If I Were Starting A YouTube Channel Today // 15 things I wish I would have known getting started

so you want to start a youtube channel well there's a ton of youtube videos out there that are going to walk you through step by step the process of creating a youtube channel and this this is not that video i already have a video that gives you more tips of starting a channel but specifically today i want to talk about what i would do differently if i was just now getting started on youtube in 2021 because this channel that you're on right now i actually created at the end of 2017 and then i created a vlog channel in 2020 but i've been on youtube for a couple of years and i notice my mistakes i've had to make adjustments as i go and if you just want to get started the right way i want to give you some tips on what i would have done differently especially if i was getting started right now so the very first thing that you're probably already thinking about if you want to get started with a youtube channel is what the heck is going to be my channel name when i first got started on youtube i mean my whole brand in general was known as the content bug and i did that specifically because i was afraid of anyone finding my brand i didn't tell my family i didn't tell my friends and i didn't even use my real name i went by kath so that no one could find me after a couple of years i decided to rebrand and obviously my channel name is now catherine manning but if you're first getting started and one you want to create a name that has nothing to do with your own because you don't want anyone to find it i really want to challenge you to think beyond that because for most people just having your name as your channel name is a really really great place to get started but another thing you can think about is what kind of content are you going to create and you can create a channel name that relates to that and one example that i really like to use is lore diy freaking amazing channel name because with the name you know exactly what kind of video she's going to create on her channel so really this is like a two-step process you need to know what content you're going to create so then you can create your channel name but i would highly recommend just going with your name if you're gonna come up with something unique do your research first google it look it up on youtube just make sure you do your research and really think about what name you're going to use because again with me when i got started with the content bug i just googled it to make sure that no one had that domain and that no one was using that brand name and i didn't really die further when you googled the content bug i mean now you're gonna find a lot of stuff that relate back to me but at the time it was all negative news articles and things because content really relates to digital marketing and a bug within digital marketing is like a negative thing it's like a virus so do your research first i would recommend going with your name but since i already mentioned your niche let's talk about what videos you're going to create on your channel because when i first started this channel i was all over the place guys i was creating videos about anything and it was digital marketing so i was talking about pinterest instagram blogging because i was mainly a blogger at the time i was also talking about personal development and how to create a better life for yourself and then randomly i threw in a video like what i would give for christmas yeah i was all over the place and it really stunted my growth on the platform from the very beginning so what i would recommend for you guys is think about what niche you are going to really try to establish yourself in but more specifically what videos do you want to create and what videos are you passionate about if you're just creating videos because you know it's gonna make you a ton of money on youtube you're gonna end up burning out and you're not gonna end up liking the box that you put yourself in but with that being said don't niche down too hard and i know that sounds shocking coming from me because i've created so many videos on my channel talking about how to use the algorithm and grow on youtube and one of my tips is always to niche down and it's true that's what helped me to grow but i wish that i wouldn't have niched down as hard as i did because it put me in this little box and then youtube would really only recommend those videos for me more specifically what i would recommend for you guys is think about what your audience would want to see from you like what is the audience that you're trying to attract so for me my whole brand message is create a life you love doing what you love and yes that relates back to getting started on youtube if you want to be a youtuber and making money with youtube so that you can have a career that you love because i truly do love my career but there's so much more that goes into creating a life you love and that's what i'm really trying to branch my channel too but like i said i put myself in this little box and i'm trying to get myself out of it so really think about your audience and what videos they would be interested in and just come up with a broad niche that you can stick to if it helps you think of three main topics for your video so this is the first thing that i did when i started a niche down on my channel i came up with three main topics that i wanted to talk about and at the time it was blogging pinterest and how i did certain things how i did certain things ended up turning into me talking about youtube and really all of the videos on my channel relate back to how i've been able