- I've been making videos on YouTube
since September of 2014 on multiple channels.
I've also worked
with a bunch of other content creators as well,
helping them with their channels
and I've learned a ton over this time.
So, since a subscriber Adam Mellor asked me in my comments,
"If you could go back in time
to the day you started your YouTube channel,
what is the one piece of advice you would give yourself?"
I'm gonna share with you, not just one,
but a handful of things that I would tell my past self
knowing what it is that I know now.
And we're starting right now.
This video is brought to you
by my website, BestCreatorTools.com.
So the very first thing that I would tell my past self
is to make sure that when I came into YouTube
that I had a plan.
Because when I first started my YouTube channel,
I started it with the idea of,
"Hey, I'm just trying to get some email addresses,
I'm just gonna make some videos."
I wasn't really targeting anybody specific.
I wasn't really doing anything in any real direction
in terms of targeting who it was
that I was making content for.
I was just throwing up content
that made sense for me at that point in time
without having any real blueprint
of what I was trying to actually accomplish.
Eventually of course,
once I ended up you're working with somebody else
who had tons of YouTube experience
and they gave me a lot of insight
into the audience side of things,
then that started helping my brain work in a different way,
and then when I left this channel
and I ended up coming back to this channel,
I ended up having a more concrete plan
of exactly what it was that I was trying to do,
who it was that I was making content for,
the people that were interacting with my content,
exactly the actions that I was hoping for them to take,
and the value that I was also giving to the people
that were watching my videos.
So the takeaway from that,
wonder if I was telling myself,
"Hey Nick, make sure
that when you are starting YouTube Channel
that you have an idea
of what it is that you're trying to accomplish,
you have an idea of who it is
that you're making your content for
and that you are or focused, super, super we're focused
on serving that audience
that you are trying to reach."
Doing that will make everything happen faster,
it will make a lot of the decisions
that you have to make as a content creator be a lot easier,
and it's gonna help you from getting distracted
and it's gonna help you know exactly
what it is that you have to do.
The next step that I would give myself
is to focus on the content itself.
Like focus on learning
how to make the content as good as I possibly can.
Before I start worrying about,
"How many views is this video getting?
How many subscribers is this video generated?
How many comments that I get on this video?"
Instead of worrying about those types of things at first,
just focus on, "Hey, how do I make this content better?
How do I share what it is that's inside of me?
How do I share that in a way
that makes it as easy to understand as possible or..."
This would be the advice to me
but if you're making other types of content
thinking to yourself, "How can I share
what it is that's inside of me
in a way that other people can also enjoy
or learn from or get some type of value from."
Focusing on those types of things first
will help you make the thing
that's most important on YouTube
which is the actual content.
Because if you can't get the content right,
then it doesn't matter else you do,
it doesn't matter what tips you apply,
it doesn't matter what strategies you take,
it doesn't matter what you're going
if your content isn't right.
If people are not responding
to what it is that you're doing,
you're not gonna get anywhere.
So because of that, instead of worrying about the numbers,
just focusing hard on,
"How can I get people watching
for a longer period of time?
How can I add that value?"
And all the other things I was talking about before,
focusing on that side of things first
is definitely something that I would do
if I was Starting over.
Another thing that I would recommend to myself
is to start live streaming sooner.
And the reason that I would start live streaming sooner
is because I did an experiment a live stream
where I was just learning how to live stream.
And I did a tutorial
and I had some people comment it was cool,
but then I didn't live stream again
for another seven months or so.
And when I did live stream again seven months later,
It was an amazing time.
So if I had it to do over again
and I was starting from scratch all over again,
then one of the things
that I would also start doing is live streaming.
And it's not because, "Hey, this is something
that's gonna help me grow the channel."
Or anything like that, it's because I love live streaming.
So for me starting live streaming earlier
and making that part of my content schedule earlier
would have been more advantageous
and it would have allowed me
to get into live streaming a lot earlier
which then would have allowed me to enjoy
the entire thing a lot more
because I would be doing more
of the thing that I enjoy a lot
compared to just putting out videos on a regular basis
and not even thinking about live stream.
