Okay, so let’s face it. A lot of you have probably thought of starting a YouTube channel but for some reason never started it. So here’s my personal guide to starting a YouTube channel and growing it in 2018. A step by step analysis:

Step 1: Motive

So you have thought about starting a channel. But have you really thought about your motive behind starting a channel? What is it that makes you want to create videos? If your motive is to one day become a celebrity and reap the benefits of having a large audience, my best advice would be to realign your motive. Reason is, your motive for a long time will be the only source of inspiration to keep at it and keep creating content. If your motive is to be a celebrity one day, you may run out of motivation to create weekly content if you don’t see a result soon. I don’t mean to say that wanting to be a celebrity is particularly wrong/bad. But it won’t be something that will keep you going for too long. So make sure you have a strong sense of purpose or interest in the field first. Some of the motives could be –

• You have a strong domain knowledge in a particular field that can help others and you genuinely want to share

• You enjoy being in front of the camera and addressing an audience

• You have a strong belief system that you want to talk about

• You have a quirky/different personality that you want to share about with other people

• You make videos professionally and want to display your skills in front of the world

• You enjoy filming and editing and want to start uploading videos for fun

• You think you are an entertainer and can make others laugh

These are just some of the motives that you could have for starting a channel that I could think of. You don’t have to necessarily fit in ANY of these brackets. Just think for yourself of something that will make you want to create video content and make it your career eventually.

Step 2: Start!

Sometimes the best things in life happen when you dive headfirst into doing it. And YouTube is no different. Which is why I have added an exclamation mark in the title for extra emphasis. 🙂 If you really want to start a channel just go ahead and create your first video. When I started my channel I had zero knowledge about creating or editing videos. But I did it anyway by learning from google and YouTube. So just start on any software of your choice (Read HERE for some ideas about Softwares), and maybe shoot on a basic camera or your phone. You won’t ever find out whether or not you have a flair or liking towards it until you get down to doing it.

Step 3: Create Consistently

Now here comes the challenging part. Once you upload your first video, you will have to get into the habit of creating at least one video every week. Which means that you can’t upload one video and go missing from the scene there after. When I created my first video, I challenged myself to upload at least one video every week there after. And I did! It wasn’t easy, but I shot and edited videos specifically every week there after to keep doing it. It took me a total of 15 videos uploaded week after week, to finally get to the first 1000 subscribers (Please don’t look at it as a bench mark of any kind). But the best part about getting into the habit of uploading videos consistently, early on, is that you get better and faster at editing. You learn something new each week from shooting and editing and you truly realize if you can sustain creating content for a long time. To make it your career you have to do it for a long period of time. So here are some things that I learned from my personal experience.

• Learn something new each week in terms of editing like a new transition or text effect

• Keep trying something when it comes to shooting like camera angles and incorporate it in your videos

• plan your videos in advance

• Analyze the response of the videos and see what people like to see

• Reply to comments and take constructive feedback positively

• Don’t let any negative comments dampen your spirit

• Always create content with a specific audience in mind, even if you have none currently

Step 4: Create a niche

A lot of people may disagree when I say this, but it does help if your channel has a specific niche. Imagine this scenario, you uploaded a tech video and somebody who say it, subscribed to your channel upon linking it (and because of his/her interest in the field). If you go ahead and start uploading fashion content here after, the old subscriber may leave because your content is no longer relevant. This will keep happening if you keep shifting your niche too often. So try to create your own identity and a reason for others to come back to your channel for that identity of yours. This will help others relate more with your content. Once your channel grows substantially bigger, you may diversify into different subjects.

Step 5: Increase your Production Value

Increasing your production value means that you start producing better videos in terms of video, audio, and shooting quality.  This can only happen if you find your own means to make in investment in additional gear. Initially when you start with YouTube, there may be lesser monetary gain from it. But where there is a will there is a way and if you religiously followed the previous steps, you may be at a stage where you realize whether or not YouTube is your calling! If it is, begin with investing a little in your channel even if you don’t have a very large audience. As long as you have stayed true to yourself and done the deed, with better content and quality you will certainly see a growth in your channel audience.

These are my steps and practices for now. Let me know in comments below what are some of your thoughts. Would you like to add something? Let’s begin a discussion! 🙂