to do things that i can show you guys exactly how you can kind of recreate it for yourself but that brings me to another point when i first decided to niche down to digital marketing i obviously wanted to find other youtubers that were already paving the way and killing it in the area that i wanted to be killing it you know so specifically i was talking about blogging tips and pinterest tips so when it came to blogging i really looked up to alison lindstrom and i would take a look at her most successful videos on her channel what were the titles and the topics what were her thumbnails like and i really tried to draw inspiration from that so that i could create my own content that would do well for me and i thought that if these videos were getting a ton of views for her hopefully if i created similar videos then they would be suggested after her videos and it would drive traffic to mine which is a great strategy but at the same time i wasted so much time trying to be like other youtubers instead of really figuring out what made me different and there were two pivotal points for me that really led to the future direction of my own brand the very first one was in may of 2019 i wanted to create a video that was talking about the business of vlogging and sharing things that i felt like other people weren't sharing and what i wish i would have known when i was getting started so for example i think that was my first video ever where i talked about taxes because the first time i had to pay my own taxes guys i had a panic attack because i had no idea i had to do that and i didn't have enough money in my bank account to actually pay my taxes so that was really the first thing i realized that i wanted to share things that i felt like other people weren't sharing of course there's other people that are sharing youtube tips there's other people that are sharing blogging tips but i wanted to share something that was unique that was different but was also transparent and then the second thing that ended up happening was when i decided to switch into the youtube tips world i was taking a look at sunny lenarduzzi roberto blake think media and all of those big guys that were killing it in the youtube tips and i realized that those videos were very educational but i didn't feel like a lot of them were fun to watch and for me i love the lifestyle niche i love the vlogging niche and i was like what can i draw from this niche that the videos are solely for entertainment compared to this niche where the videos are solely for education and morph them together and that really blossomed my youtube channel where you guys know i try to get a lot of shots i try to make my videos interesting informative transparent and i try to share things that i wish other people would have shared when i was getting started and things that have helped me out along the way basically my tip here is do not copy other people's youtube channels don't try to be the next jake paul and copy exactly what he's doing there's a reason it works for him no one is you and that is your superpower so really hone into what makes you unique and what can you do different that really we need to see here on youtube and since i've mentioned the algorithm a couple of times i wish i would have learned about the youtube algorithm sooner it took me a year of creating videos and seeing little to no result for me to finally google how to grow on youtube and that's when i learned to niche down and the importance of consistency and all of that stuff there's so much that goes into the youtube algorithm and there's no way of beating it i hate the phrase beat the algorithm you're not going to beat it there's a way to work with it that is going to help you to grow on youtube so really i would recommend watching those videos as soon as you can it's going to help you to really hone in on your youtube strategy figure out what your uploading schedule is going to be another tip guys consistency is key so create an uploading schedule from the beginning the next thing may seem a little contradicting just because in the past i've shared that you can start a youtube channel with just your phone you don't need a fancy camera and 100 that's true sometimes i vlog on my phone like i've got the new iphone and the quality of the camera on that thing is so so freaking good so you don't need the nicest equipment to get started but what i would have done is started saving up from the very beginning to buy a nicer camera for myself and the camera that i'm filming on right now guys was only 500 600 so if you're saving 50 bucks a month 100 bucks a month you can get to a nicer camera quicker than you thought probably possible when you are first getting started but when i got started with my channel i had a shaky old camera where i couldn't see myself there was no flip out screen and the autofocus was just absolutely terrible and i used that camera for over a year and i think it ended up holding me back because the quality wasn't good and who the heck wanted to watch a shaky video that ended up giving you a headache hand in hand with leveling up i kind of wish that i would have leveled up on certain things sooner now this isn't something that you need from the very beginning but i would say your first year on youtube i would recommend leveling up in certain ways whether that is starting to edit on an external hard drive just getting an external hard drive i mean is absolutely key having a microphone on your camera or even i have a wide angle lens here i absolutely love filming with this but there are certain ways that you can level up and it did take me a while to level up in different areas on my channel