Do you ever wonder how YouTubers make their money? Have you started your first YouTube channel yet and made your first video? Do you want to know how to make it on YouTube and turn a hobby into a business?
Most people are curious but they don’t take the time to get to know the platform and all it can offer. It’s a powerful one and that’s why I’m going to talk about it in this article.
Video content is crucial.
Every creator who’s doing something on the Web, should add that to their brand, side projects or even do it for fun.
The point of becoming a YouTuber is to share your message with as many people as possible. And with 1 billion hours of video being watched on YouTube daily, obviously, that’s where people are.
The purpose of this guide on how to make it on YouTube is to show you how beneficial and profitable it can be and why you need to hit publish on that first video soon, even though it’s scary and something you thought you’d never do.
How to Make It on YouTube: Creating a Brand and Making Money from It
First a few shocking numbers. I think these will be enough to convince you that even though having a blog is a must and a podcast would be a good addition to your brand and business, you should have your name on YouTube and even make videos constantly, especially intro videos to segway into your topic. Save money and time with a YouTube intro maker in minutes, then save it to use with future videos.
As I mentioned, 1 billion hours of video are watched on this one site daily. I’m not sure we can even grasp the size of that.
The number of visitors on YouTube it is 30 million per day.
That proves that people are there, but they are also engaged. And engagement these days is what makes or breaks a platform. You need to be there to engage them further with your content.
More fun facts.
80% of all those videos are from outside the US. So the whole world is watching videos in one place.
Now let’s take a look at the creators, in this case, the competition. 300 hours of video are uploaded on youtube every minute. That’s right. Every minute.
But still, it’s much easier to be found there than by having a blog you need to promote yourself, buried under millions of other more popular sites on the Internet.
Okay, now that you know why I’m choosing to focus this platform, let’s talk about what it takes to become known there and build an audience. Or in order words, how to make it on YouTube and become one of those vloggers earning money online.
I watched quite a lot of Gary Vee recently. And it helped quite a lot.
Another thing he’s famous for is having mastered social media and video content.
He’s got the AskGaryVee show, where he answers questions of listeners. There’s also the DailyVee, where he’s documenting his life as an entrepreneur. He literally has no free minutes in his day, so he just has people filming him doing business, and that is enough to inspire the hundreds of thousands of views he gets.
Read also: Gary Vaynerchuk’s Biggest Strength That Helped Him Build an Empire
He’s got the personality and attitude, and the message he shares is powerful. Some of the things I’ve learned from him, if you’re about to create a channel and learn how to make it on YouTube, are these:
- don’t worry about quality of the video at the beginning, just go ahead and record and publish that first one;
- Don’t create, document. Meaning, you don’t need to do the work first and wait till you share your advice with people. Instead, talk about the process while you’re on your way to making it happen. That’s what viewers are interested in anyways.
- Produce a lot of content on a weekly basis. And invest enough in distribution. That also means being on the top social media channels and not just posting stuff, but thanking everyone who follows you, researching hashtags and messaging people in the same field to say something. That leads to forming connections, and that’s directly related to the size of your audience.
- Then, it’s all about attention. Everyone’s fighting for the users’ attention, and that’s what you’ll be doing too if you want to make it on YouTube, build a brand and earn money. But to make this simpler and even more authentic, just be yourself and talk to those who resonate with your way of thinking. Don’t fake it till you make it as you’ll attract the wrong people. Instead, talk about what moves you and what you have experience with. That will make your message real and practical.
Now, let’s move onto the actions you should take over the next few days if you decide to start a YouTube business, and also the things to consider when creating a strategy to play the long game as a YouTuber.
YouTube Tips for Beginners Looking to Crush It
1. Make the most of the platform.
For a start, get to know YouTube.
Read about it, play with the settings, go ahead and create your channel using your Google account and see what new things are presented to you.
Personalize it with a name, image, description, etc. even if you don’t know what exactly you’ll be uploading any time soon.
What’s great about it is that it offers you the whole experience for free.
