How to Get Started on YouTube: Beauty and the Vlog Podcast Episode 50
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Getting started on YouTube is NOT easy. That is part of the reason I created this community and the Beauty and the Vlog podcast. The podcast features stories from influencers that are inspirational, informative and revealing. However, sometimes in order to get started with something, you need more than nebulous pieces of advice and inspirational stories. You need a plan. That’s what I am doing by creating this series for you, how to get started on YouTube with no subscribers or views. Based on my 100+ hours of interviews with successful YouTubers, working with dozens of clients, my extensive knowledge on the YouTube social media industry and my personal branding and business experience, I have created this step by step guide helping YOU start your channel and/or grow the one you already have.
This series will be 5 parts and will include the audio portion of the podcast, a written blog post and special downloadable cheat sheets, outlines and extras. I hope this information and the lessons to come will be the push you need to get started on YouTube if you haven’t already! Enjoy and make sure to join our Facebook group to keep the conversation going.
This first post will be the backbone of your channel. For this lesson we will discover your why, hone in on your niche and reveal your superpower. After finishing this lesson, make sure you head over to Lesson 2 which is all about BRANDING your channel.
Welcome to the Beauty and the Vlog Podcast Episode 49! Here, you will find detailed show notes from the podcast episode discussing how to get started on YouTube. To listen to the episode, click on the pink bar below or listen on iTunes or Stitcher (Android). While you are there, make sure you subscribe! Also, I have created an extensive workbook as a companion to this post. Make sure you download it to get the most out of this lesson (it’s FREE)!
Here are a few things you will learn about getting started on YouTube:
1.) The three most important things you need to determine before starting a channel.
2.) A step by step guide on how to find and discover your niche.
3.) What a SUPERPOWER is and how that could be the key to your YouTube success.
To listen to the audio version of this lesson, click on the pink bar below or listen on iTunes or Stitcher (Android). While you are there, make sure you subscribe!
How to Get Started on YouTube Series
Part 1: ******Your Are Here*******
Part 2: How to Brand Your YouTube Channel
Part 3: Everything you need to know about Tags, Titles and Thumbnails
Part 4: How to Craft Amazing Titles For Your YouTube Videos
Part 5: Mistakes New YouTubers Make
Why+Niche+Superpower = Successful YouTube Channel
There are three things to seriously consider when starting your YouTube channel, and we will go through each of them for this lesson. The three things are finding your why, narrowing your niche and discovering your superpower. I have also included a handy-dandy FREE workbook that will walk you through everything step by step. Lets get started . . . .
Step 1: Finding Your Why
Your WHY is the reason that you are creating your channel. Your WHY will determine the value your channel has to your audience. For example, for me, I am creating this podcast because I want to help people start and grow their YouTube channels. The value that my podcast has to my audience is helping people start and grow a YouTube channel. What is your WHY? Ask yourself these questions: Why are you creating a YouTube channel? WHY should someone subscribe to YOUR channel? What makes the content you are going to create unique and different? Why does your channel matter? Why should someone subscribe to you?
Step 2: Discover Your Niche
This is where people get stuck. When you go onto YouTube there are thousands of channels specifically related to beauty or fashion. The competition today is FIERCE. I’m not saying that to discourage you, but to inspire you to hone in on the niche you want to target.
Do you really need a niche?
Say someone searched for a topic in the search bar related to skin, “How to take care of dry skin”. They ended up watching two videos on the topic, one from a girl named Erin and another from a girl named Jessica. First they watch Erin’s video. It was a good video with relevant content. That person decided to look around Erin’s channel. Hmmm, she talks about her dog, there are a few makeup tutorials, oh and there is one about how she lost weight, hmmm. She looks cool, but I don’t know if I need all that, it doesn’t really serve my needs at this moment. I’ll move on, I got what I needed from that one video.
Next they watch Jessica’s video. Like Erin’s it was a good, quality video with relevant information. They watch Jessica’s video and think, hmmm, this girl knows a thing or two about skin. Let me browse around. I like the look of her channel; wow she talks a lot about skin care, that’s super helpful, so much good stuff that is relevant! Her videos look good and I could use someone who knows a lot about skin. I’ll subscribe!
