How To Start a YouTube Channel Successfully (For Beginners)

If 10 years ago someone would have come up to me and told me, “Hi, I am a YouTuber, and I make a full-time income from YouTube” I would have just stared blankly at their face, not knowing what they are talking about!

This would have been a normal reaction back then.

But folks, times have definitely changed. Now channels with at least 100k subscribers are making more money than any high-profile 9  to 5 job.

Moreover,

Video Content Is Taking Over

The main reason why “Videos” will be the king of all contents is that videos generally have higher engagement rates than any other type of media.

And most social platforms too (other than YouTube) absolutely love video content. Most of the viral stuff on Facebook are videos, Instagram too prefers videos more than images. 

And Personally too, I would choose video content over any other form of content any day.

Why? Because it is the most fun and easy way to grasp anything. 

Earning Potentials of YouTube

Why do you think YouTube is the best place to Start your video-driven business? Well, here are some general YouTube Statistics (2019)

• Number of MONTHLY active users: 1.9 Billion+
• Number of DAILY active users: 30 Million+
• Number of videos watched per day: 5 Billion+

A 7-year-old kid makes $22 Million a year reviewing toys. Now I’ll leave the “How much you can potentially earn?” question to your imagination. 

What are the types of videos that get most of the views?

Well, there are primarily two types of videos that gain most of the attractions:

• Entertainment
• Problem-solving / Learning videos

Ask yourself why YOU watch YouTube in the first place? Either you want to be entertained or to know something (how-to guides, tutorials, etc).

This is why understanding this is so important because the type of videos you will make will shape your audience and your YouTube business in general.

And when it comes to creating a YouTube video, 

Quality>>>>>Quantity

As a full-time content creator, I cannot stress it enough how important is it to create good quality content. You can make 7 videos a week but as long as your videos are lacking quality, you cannot make it. 

To Niche OR Not To Niche

There is a basic concept across the digital space is that to increase like-minded audience and income, you have to niche down your content from the beginning.

This is true but not to a full extent, having a niche is great but it is not a necessity you know. You can start with a much broader spectrum and then narrow it down based on the subtopics you’re getting more profit from.

The reason why a niche is important in content marketing is explained below

Let us suppose that you have a channel that creates Investment tutorials. Slowly and steadily you’ll gain a massive audience base that is interested in Investment who watches your videos regularly.

These are the same people who will be most inclined to buy stuff (like courses and Ebooks) that you might sell through your videos.

How do you start your own YouTube channel?

Since you’re already on the internet, there is a high chance that you have a YouTube account. But having a YouTube account is not the same as a YouTube Channel (duh!).

To create your own YouTube channel (if you haven’t already), first, sign in to your YouTube account and then click the link below

Create Your Channel

Give your channel a name and upload your channel banner (To create a channel banner you can use Canva which is free to use).

Also, you can use Canva’s Outro Maker to get awesome outro templates for your video.

Sign up now!

Start, Just Start!

When it comes to trying new things, a big fat leap of faith is required. I know how that feels.

Been there, done that!

But the key element of anything successful is its starting point.

The fact that you’ve finally started something you have been thinking about for a long time is worth appreciating. And no matter how poor quality your content might be in the infant stage, it’s only going to get better and better.

So Without thinking anything, without putting too much stress Just start your damn Channel!

Thinking that your video might turn out weird, embarrassing, or cringy? Let it be!

Do you know that I started this blog because I just wanted to give it a try with

• An ugly (-ish) looking blog
• No knowledge about blogging
• No website knowledge
• No good writing experience
• No Nothing!

My first few blogs were pretty short, lacked quality, and could easily have made any grammar nazi go crazy. I never in my 19 years of life had thought that I could make any money through blogging, but here we are, started making a full-time income before even graduating college.

How about it?

Being Consistent Is Important

With the growing competition across the digital space, the last thing you want is to fade away. To prevent that, you have to post videos consistently.

Besides that, almost all social platforms’ algorithms prefer channels/accounts that are consistent.

Period!

You might not be able to post your videos every day, but if you post just two videos in a week, keep doing that. The scheduling of videos lets your subscribers keep track of the days you post rather than just wondering when you’ll appear next.

Being consistent also shows your viewers that you’re passionate about what you do, and as a result, they are more drawn to it. 

Keep Trying Different Things

When you have a channel, only one type of content might shine for a while but will saturate soon and will be out of context. 

To keep your content new, fun, and fresh, occasionally try new things, analyze what attracts more attention, change your style a bit, get out of your comfort zone, etc.

Get On The Trending Train Once In a While

Remember the time when ASMR took over the internet? Yeah, as a result, a lot of brand new YouTubers who posted a few videos doing ASMR stuff got really big really fast. 

