Create a Successful YouTube Channel

YouTube is no longer just a venue to watch silly videos our watch how something is done. Now it is your opportunity to showcase your business and find new audiences. The following are some tips in order to create a YouTube channel that is successful and long standing.

Before you get too carried away with dreams of becoming the next viral sensation, you need to start at the very beginning and ask yourself why you want to be on YouTube. Some questions to ask yourself:

• WHY do I want a YouTube channel? Are my topics of discussion interesting and worthy of sharing? Am I passionate about my business that I want to tell the world about it?
   
• WHO is going to be watching my videos? Who is my target audience?
   
• WHAT type of content will I create? Demonstration videos? How to guides? Short stories?
   
• WHEN has this been done in the past? Am I creating unique content or has my competition already beaten me to the punch? How can I make it original?
   
• HOW do I keep my content fresh and updated over time?

The next order of business is to pick a channel name. Take some consideration with this. Your channel is going to stick around for awhile, so you want to pick a name that holds strong to your brand and identity, something unique that people will remember you by.

Once that’s done, it’s time to set up your profiles. In order to build your audience, you will need a social presence online. You most likely have this in the form of Facebook, Twitter, etc., but make sure you are active and that your user name is available on all of them. Let people know you are out there and willing to take the time to build brand and trustworthiness.

The time has come to make some videos, but hold up a minute. These videos are going to be watched by potentially hundreds our thousands  of people, so you don’t want to be amateur about this. Depending on your business needs, you seriously may want to consider hiring a videographer and having your videos professionally done. This is where that earlier homework comes into play. What did your competition do? Were the videos professional and high quality or were they amateur and poor quality? The goal is to always rise above the rest. However, you can make the videos yourself. Just make sure you have the proper equipment. Nowadays, the newest smartphones actually have pretty good video technology and take great images. A good quality point and shoot camera can also do the trick. The key is to take your time and not rush. You absolutely do not want to produce subpar quality.

After following all of these steps, you don’t want to forget about your content. Granted, there are a lot of YouTube channels out there and it can be hard to come up with original content, but not impossible. Create content that is relevant and up to date, something that people will be searching for. Pick interesting and catchy titles. It’s often the headlines that first grab attention.

And finally, some extra tips for success:

• Be an organizer and planner. Plan out your content format and stick to it. People lose interest in channels who are constantly changing their look.
• Post regularly. Never let your channel get out of date. You will lose subscribers if you go weeks without posting anything. People appreciate your time and dedication, even if they can’t say it directly do you. Pick a day or two during the week to upload your videos and post of social media to let your views know about it.