Graham Stephan, Meet Kevin, SSSniperWolf, and a bazillion other YouTubers are millions of subscribers ahead of you. Is it too late to launch your own YouTube channel here in 2022? I mean, if you look around in your niche, no matter how obscure it is, there’s already countless creators; and most of them make really great content, right? So how would you ever catch them? Then, again, if you could, there’s millions of dollars waiting for you, isn’t there?
I think, as long as you’re making videos people wanna watch and you’re consistent, and you do it your way, you can still be successful on YouTube. Sure, it’s more competitive than ever, but five years from now, it’ll be way worse and you’ll probably wish you had just started. Remember, none of us watch only one channel for the type of content we’re interested in. We all subscribe to multiple channels, and we all vibe with different creators for different reasons.
YouTube makes it possible for you to get free, targeted traffic. You can monetize that traffic dozens of ways, from ad revenue to affiliate marketing, courses, coaching, sponsorships, joint venture deals, you name it. The only downside, for me, other than how crowded it is, is how finicky YouTube can be. They’ll take down individual videos for mentioning Covid; you’ll get demonetized for swearing; or you might even lose your entire channel if some troll reports you enough.
That said, if you decide to go for it, here’s what multi-millionaire YouTuber Vanessa Lau suggests. Tip number one: pick an audience to make videos for, not a niche. So instead of going, “I’m gonna start a personal finance channel,” it’s more like, “I’m gonna speak to disgruntled millennials who need to get their crap together.” This way, your content resonates with them more and you’re not stuck talking about one topic you might actually get sick of.
Vanessa’s second tip is to double down on what works. After uploading vids for a few months, what you’re gonna notice is that certain topics are gonna perform better than others. Cool, so do more of those, and watch your channel explode. Tip number three: get yourself an optimized cover banner. It’s one of the first things new viewers will see, right? Make sure it has a value proposition. Why should someone subscribe? Also, include an upload schedule and an external link, maybe to an opt-in page.
Tip number four? Work ahead. Get three, four, five videos ready to roll before you even upload your first one. Why? Breathing room. It’s hard to constantly crank out new videos, and you don’t wanna feel stressed or like you can’t ever take a break, right? So batch your video making and be smart about when you launch your channel, and always keep some “dry powder” on the side. Or else you’re gonna be perpetually stuck on that content hamster wheel.
Tip number five: tool up. Have extra batteries on hand, always. Don’t cheap out on your memory card, either. Nothing worse than being eighty percent of the way done with an amazing video, only to have your camera crap out on you. Tip six: progress over perfection. So it’s a balance, right? You wanna work ahead, but you can’t be such a perfectionist you never launch; or you can’t be always going back and reshooting every single video, right? Subscribe to Vanessa Lau on YouTube for more insights.
