Why You Should Start a YouTube Channel %%page%%

Last Updated on December 19, 2023 by Ava

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Happy Wednesday, Cashflowers! Cashflow Nation? Which do you prefer? Let me know in the comments!

Also, stay tuned to the end for an Episode 50 update on The Candid Cashflow Podcast, where we’ve been, and where we’re going!

This topic has been on my episode list since I started The Candid Cashflow Podcast. The main reason I’ve procrastinated on letting you know why you should start a YouTube channel is because it has taken me a long time to figure out how I want to present myself on that platform.

There’s a lot of information out there about how to build a successful YouTube channel, but I’m here to debunk most of that rubbish…with examples!

The main thing that I want you to know is that you CAN monetize youtube channel without 4000 hours and 1000 subscribers. YouTube requires that you have 4000 hours of watch time and/or 1000 subscribers before you can monetize with Adsense. That’s THEIR monetization platform, not yours. You can monetize a new or old channel that doesn’t meet those requirements even if you never want to show your face on YouTube.

Are you ready to find out how? Let’s do this. You know what to do! Stay tuned!

In this week’s episode, we are using TubeBuddy for all of our YouTube research and analytics. TubeBuddy provides some important insights for optimizing your videos to rank on YouTube. Try it out free at HeyYoAva.com/tubebuddy. You won’t be disappointed!

Also, just an insider tip for you: TubeBuddy offers premium plans. Don’t buy right away. Wait for them to email you a discount, because they will. If you have under 1000 subscribers to your channel, it’s less than $5 per month. Again, that’s HeyYoAva.com/tubebuddy.

It seems the “rules” for building a YouTube channel play like a broken record.

You must show your face
You must have high-resolution thumbnails
Your face needs to be on your thumbnails
Your thumbnail background should be such and such a color
You must fill out your about page
You must have cards
You must have end screens
You must release videos on a schedule
Add your video to a playlist
Add tags
Tweet it
Make your title 70 characters long
You must ask people to subscribe, like, comment, and click the bell
Have a high-end camera
Have good lighting
Have great sound
Be good at video editing

The list goes on and on. While a lot of these things do help you reach and engage more people, they are not all requirements for success.

If you’re hellbent on becoming the next big YouTuber, this probably isn’t the episode for you, but if you want to learn how to implement YouTube into your business without all the hoopla, then let’s talk!

A YouTube Glossary in Brief

I want to go over a few of these terms in case you’re completely new to creating for YouTube.

Cards are a way to offer more information to your audience while they’re watching. They pop up in the top corner of your video as a little “i” indicating there’s more information to know about what you’re currently discussing.

You can use cards to link to other videos or blog posts on the same or similar topics.

Thumbnails refer to the image that appears as your video in search. You can actually create custom thumbnails with text and images to give viewers a visual representation of what your video is about. If you don’t create a thumbnail, YouTube will generate one for you from your video footage. These tend to be less engaging than creating a custom image.

If you are a regular watcher of YouTube videos, then you’ll recognize End Screens as an overlay of the last few seconds of a video prompting you to Subscribe to that channel and view other videos by the same creator.

You can create Playlists on YouTube much like you would in your favorite music app. You can add videos to a playlist from your own channel or from other channels. Playlists will appear in YouTube search and pull in their own viewers, so it’s beneficial to utilize them as content you really want your Subscribers to see.

Playlists can also be added to your channel page so they are presented to your audience. These can represent things you want to promote or videos you really want your audience to see.

Tags on YouTube are much like tags in other places, say on a blog. They are usually comprised of keywords to improve the search rankings of your videos.

Does YouTube Fit Into Your Personal or Business Model?

It all boils down to how you want to use YouTube. Can what you want to share be presented in video format? I’m sure it probably can.

If you’re going the personal route, the only advice I have is to be unique. Don’t copy others. Be your authentic self, and your tribe will build itself. There is a little bit of everything out there when it comes to YouTube. I’m almost certain you will find others who share your interests and passions.

If you’re looking to expand your business with YouTube, then go for it. We’ll talk about what kinds of videos you can share in the next section.

What you need to know right now is that YouTube can increase the reach of your business exponentially. By expanding into video, you are going to reach a whole new audience. You’ll also reach your existing audience in a whole new way.

In addition, you can use video to enhance the content you’ve already been creating. Did you know that video is a great way to reduce the bounce rate on your website?

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, bounce rate, this is an average of the amount of time visitors spend on your website. If they click onto a page from a search engine and don’t find what they are looking for, they will leave very quickly. This makes the bounce rate higher and the search engines will rank your site lower as a result.

This is a part of the evolution of Search Engine Optimization toward the importance of user experience rather than other ranking factors like meta data, pagerank, and the like.

