Video blogging on YouTube has become a popular way for tech-savvy people to connect with their audiences and make money.
This could be the reason why you are enticed about starting a YouTube Channel.
Well, getting started on YouTube can be exciting yet scary. You are probably afraid of whether you will get followers and if people will like your content.
Knowing how to organize your content and the kind of equipment you should use could also be challenging.
This guide covers the steps that you should take to start a successful YouTube Channel.
How much can you make through a YouTube channel?
The amount of money you can make on YouTube depends on the views your videos get. You can earn between $3 to $5 per 1000 views.
You can also earn more money through money-making methods like selling merchandise and marketing products for other businesses.
Some of the most paid Youtubers make between $14.5 million to $22 million.
How To Become A Successful Youtuber
Starting a YouTube channel might be a little bit difficult if you do not have the right strategy. The tips discussed below will help you get started and make the channel successful.
1) Find your niche
Before you can even set up your YouTube channel, you need to determine your niche. This is the area that you would like to focus on.
There are several niches like finance, home development, education, family and parenting, love, news, celebrity gossip, fitness, and coaching.
It is wise to settle for one niche. You need to select the area that you are most passionate about, have knowledge about, and can provide valuable information.
Note that to make your YouTube channel successful, you must keep your audience engaged such that they will always want to interact with you.
You can only achieve this if you genuinely love making content in that specific niche.
Along with this, determine the people you want to target with your channel. It can be men, women, people of a specific age or location.
This analysis will help you craft content to target your preferred audience, which will increase subscribers to your channel.
2) Come up with a YouTube business plan
If you want to make money using YouTube, you must approach it in a business sense- come up with a business plan.
There is a lot that goes into creating a successful YouTube channel.
You need to have outstanding content, take and edit videos, upload them, interact with your subscribers and monetize the channel.
When starting, you might not have all these skills and time to get all these things done.
This is why it is essential to have a business plan to determine how these tasks will be accomplished and the person responsible for carrying them out.
In your business plan, list the business's vision, your target audience, your content strategy, the equipment you need, the people you will hire, and expenses that you will incur.
A business plan will help you get started on the right note and avoid mistakes that can cost you time and money.
3) Get the right equipment
Besides finding your niche and coming up with a business plan, you need to get the right equipment.
It is good to have the right equipment to make your videos clearer and more enjoyable to watch.
Here are some of the equipment that you will need;
- Camera
- Lighting
- Mic
- Editing software
- Computer
- Working station
As a beginner, you might not afford the best quality equipment for filming and editing your videos. However, this should not stop you from going ahead to achieve your dreams.
If you have a phone with a good camera and editing software, you start using it. You can also buy second-hand equipment as long as they are functioning correctly.
Remember, you might have the best equipment, but your channel might not be successful if your content is not great.
Ensure that your viewers love your content too to the extent of subscribing to your channel. Otherwise, the right equipment with poor content will not do any good to your channel.
4) Come up with a content strategy and plan
Growing your YouTube channel has mainly to do with the content that you create.
You need to ensure that the content resonates with your target audience.
The content must be valuable, informative, and insightful; it should make them want to watch more of your videos.
Coming up with quality content can be challenging at times. To avoid such challenges, do an online search to see what people interested in this industry love to watch or read about.
You can also visit a competitor’s YouTube channel and see the kind of topics that eh audience interacts with most.
You do not necessarily have to copy what they are doing. Just learn a thing or two, and bring it out better in your videos. Doing this will help you come up with topics.
Once you have developed the topics, organize them in the order you want to be discussing them. To give your YouTube channel some direction, it is wise to discuss them in a specific order.
For instance, if you teach people about financial management, you can start by teaching them about what it entails, why it is essential, and how they can manage their finances (in that order).
Creating a lot of similar and related topics, in the beginning, will guide the algorithm on precisely what your channel is about, and this will enable more people to find your channel.
Moreover, this strategy enables the audience to spend more time in your channel as they move from viewing one video to another. This gives them more reason to subscribe to your channel.
The next important step is how you present your content. You can add captions in your video to help people who cannot understand your language or are hard of hearing.
5) Set up your YouTube Channel
You will need to sign up to YouTube so that you can create a YouTube channel. Follow the steps below.
- Sign in to Youtube
- Click on your picture and select “Create a Channel.”
