In this instructional video, Alex Cattoni walks aspiring creators through the five essential pre‑launch actions you should complete before publishing your first YouTube video. She begins by warning viewers about the common mistake of launching without a clear plan, sharing her own six‑month journey to the first 1,000 subscribers. The five steps are: (1) Select a niche – become crystal‑clear on the specific subject you’ll be known for, using self‑assessment questions to ensure genuine passion and expertise; (2) Determine your target audience – build a detailed customer avatar (name, occupation, pain points, goals) so content is audience‑centric rather than self‑focused; (3) Create content pillars – outline five broad topic categories within the niche to generate a sustainable pool of video ideas; (4) Research the competition – act as a “performance detective” by analyzing top‑performing videos for gaps, hooks, thumbnails, watch‑time, and comment insights; (5) Map out your first ten videos – plan a runway of content before the first publish to maintain consistency, avoid gaps, and give the algorithm a steady signal. Throughout, Alex intersperses personal anecdotes, motivational encouragement, and multiple calls‑to‑action, offering downloadable worksheets (customer avatar exercise) and a free social‑media CTA cheat sheet. The tone is upbeat, instructional, and promotional, aiming to equip beginners with a concrete roadmap while fostering confidence.
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So you're thinking about starting a YouTube channel. Awesome. Well, let me tell you the five things you must definitely do before you publish your first video. And the things I wish I knew sooner. Keep watching. Hey, posse, what's up? It's Alex. Now, you guys have been asking me for tips on starting a YouTube channel for years now, so I am very excited to be making this video for you today. Today, I'm sharing the five most important factors for you to consider before you publish your first video. Now, listen, I know a lot of people get really excited about starting a channel, and then they jump right in without considering these factors, your girl included. And while I have hundreds of thousands of subscribers now, it was definitely a slow journey in the beginning. Believe it or not, it took me six months to reach my first 1000 subscribers. And looking back, there are definitely some things that I would have done differently before I got started. And that is what I'm covering in today's video. Now, when it comes to YouTube, there is much so, so much that goes into creating and running a successful channel, and way more, of course, than I could cover in a single video. So you better believe I'll be doing more videos on YouTube lessons and strategies. So if that sounds good to you, let me know. I really want to know if you guys want more content like this so you know what to do, hit subscribe below and don't forget to ring that bell to be notified when my next video goes live. And if you like this video and want to see more videos about starting a YouTube channel, make sure to drop a comment below and let me know what you want to learn about next. All right, so let's get started. The first thing you need to do before you start your YouTube channel is, number one, select your niche or niche, however you say it, that's right. Before you start creating content, it's really important for you to know what content you're going to be creating. And I know this might seem like, pretty obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people start a YouTube channel without putting really any thought or consideration into where they want to take their channel. They just post a hodgepodge of different stuff. Stuff. And that is a huge mistake. So the very first step is that you want to get crystal clear on what your channel will be about. What do you want to be known for? Will you have a lifestyle vlog? Will you talk about dog training? Will you teach people how to make sourdough? Talk about video games, review products, share photography tips? The list goes on and on. You get the idea? The question you want to ask yourself is, are you super knowledgeable about a certain topic that you can help educate others on that? There are even faceless channels where you literally don't even have to show your face. The possibilities are endless when it comes to starting a YouTube channel. So get really, really clear on what your niche is. Now, if you're sitting there thinking, well, shoot, I don't really know what to talk about. I don't really know anything. Here are some questions to help you hone in on your potential niche. Ask yourself, what am I good at? What do I have experience and credibility in? What am I genuinely interested in? What am I so lit up and excited about that I can continue to show up and talk about this topic? And this is key every single week for. For years. Yep. Because listen, YouTube is not a short term platform. Don't expect to show up for a few weeks, do a few videos and get great results. It really is a commitment. And in those early months, your channel may be slow to gain some momentum. Ask me how I know. And sometimes it really will feel like you're talking to an empty room or just that nobody cares. After your friends and family really like and pump up that first video, you'll feel like a rock star for a hot second. Then you'll fall into what I call the crickets phase. That time between starting and gaining actual traction. You know, where real strangers and people you don't know on the Internet are liking your stuff. So it might take a while to get any sort of external validation for your effort. And that is why it is so important to select a niche based on what you genuinely enjoy talking about something you're passionate about. Because if you start a channel based on what you think is hot or what's trending or what you think will be successful, then trust me, you are going to lose a lot of motivation and throw in the towel early when your channel doesn't take off as quickly as you thought it might. So. So, like I mentioned earlier, it took half a freaking year for my channel to really start gaining any sort of momentum. And if I wasn't genuinely passionate about what I was talking about, I definitely would have given up before I hit that milestone. And then my YouTube channel would have been a failure instead of a big success. So pick something that you love, something that you're good at, something that you are totally cool talking about, even if you're the only one listening. All right? And look, don't be afraid to actually niche down. So I hear from so many entrepreneurs and aspiring creatives that they're afraid to niche down or box themselves in. But listen, it's really hard to be known for anything when you talk about everything. So start specific. Then you can absolutely pivot the type of content you produce as your audience grows and evolves with you. And, in fact, you almost certainly will. So when I first started my channel, I talked exclusively about copywriting. So this tip is actually something that I did follow, and I'm really glad I did. Then, as my business began to grow and my followers began asking me for more tips on how to scale and grow their businesses, that is when I started branching out and talking about other things like social media, social media, content marketing, business tips, marketing advice, and so on. So you're totally allowed to pivot and change directions. In fact, you definitely should. But you need to start with a clear direction in mind. You need to know where to point your sales. All right, so with that, let's move on to the next thing you need to get really clear on before you start your channel. And that is, number two, determine