If you are creating videos about a variety of topics, you are taking a risk that people are going to love all of those topics. In reality people are going to come to your video to learn about specific topics, do you want them to come because they love your entire channel or just to watch that one video?
Do you want to be Erin or Jessica?
Narrow your focus. At his or her core, every content creator should be solving a problem. Why do people come to you? What are you solving for them? Stand out as a leader and be the go-to hub in your niche. Create content that your niche loves and you will make it easier for the RIGHT people to fall in love with your channel. If you focus on that one specific topic, it’s easier to get those people in. It also becomes easier for you to create consistent and useful content. You are not thinking about the entire beauty and lifestyle world, you can think of specific things to film about.
In conclusion, you can reach a lot more people if you talk about a lot less things. After you have built your audience and earned a certain reputation, you can play around with other types of videos, and your audience will probably WANT to see other aspects of who you are. BUT, the fastest way to build up an audience is to get more specific with your content from the beginning.
But what about. . .. ?
What about those YouTubers that have a million followers and have no niche? They talk about everything! Well, consider that a lot of those YouTubers have been doing this for a while and have had time to build up an audience who loves them and wants to see everything from them. OR, the YouTuber might have a really unique SUPERPPOWER (explained later) that separates them from the pack. They might be super high energy like Laura Lee or Jaclynn Hill or have access to incredible studio equipment like the IPSY girls Desi Perkins and Chrisspy. Having said that, most large YouTubers have some kind of a focus and style. Jaclynn generally focus on makeup tutorials same with Desi and Chrisspy. Laura on the other hand does a variety but mainly focuses on product reviews.
How to find your niche.
There are two distinct types of niches. There is either a topic niche or a demographic niche.
What is a topic niche?
A topic niche will be a niche on a specific topic for anybody. For example, someone can have a channel all about clear skin. The channel can be for anyone, men, women, any race, skin type; basically anyone who is interested in the topic of clear skin. Or, a topic niche can be about working as a makeup artist. You create your content having to do with being a working makeup artist. All videos will be related to that one particular topic and for anyone interested in that particular topic.
What is a demographic niche?
With a demographic niche, you have a specific person in mind, an avatar, who is going to want to watch about different topics and how it relates to them specifically. What is an avatar? A figure that you create that represents a specific person. So, maybe your “avatar” is someone who is female, in college and on a budget with curly hair. You can get even more specific and give your avatar a name, hometown and a story. The more specific the better! Every time you create something, you create it with that person in mind. Would my avatar find this video/post useful and relevant? This helps you stay on target with your niche and create content that your avatar will actually love to consume.
SO how do you find your niche?
There are three distinct components. FIRST, start with what you are passionate about. What do you enjoy watching, reading, listening about? Second, what skills do you have? What in your life are you good at? What knowledge do you have? Third, what do people need?
Combine the three, your passion plus your skill plus what people need. Think about your life so far. Think about what you have gravitated towards including hobbies, education and work experience. Your skills and passion will both probably be found when you think about those things. Think about your intuition. What do you enjoy making videos about? What in your life are you really good at or have work/personal experience with. Maybe you have a degree in marketing or a degree in psychology. OR, maybe you worked at a department store for years and have an insider look at the way the retail world works.
You would be surprised how everyday experiences can be seen as a unique skill and experience that you can create content around on YouTube. Not everyone has worked at a retail store, has a degree is psychology or operated a child care business, for example.
My skill is interviewing people. I worked for an online network in which I gained experience interviewing celebrities on the red carpet and in a studio. My passion is YouTube beauty and makeup as well as business. I enjoy talking about those things and learning about them. Combining my passion of YouTube beauty and business along with my skill of interviewing brought me to host and produce my podcast interview series about the business of YouTube.
YouTuber and guest of the podcast Amy Schmittauer had marketing experience and therefore decided to create her Savvy Sexy Social YouTube channel teaching about marketing.
