Hi y’all, it's Annelies and today the day I am publishing this video is my seven slash nine
year YouTube anniversary on November 1st, 2011 I created my YouTube channel and there are a few
videos from those early years which are now private don't go looking for him but I would
really consider the start of my channel to be in 2013. 2013 is the year where I posted my first
video with the intent or like idea in mind that people besides like my friends that are sending
the link to might see my video my YouTube channel was my creative outlet it was my video blog my
video journal the place where I could share the thoughts in my head with my online friends and
it still is to this day 2014 is where I really started to like hone in on my channel that's the
year I made my first tech video and I started to really figure out like what I wanted to do
and I got this passion for making videos for YouTube over the last seven years in over 235
videos which that was shocking to find out it's been over 235 videos I have learned a heck of a
lot about being a content creator from either my own experiences or watching fellow content
creators so I wanted to share some of those things that I've learned with you today so in honor of
my seven year YouTube anniversary this is seven things that I've learned in seven years on YouTube
Number 1: Audio is king something I've learned over the years of not only being a content creator
but a viewer is that audio is potentially one of the most important aspects of video now not
everybody can wants to consume the audio portion of your videos so it's important to focus on how
they look however if you are somebody who watches and listens to videos what would you rather watch
a standard definition 720p video it's like fine looking it's not hd but the audio is crisp and
clear or a video that is in 4k crispy visuals a beautiful bokeh but the microphone is peeking and
cracking and just sounds echoey and you can barely hear the person at times I can bet you're going
to go for the standard definition video with clear audio over the ladder my point with this is to say
don't worry about having the latest and greatest camera and super expensive lenses if you're not
focusing any effort or time or money into your audio I think people tend to put audio on the
back burner and I've seen people with millions of subscribers actually do this and I can confidently
say I have my favorite content creators and when they have a video that looks great but has bad
audio I normally click out of it because I just can't stand it so audio is still really important
to focus on try to avoid background noise make sure you are intelligible and understandable but
then also make sure your picture looks crisp and clear and there's not a whole bunch of
distracting stuff going on in the background when it comes to making videos audio is almost just
as important as video so make sure to keep that in mind when you're creating content. Number 2:
make content that you are interested in slash don't chase views now this is a combo one because
I feel like they sort of like intertwine with each other but I wanted to say both things because I
think they're both valid points I hope it would go without saying but you should be making videos
that you are interested in and that you want to make I think this ties in with don't chase views
pretty well because I think people see the trends and then they see the views and the dollar signs
and then they want to do what they can to achieve what others are getting and then they don't enjoy
what they're doing at all YouTube content creation and any form of like online content creation or
just content creation in general takes a lot of time and a lot of effort I would hate to spend the
10 plus hours that I do on some videos spending it on a concept or a style or a trend that I don't
enjoy or I don't care about all just for this potential of views that is a fast track to burning
out and hating what you do another thing people can actually see when you're in genuine even
through a video they're going to sniff it out and then you're not going to get those views or that
success that you're trying to chase at the end of the day you're going to have wasted a lot of time
on something you don't really care about spend your free time putting work into the things you
enjoy or topics that you're passionate about if it varies from what your normal is don't be afraid of
it that's fine as long as you're enjoying what you're doing at the end of the day Number 3:
Watch your own videos, twice. I've spoken about this a lot before and I feel like it ties in with
those first two tips pretty nicely you should always watch your own videos at least twice once
when you're done with the video and you're ready to post it and once more once you have made the
video public I have three reasons here's why first you should always watch through your video once
you are ready to post it to make sure that it is what you want it to be that there's nothing that
you forgot no mistakes no extra takes that you thought you were gonna cut out make sure it's the
video you want it to be secondly you should watch the video when you actually make it public on
YouTube now this is something I've learned in like the last like year or so and pretty much in the
all mystical YouTube algorithm watching the video from the first second to the very last right when
it gets posted looks good on YouTube and it makes your video kind of have a few extra brownie points
on it that hey this video was uploaded and right away somebody watched it from the first second
to the last the YouTube algorithm does something good with that and it helps your video in the long
run also by watching it again right when you post it it gives you this opportunity to have sort of
like a double check so if you catch anything that you might have missed on that first watch through
you can pull the video down fix it and then re-upload it before it's online for too long
and people are seeing your mistakes and three and the one that I stand by most importantly is if you
can't sit through your entire video how in the heck do you expect anybody else to do the same
thing I know it might be weird at first watching your own video seeing your own face a whole
bunch listening to your own voice seeing how many times you roll your eyes into the back your head
but you'll get used to it I promise I'm a firm believer in the fact that you should enjoy
your own content I can confidently say I enjoy my own videos sometimes I go back to watch my past
videos and it's not because I'm in love with the sound of my voice and I love myself and I think
I'm so great but I learn a lot from my past videos sometimes it gives me inspiration for upcoming
