By: Lyra Wilson
I feel like the majority of people nowadays spend more time on Youtube than on streaming platforms. When I asked around a few friends or acquaintances, the majority of them said YouTube was their main source of entertainment. There’s just something that is entertaining but personally engaging about the platform. If you were anything like me when you were younger, you probably thought of your favorite YouTubers as celebrities or even looked up to some of them based on their creativity, humor, etc. I also suspect that you may have felt inspired by these creatives to make your own channel. Well, I’m here to tell you, if you have the intuition to start something new, follow that feeling. You never know where the process will take you and help you to learn more about yourself. Here are a few tips to help you get started but will also help your channel be memorable.
BE ORIGINAL
I can’t stress this point enough. There are many youtube channels that have specific niches. Whether that is content about books, college, lifestyle, video essayists, etc. A niche is fine, but I’ve found with every creator that sticks to this mindset that they have to stay in this box, it only lasts for so long because after that their videos become repetitive or the creator feels burnt out. It’s okay to have a niche, but don’t plan on making it your whole brand if you can’t make unique content out of it or explore outside the box later on. Make content that is special to you, and that you are passionate about. Plan beforehand and see what you can come up with. The options are limitless.
PACE YOURSELF
Right off the bat, you may want to be the most creative, amazing, passionate, confident person on camera or in your editing style, etc. Realistically, that is not going to happen right away. Practice, practice, practice, and learn as much as you can. Look up tutorials on certain things you’re going for etc. All of this will pay off in the end. If you are consistent in learning new techniques, even when you have a bigger following, it will show and viewers will notice. Importantly, please have patience with yourself and don’t give up when you don’t see results right away.
PLAN FOR TWO STREAMS OF CONTENT
While you’re hustling to maintain your channel. It’s always good to plan for another line of entertainment to attract people back to your channel. Examples of this could be making relatable or cool content regularly on Tiktok or planning a more elaborate experience on a podcast. Either way, the right people will find you, which will be like advertising for your content.
BE RESPECTFUL TO OTHERS
A lot of what YouTube is, whether in front of the camera or behind the scenes, is connecting with others. Like connecting for a job in any other field, you must be respectful to others. Otherwise, you won’t get viewers, you won’t get sponsors to help fund your projects, and overall in the larger scheme of things, you are creating a brand; therefore it won’t reflect well on your brand. You may have heard time and time again not to comment on more prominent Youtubers' videos “I’m a small YouTuber, please subscribe”. In fact, the platform will recognize this as spam. If you’re authentically wanting people to come to visit your home page, you should comment engaging comments that will attract people to you.
BE STRONG
People normally don’t talk about how hard it is to maintain the stamina to work on Youtube. At this point, you are a public figure. You will face criticism that you’d never believe. Plus the pressures of creating for a large audience quite regularly. If you think about it, if you haven’t hired a team to help with your content, you are pretty much the producer, writer, director, star, cinematographer, and editor all rolled into one. That takes a lot of guts, and strength to get through. So before you start, ask yourself, if you want to change your life, ‘is this for me?’ You may find the answer right away, or it may not come to you until you’re actually working on your channel. But you’ll learn so much about yourself, and what makes you happy. Youtube really is a growing experience so you’ve got this.
These are the important tips to follow to help you sustain your channel. In the end, it’s not about the numbers but rather the experience you feel when you get to be yourself and create some of your favorite works of art. So remember to have fun, and be you and youtube!
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