- If you are just getting started on YouTube,
today we are going to share with you
what we wish someone would have told us
before we got started on our YouTube journey,
because what's ahead of you is probably
not what you think it is.
Hey guys, my name is Tim Schmoyer, and this is...
- Lennon.
- We are YouTube strategists here at Video Creators
and I think one of the first things
that I wish someone would've told me
when I got started is that there's way more to learn
than I thought there was going to be.
There is editing, there's video production,
there's lighting, there's sound, there is storytelling,
there's business development, product development,
how to work with brands.
There is like a skill to do this successfully,
requires a lot, it's not as simple
as just making some videos and publishing them on YouTube,
and thinking, like, that's all I need to do.
- Yeah.
A lot of times we watch channels like,
Peter McKinnon, CaseyNeistat,
all these big YouTubers that we love, right?
And we think, that just looks simple,
like, I should just copy them and do that,
and it's just not the way it works,
we just can't jump in full boar and have
the same success that they have
in the same way that they did.
Everybody's journey is different,
and we're all just taking our own path.
I think sometimes, we're like, oh, I could do that,
that seems simple and what we don't see
are like years of like, good athletes,
and musicians, and actors, what they spent
behind the scenes before you even heard of them.
One of my favorite examples is Mr. Beast.
People think he just, like, hit this goldmine,
and got to 40 million whatever subs he has now,
but it was actually seven years where
he was making videos consistently where no one
even knew who he was, he was getting no traction at all.
We just want things instantly,
and when things take too long, or too much work,
we tend to cop out pretty easily, I think.
- We'll hear it from clients all the time,
where, it's like, they come, we want to work
and help them grow, but growth to us
is often measured in percentages as opposed to,
like big vanity metrics, just because that makes
a lot more sense from a business perspective as well
as just starting to understand what's actually working.
They'll just say, well where was
my 100 thousand subscribers?
It's like, well, that's just not the way
it works right away.
You have to see growth, and see that growth,
as a real win.
A measurable difference in the way your channel's working.
- When I started on YouTube in 2006,
there was no money here, there wasn't a lot
of fame, or popularity, or anything like that.
And as money got introduced a few years later
to the platform, then I was like, oh,
I could make this something by-able, but it still took me,
I started in 2006 and I wasn't full time until 2013.
That's seven years I went, like,
pursuing this goal until we finally got it
and I think that there's something really important
about pursuing something that's totally worth it,
even though it's gonna take a lot of work to get there.
- The third thing is that it's more expensive
than you actually think it's going to be,
and, you know, when you start to add up the cameras,
the lenses, just the simple things
like everyday expenses like your internet connection,
your most valuable asset which is time,
then you start getting into hiring people like editors,
you go to places like this where you're at a conference,
you're trying to meet and network with new people
that could then grow your business,
grow your expectations, grow your expertise, right?
When you get into those things, over the long term, like,
I've already spent way more money
than I would ever want to spend but it's still worth it
because you're growing and building
this thing that is your dream.
It can be really hard to spend money,
especially on something that we're not sure
what the return is going to be,
so I wish somebody would've told me that,
but at the same time, I know that I need to be
investing in myself to make sure this is gonna happen.
- One of the biggest costs that I didn't expect
going into this was travel, to conferences and events,
you think that growing YouTube channel
is primarily about how do I just,
like camera gear and things, but it's actually,
I found, the most valuable thing is like,
going to places where you're going to meet,
and connect, and get to know other people
because those relationships pay dividends
down the road in much bigger ways
than you ever expected they were,
and most creators, I don't even think,
think about that when they're first getting started.
- I feel like it's also more emotionally draining,
than you actually anticipate.
It can be this emotional rollercoaster of,
okay, I've got new subscribers, that's awesome,
you get really excited, you get comments,
and then all of a sudden things dip,
and then you're like, okay, do I suck, what's happening?
And you just go through this over and over and over,
and it can get really exhausting.
- And then like one comment you do finally get is like,
you suck, and you're like, ah,
like you got excited getting a comment
and then you're like, ah, so it's definitely this.
The best part though, is that this
is absolutely more rewarding
than you ever thought it could be.
One of my favorite parts about being a YouTube creator
is not just the lifestyle and the freedom,
and things like, well, that is very much a part of it.
The thing that got me most excited is when
I would hear a story from someone who were like,
thank you for making that video,
it changed my life, it helped me overcome this obstacle
I was facing, it got me from point A to point B
in my career, or whatever, like when you are actually
serving people and helping people
that makes a huge difference.
One of my favorite stories, when I first have
this ah-ha moment was when my wife,
and this was many years ago, we made this video,
and we got this email from someone who was like,
thank you for making that video,
I just got married two months ago,
my husband and I are already struggling
in our relationship, I don't know if we're gonna make it.
But I shared that video, I saw that video
of you and your wife talking about how you're learning
to love each other better, I shared that with my husband,
we talked about it, and we have hope again
for our marriage, I just wanted to say thank you.
And I was like, that happened from our video?
And that gets way more addicting
than whatever amount of money or lifestyle choices
or whatever that you get to make as a result of this.
And I also think the idea of being able to live
from your creativity, from the thing
that actually fuels a lot of our, you know,
emotional life, it doesn't get much better than that.
If you have been a creator for a little while,
I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
What did you not expect?
And what turned out to be way harder or bigger,
or more awesome than you ever expected.
And if you are getting started on YouTube,
please go down there, read the comments
other people are leaving, you're gonna
learn a ton from them, we always do,
we really appreciate you guys helping each other out,
and we're looking forward to hearing what you
would add to the things that we wished someone told us
when we were first getting started.