Have you wanted to start a YouTube channel but you have literally no idea where to begin?
OR the fear of judgement has held you back?
You're already worried about what your co-workers, or family will say?
No clue how to edit and don't have a fancy camera to use?
Do you feel like your life isn't even that interesting?
Fear someone you know will find your channel?
This blog is for you.
Listen, I know what it's like to want to start a YouTube channel, but doing is a whole different ball game.
First of all, you have no idea what you're doing, you don't have the equipment, will people even watch? What if Kyle or Amanda from high school find your channel?! … but still you're interested in starting
Think about this: you answer to YOU.
Think about this.
Imagine laying your head down on your pillow tonight knowing you still haven't made any moves to start your youtube channel. How does it feel?
Now imagine you read this article, answered the questions, filmed, AND POSTED a few videos and someone you know found your channel!
Embarrassing? Probably.
If you had experience with cameras would it be easier? Probably.
If you had SEO experience would you do better? Probably.
Usually our first pieces of content are embarrass-worthy. But they're also the stepping stones of creating better and less embarrassing content. You literally cannot get better without doing. (Here is the first video I posted to YouTube.)
But guess what
A place where you can learn all of these things, ironically, is YOUTUBE. I also recommend finding a course to have all the relevant information in one place, ideally with a step by step guide!
I will be launching my course soon to teach you how to start a youtube channel. I started mine in 2015 and made SOOOO many mistakes. My goal is to help you skip the mistake and grow faster than I did!
Get signed up on the email list to be notified when it is revamped and live! I launched this a few years ago and one of my students now has has over 80k subscribers!
My YouTube channel currently has over 100k subscribers (this blog about how I got there) and I'm wildly passionate about helping other people start their channels, which is why I wrote this blog.
In this blog I give you tips to eliminate the fear and find the motivation to start your YouTube channel TODAY.
One | Know your why
This might seem a bit cliche but honestly, if you don't know why you're doing it then you're not going to be motivated to KEEP doing it when it gets hard… because it will get hard.
Your why can be anything:
– I need a creative outlet and something new to learn.
– I want to inspire women to find their passion and help them to pursue it.
– Be a resource by teaching others a skill I have or that I'm learning.
– Support women who want to co-sleep and breastfeed in a world that doesn't support it.
Also, when you know your why, it will be more important to you than what someone who finds your channel thinks.
Two | How to not be awkward on camera
Decide who you're talking to, and talk to them.
Knowing who you're talking to makes it easier to get in front of the camera.
Think about it, the way you talk to your grandma is different than the way you talk to your sibling, your boss, your best friend, partner, Mom etc. So the way you talk and the things you mention will be different depending on who you're talking to! Figure out who your content is for, and talk to THEM, create content for THEM and it will start to flow.
If you're talking to new moms about what you’ve learned using cloth diapers… then you should talk right to them. Tell them how you thought this was gross at first, and as a mom you have a million other things to do. But how it gets easier once you found a system.
Don't worry, this can change. Let's say you're a nutritionist and say you want to work with “athletes” then you start working with athletes and realize you don't love it, but you love your pregnant athlete and realize you love working with pregnant women. Pivot. No problem. You're not locked in.
You'll find tricks to make you feel normal in front of the camera.
For example: I used to start all of my video with “Hey Amber!” (my sister) and then film the video as if I was FaceTiming her or making a video to send to her later.
This takes things to the next level. If you know you're talking to new moms, think of a PERSON in that group who would benefit from what you have to say. A lot of people call this person an “avatar” and will write up an entire persona even NAMING that person. Here is a great podcast episode on it.
You ask yourself questions like: What is this person interested in? How much money do they make? What are their challenges? What do they want from your content? Where do they hang out? What is important to them?
Three | What if I run out of things to say?
I've been doing this for 7 years! You better believe when I started I thought this, how could I possibly create a video every week?!
I found inspiration from videos from stories I'd tell during the week, something I was learning, a spin on a previous video or a question in my DMs that will become content.
If you're still stuck then you can reverse engineer Google and start typing your topic into google and see what else pops up, those are your talking points.
Example:
Now you can make a few videos “cloth diapering for beginners” “Best cloth diapers on amazon” “Cloth diapers pros and cons” “Cloth Diapers for beginners”.
Then do the process again for the next topic.
And if you still run out of content: Documenting the process is GREAT content
YEP. People love the journey, not just the finished product.
Document learning, failing, trying again. Document anything you want to share and share it. You don't have to have a perfect set up, in fact people more than ever love relatable content.
Creating watercolor paintings in your basement? COOL. Starting the boutique out of your garage? Awesome. Live in an average neighborhood with an average house? Okay.
Share what you do, tell stories, share mistakes.
People will get to follow your journey and learn from you, making them more invested.
This is all CONTENT!
But also, yes. People prefer to look at pleasing-to-the-eye content in addition to the real.
So simply create a space that is clean -but doesn't have to be pinterest perfect.
Make sure you're clean, but you do not have to have a face of makeup and your cutest outfit on.
If your information or entertainment is great it won't matter.
Four | What if I can't upload 3x/ week?
THEN DON'T. The best way to succeed on YouTube is to put your blinders on and move forward (and to be consistent).
When I first started, I posted a 3 min video every Wednesday. Because honestly that's all I could do. I truly didn't understand how people could film videos any longer!
Plus it took me HOURS to edit 15+ min worth of footage! How could I post 1x/ week if it was any longer?
What would I even talk about for 15+ minutes?
The answer? I couldn't, I wouldn't, and I would have quit.
So I started slow. I slowly learned about scripting, slowly learned how to edit, slowly learned, slowly got better, slowly felt more confident to make longer videos, and slowly, I did. You, however, can go faster by reading articles like this, or joining my YouTube course.
Decide what you can commit to (truthfully) and then do that. Commit to 1x / week or 2x / month and then be consistent.
Five | The best camera is the one you have.
Do you think most people who start a YouTube are video editors? Or people who just have nice cameras laying around and decide “actually I'm going to use this to make YouTube videos!”
No way! Most YouTubers have a seperate passion and decide to share and have to figure it out! You too, can figure it out.
Equipment: “the best camera is the one you have”. I've heard this over and over and it's true. When I first started, I used my COMPUTER CAMERA. Cellphone cameras are incredible, get some good lighting (my favorite is a window), and a tripod and stop using it as an excuse.
Editing: If you have a Mac there is free software called iMovie on your computer. Mess around with it, watch a beginners guide to iMovie on YouTube. Learn the BASICS and then just started editing videos you might never actually post. You don't have to do ALL of the things in your video. Stick to the basics, then when you want to learn how to do something, google it!
I used iMovie for YEARS until it didn't have a couple of features I wanted to use so I bought Final Cut Pro.
If you are a PC user the equivalent is Windows Video Editor.
Six | Okay, I'm ready!
But where do I actually start…
The first hurdle is getting over the fear and getting your mind right.
The second is ACTUALLY taking action. This blog hopefully got your mind in the right space and I hope you're ready to jump in!
I want to tell you, just go film something! But even that can feel like a lot.
You don't have a phone stand. You're not sure about lighting. What should be in the background? Should you make a script? How do you make a script?
So I put together a free guide “film your 1st youtube video confidently” to GET. YOU. STARTED!!
My course will go into more detail about each topic (as well as other things you didn't know you needed to know like when to title your video, programs to use to make a thumbnail, and different strategies to get views).
I hope this was helpful!
A YouTuber w/100k+ subs shares her secrets! Get over your fear, learn the strategy and and start your channel!