Another thing that I would do
if I was just starting today
is I would explore tools more.
And what I mean by tools
is there's a lot of things
that can help you with your YouTube channel.
If you're watching my content on a regular basis,
you're probably familiar with TubeBuddy already,
you're probably familiar with Morningfame already,
you're probably familiar with StreamYard already,
you're probably familiar with Camtasia already in place it,
and all of these things that you can use
to help you either your channel or to make better content
or to make better thumbnails or whatever the thing is.
Like there's tons of stuff out there
for YouTube content creators to use.
And if you don't know about these things,
then of course you're not gonna use them.
So because of that, I would be exploring,
"Hey, what are all of the things that I can use
to help me with my YouTube channel
to make better content for my viewers
and to make sure that I'm getting the right insights
that I need from the stats that are coming through
and to make sure that I'm optimizing everything correctly
and testing my thumbnails and all of that."
So I would definitely start exploring tools a lot faster.
It took me quite some time
before I started really digging into the tools
that could help me with my YouTube channel.
And by the way, I've got links
to some tool related things down in the description below.
I also have a website that I created
called BestCreatorTools.com.
That is a full resource for YouTube content creators.
So you can definitely check that as well
if you are looking for tools and things like that
for the content that you're putting out.
The next thing that I would recommend to myself
is to invest faster.
And what I mean by that is I used a camera that I...
I mean it was great camera and it got the job done for me,
but I didn't get the look that I was actually going for
and I didn't know how to get the look
that I was going for at that point in time.
But then once I invested in a camera,
this was like maybe a year down the road.
Once I invested into a camera,
I was able to dial in the look that I wanted,
and dialing in that look that I wanted
helped me make better content
because I was more confident in how everything looked.
So, because of that, it was like,
"Hey, this is matching my vision
of what I can imagine my content to look like
if I thought that I was making good content."
So because of that, another thing that I would do
is I would invest in the equipment earlier
in order to get the look that I want.
Now with that said, if you're watching this thinking like,
"Hey, I don't wanna go out
and buy a bunch of cameras and stuff right now."
That's cool.
But for me,
just being able to have things look the way that I want.
And in some cases
you don't need to spend a lot of money to do that.
But for me, having that look was a really important thing
and it made me just a lot more confident
with what it was that I was doing.
In fact, that took me from, "Hey, what do you do?"
Saying that I do my other stuff
which was designed at the time
to when everything looked the way that I wanted
to me being more confident
in what it was that I was doing
and saying, "Hey, I do YouTube.
Check out my videos.
Here's a link to my channel, go check it out."
Because I was super proud
of what it was that I was doing at that time
and it gave me a ton of confidence
with the content that I was putting together.
The next thing that I would tell my past self
when I was just starting out
is to network as much as you possibly can
because being a YouTube content greater is a lonely game
if you're not working with a bunch of people around you
and all of that.
It can be a really lonely experience.
And because of that, when you have other people
that are also YouTube content creators,
then you have that thing which is YouTube
that you can and share with that person.
And you can talk back and forth
about the comments that you're getting,
and the stats that you're getting
or the way that people reacting to your content
and their recommendations on things you can do better
and vice versa.
And you can talk about the stuff that goes on in your brain
as a content creator as well.
Like for example, if I'm having a time where I'm like,
man, this, that, or the other thing,
then I can hit up a YouTube friend
and then I can get their feedback on it
or I can have them just relate to me
to where they're like, "Yeah, I went through that too
and yeah, this is what I thought about it, blah, blah,
and how I pulled myself out of it."
And it's just one of those things to where
it can just kind of help you stay on the right path
and it also just lets you know
that you're not alone
in the things that you're experiencing as a content creator
are not unique to you
but they're things
that a lot of other content creators also experience
which can be really advantageous for your brain.
And on the networking side of things,
another thing that I would have also started doing
was I would have started going to conferences faster.
So for me, I started my YouTube channel in 2014
but I didn't go to my first conference until I believe 2017.
