- We're gonna tell you the 20 biggest mistakes
that YouTubers make so that you don't make these mistakes
and end up costing yourself growth here on YouTube,
and we're starting right now.
♪ That's just how it is ♪
♪ Ain't waitin' on me ♪
- What is goin' on, my name is Nick.
Welcome to another video,
if this is your first time here
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Okay, so I am here again with my friend,
Jeven Dovey, and we are going to tell you
the 20 biggest mistakes that we see YouTubers making
that are keeping your channels from growing.
The very first thing is lack of planning.
A lot of content creators don't plan
the content that they're gonna put out.
What they'll do is they will just wing it.
They'll say, okay, well I have this video coming up,
it's upload day, so I need to make sure
that I get a video in, and then they'll just make whatever.
It's a really good idea to plan out your content,
and when you plan out your content,
then you can know what videos are coming next,
which is a huge stress relief,
but you can also build playlists out
so that you can actually group content together
in a strategic way, which can really
be beneficial here on YouTube.
Jeven, take it away for number two.
- Thanks, Nick, I'm super excited to be part of this collab.
Guys, if we've never met before, my name is Jeven Dovey,
I do filmmaking tutorials, I'll do product reviews,
I like to go on adventures,
but I also have a passion in helping creators
find success on YouTube.
So, mistake number two is just not starting.
Now this is important, you just have to start your channel,
and start right now.
If you don't start right now, then you can't grow,
and this is something that hinders a lot of people,
they wanna be perfect, they wanna know
exactly what they're doing,
they wanna have everything in line, doesn't work like that.
You need to just get started.
Your first videos are gonna suck, and that's okay.
That's part of the process.
You need to get started, because if you don't start,
then you won't be able to grow.
- Impatience is another very big mistake.
A lot of content creators, when they first get started,
they expect to publish a video, and that video just explode,
right, they expect their channel to just explode.
They don't know that, you know,
sometimes it takes time to get a channel goin'.
Sometimes it takes time to get that momentum going.
Sometimes it takes a decent amount of time,
most of the times it takes a decent amount of time
to get that ball rolling, so to speak,
in order to have people constantly coming into your channel,
so be patient when it comes to the results
that you're getting here on YouTube,
because it can take awhile,
so kinda settle in and get ready for that.
- One big mistake is GAS,
and yes, I've had GAS in the past as well,
and what is GAS?
Gear acquisition syndrome.
It's when you're worried about all the fancy gear.
The microphones, the cameras, the lighting,
and just always focused on the gear instead of the content,
and this is something that's plagued me in the past,
I was always looking for the perfect camera,
the perfect this, but it honestly doesn't matter.
You could shoot with anything, because your content is king,
so focus on your content, not so much the gear,
and like we've said in the other videos in the series,
you just gotta work on improving one thing at a time,
and yes, you might improve your camera down the road,
but don't worry about gear as your main focus.
Don't have GAS.
- Another huge mistake that content creators make
is comparing themselves to bigger YouTube channels,
or really just other channels in general,
because sometimes people will look at another channel
and they'll say, "Wow, on their channel they're kinda doin'
"this kinda stuff, and it's workin' out great for them,
"but when I do it, it just doesn't work out for me."
But one thing they're not considering
is that maybe that channel has 200 videos on it,
and your channel has 10 videos on it,
or maybe they're just a different type of creator
with a different type of personality than you,
and because of that, the audience that they've built
around their content just responds in a different way
than the audience that you've built around your content,
so because of that, it's really important
to not get caught up in
what's happening with other channels,
especially in your niche.
Of course, you wanna keep an eye on what's going on,
but you don't wanna always be comparing yourself
to other channels, because sometimes it can get discouraging
because you see them rocking,
or a video that they've put out takes off,
and then you're like,
"Aw, why is their video doin' well, but mine's not?"
But at the end of the day, all you need to do
is compete with yourself, and try to do better
than your last video.
- Another huge mistake is not having
a consistent look and feel across all your videos.
You need to have a brand.
When someone subscribes to your channel,
they need to know what they're gonna find on your channel
across your visual representation,
but also how you are on camera,
and how you're gonna keep creating videos moving forward.
You need to have a consistency
across everything that you do.
- Now, this one is really, really important
because you're watching this video right now.
A huge mistake that a lot of content creators make
is they will watch videos just like this,
and they will think that by watching the video
that they're actually putting this stuff into action,
but they're not actually putting it into action.
So one thing that I wanna encourage you to do
is that as soon as this video's finished,
if you went through the entire series,
as soon as this video's finished,
I want you to start putting this stuff into action
because if you don't put this into action,
if you don't put the things that you learn
on how to make your channel better,
if you don't put that into action,
then things won't improve, right?
You wanna make sure that with any knowledge
that you get, that if it applies to your channel,
it applies to what it is that you're doing,
you want to make sure that you apply that knowledge
so that you can get better results here on YouTube
because just watching the videos isn't enough.
You have to take action and put this stuff to work for you.
- One big mistake is not trying out
the new features that YouTube puts in front of us.
