- Welcome to your beginner's guide
to creating a YouTube channel.
Now, this is everything that you need to know
to get up and running fast
so that you can start creating videos
and building your audience.
So in this video, what we're gonna go through
is the basics of how to set up the channel.
And before we get into that, I just wanna talk
about why now is the perfect time
to build your YouTube channel
and start growing your following.
With everything that's been going on lately
with the way the world has been changing,
and just how media has been changing in general,
YouTube has become such a big platform for video creators
to build an audience and build an income.
And you'll hear this time and time again,
YouTube is the second biggest search engine.
And not only that, YouTube is replacing
traditional media for a lot of people
and being their main source of entertainment.
This is something that I keep hearing again and again
that people consume content entirely on YouTube now.
So right now is the biggest opportunity
to start your channel and start growing a following
and potentially make this your full time income
down the road.
And one more thing when it comes to YouTube
is that on YouTube you're able to create videos
that will last a lifetime.
On social media platforms like Instagram or TikTok,
things are just very immediate,
so you wanna create content that gets consumed right now.
Whereas on YouTube, you create a piece of content,
five years down the road people are still gonna be watching
that same piece of content.
And that's something that is really powerful about YouTube.
So yes, at first, you have to start small.
We all have to start at zero,
but over time as your channel grows,
you're gonna see the snowball effect.
You'll start seeing older videos getting picked up
and you'll see the growth exponentially take off.
So let's get you started on this journey
and let's set up your YouTube channel right.
(upbeat music)
Hey guys, my name is Jeven Dovey and this is Jaylyn Ray.
And on my channel
I give you the building blocks to grow your YouTube brand.
Now I come at it from a filmmaker's perspective.
So not only are these videos gonna be
about how to grow your YouTube channel
but I also focus a lot
on actually creating good looking content
and building stories that people wanna watch.
So make sure you hit that subscribe button
and turn on those bell notifications
so you don't miss any of these videos.
Now in the description of this video,
there's gonna be a ton of resources.
And from there, I'm gonna give you some jumping off points
and some different things you should consider
as you start moving forward.
So check the description after you watched this video
and I'll make sure to link to everything
that makes sense on growing and building your channel.
So let's get onto the computer
and let's get your channel set up right.
So let's start at the very beginning.
We're gonna go to the home screen
and this is what's gonna happen
when you don't have an account
and you look at YouTube,
we're gonna want to click the sign in button.
And when you sign in,
you're gonna have this option to create an account.
Now, if you already have a Google account
and you can sign in here using that Google account
or if you need to start one, create an account.
So what you're gonna wanna do is create your account
and then we're gonna go back to the homepage of YouTube.
So now that we're back on the homepage
you're gonna go in the upper right hand corner
and you're gonna wanna click create a channel
from the dropdown menu.
This little popup will come up and get started,
and you're gonna have two options here.
You can either use your name
and picture on your Google account or add a custom name.
Now, this is the difference
between a personal account and a brand account.
And you're always gonna wanna be a brand account
on YouTube because this is gonna give you
greater flexibility later down the road.
And also if you ever wanna have people manage your channel
or look at your analytics
or different things like that, you're gonna need to set
up a brand channel versus a solo channel.
So you're gonna wanna click use a custom name.
And this is where you're gonna come
up with the name for your channel.
I personally think that
unless you have a specific idea and a specific brand name
in mind using your name allows the channel to be tied
to you and everything that you do.
And this is something that you can always change
down the road.
I've seen some huge channels change their name
even after they have millions of subscribers.
So you've come on YouTube for a reason.
So create your channel name based around that.
All right, so now we're gonna start setting up your channel.
The first thing that YouTube is going
to do is upload a profile picture.
This is that little icon that depicts who you are.
You wanna make sure
that your icon photo is super clear and simple.
And a lot of times you wanna have some sort
of color in the background to make it pop.
Now the next thing that you're gonna wanna do
is add a channel description and let's break down
what makes a good channel description.
This is the about section of your channel.
You wanna make sure
that you're writing a few sentences here
that explain why someone should be interested
in the content that you're producing.
This isn't just about you liking long walks on the beach,
or, you know enjoying making filmmaking videos.
This is the place to put your value proposition
and tell your viewers why they should subscribe.
So here's what I have on my channel.
You tubers are the future of filmmaking.
If you want to use video to share your message,
educate or inspire others through stories,
then you've come to the right place.
My channel gives you the building blocks
to create your YouTube brand
while learning the skills to take your filmmaking
to the next level.
I'm a filmmaker and adventurer.
On my channel, you will find weekly tutorials and reviews
about filmmaking, camera gear on how to master YouTube.
