How To Start a YouTube Channel

Created: 2022-03-03 13:39 Edited: Tags: video polished

1. Get Going
2. Get Good
3. Get Smart

Get Going:

• Make crappy videos, there’s no way around it
• NIches don’t matter at this point
• Easy videos: talk about a favourite thing of yours

Choice 1:

1. Stop after ~20 videos
2. Casual Relationship - just for fun - can’t expect growth
3. Serious Relationship - publish consistently - leads to Get Good

Get Good:

• Done via quantity or quality
• Most people should start with quantity and this eventually, naturally leads to quality
• Quantity for Ali is 1-2 videos per week
• Parable of the Pottery Class (30 pots vs 1 pot in a month)
• Your skills will compound 1% Better Each Day
• Able to make ‘good’ videos after video 80
  • Title
  • Thumbnail
  • Hook
  • Personality
  • Camera Presence
  • Editing
  • Music
  • Sound Design
  • Writing
  • Structure
  • Branding

Two Measures of Good:

• Intrinsic
  • If someone you know tells you they ran into your videos, how much would you cringe?
• Extrinsic
  • Are people clicking? - click thru rate
  • Are people watching? - watch time & retension
  • Engagement rate - comments
• Intrinsic matters most

Choice 2:

1. Hobby
   1. Focused on yourself
2. Business
   1. Focused on others

• This is a spectrum, not a binary choice
• If you choose business, then you proceed to step 3

Get Smart:

• To run your channel like a business, you need to prioritize what your audience wants
• The intersection of what you love, what your audience wants and what you can make money from - a la Ikigai

3 aspects of Get Smart

1. Workflow
2. Cash flow
3. Outflow

Workflow:

1. Strategize
   1. Goals
   2. Niche
   3. Target Audience
   4. Competitive Analysis
   5. Competitive Advantage
   6. Planning
   7. Pivoting
2. Systemize
   1. The E-Myth Revisited

Related:

1. Atomic Habits
2. compound growth

References:

1. Ali Abdaal
2. How To Start a YouTube Channel - Beginner’s Guide to YouTube - YouTube