So YouTube is constantly rolling out new features,
and one of the key things you wanna do
is try out those new features
because if something's new,
YouTube's gonna want us to use it.
- Absolutely, and another thing
is being afraid to experiment.
You know, like Jeven mentioned in the last video
about vlogging, and about changing your scenery sometimes,
it's really important to make sure
that you're experimenting with the content that you put out.
You know, experiment with different scenes,
experiment with different ideas.
Experiment with how you shoot the content,
how you present the content.
Experiment with it, because you might be doing
everything great right now,
but you might do one little thing,
and your audience says, "wow, that's incredible,
"I wanna watch more of this",
and that one little change that you make
can make a really big difference on your channel,
so don't be afraid to experiment
with what it is that you're doing.
- So this is a massive mistake, and that is
not engaging with your audience.
You don't wanna have a channel where you just
dump a bunch of content, and leave.
But seriously, you need to create a community
around what you're doing,
and you need to be engaged with the people
on the other side of the camera,
so have conversations with people, talk in your comments,
actually understand what people are asking for,
look at what people are saying,
and actually have a real conversation
with someone on the other side of the camera.
You can't do this alone.
- Absolutely, and another thing
that Jeven mentioned in a previous video in this series
was about experimentation,
about changing your scenery sometimes,
and the big mistake here, in this one,
is you wanna make sure
that you are not afraid to experiment.
You know, go out there, change your scenery sometimes.
Change how you present in camera,
change some of the topics that you cover,
as long as, they're within the same niche.
Experiment with the topics, or how you're doing your titles,
or how your doing your thumbnails.
Just experiment all of the time,
because if you're not willing to experiment
and try new things, then you might be overlooking,
or you might miss the opportunity to uncover something
that can make a humongous difference in your channel.
- Another big mistake
is just not being consistent with your uploads.
You can't be hot and cold,
you can't upload three videos a week for a month,
and then nothing for the entire next month.
Instead of ping-ponging back and forth
from how you're super consistent, and not consistent,
focus on less content, but being consistent over time.
I always say one video a week at minimum.
If you don't have the bandwidth
to be able to do one video a week,
then do one video every other week, and be consistent.
Put it on a date, put it on every Monday,
or every other Monday, you're gonna put out a video
and tell your audience, and actually show up.
That is the most important part,
because if you're ping-ponging back and forth,
your audience is gonna get confused
on how often you're uploading,
and they're gonna lose interest
because they never know when to expect new content from you,
and they're gonna move on to other creators.
- Another thing is faking it.
A lot of new content creators will come onto YouTube
and they'll try to be another creator,
and the best thing that you can do on YouTube
is to not try to be somebody else,
because YouTube, you're developing personal connections
with the people that are watching your videos,
so it's important that right outta the gate,
you communicate to them as you,
because you don't want to put on this persona,
and then a year down the road, or two years down the road,
you're just so tired of faking it
to where you're like, "I don't even wanna make another video
"because it's just not me, people are,
"they like this person, but they don't like me", right?
So because of that, it's really important
that you don't fake it.
Be who you are, of course,
draw inspiration from other creators,
but develop your own style, develop your own voice,
and don't fake it.
Be you, be the best version of you,
or the version of you that you want to be,
be that instead of trying to be like other creators.
- So one big mistake, and this is something
I made on a mistakes video I did,
which is pretty ironic,
and that was wearing mirrored sunglasses.
So, I did an entire video with mirrored sunglasses on,
and it was because it was sunny out,
but I really didn't think about the people
on the other side of the camera,
and how they would experience that video,
with me having these mirrored sunglasses on.
So you always have to be thinking about
the user's experience at home,
and whatever it is that you're doing,
whatever you have on,
or whatever you're putting in front of someone,
you need to think about how someone is going
to be consuming that, and watching this,
so if mirrored sunglasses are distracting,
and that's what I got a ton from this video,
people were talking about
how distracting my mirrored sunglasses are,
so if there's anything super distracting in your video,
you need to be aware of that,
and you need to be thinking about that,
and this also goes back to one of those mistakes
I said earlier, where you need
to be engaged with your community,
so when people are telling you things like,
"your mirrored sunglasses suck", then I need
to listen to that, and take that advice,
and I haven't used those sunglasses since
because I realized that they're so distracting.
Pay attention to your community,
but also pay attention to things
that could be distracting in your video,
whether that's sounds, whether that's visuals,
you need to be paying attention
to all those little details, because they do matter.
- Another mistake that a lot of content creators make
is focusing on themselves
instead of focusing on the viewers
and the value that they're bringing to the viewers.
So, of course the channel is you,
you're the personality, and all of that,
but you always have to keep your viewers in mind
because at the end of the day,
they're the people that are watching your content,
so you wanna respect their time.
You wanna make sure that they're getting
what they're subscribed to your channel for.
You wanna make sure that they're a part
of what it is that you're doing,
and that they're in your thoughts
when you're making content so that you can make sure
that you are serving the people
that are watching your videos.
