in a moment) and virality because everyone else is doing that exact same thing. Again, nothing wrong with that. But if you want to make money then you need to make financial considerations for what kind of channel you are going to manage.
Research CPM's
CPM stands for Cost per Mille and this represents the amount of money you are paid for every 1,000 ad views. Not video views mind you; in order to get paid on YouTube a viewer must watch an ad on your video for at least 30 seconds (to get paid via Adsense at least, but more on that in a moment). The way it works is that advertisers make a commercial for their product, and then they bid on the audiences they want to target based on the demographics/viewing habits that YouTube has identified. You get paid a portion of what they paid when their ad gets put on your video. So think about the person watching your videos. If you are streaming gameplay for a game that is marketed towards a younger demographic then those advertisers know that this younger demographic doesn't have as much money to spend and you are likely going to make between 25 cents and one-dollar for every 1,000 ad views. These are real numbers. But if you do a channel based on Real Estate, Yachts or Crypto these are "big-ticket items" that cost a lot of money and are purchased by a demographic with a lot more disposable income. Just wait until MattCommand reads this and tells you about his CPM's, which can sometimes reach upwards of $400 per 1,000 views and you can see the difference between these two topics. Again, you need to decide if you want to do a channel because you love playing video games or because you want to do this professionally.
Make It A Business
One of the biggest mistakes people make in starting their channel is that they just want to do a channel and they want everything to focus on the channel. What you really need to do is have a business in mind and focus your channel around that business. Spend some time figuring out a product or service that you want to provide and make your channel the focus of that product. There is no faster way to being a professional YouTube creator than by being good at what you do to the point you have created a product and now you are simply using your channel to enlighten those in need.
Talk to Your Family and Friends
As much as you want to believe that you are doing this on your own you are not. You are going to want your family and friends involved. They are a part of your life and they are going to be a part of your YouTube journey. If they are someone you spend any time with at all this channel is going to take time away from them. You can either include them or risk missing out on that time you spend together. And if you are going to include them you need to get their opinions and insight into this project. They will be exceptionally valuable in helping you to promote, in being a shoulder to cry on at the worst of times (which happen... like, a lot) and they will be the first person to celebrate with you when you get those big accomplishments. Do not underestimate the value of having that person(s) involved with this and in doing so they need to have a say in what happens.
Just Do It
You need to have a sit-down discussion with your friends/family/partner etc about everything mentioned up here (and probably a few other things as well). You need to write a bunch of stuff down, cross out options and come up with a plan. At least come up with an idea, a subject or some possible inception of an idea for what this channel should be.
And then you need to go and do it.
Immediately. That day. Go film your first video. Go film 10 Shorts videos and script a bunch of videos and maybe even livestream your decisions. Whatever, it doesn't matter. You can have all the best ideas in the world and they amount to absolutely nothing if you don't pull the trigger. What's more, there is going to be a lot to learn on this journey and the only way you are going to learn it is by trial and error. Go make your first 100 videos. Go learn the things you need in order to bring your channel loser to that professional image you have in your head, because it isn't likely to start like that and the only thing you can do to get there is to create, create create!
Pick Something That You Want to Excel At
You don't need to be the absolute best at the thing you want to start a channel about... but by the end of your channel you will be a master of that thing. So be prepared for this to be a long journey and be ready to spend a lot of time mastering this craft. If you are just learning it remember that these first videos on your channel are part of that learning process and they are also your channel's backstory. There is value in being able to go back and see where you came from. There is no better example of this than by going to see the first videos that Mr. Beast was putting out versus the ones that he is making today.
Be Ready For A LONG Haul
You need to go into your channel with the understanding that you will need to make over 2,000 videos. It is going to take you 100 videos just to get to your starting point. I am sorry to say that these numbers are inflated 10X if you are focusing on Shorts content. You will need to be prolific. Therefore you are going to need to pick a subject for your channel that you can make 2,000 videos about.
What Do You Really Want?
I know what you want. You want to hold up a phone and make a million dollars a year. I am afraid that is not how this works. If you are doing this for fun... if this is a hobby or something that you want to do because you genuinely want to help people or be an authority in a niche there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But you need to recognize whether this is the case or not. You are reading this because you want one of three things: You want the clout of a big subscriber count, you want to do what you enjoy or you want to do YouTube because of money. These three things do not go hand in hand. For starters, the clout of a large subscriber count needs to be tossed aside. That's not real, it is a vanity metric and not one that ever gives you any satisfaction. If you decide you want to do content about something you enjoy you are likely sacrificing good CPM's (we'll tackle that in a moment) and virality because everyone else is doing that exact same thing. Again, nothing wrong with that. But if you want to make money then you need to make financial considerations for what kind of channel you are going to manage.
Research CPM's
CPM stands for Cost per Mille and this represents the amount of money you are paid for every 1,000 ad views. Not video views mind you; in order to get paid on YouTube a viewer must watch an ad on your video for at least 30 seconds (to get paid via Adsense at least, but more on that in a moment). The way it works is that advertisers make a commercial for their product, and then they bid on the audiences they want to target based on the demographics/viewing habits that YouTube has identified. You get paid a portion of what they paid when their ad gets put on your video. So think about the person watching your videos. If you are streaming gameplay for a game that is marketed towards a younger demographic then those advertisers know that this younger demographic doesn't have as much money to spend and you are likely going to make between 25 cents and one-dollar for every 1,000 ad views. These are real numbers. But if you do a channel based on Real Estate, Yachts or Crypto these are "big-ticket items" that cost a lot of money and are purchased by a demographic with a lot more disposable income. Just wait until MattCommand reads this and tells you about his CPM's, which can sometimes reach upwards of $400 per 1,000 views and you can see the difference between these two topics. Again, you need to decide if you want to do a channel because you love playing video games or because you want to do this professionally.
Make It A Business
One of the biggest mistakes people make in starting their channel is that they just want to do a channel and they want everything to focus on the channel. What you really need to do is have a business in mind and focus your channel around that business. Spend some time figuring out a product or service that you want to provide and make your channel the focus of that product. There is no faster way to being a professional YouTube creator than by being good at what you do to the point you have created a product and now you are simply using your channel to enlighten those in need.
Talk to Your Family and Friends
As much as you want to believe that you are doing this on your own you are not. You are going to want your family and friends involved. They are a part of your life and they are going to be a part of your YouTube journey. If they are someone you spend any time with at all this channel is going to take time away from them. You can either include them or risk missing out on that time you spend together. And if you are going to include them you need to get their opinions and insight into this project. They will be exceptionally valuable in helping you to promote, in being a shoulder to cry on at the worst of times (which happen... like, a lot) and they will be the first person to celebrate with you when you get those big accomplishments. Do not underestimate the value of having that person(s) involved with this and in doing so they need to have a say in what happens.
Just Do It
You need to have a sit-down discussion with your friends/family/partner etc about everything mentioned up here (and probably a few other things as well). You need to write a bunch of stuff down, cross out options and come up with a plan. At least come up with an idea, a subject or some possible inception of an idea for what this channel should be.
And then you need to go and do it.
Immediately. That day. Go film your first video. Go film 10 Shorts videos and script a bunch of videos and maybe even livestream your decisions. Whatever, it doesn't matter. You can have all the best ideas in the world and they amount to absolutely nothing if you don't pull the trigger. What's more, there is going to be a lot to learn on this journey and the only way you are going to learn it is by trial and error. Go make your first 100 videos. Go learn the things you need in order to bring your channel loser to that professional image you have in your head, because it isn't likely to start like that and the only thing you can do to get there is to create, create create!