- You can use a custom name or the name associated with the email you used to sign in to YouTube
- Edit the “about” section and add the necessary details
- Add a cover photo and profile picture
- Upload videos
- Link your channel to other social media accounts
How to market your YouTube channel
Signing in to YouTube and creating a YouTube channel are easy things to do. The complicated part that needs lots of effort is growing the channel.
One of the ways to grow it is by marketing the channel. This will enable the target audience to find you easily, view your videos and subscribe to your channel if they love your content.
Here are the different ways you can implement to market your channel;
1) Optimize your videos
If you want more people to view your videos, you need to optimize them and invest in SEO.
You can do this by using excellent and descriptive titles that potential viewers can search for on YouTube. Include the relevant keywords and phrases.
You should also include tags related to the kind of content you are posting.
To know the right tags to use, you can search what other YouTubers with the same type of content are using.
Most importantly, give a detailed description of what your video is all about. Your audience will know precisely what they will be expecting to hear or learn from the video.
All of these practices are important as they help you rank higher on YouTube.
2) Connect with your viewers
Besides making money, YouTube is a social platform meant to entertain, educate and bring people together.
As such, you should aim at creating a community of like-minded people through your channel. You can achieve this by connecting with your viewers.
When they ask questions or give feedback on your videos' comment section, ensure to respond to them. Show appreciation for the positive reactions and feedback that they provide.
It might seem like a small action but interacting with them shows that your channel benefits them.
3) Use other social media platforms
As a beginner, you need to invest in different marketing strategies to increase your YouTube channel's visibility.
Sharing links to your YouTube channels on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram can help you connect with your target audience.
4) Collaborate with other YouTubers
Networking with other YouTubers in your niche or a slightly different niche can also help you market your YouTube channel.
As a beginner, you might find it hard to grow your channel if you do not invest in the right networks.
You can ask other content creators to collaborate with you in a particular video.
If they are experienced and have many followers, they will help you increase your YouTube channel's visibility.
Do not be afraid to link up with them.
Remember, you need to have great content first so that other creators can connect with you.
5) Invest in Google ads to promote your channel
Google ads can also help you reach more people. They are perfect when you are trying to grow your channel and have more people subscribing.
The great thing about ads is that you can target the exact audience you want to view your content.
How to make money using your YouTube channel
The ultimate goal of having a YouTube channel is to make money, and there are several ways you can do this as listed below;
- Market products for other businesses
- Get advertising revenue by using AdSense
- Sell your product or service
- Create content as YouTube Partner. With the YouTube Partner Program, you will get more resources and features that will enable you to make more money.
There are specific requirements like following all the YouTube monetization policies that you must meet to be accepted into the program. Read more about it here.
Bonus Tips to help you create a successful YouTube channel
1) Hook your audience from the beginning
To get viewers to watch until the end of your video, you must hook them first. This is because if they are bored, they will not continue to view it.
A great way to hook your audience is by showing the result in the thumbnail. This way, they will be eager to know how the results were achieved.
2) Create consistent content
Once you start vlogging on a specific niche, stick to that niche. If you start providing content that is out of topic, your audience might lose interest in your content.
3) Post regularly
Posting content regularly will help your channel grow enormously. When starting, you can post at least thrice per month.
But with time, you should increase the number of times you post a video.
Being consistent enables your audience to be glued to your channel as they are guaranteed that they will get to view new content.
4) Learn how to respond to negative comments
Not all the feedback that you get will be positive. Sometimes, you might encounter viewers who are bullies and trolls.
Even when you have created good content, you will still encounter people who are hateful and rude.
Such negative comments can be discouraging considering the amount of work and love you have put towards making your content.
You should learn to ignore such people or block them from your channel.
5) Create a consistent feel for your channel
Create consistency in your thumbnails, fonts, colors, and logos. This enables viewers to recognize your content quickly, making them watch it.
Conclusion
If you have always wanted to start a YouTube channel and become successful, these tips will help you.
You do not need to spend a lot when starting; you can start with the equipment that you have and advance to better ones in the future.
The most important thing that you must do to build your channel is created valuable content.
Viewers will only watch and subscribe to your channel if the content that you provide is valuable and valuable to them.
Therefore, researching your content will come in handy to help you know exactly what your target audience needs.
Lastly, treat your YouTube channel like a business to make money. You need to have an effective business strategy to ensure that your channel can earn you an extra income.