How To Start a YouTube Channel
Our Top 30 Tips
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So you want to start your own YouTube channel? That’s great. Being a YouTuber is very rewarding. You get to be your own boss and work at your own pace. But that does not mean it is easy! YouTube is a lot of work. If you want it to be your full-time job you may spend 10-12 hours a day working on your channel. Starting a YouTube channel from scratch is hard. It can take some channels years to reach that monetization goal where you need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last year. We recently passed 500 subscribers and our channel turned 1 year old! So we compiled some tips and tricks on how to get your channel started. This is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to set aside a good chunk of time to dedicate to this. *We cannot guarantee following these tips will make your channel successful.
1. Get out your phone and start filming. Every smartphone has a decent camera. The best way to start your channel is to point and click. Make sure you are filming in landscape mode (horizontally). If you don’t there will be black bars on the sides of your video and those cannot be fixed.
2.Decide on which edit software to use. There are several great options out there. Including but not limited to Filmora, Davinci, Final Cut Pro, and iMovie. iMovie is free on all Apple products so we use that one.
3. Switch the location on your YouTube channel. If it’s not set to your country you’ll be unable to apply for monetization. The default is usually set to a random foreign country for some reason. This site can walk you through the process to change this setting.
4. Create a custom banner, logo, and thumbnail. This step is extremely important. When people visit your channel you want to draw them in right away by looking professional. We created our name and have a special font and color we enjoy using. We also love our glasses so we incorporated that into our logo. We also have links on our banner to our other social media.
5. Film long videos (10 minutes plus), but make sure your channel is verified. People like to watch YouTube videos while they are cooking, cleaning, taking a bath, or gardening. This is a good way to increase your watch time and engage your audience. YouTube has an option to make shorts, which we’ve never done. If you’re lucky YouTube will pick up your short and promote it. However, longer videos tend to do better, especially for smaller channels.
6. Utilize playlists and cards at the end of the video. Sometimes people get engrossed in your channel and just want to keep watching. This is a good thing and should be encouraged. If you notice in our videos we link cards to other videos and promote one at the end of the video to watch next. We manually put those in ourselves. We also organize our videos by category. For instance, if you’d like to watch all of our videos about BoxyCharm you can just click play on the BoxyCharm playlist.
7. Create an intro and outero for each video. If you look at some of the best YouTube channels they have really creative intros and outeros. Some use clips from their videos or even filmed especially for that. We currently use pictures. YouTube has many different types of royalty-free music to choose from.
8. Increase your editing skills, take a Skillshare class, LEARN! Keep getting better. Your first videos may only get a few views. Don’t worry. Keep going. Make each video better than the last and use them as an opportunity to learn something new each time you sit down to edit. If you build it they will come!
9. Research the best equipment. In the beginning, it’s ok to use what you have. But over time you’ll want to get better equipment. The best cameras for YouTube are the Canon GT7X Mark ii and iii. We use the ii. We also have a cheap ring light from Walmart and a Blue Nano Yeti Mic with a cheap pop filter from Amazon. There are tons of options for equipment, as your channel grows you’ll want to get more.
10. Watch a variety of YouTubers. Learn from the people who got it right and have made it. All of them do things differently and edit differently. Observe their unique styles and build your own. Notice how most successful YouTubers don’t smoke or drink alcohol in their videos.
11. Practice speaking in front of a camera. We did this for a year before we even picked up a camera to shoot for YouTube. It can take some people a long time to get comfortable speaking publicly, even on YouTube. Most YouTubers are actually introverts, not extroverts. We enjoy filming together for that reason. We actually have a lot of social anxiety.
12. Brush your hair, wear makeup. Treat this like a job. Would you go to work without makeup or doing your hair? Most jobs won’t allow you to do that. Even male news anchors are required to wear makeup. You have no business sitting in front of a camera as an adult without makeup. You do not need to wear as much makeup as we do, but wear something! Put on a decent outfit and run a brush through your clean hair. We tend to wear our hair up, it’s our style. But you do you. Be professional.
13. Create a look all of your own. We have green hair and purple hair at the moment. We wear enough makeup for 10 people each. Our glasses stand out. And we have alternative looks we’ve only shown a few times. Stay tuned for more. This is our look. Create one that represents you! But don’t look like you’re 5 years old.
14. Lighting. In the beginning you may just use a lamp or even the window. As you get more subscribers invest in a decent ring light. We’ve gone through several lights before we found one we like.
15. Be interesting, don't be monotone. YouTube is not for quiet people. We LOVE to talk. Act out what you're saying and use different intonations. You can edit the pitch of your voice in most editing software. Be dramatic and OTT. No one wants to watch a boring channel.
16. Unbox a monthly /quarterly subscription. We use BoxyCharm, which is super popular. Other examples are BirchBox, Ipsy, FabFitFun, BarkBox, BullyMakeBox, KitNip, and more. These are fun, easy videos that lighten the mood on your channel.
17. Don’t copy anyone else. You are you. And you are good enough without trying to be someone else. We’d also discourage you from making a channel that is dedicated to hating on another YouTuber. Is that really what you want to be known as?
18. Discuss trending topics. People come to YouTube and search trending topics. If you have a video on this you’ll be more likely to get a view. This is a good time to familiarize yourself with SEO.