You'll also find behind the scenes on what it takes
to tell stories that make an impact, stay adventurous.
So this is my value proposition
because I know the kind of audience that I'm going
for with the content that I'm creating.
So use this channel description to write
out who you're actually targeting
and why someone should be interested
in watching your videos.
Now, the next section is adding links to your site.
So when you go to a channel,
this is this top section up here in the right.
So you can add one link that's gonna have texts.
And then the other ones are gonna be icons.
So you can add your Twitter, your Facebook.
I don't really use Facebook anymore
and your website or something else here.
So fill out your links and hit save and continue.
So now your channel is ready to go
but you still need to do a things to really set it up.
So let's first go into customize channel.
So when you click channel customization
you're gonna have a few options.
First, I just wanna show you right here
is your channel link.
So this is where you can share your channel
for people to come and watch your videos and subscribe.
Now, the first thing that pops up is your video spotlight.
And this is something that you're gonna wanna create
as your first video
when you're building out your YouTube channel
and you'll wanna create a channel trailer
for your first video that you create on your channel,
and you wanna make a video that's 30 seconds to a minute.
That's basically your value proposition in video form.
Now where that pops up is right here.
Big video, right on front of your page.
Every time a new person shows up, that's right here.
Now, if somebody already is a subscriber
they will see the featured video instead.
So as you put out more videos
this section doesn't have to be your channel trailer
it could be a featured video,
like right now I have a featured video
of make your Maverick Air two footage looks cinematic fast.
That's the video that I'm featuring.
So we'll do this after we set up your channel.
Now down here in featured sections,
that is all of these sections down below
your featured video or your trailer.
So as you build out content,
you will put different playlists here
or you'll put different featured videos
that you wanna share.
So let's go over to the second tab, branding.
Right here is where
you're gonna change your profile picture
if you ever wanna swap that out
and underneath that is gonna be your banner image.
And you're gonna wanna upload a banner image
so that your channel is customized.
And I suggest when you do a banner image
if you're gonna put text in here
make it tied to your value proposition.
So mine is subscribed to learn filmmaking and YouTube.
Very clearly if someone stumbles upon my channel
you know exactly what you get on my channel.
And when you hit upload
it's gonna show how your image is gonna be displayed
on different devices.
So I've built my banner so that it's viewable on TV,
desktop, and on smaller devices.
If you wanna know more information,
click this learn more.
Now the next is your video watermark.
So when you're watching a video
this little icon is what we're talking about,
and you can add any sort of icon here.
And when someone clicks it
they can subscribe to your channel.
So your video watermark is gonna be 150 by 150 pixels
and you'll want put something small here
and you can just do something simple,
like subscribe or you can do something
that's a brand element to your channel.
And then it will show you when you want to display it.
So you could do a custom time.
Let's say at the first minute that pops up,
or you can do entire video or at the end of the video.
Now let's go into your basic info.
This is where you can change that description
out on your about page, your links
and also how many links you wanna display.
So right now I have my website, Twitter and Instagram
and you can add additional links and you can display
up to five of them on that upper right hand corner.
Now, also, this is where you can put in your contact info.
So if people wanna contact you
for business inquiries, for things like sponsorships
or to collaborate, you can put this here
and it will show up on your about page.
All right, let's click publish.
Now, all those settings are saved and we're gonna go
into some additional settings that you want set up.
So come down in this left-hand bar,
this is where all of your menus are
and you're gonna click settings.
Now we wanna go to is your channel.
And this is where you wanna add your country of residence.
And then you wanna add keywords.
Now this is important because you want
to use keywords that are gonna just describe what type
of content you're going to create on your channel.
And you can fill this out with a bunch of different keywords
that are really gonna describe what you're gonna do.
Now, you're gonna wanna go
over to advanced settings
and you wanna set up whether your channel
is made for kids or not.
So you can either say, yes, my channel is made for kids.
No, this channel is not made for kids,
or I want to review the setting for every video.
And that's when you go video by video and say,
whether it is for kids or it's not.
Now after you've done your basic info
and your advanced settings
you wanna make sure you click save
come back into settings.
And now we're gonna verify our channel.
So we're gonna click feature eligibility at the end here.
So right now default features is enabled
and we're gonna wanna enable phone verification.
So this allows you to do videos over 15 minutes,
add custom thumbnails, live streaming
and content ID appeals.
This is important.
You wanna make sure that this is turned on.
So we're gonna verify our phone number
and it's going to bring you to this account verification.
You can either call or text
and then putting your phone number.
And then you're going to go through
the verification process.
Easy as that, your account's verified
and you'll have access to be able to upload longer videos
and add custom thumbnails
which is super important on YouTube.
