How to Start & Grow a YouTube Channel in 2023 *Zero to 200k + My Journey*
If I started a new YouTube channel, I'd do this first
If I started a new YouTube channel in 2023, I'd do this
Plan
Make sure you have a solid answer to all these questions:
- why would someone who doesn’t know you click on and watch your video?
- what is the reason for someone to subscribe to you?
- how to get strangers to care about what you have to say?
- you need a direction
There are lots of different ways to provide value
- It doesn’t have to be about educating someone
- entertainment, motivation, inspiration, relaxation are all values
Create (13:30)
Beginner mistakes:
- long and slow intros
- assuming people who watch your video already know who you are
- introduce yourself later – after you start by telling some juicy stuff
- using the wrong music
- what kind of emotion do you want to convey?
- alternate emotions between your scenes
There are lots of different ways to provide value
- It doesn’t have to be about educating someone
- entertainment, motivation, inspiration, relaxation are all values
Reflect (20:30)
- check analytics ONLY once a month
- read people’s comments
There are lots of different ways to provide value
- It doesn’t have to be about educating someone
- entertainment, motivation, inspiration, relaxation are all values
Help / Hub / Hero strategy introduced by YouTube
Help (not the most creative)
- SEO optimized
- practical and helpful
- people are searching for it
Hub
- weekly episodes
- made for your existing community
Hero
- designed for YouTube homepage
- made for a larger audience
- e.g. 72 hours in Rome
A 12-month content strategy
Each month in Q1
- 2 help and 2 hub videos
- can alternate e.g. Help > Hub > Help > Hub
- so your audience gets a feel of what your videos are going to look like
Each month in Q2 (9:50)
- 1 help (e.g. tutorial for SEO) and 3 hub (what you want to be making long term)
Each month in Q3 (10:50)
- 1 hero
- not easy
- a bit of luck involved
- videos that get to show up on the homepage tend to be connected to current cultural conversations
Each month in Q4 (11:50)
- 2 hub, 1 help, 1 hero
How to grow a YouTube channel with a strategy
Beluga gained 4 million subscribers on YouTube in 3 months
YouTube measures with two main metrics (3:00)
- click-through rate
- average view duration
1. Make good short videos
- people continue to watch more videos from the channel to make total view duration longer
2. Use sound effects
3. Text disappears real fast
- keep viewers focused
- make them rewatch to prolong view duration
4. Same storytelling template
5. Create multiple moving parts in videos
6. Relatable and short titles
- Avg 33 characters
- viewers get the idea right away
- use random numbers in the titles
7. Very easily recognizable thumbnails
- e.g. something you can see on your phone screen
- blurry image to stand out from polished, high quality thumbnails