- So all of us want to grow our influence
here on YouTube but how do you do that
if you're starting from scratch with zero subscribers?
- In this video, we're gonna be sharing seven tips
on how to do that and one of the biggest reasons
why most channels aren't growing coming up.
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- Hey, what's up?
Sean here.
- Benji here.
- And this is Video Influencers helping you build
your influence, income, and impact
with online video.
- On this channel, we have weekly tips videos
as well as interviews with some
of the top influencers on this platform.
So if you're new here, consider subscribing.
- So we asked what your biggest challenges were
with YouTube and Mike's question was asking for tips
for starting form zero.
So let's jump into it.
- Tip number one.
Just get started.
It's so important not to wait
for all the answers.
We're flattered that you're watching this video
but you need to upload your own videos
so you can have something for people
to subscribe to.
And secondly, you need to learn
what it takes to make compelling content
that will get people to want to be
going to your channel.
- Totally, and always remember,
that your first videos are gonna be
your worst videos.
I remember the first video on Benjimantv.
- Hi everybody.
- Hi guys.
- It's me Benji.
- Or the first video on SeanThinks.
- All right, this is, I guess, the first SeanThinks vlog.
And while those videos weren't that great,
we think they're awesome
because they were part of our journey
to learning YouTube.
So just get started and get your first video
uploaded as soon as possible.
- Tip number two.
Tell people about your channel.
You know, your friends, family,
those are gonna be your best supporters
when you're just starting out.
And you need to share it with them
that you're starting a YouTube channel.
You know often times people have at least
a couple hundred friends on their Facebook page
which would be perfect people
to be your first subscribers when you're just starting out.
- Absolutely, and your goal here is not to spam anybody,
and not all of your friends or family
are even going to care,
but think about starting with your network.
And also think about putting links
to your YouTube videos in your Instagram bio,
posting on social media.
You need to let the world know
that you're posting YouTube videos.
Do this a lot.
Do this everywhere.
Talk about it all the time.
Put some passion around your vision
for YouTube and tell some people.
- Another example of this is going to clubs,
events, even places that you go to to shop.
For example, I'm really into food
and when I first started my food channel,
the supermarket that I went to,
I would tell the clerk about my channel
because I was vlogging it
and they were like, oh that's so interesting.
Let me go check it out.
So often times people physically, in front of you,
in the places where your content makes sense,
could be your first subscribers.
- Tip number three when you're starting from scratch
is really understanding that having a focus niche
is a lot more powerful
than having a general channel.
The reality is if you try and reach everybody,
you're gonna end up reaching nobody.
And so you really want to define
who is your target audience.
You know, what are they interested in?
If you have a gardening channel,
then it's people interested in learning gardening.
But people who are not interested in gardening
won't care but that's good.
Start small in order to get big.
And really take some time.
Maybe even pull out a piece of paper
or a phone and write down an answer
to this question.
What value would it have to a specific audience?
The second thing you want to define:
What is your value proposition to that audience?
Now if you cooking channel,
you want to deliver valuable cooking tutorials
to that audience, right?
So what is your value proposition?
- You know so many of you are trying
to emulate some of these more famous YouTubers,
these creators who have been around
that have millions of subscribers.
Not understanding that it is hard
to be them right away.
You want to focus on a niche type of content
that's very specific because it's gonna be
the easiest for people to find you
as a new channel, cause they're interested
in that same type of content.
And that's where you're gonna have
the best success, the quickest success
to gaining subscribers.
- And you know, I think this is
a great example of this.
There's a recent article
in Bloomberg that was actually describing
this struggle of smaller creators trying
to make it on this platform.
And it talked about a vlogger named Asher
who decided he was going to vlog every single day
about his life at college.
And vlog is opinions, his day to day life,
what he's eating, and we can actually look at the numbers,
after 180 uploads, Asher has 174 subscribers
and 10,000 views.
So he's grinding, but it's not really growing
that fast because it's general.
It's trying to reach everybody
and it's just kind of a vlog.
You're trying to get people
interested in your life.
I'm not that interested.
I can't watch a thousand people's
different lives personally.
But let's look at Rene who's actually
somebody who's been a part
of the Video Influencers Community.
He started a focused channel on cooking
and not just cooking,
on whole 30 recipes.
So the power of having multiple niches,
in fact we have a video talking about
double niching, we'll link that up on the YouTube card,
and put it in the description below,
when you really get specific
that's where your power is.
So Rene actually only uploaded nine videos.
He's been busy so he hasn't uploaded
in like six months or almost a year.
Yet he had nine videos, 323 subscribers,
and 22,000 views, and guess what?
His channel keeps growing,
because people keep finding his videos
and keep seeing his content
because of focus.
Tip number four.
Engage, this is so important to do
and remember to do
because it's not necessarily about the video
that you upload, this is something you do
after you upload your video
or maybe before or during.
Go to other people's videos, comment.
Go on social media, find the people
that are interested in your type of content
and vibe with them.
Comment back, reply back, answer questions.
Don't just straight up ask for their subscribership,
add value some way.
You know, one of the important things
that we YouTube in the early days
was it was a small community
and people were supporting each other
and that's how people grew so quickly.
Because you're supporting other people,
they might want to support you.
If you do it enough times,
people are gonna be like I wonder
what this person's all about?
Especially if you have a dope avatar,
your name is compelling,
they're going to your channel
and if you've got videos uploaded
that are interesting, specific,
they're more than likely to subscribe
or at least watch your videos.
- And we kind of like to call this
hand-to-hand combat on social media.