Another guest of the podcast and YouTuber, Charles Gross had experience with a high end used handbag business and started his channel off talking about that particular niche. He eventually changed his course, but because his knowledge and insight were so specific and unique at the start, he earned a large following pretty quickly.
Finally, determine if you want to have a topic niche or a demographic niche. For a topic niche, you can niche down even more and create an avatar for that particular topic. I would probably encourage you to go that route. In our example above, if your skill is an esthetician and you are creating a channel all about clear skin, you can niche down and create a channel for clear skin for high schoolers. It doesn’t mean that every video will have to be specific to those people, but it will help you in gaining a faster audience amongst that subset of people within that topic.
For your demographic niche, be careful that you don’t end up creating a lifestyle channel that is too broad; you need to really hone in on your avatar and get specific. A demographic niche is great as well but it can sometimes be too broad. The more narrow the focus, the better.
Keep in mind, you might not know right away what your niche is. It is OK to start without knowing this. Read this and consider the message, but the most important thing is for you to just get started on YouTube. You might end up gravitating towards something after a few months. You also might now know exactly what part of the process speaks to you. THAT IS OK. Take your time but make a goal to determine your niche within the first 6 months.
Have you downloaded your workbook yet? Click here to get your copy.
Step 3: What is your superpower?
Your SUPERPOWER is the last part of the equation. Don’t confuse superpower with skill as mentioned above. Your skill is something that you have learned or experienced. Your SUPERPOWER is something you were born with, a natural ability. You might have honed and perfected this superpower through your work experience and/or education, but it was naturally occurring and an innate interest and predisposition you already had. EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE.
Ask yourself this question: What am I really good at doing? What do I really enjoy during the process of creating content (assuming you have already started a channel)? Also, what DON’T I enjoy? Do you enjoy teaching in front of the camera? What about the creative process of brainstorming new video ideas? How about editing? Maybe you love the musical component of videos? How about the technical side? Think about what part of the process gets you the MOST excited.
Also, think about the part of the process that is super easy for you, that takes you the least amount of time but still comes out excellent. You also want to think about what part of the process you do not enjoy. Once asking yourself those questions, you will probably come away with your SUPERPOWER. Or, if you haven’t started a channel yet, use aspects of your own life to determine what you tink you might or might not like.
For me, for example, I LOVE talking to people. I realized, with a YouTube channel, I wouldn’t be able to do that. As much as I enjoy talking to a camera (I actually enjoy that a lot) I LOVE talking to people even better. I am also good at it. I’ve always been able to make friends easily and get people to reveal pretty personal things about their lives. Personally, I have experience interviewing celebrities on the red carpet and in a studo, so I had that skill set already. I also HATE the editing process of videos and am not super creative when it comes to backdrops, lighting, etc. I knew that making videos would be a chore, even though I enjoyed chatting in front of a camera. Finally, I decided that a podcast would probably be the best use of my superpower.
So, now that you know your superpower? What next?
Once you determine your superpower, you should create your content with that in mind. You should also focus on the platform that helps you most easily showcase your superpower. If you are a amazing editor and love that part of the process, create videos that show that off. Maybe your niche is makeup reviews from the perspective of a Sephora employee and you are a crazy good editor and don’t particularly enjoy talking in front of the camera. Well, you can create reviews showcasing the products themselves and do a voice over while making a visually beautiful review featuring the products and the packaging.
Or maybe you are a single mom, very artistic, with a background in graphic design who wants to showcase your life as a single mom and baby in a beautifully artistic way but you just don’t have the time to make videos and learn how to edit. In determining your superpower, you decide Instagram might be the best platform for you and you focus on that with a website/blog instead of a YouTube channel. Discovering your superpower will help you determine both the platform you should focus on as well as the elements of that platform to really embrace.
Putting it all together: Getting Started on YouTube!
So, now you have your three components.
Why
Niche
Superpower.
