Second video in my #jouelzytech tip series. I’ll be catching up soon! Life man, sometime it just gets ahead of you. But here’s my tips on building a successful youtube channel and working towards growing your audience.
When should you start your channel?
Whenever you want! There’s no better time than now.
Don’t stress about having high quality production equipment, that will come with time.
Don’t compare yourself to others.
Everyone has a different success story. Also people who have been on YouTube for a while, may have deleted their older videos that show you what they really started with it. Many of us did NOT come out of the gate with DSLR camera’s and Final Cut Pro editing software.
Content matters.
People will watch even if your production isn’t that great, but you are making content that is relevant to their interests.
General rule of thumb: videos should be 5 minutes or less.
Well…unless you have a dynamic personality like me, lol. Really 5 minutes it’s the optimal length. And you can check your YouTube dashboard to see how long your audience is watching your videos for and when they’re clicking out of the video.
Show what your video is about in the intro and use thumbnails that showcase content of video.
Do not promote your video in the comments of someone else’s channel. It’s unethical and annoying.
Technical tips:
- HD cameras, point and shoot cameras are good entry level cameras for recording video, you can check the items I use here.
- If you use your phone, turn it sideways to capture video in landscape mode.
- 16:9 aspect ratio is the width of YouTube videos. Say no to 1998 videos with the bars on the side. You set that in your video editing software.
- Use YouTube to learn how to edit your videos!! There’s so many great resources and you can learn with time.
YouTube is a lesson in trial and error. So go for it spread your wings and get the ball rolling. Just remember, don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. Be consistent with what you are doing and about. Don’t hate, but take inspiration from others who are successful on YouTube. Numbers are cool, but it’s really about engagement. You can have 150,000 subscribers, but if only 5,000 of them watch your videos and maybe 100 leave comments, what’s the point of hoarding subbies who do not engage? Be happy about the community you cultivate and engage them. Everything else will fall into place!
Questions? Join me for my next Tech Tweet Up on Tuesday, March 18th @ 6pm EST, you can see what the first one was about here! Feel free to suggest topics in the comments below.
Video that got this all going here and be sure to check my first tech tip video!
