How To Start a YouTube Channel - For Beginners

Everyone has a voice, passions and talent, and one of the best ways to share these things with world is to start your own YouTube channel. But starting YouTube channel goes beyond creating a single video. It's a commitment that often takes months or years to hone your skills, find your audience and build a community. So let's break down this monumental task into five steps for starting a YouTube channel. Step 1 Consider your niche the first step to start a YouTube channel is finding your niche. And a niche is a specific topic or theme that your channel will revolve around. It could be beauty, technology, fitness, or something else entirely. Your niche is what will set you apart and attract your target audience. Creating a variety YouTube channel that explores multiple niches and topics can be incredibly rewarding on a personal, creative level, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. But just be aware that YouTube channels without a specific niche or purpose can be very hard to grow and sustain. So it's usually a good idea to think of a specific audience for your channel. Who are you making your YouTube videos for and why should they subscribe? Your niche should be something that you're passionate about and knowledgeable in. This will help keep you motivated and engaged, and it'll show in your content. One thing to note is that even within a specific niche, it's totally natural for your channel to change and evolve over time. As you upload videos, you'll probably get new ideas, and you'll also get feedback from your viewers, which could have an impact on the direction of your channel. So have your niche in mind, but also know that it's not set in stone. Step 2 Planning your content Once you've found your niche, it's time to plan your content. Consistency is key on YouTube, so developing ideas for multiple videos will help you continue creating consistently. If you've got several ideas you're excited about, you might consider using a content calendar to help you stay organized. You can also think about how often you'd like to upload. Do you want to share new videos each week? Once a month? Every few weeks? Weekly uploads can be a great way to keep your audience coming back to see what's new, but especially when you're starting out, there's also nothing wrong with taking as much time as you need with each video and sharing them with the world whenever they're finished. As time goes on, you'll develop a personalized workflow and then you can determine a more specific upload schedule if you'd like. So for now, rather than planning out a year's worth of videos. Maybe think of four or five solid ideas to flesh out. Now for each video idea that you have, you want to create an outline. Some YouTube creators use scripts that are word word for word, while others stick to a bullet point style outline. There's no right or wrong, so just go with what works best for you. From here you can decide which video you want to create as your first video. Be ambitious, but also be realistic. If you don't have a ton of experience making videos, stick to an idea that's simple to record and edit. Step three is setting up your YouTube channel it's always easier to make something when you know where it's going. So before jumping in and creating that first video, let's actually create your YouTube channel. Even if you already have a Google account, it's a good idea to create a new one for your channel. This not only helps keep things organized, but also adds a layer of security to protect your personal account and your channel. Be sure to create a strong password for your new account and don't share or use this email address for anything other than working with your YouTube account. If you want to have an email address for viewers to contact you, create a separate account that you can share publicly. Once you've got your new account created, you can log in via YouTube, click on your profile picture and then select your channel. From here, you can customize your channel's name, description and upload a profile picture and banner. Don't forget to add links to your social media or your website and a brief bio to let viewers know what your channel is all about. Step 4 Make your videos with your channel all set up, it's time to start making videos. It can be great to invest in good equipment like a quality camera, a microphone and lighting. But remember, you don't need the most expensive gear to get started. What's important is the value you provide to your audience. Whatever device you're watching this video on is probably enough to get started. Plenty of big, successful YouTube channels have been creating using nothing more than a smartphone. When you outlined your video idea, you probably had some visuals in mind. Maybe you're sitting at a desk walking around outside or recording a voiceover to be used with screen recordings. Whatever the idea that was in your head, think about how you can record your video and your audio to try and capture it while recording. Be sure to focus on engaging storytelling, clear audio, and purposeful editing. And don't forget to be yourself. Authenticity is what will help you connect with your viewers. Now. Editing is a skill that you'll develop over time, but the basics are pretty simple. You're essentially just cutting out any mistakes, adding in interesting elements like music or additional video clips, and maybe making a few adjustments to the video and audio quality to help things look and sound their best. How heavily you edit your videos is entirely up to you. Some people do little to no editing, while others create layers upon layers of highly edited elements. There's no right or wrong, but if you're just starting out, it's usually a good idea to keep things simple. If you're adding music, you want to be sure that you're legally able to use it. A subscription to a royalty free music service might be a worthwhile investment like Artlist or Epidemic Sound. These are my two personal favorites, but there are many options out there. As for editing software, there are also plenty of options to there's DaVinci Resolve or iMovie, which are free, and then there's paid programs like Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere. There's also mobile options like Imovie, Luma Fusion, and Final Cut on newer iPads. And now that you have your video recorded and edited, it's time to share it with the world by uploading it on YouTube. When you upload your video to YouTube, you'll want to give it a title, a video description, and add a thumbnail. YouTube also has a lot of features like video tags, subtitles, and an interactive end screen, but but these are things that you can figure out as you get more experience as a YouTube creator. Last but not least, engage with your audience, Respond to comments, ask for feedback, and consider their suggestions for future videos. Building a community around your channel is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a YouTube creator. Especially at the beginning, it's very normal not to get a ton of views or comments, and this is okay. But it's also important to take the time to interact with the people who give you the gift of their time to check out what you've created. So stay consistent, stay true to your niche, and most importantly, have fun. And now that you've learned how to get started on YouTube, you might also have an idea for starting a podcast. So if you want to learn how to do that, you can check out this video next.