Does YouTube fit in with your business model? It’s all going to depend on if you have enough of the right content to share.

Why You Should Start a YouTube Channel and What to Record

As humans, we are inherently interested in the daily lives and goings on of other humans.

We relate to the people we see, and these relations can be significantly important for us in our lives and businesses.

It’s just like the way I shared last week how I’d seen a video from Katnipp Illustrations on YouTube that changed my whole perspective on making money with art.

Had Catherine never created that video, I would not have had the revelations I had, and I’d be more than $200 poorer right now.

So, if you’re thinking that all of your content ideas are irrelevant and unimportant, you’re probably wrong.

Here’s an exercise for you: go to YouTube.com and type something you’re interested in into the search box. Maybe even try to think of something obscure…get results? Of course you did.

Fun Fact: YouTube is the second largest search engine on the Internet after Google.

If it’s out there, it’s on YouTube. I’ve found everything from archival footage to long lost songs from my childhood. I’m absolutely smitten with YouTube as a content consumer.

Record videos about what makes you come alive.

The worlds needs that more than ever right now. If your business doesn’t do that for you, why are you in it?

My favorite type of videos to create are ones where I can teach or show someone something they may not have known before to help them.

Debunking the “Rules”

Yesterday, I ranked a YouTube video on the first page for 11 out of 11 keywords while breaking more than half of the “rules” I mentioned at the beginning of this episode.

If you’d like to know exactly how I did that, I’m including a tutorial in the show notes, so be sure to grab those for all the links and goodies at HeyYoAva.com/Episode50.

With that video, I didn’t show my face, I didn’t release it on a schedule, I didn’t include cards or an end screen, I didn’t do any fancy editing…I could go on.

Maybe you can hear it in my voice, I really hate it when someone tells me I have to show my face on video in order to get anywhere.

I don’t have a problem with showing my face. If you look up my old channel, ProWebWriter, you’ll see I did several talking head videos.

How many times have you checked out a channel on YouTube to find the creator has included their face on every thumbnail?

A lot, right? It’s a known fact that having your face all over your content helps to establish trust and authority. It HELPS. It’s not a requirement. Quite honestly, that’s just not my style. If it is your style, then you should absolutely do it, but if it’s not, don’t be disingenuous. Do YOU!

YouTube’s mantra used to be, “Broadcast Yourself”. Broadcast yourself, not yourself as you think more people would like.

You can absolutely build a successful YouTube channel without your face plastered everywhere. Check out these examples:

TopTenz has 1.2 million subscribers, no face videos – https://www.youtube.com/user/toptenznet/videos
5-Minute Crafts has a whopping 42 millions subscribers, no face – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC295-Dw_tDNtZXFeAPAW6Aw/videos
Art Arena is pressing toward a million subs at 766K with, you guessed it, not a face in the crowd – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtFSeQTTjc9w_t9EycG4gPA/videos

I came across a channel this morning although I can’t remember what it was that had atrocious thumbnails and more than 100K subs, so if your content is interesting enough, you will gain a following.

Sure, all of these other things help, but like I said, they are not requirements. The most important factor in the success of your YouTube channel is that you be your authentic self. All of these “rules” are second fiddle to that concept in my book.

The most important thing you need to rank your videos are good keywords, and I’m going to show you how to find them in a few minutes.

Resources and Equipment for Creating YouTube Videos

If you watch YouTube frequently and subscribe to any serious YouTubers, you’ll end up seeing a lot of expensive equipment from cameras to lighting to green screens to microphones.

Of course these are things that make video production better, but as with most things they are NOT a requirement.

These days, most smartphones have a good enough camera and microphone to get by. The important thing here is to just do it!

Why? Because even small channels can make money on YouTube. I personally know a couple channels pulling in 5 figures with only a few thousand subscribers because they’ve monetized by promoting products and services that are theirs, someone else’s, or both.

If you’re planning to record tutorial style screen capture videos, then you don’t need a camera at all.

In fact, I say if you’re going to invest in equipment, start with a decent microphone. Even if your video looks stellar, if your viewers can’t hear you, it will be ineffective.

I’ve mentioned my cheap mic that I bought last year more than once in The Candid Cashflow Podcast. It became available about this time last year during a lightning sale on Amazon, and I snagged it for just under 20 bucks.

It’s not special, but it works well enough, and it’s better than the microphone that was built into my laptop.

I recently recorded a video for my YouTube channel talking about how I use OBS to record my podcast interviews. You can also use OBS to record your screen.

In fact, OBS or Open Broadcast Software, is a completely free program that can take your videos to the next level. You can easily switch between different scenes, and broadcast audio from your desktop as well.

