First of all, Happy 2021! I know the craziness still exists but man it feels good that a fresh new number was added to the year ?
Why start a YouTube Channel?
There are 5 main reasons why I decided to finally hit record & upload:
- I want to be a producer rather than a consumer.
- I felt like I could provide value about tech & entrepreneurship or at the very least document my journey doing those things
- I wanted to pick up another hobby that wasn’t coding or business (but still about those things ?)
- The possibility of generating reoccurring revenue & becoming a long term career path forward
- I had the skills necessary to edit a video and could finally afford editing software and plugins
Now let’s talk about the exact steps I took to finally launch my first YouTube video:
How I launched my youtube channel
Commit
The first step I took was to commit the time and dedication needed to it. I scheduled off blocks of time in the week to start scripting, shooting, and editing.
Ideation
Then I wrote down a list of ideas about my interests, passions, and things I would want to watch.
Write a script
I decided to write about myself and why I wanted to start a channel. I just made sure it had a beginning, middle and end.
Hit Record
I then decided to record myself with the script. I had to decide whether I wanted a video of myself or just the audio. I decided to do it all with me talking.
Find Editing Software
I decided to use After Effects. Whatever editing software you use, learn it. The basics will take you about 15-20 mins to understand.
Hit record again
This time I hit record with a camera I had and awkwardly read the script. There is a cool and accepted trend called jump cuts. Don’t worry too much about messing up. I read one sentence of the script and then interpreted it while looking at the camera. It took me about 1-3 hours just to record a 5 min project.
Edit
Now edit. You might have to google and youtube a bunch of stuff but that’s expected. Have patience. Sometimes editing software is intuitive, sometimes they are not.
Keep editing!
At this point, I had all the clips I needed. Almost there. I made sure I added a “subscribe below” and “comment below” for engagement. No shame in the game. Ask the viewers for their opinion on your video or topic.
Exporting your Video
This can either be the fastest part of the slowest part of the process. Depending on the editing software you use you may do some research on the best setting to export your video.
Upload ?
I created a channel with my name (name it whatever, you can always change it) and upload your video!
Video Description & Details
I wasn’t super picky with this. It was my first video so I didn’t worry too much about a clean description and all the right tags.
Get feedback!
I shared the link with people I knew that would give me honest feedback. Can’t grow to be better without some feedback!
Start working on the next
If this is long term, you have room to improve on the next video. Keep adjusting to your own personal feedback and the responses from your viewers.
A reminder to myself
Be true to yourself. You should enjoy this process as much as you can if plan to make another video or another 1000 videos ?
Be kind to yourself
If this is your first time making a video or you hope to do so one day, a gentle reminder to be kind to yourself. Sometimes we get in our own way of getting things done. Get out of your own way.
Investment in time: Breakdown
- Ideation & Script: 5-8 hrs
- Recording: 1-3 hrs
- Editing: 8-12 hrs
It took me a while to figure out how to edit everything. I used multiple softwares. But the first video will probably take you the longest.
Hopefully, after making the first one the next investment in time will be shorter since I’ll start following a workflow.
Don’t worry about perfection. As a phycalidec dog once told me:
“Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.”
Jake the Dog
Goals
As I start the new year writing down my goals, I also wanted to make some goals for this channel and new hobby:
- Release a new video every 2 weeks
- get 1mill subscribers by Jan 2026
- Help 100k people achieve their goals – idk how but I’ll find a way
- have 1000 subscribers by Dec 2021
- have 100 newsletter subscribers
- Repurpose content for insta and tiktok
This Channel is my attempt to make entertaining and accessible videos on creating businesses and projects with tech. Excited to see how this channel will take shape in the coming years!