Ask yourself these 5 questions before starting a YouTube Channel

Speaker A: Okay, so y' all already know I spend a lot of time talking about YouTube and why you should start a YouTube channel and all of the benefits of being a YouTube creator. Because I personally have been creating on this platform for over 10 years now and it has been such a joy to document my life, build a community of people that share the same goals and values as me and learn so many new skills and, and you know, build a career for myself. So it's no secret that I love YouTube, but at the same time, as with any social platform, it's not necessarily for everyone. And so I don't want to build up the hype to the point where I peer, uh, pressure you into starting a YouTube channel if it's not ultimately right for you and your goals in your career. So today I wanted to talk through five questions that you should ask yourself before you dive into creating on YouTube to, to kind of make sure that this is the path that you want to take and that it's going to be beneficial to you in all the ways that it's been beneficial to me. Welcome to the Creator Club podcast produced by Creatorly Media. I'm your host, Katie. I'm a side hustle youtuber turned six figure entrepreneur who's obsessed with social media strategy and content creation. From making YouTube videos in my bedroom as a very cringy 12 year old to building a social media marketing agency from the ground up in my early 20s. And there have been a lot of struggles along my content creator journey. My mission with this podcast is to share the lessons that I've learned in the hopes that it will make your journey in growing as a creator a little easier and a lot more fun. And by the way, this club is open to everyone. Whether you have one or one million followers, you have a seat at this table. So let's dive in. Now, of course, no matter what social platform you're creating content for, it's so important as a content creator to, to be aware and have a good understanding of your social metrics and insights. And my favorite way to keep track of all that is with Dash Hudson, who's the sponsor of the Creator Club podcast. Dash Hudson is a super visual and super intuitive social media metrics platform. So you can customize your dashboards and see your analytics from many different platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. All of those numbers, all of those metrics, and all of that data is gathered in one place with Dash Hudson. I love that you can customize the different Dashboards with the metrics that are most important to you and your goals. So you can make sure that you're seeing at a glance all of your top stats from across platforms. And if you feel overwhelmed by it all, Dash Hudson has this really cool AI tool called Vision that will actually help to split, summarize your insights and kind of tell you the most important notes from your different platforms. You can ask Vision to tell you, like, hey, Vision, like, how is Katie Steckley's Instagram performing lately? And it will actually give you, like, bullet point notes on what you need to know about the latest insights from your Instagram. So that's a very helpful tool, especially for, like, beginner content creators or social media managers to start seeing at a glance, like, what's going on with my profile or my client's profile or whatever it might be. You can actually try out Dash Hudson, uh, for yourself for free. You get a little free trial when you go to-hudson.com creator club. It'll also be linked in the show notes, so make sure to check that out. And thanks again to Dash Hudson for making the Creator Club podcast possible. So the very first question that I want you to ask yourself when you're considering starting a YouTube channel is, do I like watching YouTube videos? I know it might seem really obvious, but it's actually, uh, very fundamental because I personally believe that one of the biggest contributors to being a successful YouTuber, creating good YouTube videos is being an avid YouTube viewer. Because when you are a fan of YouTube yourself and you spend a lot of time watching, watching YouTube videos, you have an inherent understanding of what's engaging, what's valuable as a viewer, what's the vibe of a YouTube video? Like, what do people expect when they click on a video? And all of that information, even if it's rather subconscious, will help you to craft better videos that are going to connect more effectively with your audience. So really take some time to think about, like, do you spend time watching YouTube? Is it a platform that you enjoy and hanging out on? Do you have creators on there that you look up to and that you can look to for inspiration? Or are you feeling like you need to start a YouTube channel? Because, oh, like everybody eventually starts on YouTube and I really just need to do this and I need to add another platform. And, you know, if you're coming at it from a place of stress and uncertainty, that might not be as motivating or inspiring as if you're coming at it from a place of like, oh, I love watching YouTubers and it seems really fun, and I want to start making my own videos. So really consider that if you do want to start YouTube from a strategic standpoint and you're not a fan of YouTube just yet, then I'd really encourage you to take the time to immerse yourself in the platform. Start watching content that, you know, you think your target audience might be interested in. Uh, because that will be a really good sort of guide to the kind of strategic content you might be able to make on your own channel. But I would hope that through that process of watching