Every digital native out there dreamed of becoming a successful YouTuber at least once in life. Maybe you just hope to make a living out of making interesting videos, want to spread your important message, or tell the rest of the world about your passions. Whatever the reason may be, making YouTube videos as a job seems a really cool and fun way to live. And it is, indeed.
Becoming a YouTuber was certainly much simpler ten years ago. Today, you must deal with the fact that whatever your niche is going to be, there are at least another 100 people talking about the same stuff on a daily basis. You need to stand out among the many competitors, and make sure that the quality of each video is always top-notch. Here are a few tips to become a successful YouTubers in 2019.
If you want to earn some money, you need to spend some money first. Don’t worry, though, the equipment you need to buy to start is not so expensive, and you can find a lot of great quality stuff at a relatively low price. The first thing you need is a good camera, and today, the best cameras for live streaming are not the $3000 ones anymore. In the beginning, even a high-quality webcam can prove to be the easiest and cheapest solution, although a good smartphone camera may be sufficient.
Just make sure you record only when lighting conditions are perfect. If your room is not bright enough, even if the video was recorded with the most expensive camera, it will still look like trash. A good lighting kit is really affordable, and it can help you save a lot of money to purchase a top-level camera. Microphones are also super-important. It’s somewhat pointless to record videos if people can’t hear you when you talk. A good quality microphone can be found in the $50-$70 range, so it’s not a big expense, either.
On YouTube, you are your own brand. And, just like any other product, you need to market it correctly if you want to make money by selling it. Build your own character, so you’re unique and interesting enough to make a difference. You should build a true “character” you need to impersonate, even if that’s not exactly “yourself.” Think about the huge difference between Filthy Frank and George Miller (the artist behind the character).
However, don’t let this character go over your head. Some Internet celebrities “lost it” when they got way too much in-character, losing sight of their own personality. Also, try to stay humble no matter what. As soon as you start gaining in popularity, your head gets kind of big really easy, and you may end up making bad decisions which could easily kill your reputation. You’re not a Hollywood star – you’re just a guy or gal who’s running a personal show on the Internet!
I know what you’re thinking: “it’s just a thumbnail, who cares? Video content is what really matters.” The truth is – thumbnails matter a lot these days. A thumbnail is the first (and often the only) thing that viewers will see after they type in their query. A catchy one with some fancy graphics and vibrant colors has a much higher chance to entice a user into clicking it and watching your video.
Possessing some designing skills is, therefore, critical to ensure the popularity of your YouTube channel. Luckily enough, anyone can become quite proficient in designing good-looking thumbnails pretty quickly. There are a lot of amazing design tools out there, and many of them are quite easy to use without having to pay a professional designer.
Have you ever noticed how frequently some YouTubers appear as guests during in other channels? That’s a practice known as networking, and it’s used for nearly everything, including finding a new job or reaching out to new clients. The first step is actually finding the right people who can help you broaden your horizons in the YouTubers’ world. Start by going to established geek/nerd conventions to know “the people that matter.”
For example, you can find people who can “boost” your channel, or network with other YouTubers and invite them to appear during your videos. By doing so, you’re attracting a portion of their viewers to your channel, refreshing it a little bit. Whenever you will return the favor and appear in their videos, you will also be shown in a channel which may even pertain to a different niche. Just don’t overthink this. Sometimes networking is nothing but getting a cup of coffee with a friend and talking about a project.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of practices used to improve the chances of a content to be found in search engines such as Google or the internal YouTube search engine. By working on SEO, you help the YouTube algorithm understand whether your video was relevant or not for a certain query. In simpler terms, you make your content easier to be discovered by people whenever they input a search query.
Although you can still promote your videos through other channels (such as social media), knowing how to work with this algorithm is vital. A good SEO is critical to “convince” the algorithm that your videos should be recommended to a lot of different people, and a bulletproof method to ensure that a constant stream of viewers comes to your channel.
The most important advice that you should always keep in mind is that you cannot be a YouTuber for long unless you enjoy creating your own content. If you do that just for the money or to be famous, you will eventually get bored, and your creative well will dry in no time. But if you really love and enjoy making new videos – just keep trying even if you don’t see the result you were expecting. It’s just a matter of time. We’ve all been there at some point!