For example, with my blog, I need to pay for hosting and a domain name and use Google Analytics for stats.
For the podcast I had, I paid to another company for hosting the audio content, and put it on iTunes. There’s little stats showing what’s really going on, though.
However, with YouTube you’ve got all that ready for you.
You upload a video with one button, it’s quality, you can add a name and description targeting some specific keywords and thus be found even sooner by the right people.
Then, you can keep your videos there forever, see how they perform in your dashboard, create playlists to organize the different shows you’ll be putting up in the future, and so much more.
2. Research what’s popular.
Check out influencers in your niche. Watch other YouTubers’ videos.
See the average length, the language they are using, whether they are just recording at home and if so what changes you can make in your room to make it look more professional.
When strategizing, think about your strengths, what will help you stand out, and what personality you’d like to show.
3. Turn your camera on to see yourself for the first time.
On your Macbook, that can just be QuickTime, no need to use iMovie or download a software.
Simply hit video recording and watch yourself for a few seconds. Then, introduce yourself as if this is your first video that you’ll publish and say why you created your channel.
Truth is, that’s all you need the first few times to see how to make it on YouTube. No need for special effects, completely white background or professional lighting, editing the audio or video, or else.
Keep in mind that momentum is built when uploading the first 10 videos. So don’t just carefully publish the first one and wait for things to happen. It doesn’t work that wait.
All this will be a great addition to your personal brand and will complement all your other projects online. Do it consistently and make sure it fits well in the big picture. That’s how you make it on YouTube, get initial traffic and build an audience and a brand around it.
4. Make short videos first.
In fact, you can never get to long-form content and that’s okay. Find what’s best for sharing your message and what works well in your exact niche.
Make new videos at least once weekly. Preferably, more often.
That’s the general rule of any type of content on the Internet really.
Once that’s done, you’ll be ready to have some structure with your YouTube channel and video making process. Meaning, people will know which day of the week to expect a new piece of content from you, you’ll be beginning and ending in the same way, and what you say in-between will be more organized as well.
You can even create a plan on what to cover for the next few weeks.
5. Optimize your videos.
You’ll play with optimizing too. It’s just like with a blog post. Google reads the text, so make your title say what people are likely to search for and which best summarizes the content. Then, in the description, you can share the whole transcript if you want to.
There’s also place to add links to your blog, further reading, anything mentioned, or even your social media accounts to encourage people to follow you. If you need to download your own videos or others for reference, using the best YouTube downloader for Mac can be very helpful.
To rank your YouTube videos high in search engines, use the right tags and categories.
Find fun and non-egressive ways to remind people to subscribe to your channel for more. Whenever you receive a comment, answer it. Engage with your viewers when you have some.
6. Form relationships with other YouTubers.
Answering the question ‘How to make it on YouTube?’ has a lot to do with networking too.
Just like guest posting and social media shoutouts work, approach people whose channels you like and offer something nice, or just thank them. Some won’t react, but others might keep in touch with you or even mention you to their audience.
Keep in mind that all this is about providing value. Don’t think about getting paid for making videos. It’s possible that this might never happen.
But see it as part of the big picture. So many opportunities can come out of this that will lead to new clients, being noticed, and so much more.
7. Be authentic.
When deciding who you want to be on YouTube, go for being the guy or gal sharing their honest opinion. Talk confidently about the topic you choose to cover, as obviously, it will be something you’re passionate about and know enough about.
Another thing that goes together with being real, is making mistakes. That’s what makes YouTube even more fun.
You don’t need to edit your videos. It’s okay if you make pauses, your phone rings, you forget your thoughts for a moment, or even if someone enters the room. That’s real life, and that’s how people wanna see it on video.
Final Words
I hope you enjoyed this guide on how to make it on YouTube. The next step is to just go ahead, start recording and uploading, and see where it takes you.
If you aren’t okay with video content, are a writer by nature like me, and not too tech-savvy to try a new medium, I really hope I made you rethink this with this article. Anyone can be a YouTuber if they find the right audience to share their message with.
Good luck!