If you think of your viewers first,
just that by itself is gonna help you do better on YouTube.
- One big mistake is worried about how long your videos are,
the length of your uploads.
Me and Nick always talk about watch time,
we talk about how you wanna get more
watch time on your channel,
because then YouTube's gonna propel you
higher in the algorithm.
However, you don't wanna force length to your videos.
If your video's a two-minute video,
then your video's a two-minute video.
You don't wanna make it a 10-minute video
and just put a bunch of random stuff in there
to try and fill it.
So vloggers, I'm talking especially to you,
cut down your videos and make them about
exactly what you're talkin' about in that video,
and don't put tons and tons of fluff.
Your audience is not gonna be interested in all that fluff,
so don't just put stuff in your videos
to boost the length,
'cause that's not gonna help your channel.
What's gonna help your channel
is making content that is good,
making content that your viewers want to watch,
and if that is longer, then it's longer.
If it's shorter, then it's shorter,
so stop worrying so much about length.
- Another one is spreading yourself too thin,
and trying to be everywhere at once.
Now, when you are first getting started in this
and you're trying to build up your YouTube channel,
and you're trying to build up your influence online,
it can be very tempting to try
to be on Twitter, and Instagram, and SnapChat,
and Twitch, and everywhere else, all at the same time,
because you're like, "hey, I'm goin' all in on this,
"I wanna make this happen", but at the end of the day,
it's really important to focus on one or two platforms
at first, because all of this stuff
comes with a learning curve.
It takes time to actually learn how
to do all of this, and because of that,
it's important to kind of commit to one,
and get that one working out for you nicely,
and then once you get that one working out for you,
then start spreading out and trying
to grow the other platforms as well,
but if you can focus on one and dedicate all that you have
to that one platform, then you're gonna get really good
at that platform, and making content for that platform.
So instead of moving your focus all over the place,
all these different platforms,
try to just pick one and focus on that one
so that you can get really, really good at it.
- So this one's a huge one, and that is trying
to be someone that you're not.
Don't come on YouTube and try to be the next Peter McKinnon
or the next Casey Neistat, and copy their styles to the T.
It doesn't work like that.
You need to be yourself, you need to have your own identity,
so who are you as a person,
and what is true to yourself?
If you're creating content right now,
and you don't know your identity,
or if you're starting into your YouTube channel
and you don't know your identity,
I highly suggest, take a step back,
and see what kind of person you are
and what you wanna show the world on YouTube.
You need to have your own personality,
and that's what people are going to connect with.
When you're true to yourself,
people will have a connection with you
because you're not faking it.
As soon as you fake it,
as soon as you try to put on this mask,
and be someone that you're not,
people are gonna see right through you.
- Not committing to a schedule
is another huge mistake that content creators make,
and I'm not saying necessarily committing to a,
"I upload on a Monday and Thursday" type of schedule,
which is also important,
but if you don't work YouTube into your life,
and you're wanting to be a YouTube content creator,
but you don't work in the process of creating content,
you don't dedicate a day, or two days,
or however long it takes you to make your content,
if you don't dedicate that time to making content,
then there's gonna be weeks that go by
that you're gonna find other things to do,
so because of that, if you really wanna make sure
that things are going to go well for you here,
and you wanna give yourself the best possible chance,
commit to a schedule on YouTube,
an actual publishing schedule, and tell your viewers,
"I'm gonna upload every this day, and this day",
or however many times you're gonna upload per week.
Commit to it, let your viewers know,
and then actually work that schedule into your lifestyle,
because YouTube is a long game.
It's gonna take you awhile to get going,
and it's really important that you learn
how to work the process of creating content
into your lifestyle so that you can make sure
that you keep it up, and that you can make sure
that you can sustain all of the efforts
that you're putting into starting your YouTube channel.
- Another big mistake is just pushing products
that you don't believe in, and pushing a ton of products.
Now, if you're a product reviewer,
obviously you're gonna be talking about products.
That's something that you're gonna do for your channel,
but don't be pushing products on people
that you don't believe in.
Have honest reviews, talk about things
as a real creator, like this is something
that you actually want to share with someone,
or you wanna tell someone about this.
As soon as you go down that rabbit hole
of taking on sponsorships, and just pushing products
for affiliate marketing, and things like that,
that's when your channel will turn a direction
that you don't wanna go.
You don't wanna be someone who's just advertising
for other people, so if you're going
to talk about products on your channel,
really understand that people will see right through it,
especially if you don't actually believe in products,
and you're just pushing things
just to make an extra buck here and there.
One thing that you have to remember
is that we all make mistakes on YouTube,
and that is just part of the process.
You're gonna be consistently making mistakes
time after time again.
I made so many of these mistakes,
and I know Nick has made a lot of mistakes
in his past as well, but that's how you grow as a creator,
and guys, this video is part of a four-part series
on how to grow your YouTube channel
and get your first 1,000 subscribers
if you're just getting started,
so I highly suggest checking out the link
down in the description,
or check out this link here on the end screen
so you can take your channel to the next level.