your target audience. So now that you know what niche you'll start in, you really want to figure out who this content is for, for, and more importantly, how you will make it relevant to them. Yes. This is Marketing 101. It is not about you. It is about your viewer. And I know, I know I just said you need to be totally okay with creating content, even if you're the only one listening. And that's true. But you also need to keep in mind that your channel is really all about your audience. And if you don't know who that is, then you're going to have a really, really hard time actually creating anything useful for them and then attracting your ideal audience. And I made this mistake when I was just getting started. I actually thought that when I started my channel, I was doing it more for copywriting clients and that my dream clients would be the ones watching my videos and think, damn, I need to hire her. So my first few videos really spoke to this audience. I really thought, like, Deepak Chopra would call me up and be like, alex, I saw your videos and I need to hire you. It wasn't until I got a comment from someone about five weeks in who said, hey, Alex, can you tell us about how you became a freelance copywriter? And I was like, oh, okay. So I created a video on that, speaking to an entirely different audience. And then, boom. To this day, that one video is still my most viewed video. So it's really good to get super clear, super, super clear on who your audience actually is. So who is your target audience? What are their pain points? What are they struggling with? What do they want to learn? What do they want to accomplish? What do they need to learn to actually get there? So really help them map out that transformation. What does it look like? Remember, if you try to speak to everyone, you'll end up speaking to no one. I've said that many times before. So what I recommend doing is actually thinking of that one person that you're creating content for, right? One person, one customer avatar with a name, an occupation, a clear set of beliefs, desires, challenges. And that will make scripting your videos a lot, lot easier because you are speaking to that one person. And I actually have an entire customer avatar worksheet that will walk you through this process from start to finish, and I will share that with you at the end, end of this video. So after you create your customer avatar, you should now have a pretty good idea of your customer's interests, or at least what they're looking for. And this is going to help you big time with the next step, which is number three, create your content pillars. All right, so now you've got your niche dialed in, right? And you know who you're talking to. Now it's time to map out the topic categories that you'll talk about in order to help your ideal customer. And this is something that a lot of people overlook. They think, oh, I'm going to talk about dog grooming as an example. And then they start making videos about dog grooming and quickly realize, oh, my gosh, I am running out of things to say, or I'm running out of ideas to talk about. But even in a niche as specific as dog grooming, there are a variety of content categories. For example, you could demonstrate different grooming techniques, or do a series on specific breeds, or review doggy hair care products, or talk about grooming safety. So whatever your niche is, map out five related topics or content pillars that your audience might be interested in. Going through this process makes it a lot easier to map out sub topics under each pillar that you can then create videos about. Now you're ready to move on to the next phase, which is number four, Research the competition. Yep, you really want to know what other people are doing, but most people are doing this step incorrectly. So when it comes to scoping out the competition, you want to do more than simply looking at what videos they're posting about. You want to turn into a performance detective. Search some of the keywords of your niche pillars and subtopics and find the videos that perform really well. Then watch the video and ask yourself, what is this creator doing really well? What aren't they doing so well? Where are the gaps? What is missing? And how can you differentiate yourself from them? And one of the best ways to find this out is by reading the comment section under the video. Most of the time, if someone is going to leave a comment, it's either because something was super awesome or because something was not so great, or they're just terrible YouTube trolls that we just ignore. Anyway, either way, it's really great to consider that insight when you're creating your content. Now, another thing to look at when performing your research is to consider why the video performed so well. But don't just look at views. Look at watch time. Look at what they chose as the title and a thumbnail. Was it a good hook? Maybe that'll give you an idea of what captured people's attention. And then how did they keep people's attention? What keywords did they use? How did they open loops in the video to keep people engaged? This is all really important information to utilize when it comes to creating and posting your first video. All right, now we're going to move on to step number five. Map out your first 10 videos before you push publish on your first one. You guys trust me on this one. Please plan ahead. Plan further ahead than you think you'll need to record and edit your first 5 to 10 videos before you publish your very first one. So when I first started my channel, I actually only planned out my first four videos, and I'm really glad I did, but I wish I did more. It did give me a little bit of a Runway to really plan and prepare for more content. But keep in mind, it is going to take you a few weeks or maybe even months to find, find your groove and flush out your process. So the more content you can have in advance, the better. And what you don't want to happen is for you to miss a week because you fell behind and then you couldn't get everything ready on time. You really want to stay as consistent as possible in the beginning, right? Because YouTube, I mean, we never know how the algorithm works. But I know that consistency is the name of the game, right? So you want the YouTube algorithm gods to go, oh, wow, that person is producing regular content week after week. So why don't we show them more of. Of a similar audience who's watching their videos? So that is why it is so important to really take this prep work. Seriously. Set yourself up for success. Plan ahead. Stick to a schedule that you can stay consistent with, Start posting one day a week and most importantly, keep going and give yourself a lot of grace throughout this process. Trust me, you'll feel awkward at first. It's always weird putting yourself on video for the first time, but I know you can do it. So give me a thumbs up below if you found this helpful. And as promised, you can grab your customer avatar exercise in just a hot second second at the end of this video or you can find the link below. I'll see you next time with a brand new video. Till then, I'm Alex. Ciao for now. Alright guys, if you enjoyed that video, make sure to check out the next one from me right here and you can click right here to get a free gift. In this video I'm going to show you how to make the most of your social media content, utilizing powerful and proven CTAs that follow the rule of three R L s. And to make this as practical as possible for you, I'm also giving you a free Social Captions and CTAS cheat sheet loaded with writing prompts, swipe copy and CTAs to help you grow and scale your social following. I will drop a link for that at the end of this video, so make sure you stick around.