Write those three down and create your content with those in mind (download your FREE workbook I included as part of this lesson). Every single piece of content you create should reflect your why, be created for your niche and showcase your SUPERPOWER. Once you determine your why, create a content plan based upon your niche and superpower. You should also verbalize it in your videos. Your audience should know your why and your niche. The superpower doesn’t need to be stated or vocalized, it will be apparent to the audience when watching your videos or viewing your feed.
As an example, here is mine:
I created the Beauty and the Vlog podcast interview series to help aspiring beauty, fashion and lifestyle influencers start and grow their channels through the stories and lessons of successful YouTubers and professionals in the social media industry.
In conclusion, there are three important steps when first starting your channel. Lets review them real quick so you don’t forget.
Step 1:
Know your Why.
Why do you want to start a channel/ Instagram account/blog, etc?
Step 2:
Find Your Niche
Will you have a topic niche or demographic niche? In both a demographic and topic niche, create a specific and detailed avatar.
Step 3:
Discover your superpower. What is the one thing you absolutely love doing in the creative process AND are really good at?
Every piece of content you create should reflect all three of those parts. Once you have this down, everything else falls into place. It’s easy to forget to do this and just launch forward with your channel. Those that take the time to reflect on their decision to start a channel and create a plan based upon a why, niche and SUPERPOWER will see results! I’ve worked with social influencers who have taken a step back to reflect on these components who have now seen incredible success. I can’t wait to hear how these tips work for you!
Use the bonus workbook to go through this process. Actively writing down and discovering these three components will start you on YouTube the RIGHT way. Plus, you will be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else as well. Who doesn’t love that? I would love to hear how it worked for you!
Next up, Lesson 2, how to BRAND your YouTube channel!
I’d love to hear what your Why+Niche+Superpower are! Comment below!
Are you just starting out and need some guidance on some great equipment? Below is a roundup of some of the favorite tools mentioned on the show.
Resources
Add your name to the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
Watch my FREE Road to 100k Masterclass
FREE GUIDES:
How to Create Impactful Content During COVID-19 Pandemic!
Getting Started on YouTube: YouTube Niche Workbook
How to get onto PR lists and receive a TON of free product even if you have a small following: PR List
YOUTUBE OPTIMIZATION PLUG-IN I RECOMMEND
TubeBuddy [Use the code ErikasBuddy to get 20% off]
MY FAVORITE BUSINESS TOOLS
Course Creation: Looking to create a course? Kajabi is the BEST platform hands down. I use this for my course after extensive research on all the other platforms.
Live Calls and Interviews: I use Ecamm for my podcast interviews, both audio and for YouTube that you see here on YouTube. It makes it super easy to share my screen and create the split-screen with my guest. I’m not super techie and this software is really easy to use!
Webinars and Live calls: I use Zoom.us for my group coaching calls in my private membership group for female YouTube creators. It’s also the software I use to record my Road to 100k YouTube Subscribers Masterclass!
THE BEST YOUTUBE/PODCASTING EQUIPMENT
After interviewing HUNDREDS of successful YouTube creators, these are the pieces of equipment that hands down get mentioned time and time again. You can’t go wrong with anything on this list!
- 4k Camera: Great for starting out and vlogging
- Lens: This lens is recommended highly by many of my podcast guests, it gives the blurry “YouTuber” background look.
- Audio: If you want to upgrade your set-up, audio should be one of the first investments (after a good camera). This microphone is unanimously the favorite amongst my podcast guests.
- Podcast/Voiceover Microphone: If you are looking for a great microphone for a podcast or video voiceover, this is it! This is the one that you see in all of my videos and the one I’ve recorded my podcast on for years.
- Webcam: For my interviews, that you see in my videos, this is the webcam that I use. Super inexpensive and easy to set up!
- Inexpensive Lighting Kit: Need to pick up some lights but don’t want to spend a ton? This is a great set that will get you started and help improve the look of your videos.
- Ring light: Looking for that beauty look? Invest in a ring light! This is an inexpensive light that does that trick!
FACEBOOK GROUP
Don’t forget to join our FREE Facebook group if you are a YouTube content creator or you are thinking of starting a channel!
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