Someone actually emailed me just the other day and said, "What's some of the best advice
that you could give me?
I'm just starting out on YouTube.
I'm not really sure what I should do.
I don't know what type of videos I should make."
The first thing that I would recommend--this is something that was stressed heavily during
the YouTube next blogger by a lot of different people.
And that is, if you're just starting out schedule.
You have to be on a schedule.
Unless you create very viral content, like pranks or something like that, it's necessary,
especially when you're just starting off, to be on a schedule.
For me, that's every Sunday.
I've only missed in the past year and a half three times, this past Sunday being one of
them.
One of the main things is giving people what they expect and when they expect it.
Before you even start, this is something that I wish someone would have told me, is get
ahead.
Instead of releasing one video every week and shooting and making them every week, shoot
four videos, edit all those four videos.
Then release one every week.
Now you're ahead so in case something messes up you're, at least, good for those three
other weeks.
You have something to back it up.
One of the things that you can do when you're smaller is you can take risks.
You can try different things.
A person with a million subscribers may not be able to start a new series and get receptive
responses from their audiences.
Their audience expects to have that same type of video that got them those million subscribers.
But when you're smaller, you can take risks, make a vlog, make a cooking video.
See what works.
See what sticks, and then grow from there.
That's how I came up.
It was stuck, and then I kept with those types of videos.
I think that at times it can become frustrating when you see other channels, and you see other
people growing at a rapid rate.
Or maybe they're not growing, but they're just big.
And they maybe started a few months after you did.
I think that a lot of people get a little bit hung up on the numbers sometimes, and
it kind of stresses you out.
It kind of eats away at your creativity.
I think that that oftentimes shows through in your videos.
A big thing with YouTube is--and the way that I have found for myself, and the way that
I've kind of grown organically is just being yourself.
Just being out there, and just doing what feels right and what feels natural.
Not forcing anything crazy.
Not doing anything that's just ridiculous, because you think you might get a few views
here.
It's crucial if you're just starting out that you're doing it for the right reasons.
You want to do it because, first of all, you enjoy creating content.
You have a creativity and you like sharing that.
Second of all, just being yourself after that.
You know what I mean?
You just kind of let it happen.
When I first started out, one of the big things that I did was I answered every comment on
every video, which I could do because there weren't that many comments.
Especially the people who watch your videos when you're just starting out, these are the
people who are going to be with you for the long haul.
They're the first people so these are the people you need to treat the best.
Same thing goes with Twitter.
There will be a time where you know who your super contributors are.
Definitely reward those people and interact with them most because these are the people
that are going to champion you to their friends.
When you are just starting out, reply to every comment, every person.
Even when you're bigger, I still try to comment to a lot of people.
There's a lot of different ways, but that's one of the ways that can really show people
that you care about them.
It's all about people, audience development right now and not about stats and numbers.
I'll confess that I get wrapped up with the stats and numbers thing and I'll think to
myself that only 250 people saw this video.
Then I go to a room that has 250 people in it and I think "holy cow".
When you visualize it that way, 250 doesn't look like a lot, but 250 people just gave
me a check mark of credibility big enough to spend their time watching and listening
to me.
That number seems a lot bigger when I actually put faces to it.
Now I have to remind myself that every number is a face.
It's not just a statistic but it's an actual person and that has really changed how I create
videos, think,and interact with people on Youtube.