Tips on Starting a YouTube Channel

I decided to stray a bit from my usual posts about organization and minimalism today because I’ve received quite a few messages asking for tips on starting a YouTube channel. Since I’m not a YouTube expert, I won’t be going into great detail about the technical aspects, but I will give you a few pointers to help you get started. I figured the best way to do this is by simply answering the questions that I’ve been asked.

1. How do you start a YouTube channel?

• YouTube is owned by Google, so if you have a Google account (Gmail), you have a YouTube channel.
• I suggest googling, “how to start YouTube” and you will find a ton of videos and blog posts that will explain it a lot better than I can.
• Just start! Your first video won’t be great, but just keep at it and they will get better.

2. What do you use to edit your videos?

• I use iMovie, which is video editing software that came on my MacBook Air.
• I should mention that I have an undergraduate degree in Radio and Television Arts, so I spent 4 years learning how to film and edit. However, that was a long time ago and it’s really not difficult to learn how to edit. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube that can help you figure out whatever editing software you already have on your computer. Also, the majority of YouTubers do not have a degree related to filming and editing, they just taught themselves how to do it.

3. What equipment do you recommend?

• When starting out, I think you should just use your phone and prop it up on some books. YouTube isn’t easy, so I suggest trying it out first, make sure it’s something you want to continue with, before investing in equipment.
• I’m not a techie, I just read Amazon reviews and took suggestions from other YouTubers. I also didn’t want to spend a fortune on my equipment, so this is what I ended up getting:

🇺🇸 Links

Photo/Video Camera

Microphone

Tripod

Lights

🇨🇦 Links

Photo/Video Camera

Microphone

Tripod

Lights

4. Will I get rich through YouTube?

NO!

Do not do it for the money; you will be very disappointed. This is my second channel, I had a kids channel that I ran for 2 years and clearly, I didn’t get rich. YouTube is a way to share your message and you should only consider starting a channel if there’s a topic that you’re passionate about and really want to share your point of view on that topic. You could also create a channel to entertain people.

Your goal should be to help others or to entertain others, not to make money. As your following grows there are many ways to monetize your channel, but it will very likely take a long time to get to that point, so if making money is your only goal, don’t start a channel.

5.  Is it hard to do YouTube?

YES!

YouTubers make it look easy, but it’s not. It’s very time consuming to make good videos. You have to plan it out, film and edit your videos. You then have to upload them and include proper thumbnails, descriptions and tags or no one will even click on your videos. You then have to promote your videos on social media, otherwise, no one will even know that you have a YouTube channel. There’s also a ton of competition and people that have been doing this for years!

That being said, just because something is hard, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. If YouTube is something that you’ve been thinking about starting, try it out. See if it’s for you. I’ve wanted to start a channel for years and I wish I started earlier. My first channel didn’t work out as planned because I wasn’t passionate about it. Nevertheless, I still learned so much through that process that I’ve been able to apply to Tiny and Tidy. I really enjoy posting videos on my new channel and even though it’s hard work, I love doing it!

I hope this post has helped you figure out your next steps. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me. Also, make sure to check out my latest video. I polled my Instagram followers (which you should also do before creating a video) and they really wanted to see a home tour. We’re a family of 5 living in an 850 sq ft condo, so people are interested in seeing how we make it work.