Even some big celebrities got their hands dirty! There’s a video of Cardi B trying ASMR, And it has 21 Million views (at the time of writing this).

So the point of all this is, that getting on the trending train gives you the opportunity to attract a new audience. People are constantly searching for trending topics.

Use that to your advantage!

One thing you should keep in mind is that,

A strict narrow-niched channel might find it a little tricky to implement trendy topics as that might not resonate with the said niche. At the same time, a broader niche channel (like a vlog or a lifestyle channel) has the flexibility to do so.

How do you make money on YouTube?

When it comes to making money from YouTube videos, there are a few ways

#1: With Ads! Ever Heard of Adsense?

Adsense allows you to monetize your videos through ads that eventually make you money based on the views on your videos. Through the years, the platform has changed and has much tighter rules to monetize videos on YouTube.

Now, each channel/creator has to obtain 4,000 hours of overall watch-time on their YouTube channel within the past 12 months & have at least 1,000 subscribers on their channel.

#2: Brand Sponsorship: This type of monetization might not be for new YouTubers as they barely have any audience, but when you have a decent number of subscribers (and consistent views) under your belt, brands will reach out to you in order to promote their products. 

You promote the product, your viewers buy the stuff, and you get a percentage of the profit (commission).

As simple as that!

#3: Selling your own goods (merch & stuff): This is a more common form of monetization than you think. Most of the well-established YouTubers have their merch or products they sell through their videos. And a lot of them use this opportunity and turn it into a company,

For example: A famous YouTuber, Jeffree Star, started his makeup brand (JeffreeStartCosmetics) on YouTube and grew it into a multi-million dollar company in a few short years. Can you imagine?

Time for some FAQs–

Is creating a YouTube channel free?

Creating a channel on YouTube is free. Anyone with access to YouTube through their website or the app can watch videos, but you’ll have to create a channel (which is free) in order to upload content and create playlists, etc.

Fun fact: Do you know China does not have access to YouTube? They have their own alternative to YouTube, called Youku.

How much does it cost to start a YouTube channel?

If you don’t already have a camera, it is going to cost you some money. Chances are, you already have a smartphone, and it has a camera. You can start by filming yourself on your phone camera. This will cost you $0. 

If the poor quality of your phone camera does not fit your quality taste or you want to start a high-quality/professional channel, it will cost you around $300 to $500 to purchase the required pieces of equipment. 

And eventually, you’ll need some professional editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, which has a monthly subscription cost of $20.99. There are many cheaper alternatives if you think this price is too high!

How many views do you need to get paid on YouTube?

You can start uploading to YouTube, but you will not be paid until your channel is connected to Adsense.

According to the newly implemented guidelines, in order to do that, your channel will require at least 4,000 hours of overall watch time on the channel within the past 12 months & have at least 1,000 subscribers.

Can you make a living off of YouTube?

Aren’t people already?

Yes, making a living off of YouTube is a reality for many. If you have that time, dedication, and consistency, you can too. It might take you quite a bit of time, but once your audience is established, it will be a lot easier.

Moreover, once your audience is large enough, big brands will reach out to you to plug a 30-sec promotional material in your video in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars (sponsored video)

How much money do 1 million YouTube views make?

To simply put, it depends.

There is not hard-and-fast rule when it comes to making money on YouTube. It depends on multiple factors, such as:

The topic of the video – Different niches/ topics of videos make money differently. A simple vlog can make around $2,000 to $4,000 per million views because they have an RPM (rate per thousand views) of about $2.

Whereas channels about the topic of money-making can have an RPM of $40, making them $40,000 per million views. So you can say that the range is pretty diverse!

The length of the video – Longer videos tend to make more money as there is more time to put the ads at various intervals of the video.

The Number of ad units placed on the video– The number of times you’ve placed ads on a video is also a factor in how much you’ll be making.

But you cannot put a sea of ads if the video is not very long because the watching experience will turn out to be quite horrible, and people will immediately bounce off.

So it requires a perfect balance of the length of the video and ad units placed on it.

Time of the year – Advertisers pay differently during different times of the year. Advertisers pay more during the holiday season (November to December) and less during the January- February period (i.e. post-holiday period).

As a result, seasonality affects income.

Demographics of your audience – Videos, where the audience is mainly from developed English-speaking countries such as the USA, Canada, UK, etc, tend to make more money compared to others as advertisers spend more money advertising to such countries.

Related Posts:

• How to Start a Money-Making Blog (In Less Than 20 Minutes)
• 5 Lucrative Business Ideas For Women (Make $1000 a Week)   
• Investing Strategies To Grow Rich Fast (For Beginners)

And you might as well ask me,

Hey Sayan! Do you have a YouTube channel?

Well No…NOT YET!

Gonna start one shortly!

How about you?

Any plans for starting YouTube? What are your ideas? Doubts? Let me hear it!