content and discovering new channels, that you'll eventually just become a fan of the platform yourself, because that's really what makes it the most fun, is if you enjoy watching it, you enjoy being part of, like, the YouTube community, it's going to make it a lot easier for you to make really good videos. Speaking of that, the second question is, do I enjoy the process of making videos? While watching YouTube can be lots of fun, obviously the making of the videos is an entirely different ball game. Here's the thing. A lot of us get really enticed into YouTube content creation or honestly, just like, being, like, an influencer, generally, because a lot of us follow different, like, lifestyle influencer girlies who make a lot of beautiful, uh, fun content about their lives. That's the nature of being a lifestyle creator is you share your life. And also the nature of being a lifestyle creator is that you make your life look, you know, fun and, you know, at the very least, relatable or aspirational. Those are kind of the two key, you know, ways that it could go. And so for a lot of us who follow lifestyle influencers that are aspirational to us, we think, like, I would love for my life to look like that. Wouldn't it be amazing for me to, like, make vlogs like that or whatever it might be? And here's the thing. The job of a lifestyle influencer is to make their life look really cool and fun and awesome. And a lot of that is, you know, not necessarily showing what it really looks like to film all of that content and what the behind the scenes of it is. I'm not at all saying that they're being, you know, insincere, uh, or not like, showing the real thing. But the truth is, like, the general audience of, say, like a lifestyle vlogger, they're not necessarily content creators themselves, so they don't care about, oh, well, what is it actually like to film these vlogs, or what's it like to edit them? Because they are there for the actual subject matter of the videos. So it just makes sense that those creators wouldn't share that stuff. But it does mean for those of us who are interested in becoming content creators, you don't really see just from watching someone's vlog, the work that it takes to make that happen. And so that is why I think it's very important for you to really think through in a practical sense, what are the steps involved in me creating these, uh, videos? What will it actually look like on a day to day for, for me to vlog, for me to wake up in the morning, set up my camera filming, you know, my bed, I'm gonna hit record, I'm gonna crawl back in, I'm gonna pretend to be asleep, and then I'm gonna get out of the bed, pretend to wake up and like, you know, walk away and then I'm gonna come back and, you know, turn off the camera. These are the steps that are really involved in like making YouTube videos, of course, along with going through and editing. And it takes hours to edit a long form video and then designing thumbnails and then, you know, also coming up with the initial concept or idea. All of that stuff is included in the, the work of YouTube. But often we just think about YouTube in the, in the way that we consume it. You think about how fun it is to watch the videos and that's not necessarily what it feels like to make them. I personally think it's really fun to make them. Like, I, I enjoy that. I really enjoy the process of thinking through the script and the concept and coming up with a shot list and finding new unique ways to get those clips. And then, you know, editing. I love editing probably the most. Seeing the video come together, all of that is very fun and fulfilling for me. So that's why I love it. And I just happen to also love watching YouTube. But just because you love watching YouTube doesn't necessarily mean you love the whole video production process. So it's just good to really think through the practicality of that. When you're considering if this is a platform that feels like it would be fulfilling for you. One thing I will say is if you really would enjoy this, the filming process, the planning, all of that. But what is intimidating to you is the editing. Just wanted you to know I do have an agency, it's called Creatorly Media and we love editing YouTube videos for creators. So if you want help with the editing side, you can check out creatorlymedia.com for those details. Okay, the third question that I want you to ask yourself is, and try to be really honest with this. Am I intrinsically motivated? Here's the thing about YouTube, um, especially long form YouTube that makes it quite different from say TikTok or you know, what Instagram is like as a platform now. It is a long and slow build with very few dopamine hits along the way. So it takes a long time. Like I'm saying, like if you, you know, threw yourself into it, probably a year of consistent creation, that takes a long time. You know, each video takes a long time to edit in order to really grow an audience. And that can be quite discouraging for some people and especially when you compare that to say Instagram or TikTok, where depending on, you know, you're in the right place at the right time, you've got the right concept and the right target audience and you make really great short form videos. You might get that dopamine hit of like views and followers faster than you would on YouTube. And I feel like that is the honest truth of it, like because it's, it's kind of more of like a long term investment and a slow burn. Whereas I think say with TikTok you can blow up really quickly but then you can also be forgotten really quickly. Whereas on YouTube it takes a long time to build up