I learned OBS using just one video. It’s a very intuitive and logical piece of software.

https://youtu.be/j2HzbY8E4yQ

Links to everything I’m sharing as always will be on the blog and a little extra in the show notes at HeyYoAva.com/Episode50.

I use Camtasia for editing, and it’s a great piece of software, but it’s pricey. A client actually provided me with it, so that was fortunate.

Lightworks is a great free alternative if you can’t afford Camtasia’s $299 price tag.

Additionally, I also incorporate FlexClip online video editor into my editing toolkit. I find it to be an intuitive and user-friendly platform that offers a range of editing features.

I use TubeBuddy for keyword research, best practices, and ranking.

I use Canva.com to create my thumbnails. They have a bunch of free templates to give you a starting point.

How To Rank YouTube Videos on the First Page Fast

For a more detailed tutorial, please grab the show notes! However, what I’m about to share will suffice.

Step 1. Brainstorm a list of keywords you want to research. Start with your main keyword. For example, if this post were a YouTube video, my main keyword would be “starting a YouTube channel”.

You don’t need a huge list, just a place to start, so use your main keyword and a few variations.

You can use TubeBuddy to find good keywords. Keywords ranking around the 60s and 70s are good. If you can get in the 80s, that’s gold. To see what the heck I’m talking about, visit the blog or download the show notes. I’ll include a video tutorial.

https://youtu.be/DjyWmxowpAY

Step 2. Type your keyword into the search on YouTube.com. Look at the front page of results. If around 50% of the videos are less than a year old, that’s a good keyword to try and rank for.

Step 3. Choose the best 3 from your keyword list.

Step 4. Optimize your title, description, and tags using your 3 keywords. Your description should be around 350 words give or take and include your main keyword in the first 2 lines.

Type your 3 keywords into the Tags section.

Step 5. Create an attractive thumbnail. I use Canva for this, as I stated early. I suggest that you use one of their templates or create your own, and customize it for each video you create. This will make your channel look uniform.

You can even split-test a couple designs to find out what performs the best.

That’s it. Your videos should rank on the first page of YouTube within 5 minutes for your main keyword.

Sound too easy? I thought so too, but it absolutely worked!

Episode 50 Update

My last update was in Episode 20 of The Candid Cashflow Podcast. Here’s a quick overview of the stats and information I mentioned in that episode:

My initial commitment to this podcast having never done it before was 6 months. I happily renewed that in June 2018 for another 6 months
By Episode 20, I had received very little feedback on the show, and ZERO feedback from anyone who would have comprised my regular listening audience
I had not generated any affiliate revenue
I was celebrating new distribution channels. I’ve since expanded even further, and The Candid Cashflow Podcast is included on more than 25 audio platforms
I had started and stopped a weekly newsletter
I started typing my episodes directly into my blog instead of writing them out longhand
Finally, I was excited about a new record in March for downloads at 224

The Candid Cashflow Podcast will celebrate one year online on December 12, 2018. I plan to commit for the next 6 months again.

Deciding this in 6 month increments seems to agree with me.

I am beginning to hear back from the community, and I think a big part of that is because I’ve started booking guests on the show. I’m only doing one guest spot per month right now, but I expect to increase that after the New Year.

I have generated a small amount of revenue.

My research in expanding the distribution of The Candid Cashflow Podcast has been made into a PDF, and is now for sale for a nominal fee of $7.99. I call it Podcast Everywhere because it shows you exactly how to get your podcast everywhere.

The newsletter is something that I may consider resurrecting in the future…or not. We now have a Facebook Group for the Cashflow Nation that might suffice.

My new download record is 419 which was achieved in September of this year, and that’s a sincere thanks to all you out there hearing this broadcast right now.

Being the proprietor of The Candid Cashflow Podcast is an honor and privilege.

That’s a Wrap

We’ll wrap this one up since I’ve already been yapping for way too long!

Thanks for being here. It would mean so much to hear from you. Leave a comment or shoot me an email at HeyYoAva.com/soundoff.

Don’t forget to grab a copy of the show notes. There’s a ton of links this week and a huge bonus section. Get them at HeyYoAva.com/Episode50.

I hope that you will consider subscribing to The Candid Cashflow Podcast because I’m passionate about helping you find ways to achieve financial freedom through various online income streams. Find us on your favorite listening app at HeyYoAva.com/candidcashflow.

I’d like to shout out Kelly and Elle who connected with me this week to let me know they enjoy the show. That made my week! Join us in our new Facebook Group!

Remember, I release a new episode each Wednesday!

Until next time, turning your passion into cashflow!

Why You Should Start a YouTube Channel Even If You Don’t Want to Show Your Face on YouTube – The Candid Cashflow Podcast – Episode 50