All right, so now we're back at the dashboard.
Let's go back into our settings
and set up a few more things.
Let's go into upload defaults.
So what you can do is add things that will always be
in your title and your description, your tags.
So I might add my name down here in the tags,
because I'm always gonna include that in the videos I post.
And you can also add whether a video is public right away
or enlisted or private.
I like to put mine as private just
so that I can make sure everything's good
before I release it to the public.
Now in your advanced settings
this is where you can change your license, video language,
how you want comments to be dealt with.
And I typically just leave this as is.
I don't do a lot with my upload defaults
because each video, it changes.
Now, the next thing that I wanna show you is come
down to community and we wanna add blocked words
and you can put in block towards here.
And what happens is
if somebody uses one of these blocked words
the comment is not gonna be public
and it's gonna be held
for your review in the comment section.
So if you have people that are trolling your videos
you can go in here and add different blocked words.
And then those comments won't be visible.
Now, I also suggest clicking block links
because what happens is again
YouTube is gonna hold those comments back.
They're not gonna be public so you can review them.
And if somebody is just spamming your videos
with links to their videos or their channel,
that's not in your comments section.
So this is a great way to filter out a lot
of garbage that might come into your comments section.
And now we'll click saved and be back at the dashboard.
So let's go to your homepage.
Your channel is almost set up.
We have a couple more things that we want do.
Go in the upper right hand corner
and you're gonna wanna click
on settings from this page.
If you need channel managers
if you have other people working
on your channel, this is where you'll add them.
But what we wanna go down
to is your advanced settings
here is gonna be your user ID and your channel ID.
But more importantly
this is where you can get your custom URL.
So my custom URL is youtube.com/JevenDoveyOfficial.
You can add your custom URL once you're eligible for that.
So you can click on learn more
and right here is gonna give
you exactly what you need to have a custom URL.
You're gonna need 100 or more subscribers
be at least 30 days old, have uploaded photo channel icon
and have uploaded channel art.
Now, once you do that, you can come to this menu
and you can actually add your custom URL
and you'll wanna do that once you get to that point.
So let's go up to the upper right hand corner
and go back to your YouTube studio.
This is your dashboard.
This is where you're gonna go to see just an overview
of what's happening on your channel.
And what you're gonna wanna do is upload your first video.
So you could either click create up here,
upload video, or you could upload a video right here.
Now, when you go to upload a video
let's just upload a sample video
so you guys could see the process
and be ready to get started.
So you're gonna drop your video file in
write out my description, add a custom thumbnail here.
You always wanna do a custom thumbnail.
And I have more videos down in the description
that are gonna go through how to actually optimize all
of this to get more views and clicks and all of that.
You're gonna wanna add this to a playlist
if you said, no,
it's not meant for kids that will pop up here.
You wanna click this more options.
And then here is your tags for your video.
Now tags, aren't super important in YouTube anymore.
However, I still suggest you fill this out.
It's gonna help position your video right at the beginning
and make sure it's going out to the right audience.
And just make sure you fill this out.
as the videos uploading down here at the bottom
and it will tell you when the video is uploaded.
Now after the video is uploaded and it's processed
you'll be able to add an in screen or cards.
So cards are those things in the upper right hand corner
when you're watching a video
and the in screen,
these are extra videos that you can add
at the end of your video to send people
to more of your content in your library.
And then last, you're gonna have visibility.
You're gonna wanna make this private,
check the video, make sure it's all good.
And then once you're ready to go
you can hit public and hit publish
and your video will be out there for the world to see.
So from here, it's all about just creating videos
and start uploading content.
The best way to grow on YouTube is to put videos out there
and see what works and see what doesn't work.
Now, I see YouTube as mountaineering.
You're gonna climb a mountain.
You're gonna have a goal
and you're gonna try to get to that summit.
But the beauty is every time that you get to that summit,
there's another mountain to climb.
There's another goal that you're gonna go out there
and try to achieve.
So you can have those crazy goals
of trying to get millions of subscribers
kind of like a mountain, you're aiming for Everest.
However, there's gonna be a lot
of peaks in between that and make sure
that you're setting smaller goals along the journey.
Start off, your first goal, hit 100 subscribers,
get 10 videos up, you know,
figure out what it is that first goal is, hit that
and then come up with a new goal.
And the way that you're gonna grow is to be able
to keep doing this year after year after year.
YouTube is something that you can continue to build
and you're gonna continue to grow as your channel grows.
All right, guys if you want more resources on how
to grow your following I'll put links down below
in the descriptions and Jaylyn wants to say goodbye
and thank you for watching.
Check out one of these videos
and we'll see you on the next one.