COVID-19 has us all sheltered in our homes following social distancing rules so as to limit the spread of the disease. Without the ability to have social gatherings, the options for entertainment become pretty much limited to what you can do at home.
YouTube is the most popular video platform on the web, with millions of videos and around 300 hours of footage uploaded to the site every minute. What does all of this mean? It means that millions of people watch YouTube, making it the perfect platform to start reaching out with your views, tutorials, or other video content.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at what it takes to start a YouTube channel and why now is the perfect time to do so. With millions of people stuck at home for the foreseeable future, there’s never been a better time to start making great YouTube content!
YouTube Is A Diverse Platform
One of the best things about YouTube is the diversity of its video content. On YouTube, you can do a simple search and find videos on almost any subject you cant think of. From tutorial videos to music videos to meditation guides, political discussions, game and movie reviews, and beyond; YouTube truly has it all.
With so much diversity, YouTube attracts a lot of people, making it an excellent platform for advertisers. Have you ever wondered about the ways to make money on YouTube? How do your favorite YouTubers make a living on the platform?
You’ve probably noticed the ads on most YouTube videos that you can (usually) skip after about five seconds. That’s the income generator on the YouTube video. Advertisers can pay YouTube itself or individual channels to advertise their products or even endorse them (such as in product review videos).
Channels can also get sponsored by specific brands, who will pay for some kind of ad, shout-out, or promotion of their products during the YouTube video. If you’re looking for a way to make some extra cash, creating YouTube content could be for you.
With So Many Stuck At Home, Your Audience Is Bigger Than Ever
Most people watch YouTube when they have a minute between work breaks or during their post-work free time at home. Since everyone is supposed to stay at home, they have more free time than ever. And, let’s be honest; there’s only so much NetFlix you can watch before you just need something else to fill your time.
When you start a YouTube channel, your audience is everything. The more people that see, like, and share your videos, the more money you’ll make, the bigger your channel will grow, and the more your work will pay off.
YouTube is all about attracting the right people to your content. With the right keywords in your description and a simple SEO strategy, you could potentially grow your channel to thousands of viewers in just a few months.
How To Start?
YouTube isn’t a big mystery. As an outsider looking in, it could seem like a complex process full of loopholes and confusing processes, but it’s actually quite simple. The first thing you need? An idea.
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Your Idea Becomes Your Niche
What are you good at? Passionate about? Want to share with others? Want to see more of? Everyone will likely have a different answer to this question, but the core of it remains the same. The first thing you need for your channel is your idea. This becomes your niche, or the main concept your channel’s content covers.
This can be anything (provided it follows YouTube’s content guidelines). If you’re a great cook, start a cooking channel. Maybe you want to see more humor in cooking guides or video game playthroughs that aren’t done by children.
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Stay True To Your Niche
Focus is important when you’re creating content. You’ll need to dial in on a specific theme or idea and stick with it. When you start creating videos that are all over the place, people tend to tune out. The more focused your channel is, the more views/subscribers you’ll gain.
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Upload Regularly
Quality will always beat quantity on platforms like YouTube. Focusing on the video/audio quality and the content quality of your videos means you’re putting more care into your craft, and trust me; it shows in your videos. Subscribers will want to see higher quality videos uploaded on a regular video instead of random videos here and there that follow no quality standards.
Final Thoughts
YouTube is a diverse, content-rich platform that allows people from all over the world to create their own channels and gain viewers/subscribers. Whether you’re a super-mom with some valuable parenting tips or a comedian looking for an audience, YouTube offers plenty of opportunities to excel and even make money from your craft. There’s never been a more perfect time to gain an audience, so get started today!
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