that audience. But because these people are watching like long form videos from you, they become more invested and they're more likely to be long term audience members. So it's kind of the trade off between like a lot of these short form platforms and long form YouTube is like yeah, the rise is really quick with say like Reels or TikTok. But you, you know, don't necessarily have that long term investment in you and your community like you would with long form YouTube which takes a lot longer to build up. Which of course there is kind of a potential blend for all of this which is integrating your short form stuff into your YouTube content via Shorts, which I would recommend doing because it will help you grow an initial audience that some of which might, you know, end up converting into long form viewers. But you also can't depend on growing a large audience with shorts and then thinking that they will all watch your long form content. Cuz that's not necessarily the case, they might not be into watching both. But the point of all this is if you really are serious about growing with long form content on YouTube, you need to be quite intrinsically motivated because you need to be motivated by making the next video but by improving your craft as A, you know, videographer, as an editor, as a script writer. Because that's gonna be the only motivation that you have for a long time when at the beginning you're not getting the views, you're not getting the feedback from people, you're not seeing your subscriber count just go up and up and up like you might if you were trying to grow on TikTok, for example. So I just think, uh, when it comes to long form YouTube, more than any other social platform, it's important to have that strong sense of motivation within yourself and kind of wanting to it for the sake of it, because that will kind of push you through and allow you to keep going even when you're not getting that, you know, feedback or the results just yet. Question number four. What sets me apart from other YouTubers? So it's no secret that YouTube as a platform has tons of creators and there are more and more joining every day. But I don't want that to intimidate you because the truth is you're a unique person with your own unique viewpoints and different, like, specific target audience that you'll be able to reach and serve. Serve in some way. So I really do believe that you have something new and different to bring to the table. But I think it's important for you to think about that before you dive into it so that you can lean into that difference when you start creating. Do a little bit of market research, have a look around the platform, see what other creators are posting about in your space, like to the audience you want to reach or doing the types of videos that you want to make, see what's out there and see where there might be a potential gap in the market that you might be able to fill with your own unique approach. You don't need to feel like you have to do something completely just like earth shattering and brand new in order to stand out on YouTube. Like it's not, it's not really that intense. But I do think if you consider how can I make videos with maybe a different, a slightly different approach to storytelling, or how can I make videos that have a different visual vibe or different soundtrack or just different feeling when you watch them, or maybe it's that everybody else who's in your space is approaching things from a certain mindset or, you know, always talking about the same authors, or clearly their visuals are inspired by similar movies. Like how can you come into it and do something that is different and that is unique to you? Because that'll just help you, like, give your viewers a reason to watch you in addition to these other creators. Because I think that's the beautiful thing about YouTube is like it never truly has to be competitive because people can watch more than one channel. You know, obviously I'm aware that in my space there's lots of other people talking about social media strategy and tips for content creators, but maybe I can say it in a different way or a way that makes you feel more supported or encouraged, or maybe I can just edit my videos in a way that's like fun to watch or unique in some way and it gives you a reason to watch me in addition to those other people. Because ultimately I don't need to convince you to not watch them. I would love for you to watch them too and, you know, support all the people in my niche. But I can give you a reason to watch me as well by being just a little bit different, a little bit fresh, talking about things in a slightly different way. So try to approach YouTube that way as you start thinking about the stuff you want to make. How can you craft something that is unique and, and kind of individual to you so that you give people a reason to watch you in addition to other people doing similar stuff? Finally, question number five. Are you willing to invest in the necessary equipment and the necessary building of the skills needed for this? The truth is again, what sets YouTube apart, long form YouTube from other, you know, short form video platforms is, is the barrier to entry. It's interesting actually to me it's fascinating that YouTube as a platform has existed for so long where when you go to create the video, you click upload and you select a file from your computer that you've already edited. Right? That's so different than the approach From Instagram or TikTok or even now Shorts in building an editor into the app so that you can create your content completely within the TikTok app or the Instagram app or