A lot of people are under the impression that if they just have something interesting to say that their YouTube channel will be a success. I wish it were that easy.
Even if you have an awesome personality, even if you have a lot of emotion packed in your voice and you’re quite animated, that may not be enough. Seriously. You have to understand that YouTube is really cracking down on people publishing on their format.
In fact, their latest update talking about yanking channels that are “not profitable” should give people pause when it comes to publishing on that platform. Am I saying that you should just completely write off YouTube? Am I saying that that video hosting platform is completely off-limits to you?
No, I’m not saying any of that. What I’m saying is that if you are thinking of making money off your YouTube channel, you have to have a plan going in. Gone are the days where somebody who just wanted to share with the world video footage of them playing a video game. Those days are gone.
I know you’re probably thinking that a lot of people made millions doing that exact thing and you would be absolutely correct. There are a lot of YouTubers who have made quite a bit of money over the years doing stuff that you’re probably already doing.
You might even have a better personality. You might even look better than them. But unfortunately, that’s just not going to cut it in the here and now. You can’t just jump in with both feet and create your YouTube channel because the chances of you failing are higher now than ever.
As the old saying goes, if you fail to plan, what you’re really doing is you’re planning to fail. Absolutely spot on. So if you want your YouTube channel to be successful, and I’m talking about you making dollars from your efforts, follow these tips.
Do competition research first
To paraphrase the ancient Chinese general, Sun Tzu, you don’t want to fight a battle that you know you’re going to lose.
It’s pretty straightforward, right? Unfortunately, a lot of people are so passionate about a particular niche that they readily and eagerly become the one-millionth channel focusing on that niche.
What if that niche only has 10 million potential audience members? Ten million viewers mean 10 viewers per channel. Pretty sad, right?
Well, believe it or not, a handful of channels in that niche would be extremely successful. I’m talking about millions and millions of views. What happens to the rest? That’s right. They are fighting over the crumbs, and learning all the YouTube channel tips.
Where you do think you stand in that totem pole? Well, here’s the spoiler. You’re not going to be at the top of that totem pole. It doesn’t matter how good looking you are. It doesn’t matter how awesome you are as a speaker. It doesn’t matter how interesting your presentation is. That just not going to happen.
It may happen later on, and we’re talking about years, but definitely not today or not the day after tomorrow or anytime soon. That is the cold hard reality. You have to pick a battle you know you’re going to win.
Take a page of strategy from the ancient Chinese military genius Sun Tzu. Scope out the battlefield. If you know that there are all sorts of channels already talking about the same stuff that you’re going to be talking about, think twice.
Make your personality stand out
Please understand that a lot of people in your niche want to view videos that other people in your niche have generally talked about. In other words, you can use your competitors to do your homework for you. Talk about the stuff that they’re talking about.
So, assuming that you’re in a niche that’s not saturated, pay close attention to the biggest channels. What kind of topics are they talking about? What kind of videos are they making? Now, come up with your own videos.
But here’s the secret. While you can copy their topics, you can’t copy their presentation. Otherwise, there’s really no reason why your audience members should watch your channels instead of going directly to your competitors. It doesn’t make any sense.
Think about it this way. If I’m going to be seeing the same stuff in your channel compared to your biggest competitor, why shouldn’t I just to to the biggest competitor? They have a bigger following. They probably already know that they’re doing. They have the kinks ironed out and they probably would have a smoother presentation. In other words, they have all the advantages because you’re just talking about the same stuff.
You have to come up with a unique twist. Not yet another Minecraft, Digital Marketing tips or teen fashion channel. Maybe you could emphasize on the controversial. Maybe you can be more emotional. Maybe you’d have better graphics. Whatever the case may be, there has to be some sort of difference.
You have to answer that question that I posted earlier. Why should I pick your channel instead of somebody else who’s already talking about the same stuff?
Use attention-grabbing thumbnails
I know this sounds ridiculous. I mean, it seems so petty and small. You might even be thinking that this is such a small detail that probably won’t make much of a difference.
Well, what if I told you that a thumbnail that has a high color contrast and has a picture of the YouTuber (and that’s you) with your mouth open in surprise or your eyes bugged out, are more likely to get clicks. Remember, at that level, when YouTube shows the thumbnails of all the videos that are triggered by a search, you need to stand out and that’s why you need your thumbnail to do the heavy lifting for you.
Keep the tips above in mind if you want effective YouTube channels tips. Believe me, there are all sorts of low-quality YouTube channel tips floating around the internet. In fact, these tips might actually work against you.
If you want to be successful in this hyper-competitive days on YouTube, you need to play the game the right way, the first time around. Follow these YouTube channel tips above so you can get at the starting gate like a winner.