This is one-to-one
and what we are not recommending
is don't go on people's channels
and say sub for sub.
Don't go on people's channels
and just blatantly self promote your channel.
What you want to do is go on channels
and add valuable content,
and valuable tips to the current conversation.
That's also why it's powerful if you have a niche.
If you've got a focused cooking channel,
you can go onto other cooking channels
share tips, share your favorite spices,
share your favorite perspective
on how you like to cook things.
Not in a spammy or pushy way,
but if it's valuable,
that comment will get thumbsed up
and you actually get discovered
based on the algorithm of the comments on YouTube.
The same is true, search Twitter hashtags.
Get into conversations with people.
To to the hashtags around the events of your niche.
If you're in cryptocurrency,
go into the cryptocurrency communities
and engage with people.
If you're in tech like me,
I talk about the latest cameras on forums,
on Twitter, on hashtags, and then people
can check out my profile and see,
oh this guy reviews tech as well.
He reviews cameras.
So spend some time doing this.
And we mean put in the work.
Don't just spend five minutes a day.
Early on, the people who break through,
they take every spare second and they do some at night.
They do some in the morning.
They do some at lunch.
They put in the time to build their channels
one subscriber at a time.
- Tip number five.
Focus on the YouTube fundamentals
which reminds me of a quote from Michael Jordan himself.
Focus on the fundamentals
and the level of everything you do will rise.
It's a great quote from one of the greats
of MBA history that applies to every industry
and definitely on YouTube.
So ask yourself,
are you doing the basic things?
Are you focusing on a good title?
Are you focusing on a good thumbnail?
Are you tagging your videos?
You know, often times when people start,
they discount things like tags,
and they're not properly letting YouTube know
what's inside of their content.
So you've got to do this.
I can tell you this, every YouTube success story
starts with basics.
- Absolutely, and if you didn't know
about some resources available for this,
there is a lot to learn,
but even YouTube has put together
The Creator Academy or The Creator Playbook.
And we'll put links to those
in the description below.
Study the basics.
Study the fundamentals.
And don't just study them,
work on mastering them.
You know, we are empathetic
because when you are trying to grow your YouTube channel,
you're trying to learn graphic design,
you're trying to learn how to do camera work,
you're trying to learn branding,
you're trying to learn how to be on camera.
There is a lot to learn.
So put in the time.
Practice and work the fundamentals.
- Tip number six.
Content, you know, we're talking the fundamentals
we're talking about other things you should be focused on
and don't forget about your content.
You know, one of the first things I can tell you
about that, when it comes to getting subscribers
is add value to someone's life.
Is your video making someone laugh?
Is it answering a question?
Is it solving a problem?
What is it actually doing for someone's life?
If you can answer that and make that happen
in your content, you're on the right track.
- Absolutely, we've all probably heard the phrase
content is king and so at the end of the day,
success on YouTube comes down to
consistent, strategic, quality content.
And one of our biggest tips is before you press record,
do some research and some preparation.
Spend some time going to the YouTube search bar
looking for video ideas
as you type in a couple words
it starts predicting some searches.
That gives you some ideas for your videos
and for your titles.
Spend some time even asking questions
on Twitter or in the community
looking for hot topics
that are trending in culture,
and then plan your videos.
That will improve the strength of your content.
- Lastly, we can't emphasize enough,
about consistency.
So important to commit long term to be consistent.
We suggest at least one video a week, long term
because you're gonna learn so much from those uploads.
Realize as time goes on,
and you observe the results,
you're gonna learn the strategies that work.
You're gonna learn the tactics
that really get people interested in your videos
their attention on your content
and ultimately subscribing.
- Tip number seven for when you're starting from scratch
is focus on creating searchable videos.
YouTube is the second largest search engine
in the world, and so if someone
types in something that they're interested in,
they're trying to learn about makeup,
or cooking, or interior decorating, or gaming,
whatever it is, you want your videos to show up
in those top search results.
We call this ranking videos.
And when you do that,
it really can help your channel grow
when there's hardly people watching
or when you haven't got discovered yet.
And actually if you want to learn more
about that, we have a free masterclass that we did.
You can go to learnvideo.live
or we'll link it up on the YouTube card
or in the description below.
That goes a lot deeper into that topic.
- And we know the struggles real
and you guys might be hitting some roadblocks,
some challenges and be asking yourself
why aren't people watching my videos
and subscribing to my channel?
Well one of the biggest reasons why they're not
is because you're not following these best practices.
Your content isn't interesting,
it's not compelling enough,
it's not actually doing something
for somebody's life.
Ask yourself this, what channels do you watch?
Why do you watch their videos?
Why do you subscribe to somebody?
Those are the things you have to ask yourself
of your own content because if you don't
you might be posting up hundreds of videos,
not getting the subscribers, and wondering why not.
So it's not just about that content
and adding value, but are you doing
all these seven things that we're talking about
in this video.
- Absolutely, and at the end of the day,
keep in mind, be patient.
Great things take time
and great things take work, a lot of work.
We've posted hundreds, even thousands of videos
online ourselves and a lot of those weren't that great
because there's a whole learning curve to this.
Pace yourself, be patient, keep learning,
and keep uploading and you will grow.
Question of the day.
What is one of your biggest challenges
on YouTube and what's some tips that you have
for other influencers in this community?
Put it in the comments down below.
- Thanks for checking out this video.
Subscribe if you're not subscribed
and if you want to check out that free
YouTube Masterclass with tips
on ranking your videos and growing fast,
Click or tap the screen right there
for another video from Video Influencers
click or tap the screen right there.
- As always we're helping you build your
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Talk to you later.