videos because maybe I mentioned something in that video and I totally forgot about it or I can learn
from myself and go oh hey I do this that and that or I don't like how this looks I want to change
that for the next time I am proud of the work that I put into my YouTube videos and I'm proud
of what I share online and I like watching them to also see how far I have actually come in my
content creation Number 4: Remember your viewers, your subscribers and your community now this
one's a little deep but like stick with me here so something I've seen a lot with small to mid-sized
creators like folks under the 500 000 subscriber mark is that they sometimes forget who their
viewers and subscribers are they are happy about the views and the subscribers and the numbers and
the potential money that they're making but they sometimes forget that for the most part each of
those numbers those views those subscribers equals one real life person who has dedicated their time
to you and what you've shared online in a community on YouTube that I watch I don't
make that type of content but I enjoy the content something recently happened with one of the bigger
midsize creators where they recently turned their back on a lot of their viewers and subscribers how
you ask they really built their channel recently off of this one particular type of content so
for example sake will say that it's dog content and they've made a lot of videos about how much
they love dogs and then sort of out of nowhere they made a video that was like I was actually
wrong about dogs and I really like cats now when the subscribers who originally subscribed to this
channel particularly for that dog content asked the creator hey why the pivot and then also said
I might not watch your videos anymore because I was here only for dog content the creator kind of
bashed that audience they said things like I didn't understand why I can't make videos about
cats and you should support me no matter what they yelled at their subscribers and their viewers to
leave if they weren't going to support their new cat content and they needed to look at themselves
and what problems they had if they only wanted to consume dog content it's all frankly pretty weird
it was also kind of aggressive and I know that was a really weird way to explain this whole situation
the moral of this weird cat and dog story is to remember the people who are watching your content
and potentially the reason why they stayed around in the first place I'm not saying that if you get
a whole bunch of subscribers from a random dog video that you made you have to make dog videos
forever now but if you continue to make these dog videos and then one day change your mind that you
want to go make fish videos or giraffe videos you have to understand that all those people who
subscribed for potentially that dog content might not be as on board with your new giraffe or fish
content and that's okay some people subscribe to certain channels for the person and some people
subscribe to certain channels for the particular theme or genre of content I guess my overall point
is remember the people who got you where you are today. Number 5: Nobody owes you anything and
don't get into this for the money another deep one I know also another combo one because I feel like
they tie together pretty well now I've been making videos consistently on YouTube for the last seven
years like I've said I have over 270,000 channel views over 235 videos I put a ton of time and
effort and attention into my content to this day I have made 195 dollars from YouTube alone and I
haven't even seen 65 of that, it's right now stuck in my YouTube adsense because you can't withdraw
it until you hit 100, if I was in this for the money, I would have left by now now I did some
math because I found it kind of interesting I took my videos which are average of around 15
minutes some of them are really short some of them are really long but we'll say an average
of 15 minutes I have 235 videos that equates out to about 60 hours of content on my channel alone
that is about three dollars and 25 cents per hour of content on my channel and now that isn't even
accounting for the hours the literal hours that it takes to edit videos and then we're
not even talking about like the setting up the writing of the script the filming of the b-roll
there's so much time that goes into my personal content creation my last video I think I spent a
minimum of five hours editing I say all this to say that I am clearly not in this for the money
and you shouldn't be either if I was I would be very disappointed by now I know it is very easy to
get caught up by the david dobrik's of the world who are giving away teslas by just making YouTube
videos where you have people who even have around 50,000 subscribers who this is their full-time job
and that is so cool and I would love to be in that position one day don't get me wrong but I always
like to consider any money that I make on YouTube a bonus and I always put it back into my channel
the lens I'm recording with right now is the first thing I bought with my YouTube money my first $130
paycheck I bought this lens so I put my money back into my channel but I don't do this for
the money for the potential that I might be able to buy another cheap lens for my camera I make
videos because I enjoy it I understand that it is very unlikely that I will be in that position of
being able to support myself off of my YouTube channel I cross my fingers every day but I know
that it is unlikely but once again that is not why I'm here I love to entertain I love to teach
I love to share I love to create that is why I am here now that we have determined that I have
put on the very low end potentially 360 hours into my videos alone which I know is like so inaccurate
because my last four videos alone I probably put 60 hours into but anyways no matter how much time
I have put into my videos nobody owes me [ __ ] the person who clicks on my “How to back up
your iPhone” video looking for instructions and an easy to follow tutorial does not owe me a like
they do not owe me a subscribe they do not owe me joining my patreon they don't owe me anything you
who clicked on this video because you're either a subscriber of mine or you're somebody who's
looking for YouTube advice you don't owe me [ __ ] no matter how much benefit you get from this video
I out of my own free will came up with this video idea it's not original I know but I came up with
this video idea decided that I wanted to make this video put the time into writing the script
for it writing the outline setting up my camera filming it editing it and I posted it to YouTube
because I wanted to and I thought that someone might find it helpful but I made it because I