whatever you YouTube at least. Long form YouTube has always been built around the assumption that you will edit your videos on your own outside of the platform and you will design a thumbnail outside of the platform and you will bring those to the YouTube.com and then publish them. So because of that kind of small fact, it basically means like there are more skills, equipment, software necessary to get started when it comes to creating these long form videos, which can be a big adjustment if you are a short form creator that's used to being able to use say TikTok to do everything you need to do. Now I want to be clear that I really advocate for Especially when you're starting out having a very minimalist approach to gear. I would never want you to feel like you need to drop like thousands of dollars when you're just getting started on like a really fancy camera and lens and microphone and all of this stuff. Because truly you can create really great content just using your phone. And you can start editing that phone footage with a free editing software on your laptop. I highly recommend Da Vinc Resolve. I've actually been kind of experimenting with it lately. I've been a premier pro girly for a very long time, but I've been wanting to learn DaVinci resolve primarily because they offer an extremely full featured version for free. Now there are a few things obviously that aren't included in the free version that you need to pay in order to do, but I've edited my last few YouTube videos using the free version of DaVinci Resolve. So that kind of goes to show like, you know, you can make videos like mine using the free version of this software. And it's just a few things that I might want to do above and beyond the kind of edits that I've done previously that might, you know, get me to end up paying for the full version. But the amazing thing about it too is it's a one time payment, so there's no subscription. So anyway, because of kind of like the accessibility of DaVinci Resolve, that's what made me get interested in it because I was like, I should learn how to use this so that I could make tutorials on it and teach all of you because all you truly would need is like the phone you already have, which I can teach you the best settings for your, your iPhone, um, video capture. And then you can get that footage over to your computer and you can edit it for free in DaVinci Resolve. And you can start a YouTube channel like that with the phone you already have and some free editing software. You don't need to buy a ton of equipment. Now that being said, as time goes on and as you start to learn more skills, discover new types of shots or different edits that you might want to do, you may find yourself eventually wanting to upgrade and get more equipment. And that's kind of its own like fun journey to go on as you become more skilled at video creation. But the point is, YouTube more than other platforms, does require an upfront investment in potentially gear. But like I said, that's optional. But definitely in the time of learning certain skills like learning how to edit, uh, and Resolve, learning how to capture the Best clips on your phone, learning how to design thumbnails, all of these different things. Um, it does require a bigger investment, I really think, than the short form platforms for getting started. So consider that when, when you're questioning, is YouTube right? For me, like, it is a bit of a higher barrier to entry. So think about whether you have the time, um, the ability to take that on right now, if you're considering adding this to your kind of overall content creation portfolio. That being said, even with YouTube being, you know, more effort, more investment, all of the different things, I personally think that it is very, very worth it. YouTube is by far my favorite platform to watch content on. It's my favorite platform to create content for. YouTube is the reason that I have made so much, so many friends in this industry and got connected with people who I really admire and look up to and that I feel grateful to now call friends. And I just think it's, it's a beautiful place to create. So think about all these things that we talked about today, but also, like, don't let that, like, hold you back because I really do think there is so much to be gained from creating on YouTube and I'm really excited for you. If you're at the start of this journey, if you're getting started on YouTube or really any other social platform, like I mentioned before, keeping track of those metrics is key to building a strategy that's going to be successful in the long term. So make sure you check out Dash Hudson, because that's my favorite place to keep track of all my social media analytics. You can get a free trial at-hudson.com creator club and thanks to-hudson for making this podcast possible. I really do appreciate them and I appreciate you for watching. Thanks so much for tuning in and I'll catch you in the next episode. Bye. Thanks so much for listening to the Creator Club podcast. This show is produced by Creatorly Media, a social media and content marketing agency agency by Creators for Creators. If you want professional help growing your social media platforms or creating your content, come Visit us@creatorlymedia.com or, uh, Creatorly Media on Instagram. If you've listened this far into the episode, we want to know who you are. Seriously, thank you so much for listening. Screenshot your podcast app and share it to your Instagram story tagging at Creatorly Media or atestechley so that we can chat again. The thanks for listening and remember to keep on creating. I'll catch you next time.