What I Would Do If I Was Just Starting A YouTube Channel

If you're thinking that YouTube is already too oversaturated and that somebody already took your idea for a YouTube channel, in this video, I'm going to share with you the top things that I would do right now if I was planning to start and grow a YouTube channel in 2019. Welcome back. If you're new here, my name is Trena, and on this channel I help creative entrepreneurs figure out how to start using YouTube to grow their business. So if that sounds like you and you're planning to grow your business with video in 2019, make sure you click that subscribe button. Now, I hear this from a lot of people. They say, Trina, YouTube is already oversaturated and there's no way that I could ever stand out. Yes, there are a lot of YouTube videos uploaded every single day onto YouTube, but not everybody is doing it right. So here are the things that I would do if I were to be starting a new YouTube channel right now. The first thing you have got to do is determine who you are speaking to. You need to have a clear audience, and it can't be everybody because when you try to be something for everyone, you end up being no 1 for everyone. So have a clear audience, have a clear niche. You will hear this all the time, whether in business or on YouTube or anywhere else. The riches are in the niches. So what is your niche? Who is your person? Who are you speaking to? So for me, I am speaking to business owners, creative business owners. So not just business owners, creative business owners, and also those creative business owners who want to use video in their business. Okay? Not everybody wants that. And it's clear here on my channel that while it may be small, I am able to make a full time income because I'm very close clear on who I'm speaking to. So when they find my videos, they're ready to work with me. Now, on my other YouTube channel, I'm first of all speaking to moms. Moms who have young kids and moms who are just stressed out and want to get organized or simplified or trying to find that answer to actually enjoy motherhood instead of constantly doing their to do list. Okay? So think about three different levels you can cut down into to know who you're speaking to. The next thing that you've got to focus on is your branding. All right? You've got to get your channel banner up, but more importantly, you've got to really have a clear branding on your thumbnails so that as people start watching you, getting to know you, your thumbnails will stand out in search and suggested. People who have maybe watched a couple of videos of yours but haven't subscribed yet are going to recognize your thumbnails and end up watching more content of yours if they can recognize your thumbnail. So whether it's putting a border around your thumbnail a certain color, or putting a watermark on the side of your thumbnail, or making sure the style of your thumbnail is the same through every single video, you've got to have that clear branding on your channel that stands out. Some other things to work on too when you're getting all of this branding and messaging together, is writing a clear about you section. So really talking about that niche you're speaking to and also creating that channel trailer. Because people who are brand new to your channel, they're going to go there and that channel trailer is going to play automatically. So this is your golden moment to grab their attention, to make them really realize why they need to subscribe to your particular channel. So that's what I would focus on next is your branding, your thumbnail layouts and the about me section in the channel trailer. The next thing is a little scary, and I've been there too. But you have got to tell everybody about your channel and tell them to subscribe. I know it's scary to maybe tell your Facebook friends because maybe it's somebody from high school 15 years ago and you don't want them to watch. But the more you can get this natural subscriber growth going with people you already know, the more they're going to probably watch your videos to support you. So the more YouTube is going to see people watching your videos and it's just going to be a snowball effect. So whether you're telling your Facebook friends, your email list, your Instagram followers, tell as many people as possible to just get the ball rolling on your channel. The next thing is creating good content. And I talk a lot about this on my channel. I will link a playlist below that will really help you figure out what good content is here on YouTube. But really coming out of the gate, creating content, following the YouTube format and also keeping people watching to the end of your video. This is going to show YouTube that you have good content. They're going to start suggesting you more, they're going to start promoting you more. That's again going to get that ball rolling with views and subscribers here on YouTube. And. And not everybody is doing this. So that gives you a leg up on all the hundreds and thousands of millions of videos Being uploaded every single day. The next thing you've got to do is collaborate. Whether it's with your best friend or whether it's with your business bestie or maybe you have chatted with somebody in a Facebook group or in YouTube comments, just reach out to them and start collaborating. This helps you start reaching a new audience. It helps you make friends on YouTube because YouTube can get kind of lonely. So having friends that are doing YouTube as well, just start finding a way to collaborate and working with other people who are doing YouTube videos as well. This is honestly a little secret strategy that has helped me going. Having an actual YouTube friend that we meet up with every single month has definitely helped me continue to grow my channel. This is my biggest secret for YouTube growth. And I don't tell everybody this. Well, maybe just my YouTube channel, but thinking in series of videos alright, so you want to think about a playlist that you can create that's going to get people to Netflix binge style your content. So what's a playlist that you could create that's going to talk about four or five different videos that easily lead into one after another. This is going to get you multiple views. This is going to get you an increased watch time minutes. So really thinking about your content and series so you can put them in playlists to get you more views and subscribers. This is one thing that I wished I would have done earlier and if I would redo my channel, this is the number one thing that I would do to help me grow in 2019 that also leads into mapping out your content. Instead of just creating this video and that video and then you have this idea, think about your content in advance. I'm planning to even do more of this in 2019. But thinking about the series or maybe the theme of content that I want to share that particular month. So maybe I want to create six videos and in February and I want them all to lead into each other so that I can create a playlist that's going to get people to watch one after another after another. So really sit down and plan out your content in advance instead of just shooting a video and shooting a video and then shooting this video. Make them all work with each other and together. The next thing that I would do is study my analytics and I did not do this enough when I got started. I kick myself in the rear end every single time I talk about this because I just didn't know what I was looking at. I didn't know it was important. I didn't know how to read it and so really understanding where are your traffic sources coming from, which videos are performing well, which videos have the best audience retention. Create more of those videos and understand what you're looking at in analytics and give YouTube what they want. If you want YouTube to start recommending more of your content, they're going to show you what what they want in your analytics by looking at your traffic keywords, by looking at your best performing videos and the audience retention on them. I have an entire video that helps you walk through analytics, which I'll link down below too. But this is going to be key, especially as more people jump onto YouTube. If you understand your analytics and you create content around your analytics, this is going to make you stand out. The biggest piece of advice I can give to you if you're going to start a YouTube channel in 2019 that and see results from it is to have a workflow. This is the only way you're going to be able to stay consistent on YouTube without wanting to rip your hair out or go hide under your covers. Because being consistent here on YouTube is the key to success. And having a workflow where you know, this day I'm scripting, this day I'm shooting, this day I'm editing, is going to help you in more ways than I can tell you. So for example, I did all of my scripting for the videos that I'm shooting today yesterday, I'm shooting six to eight videos today so that I'm done for the next eight weeks. Knowing what you need to do and batching similar tasks together is absolutely game changer for me. And I have a Trello workflow. If you want to swipe mine, I'll link it down below. You can get that. It walks you through everything that I do with like over 57 check points on creating this workflow. So I'll put that below. But this has got to be a part of your YouTube game plan in 2019 if you really want to see results. Now, if you want to continue to learn more about how to use YouTube and grow a YouTube channel, make sure you click that video that is on your screen right now. And don't forget to subscribe for new videos every Monday and Wednesday for me, helping you get more views and subscribers here on YouTube. Thanks for watching. Bye.