wanted to if you're making content because you think it will get you a whole bunch of views
or subscribers or money or fame or whatever you're seeking just because you're looking for it doesn't
mean you deserve it and doesn't mean that you are owed it just keep that in mind our dog content
creator from the last tip has mentioned multiple times that they think they are owed a lot of views
and subscribers and money because of how much work they put into what they consider very valuable dog
content and they aren't getting what they think they deserve that personally really bothers me
because that person didn't have to make dog content and they've actually revealed before
they only made the dog content because they saw that it was getting views their previous content
was not dog content it was like basketball content so a complete pivot from their original stuff
and they were just chasing the views and then they expected to be rewarded for it now don't
get me wrong people are rewarded for chasing the views but just remember this in the world of the
internet nobody owes you anything unless if it's like a sponsored video where it's like an exchange
of money for an ad and there's like a contract or like somebody stealing your content and using it
without your permission or like your art and stuff you know what I mean there are times when people
literally owe you something but if you're just putting stuff on the internet for free because
you want to nobody owes you anything.Number 6: Watch time is more valuable than views. on a more
lighthearted tip I have actually learned this pretty recently in the last couple of years
watch time matters in a couple of ways first when it comes to YouTube monetization YouTube requires
you to have a thousand subscribers and then 4,000 watch hours in the last 365 days they don't care
about how many views you get they just care about how long eyeballs are on your content when the
question of how do I improve my watch time comes up I would say my answer would be try to make
engaging content that would warrant somebody to watch through the entirety or the majority of your
video I guess mainly make sure that there aren't any throwaway parts of your video make every
piece intentional and worth it because you gotta remember people are spending their very valuable
precious time that they can't get back on your content so you gotta make it worth it for them
secondly watch time matters in the all mystical YouTube algorithm YouTube will favor a video that
has a small amount of views but they're watching it for a longer amount of time versus a video
that has a whole bunch of views but people are barely watching the video the longer people are
watching your video lets YouTube know that people actually like your content as a whole which means
that they're probably staying on their website longer which means that they are potentially
subjected to more advertising which means more money for YouTube and in turn the algorithm will
favor you and push your content to more people it's all about money for the big guys but hey I
guess if people like your content and they stick around YouTube likes your content and they'll try
to help you out so win win I guess and Number 7: Put your name, the one that you're trying to be
found by on YouTube, in the description of all of your videos. Okay this one is kind of weird,
but I promise you it is worth it and it also comes with a little anecdote, so stick with me. If you
want to be searchable on YouTube even if your channel name is your channel name by putting your
name in the description of all of your videos you will be easier to find story time pretty much the
way I figured this out is that a couple years back I was in a Smosh video that has surpassed over 25
million views at the point of recording this video wow now they were very kind with crediting me with
my work in the description of the video under the cast with my first and last name the issue
that that caused is that anytime somebody would search my name on YouTube my channel would not
show up but that 25 million plus views video would as the first result I don't know at what point
this clicked in my brain but soon as I started putting my name in my channel description and in
the description of all of my videos my channel is now the first thing that pops up when you search
Annelies Veldman the Smosh video is still there because it has like 25 million views and it has
my name in the description so makes sense but it's bumped down a little bit you'll get Annelies at
the top you can subscribe right there you can see some of my latest videos and now I am searchable
on the internet which search is very important and I still don't entirely understand it but
at least do that for yourself I put filmed and edited by Annelies Veldman in the description
of all my videos so it doesn't feel as weird by just having my name there but it works and it is
I think helps my channel so I guess that's a little branding tip for you and with that
that is the last tip on my seven things I've learned in seven years on YouTube list tips list
I know every content creator has had their own journey and mine has been all over the map but
I am very thankful for each part of it to think that I do something that I really love and enjoy
and then people watch it and spend their time on it and then they stick around to see what's next
is something I am so grateful for but I have this little community online that supports me and my
endeavors I don't have a big family in real life but to know that I have this little YouTube one
mixed with people that I've met in person and people I've met through the comments section
is something that I do not take for granted in the slightest so on my seven nine year YouTube
anniversary I just wanted to say thank you so much for watching I try to say that at the end
of all my videos and I mean it every time I say it time is a very valuable currency and the fact that
you're willing to spend any of it on me and my content and the things that I really enjoy doing
is so important to me and I thank you I really look forward to this next year in my YouTube
journey and I really hope that you'll come along for the ride if you're not subscribed already
please consider doing so it would mean a whole heck of a lot to me I make tech videos I make
lifestyle content that kind of surrounds me being an actor and a content creator and just a woman in
our 20-somethings and overall I try to make videos that are either entertaining or educational but
most importantly I hope they're always enjoyable otherwise that is it for me thank you so much
for watching, stay beautiful, have a marvelous day and I'll see y'all in the next one, bye!