and do it as you go like i said you don't want to invest thousands of dollars from the very beginning do it little by little as you go but one of the things that i wish i would have done sooner is actually get started with epidemic sound now this segment of the video is sponsored by epidemic i have been working with them for a while i have been using their platform for well over a year and i absolutely love them so thank you so much to epidemic for sponsoring but when i was first getting started with youtube i was using everything free that i could so i have got apple products right here and imovie comes for free i was using imovie when it came to my music and my sound effects i was using music that was available within the youtube creator studio and just getting their copyright free music when it came to sound effects i was only using the sound effects that came within imovie it wasn't until i switched to epidemic sound that i realized my videos could have been so so much better if i would have switched to epidemic sooner so basically epidemic sound what it is it's a platform where you can get access to copyright free music as well as sound effects they've got over 30 000 different tracks it's being updated all the freaking time and it doesn't really matter what vibe you're going for they have got so many different genres and the way that it's organized by mood and genre and even length of the song like it's so easy to navigate and use and with the free music that i was getting off of youtube i felt like i really struggled to find unique songs that other creators weren't using compared with epidemic because their library of tracks is so big you can find something that's really unique so if you want to level up in just like the littlest way it's only 15 a month you can get started with a one month free trial just to see what it's about so i'll include a link in the description bar down below but i kind of wish i would have done little investments sooner than i actually did now can we talk about thumbnails for a second because when i was first getting started with my youtube channel i was not not paying attention to my thumbnails at all i would actually take a screen capture from my video so i wouldn't even specifically pose for here's what i want a thumbnail to look like you know i was just taking a screen capture from my video and turning it into some kind of just disastrous thumbnail what i do now is after i record a youtube video i will take 10 to 15 minutes and i will specifically set up a shot for my thumbnail and i will take a photo so i don't just use like recording on my camera and then just take a screen capture even if i'm posing or something i don't do that i will specifically take a photo for the thumbnail the quality turns out so much better and you're going to thank yourself for it because then you're not struggling once the video is all done and edited and then you have to figure out what the heck the is going to be since you've made it this far into the video i'm going to give you my most important tip and the one thing that has truly made the biggest difference with my youtube channel and i know i've shared so much in this video but if you're writing anything down write this down the videos that have ended up making the biggest impact on my channel that have ended up being my most successful and helped me to grow the most were the ones that no one else had ever created and i know that seems crazy because i've got so many videos on my channel that other people have created in the past like it's really really hard to be unique on youtube i will say with how many videos there are out there but some of my most successful ones two of them in particular how long it takes to get monetized on youtube when i created that video there were no other videos on youtube that had that exact title and that were specifically talking about that there were a ton talking about my first youtube paycheck and how to get monetized on youtube but not specifically the timeline of getting monetized on youtube with that title and the things that i covered in that video and that video was the first one that ever took off for me and then the second one had to relate directly to that which is how much money i ended up making my first year of being monetized a lot of people were sharing how much money they make in a year how much money they make in a month but never their first year being monetized yes take a look at what other people are doing because obviously they've been successful for a reason but figure out what's missing what you can do different on your own channel within your videos and what unique videos can you create that no one has created before because that is really how you're going to be able to stand out on youtube so hoping that you guys like this video and found it helpful if you did make sure you give it a thumbs up subscribe my channel down below and i will see you guys back here on tuesday with another one bye guys okay you can't just stand there do you see her to everyone that's like how do you film with your dog usually she's used to it but i've trapped off her bed right now in my office so she can't get to her bed and she is absolutely distraught go on you can go right through okay let's get back to it [Music] you

Channel: Cathrin Manning

Views: 1,256,501

Keywords: Cathrin Manning, how to start a YouTube channel, start on youtube, become a youtuber, how to become a youtube, start a channel, starting a YouTube channel, YouTube channel, how to youtube, start YouTube channel, YouTube for beginners

Id: n5XSaoFB0a8

Length: 14min 10sec (850 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 19 2021