19. Offer something that people want, sell yourself. It’s not all about you! What do you have to offer your viewers? We offer knowledge and a safe place to find friends and comfort. We also include our viewers on our platform through our Interview section. Give your fans a name, make them feel special. We call our fans, “The Gala Fam.”
20. Be unique. What makes you, you? Why should your viewers care? We are asexual lesbian parents of an autistic child. That alone sets us apart. Systemic inequality makes it difficult for people like us to get good opportunities. By supporting us, you are helping even the playing field. Even just a little bit. Don’t be afraid to be a little bit vulnerable, although your fans don't need your whole life story.
21. Have a call to action at the end of the video. So a new viewer just watched your video and loved it. Now, what do they do? This is a good opportunity to let them know. Subscribing is the number one thing you need people to do, and it’s free! Liking and ringing the bell are also important. If you don’t explain things most people are not going to know what to do.
22. Build a set. This took us a long time to do. We started out filming in Rachel’s bedroom. She has beautiful green tapestries on her walls. If you will notice we still film BoxyCharm in there instead of at The Gala News Desk. The Gala News Desk is in the living room in front of the TV. We set up twinkle lights and fake vines set up behind us in honor of Larry King and Claire Wineland. The options are endless and it’s up to you to figure out what you want. Although perhaps stay away from MAGA signs.
23. Make connections with other YouTubers and do collabs. This is where virtual meeting software comes in handy. And, yes, you are going to have to invest some money into your channel. Zoom, Cisco Webex, Skype, etc. When you get started collab with as many people as possible who fit with your channel. If you are on 4 other channels that only have 100 fans each you just increased your reach by 400 people. Every little bit counts. Not to mention you may make lifelong friends and gain practice holding a good conversation.
24. Narrow down your niche to something you are passionate about. It is going to be easier to learn and talk about something that you enjoy. If you look at our channel we talk a lot about politics, chronic illness, a little bit of Masonry, and our own lives. We consider ourselves social activists and hope to be philanthropists someday. Some people separate their vlogs into a completely separate channel, we have chosen not to. We want you to know who we are! But if your channel covers too many topics it gets too confusing.
25. Create an outline for each video. While you don’t need a script, you can if you want, don’t just wing it. Plan ahead. We have big problems rambling so we always type out an outline with bullet points or chat about it ahead of time. You’ll notice we often check our notes so that we stay on track. We want people to follow our thoughts and not lose our listeners.
26. Don’t give up and have some fun. This is not going to be easy. In fact, it’s probably going to be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do, unless you are already famous or have an audience for some reason. You are going to have days where you’ll want to quit. Sometimes you’ll get no subscribers and a video you loved will be a bust.
27. Get to know people and groups of people before pushing your channel. Your first subscribers may only be your family members and close friends. That’s ok. Once people get to know you many would love to subscribe and share your channel with their friends and family. However, you shouldn’t pester people to subscribe every day. People don’t like that. It’s perfectly fine to join Facebook groups and Twitter circles and Instagram groups to promote your channel. But get to know people first before you plug your channel. Contribute. Show the admins that you support their work and are passionate and knowledgeable about the topic. Then ASK if you can share your work. If they say no, accept it. It’s ok to suggest that people subscribe, but no one likes being told what to do. We have number OCD, which is not a joke, so this can be very difficult for us. Try not get bogged down by the numbers. If you are going to ask people to subscribe, make sure your channel is ready for new visitors.
28. Utilize as many social media platforms as possible to advertise your channel. In today’s society, we have so many different platforms. Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are the biggest ones but there are many more. TikTok, Reddit, Quora, NextDoor, Discord, Twitch, among others. We don’t use TikTok right now, we prefer to write. Tie in all of your other social media platforms to your YouTube channel. Again, each platform wants to keep people on their site, so don’t always send people away. We also created our own blog and website. We love to write. It’s probably our first love. Create as many avenues to your YouTube channel as possible. If you aren’t spending 8 hours a day on this in the beginning you are doing it wrong (if you want YouTube to be your job).
29. Don’t use copyright material without permission. If you want to have a monetized channel you have to be very careful where you get your music from. YouTube has some great free options that you can use as many times as you want. You can also purchase a subscription to Epidemic Sound. We don’t use it, but many YouTubers do. Also, be careful about what TV is shown on your channel. Whenever we have TV in the background we only show a portion of the screen. Still, we have received 1 copyright infraction doing this. But nothing happened.
30. There is a list of words you can't use on YouTube. YouTube is a little bit weird about what you can and cannot do. They want their content creators to keep it family-friendly so that advertisers will purchase air time.
We know this is a lot of information to be thrown at you at one time. Take your time setting up your channel. Do a little work every day. And it is easier if you have someone who will join you. The most important step you can take is to start filming. You can’t improve if you don’t get the ball rolling. However, if you don’t improve your skills, your channel will not take off. Hopefully you are now ready to get started. And for those of you that are, see you over on YouTube!
We hope that you enjoyed this piece. Please support our work by subscribing to our YouTube channel and sharing our videos and articles with your friends and family! If you have any tips for us please email them to thegalafam@gmail.com.