And I wish that I would have done that faster
because it was VidSummit
was the first con conference that I went to
and that VidSummit experience
completely changed the game for me
because then I started networking
with a lot of other content creators,
I started understanding more
about the deeper sides of being a YouTube content creator
and the things that really make things move
and things like that
because I was able to interact with more higher level people
that understood these things
in a much deeper way than I did at the time.
So, because of that, it changed my perspective
on what it was that I was doing.
And for me that was a really big win.
So one of the things that I would tell myself of the past
would be to make sure that you start networking
and going to conferences around YouTube
when you get the opportunity to.
Start doing that as fast as you possibly can
because it matters.
In fact, if you are somebody that is like,
"Hey, I would love to do that,
I would love to network with other content creators,
I would love to go to conferences
but I just don't know where to start."
VidSummit 2021 is coming up in September of this year.
So I really recommend you check that out.
That was the first one that I went to
and I've been going every year since
and I absolutely love VidSummit.
So definitely check that out.
I'll put a link to bid summit
down in the description below
so that you can get more information on it.
Another thing that I would recommend to my past self
is to find a day and make that day your content day
no matter what.
So let's say that it was a Monday
and you dedicate that Monday saying, "Hey, every Monday,
no matter what,
it doesn't matter what's going on in my life,
this is my priority,
I'm shutting off my phone,
I'm shutting off my internet, like everything.
Unless I need it to make videos, it's not on
because I don't want that distraction.
I'm just going to have that one day every single week."
Or multiple days
depending on how often you're putting out content.
But for me it would be, hey, have one day
that no matter what happens,
you're making content on that day.
So, for me personally,
I've been pretty consistent with my YouTube channel,
but there's been a lot of times to where I've been like,
"Oh no, it's this day."
And I gotta get a video out tomorrow
and I just forgot 'cause I was thinking about other stuff.
And because of that,
it ended up making those moments of pressure
around creating content.
And when you start creating these moments of pressure
and frustration and things like that
around creating content, it can lead you
to burn out or just unnecessary stress
because we're doing this
because it's something that we love doing.
And when you start adding those types of things to it,
it just muddies the water so to speak.
So, having those dedicated days that you make your content
can be really advantageous.
It's actually something
that I'm working on right now as well
to where in the past, I would say,
"Okay, I'm just making them throughout the week
or whatever it happened to be."
But now I'm, I'm being more rigid
on the specific days that I'm making content
and I'm starting to work into my calendar a specific time.
So for example, right now I just made another video,
changed my t-shirt and then now I'm making another video
because today is a day that I'm making content
and I blocked off several hours today
so I can just sit here in front of the camera,
make a bunch of these subscriber Q&A videos
in order to get these out.
So, for the past me,
I would recommend on the same exact thing.
And I recommend you do the same thing as well.
The next thing that I would recommend to myself
would be to push harder on getting my brother involved.
Because for me having my brother also
as a YouTube content creator has been really awesome.
Because one, that's something
that we can talk about together,
but two, it's also something that
has just been a cool experience all the way around
because we've been on stages together now
and his influence has grown online and all that.
And it has been a really cool thing.
And because of that,
for the first few years that I was doing YouTube,
it would have been awesome to have him on board.
So, if I was talking to my previous self,
one of the things that I would definitely say
would be to like do not stop,
like try to get Dee making YouTube videos
as fast as you possibly can
so that you guys can go through this thing together
instead of going through it for several years first
and then him coming onto the platform later
just because that side of things has been awesome.
I'll put a link to Dee's channel
down in the description as well
You can check that out also.
Now, I can't make a video
about advice that I would give my past self
without mentioning pacing myself.
So, I have a tendency to where when I get into something
I get really involved in that thing
and sometimes that can be to my detriment,
and that's what happened on YouTube.
So I started my channel,
I got the opportunity to work on another channel.
I went way harder on that channel than I should have.
I was actually recommended
by somebody that had experienced to pace myself.
They said to me, "Nick YouTube is a long game.
Make sure that you are uploading at a pace
that you're gonna be able to sustain
for a long period of time
because your channel could take off quickly
or it could take some time to actually get the momentum."
And I was like, "Hey, that's great,
but this is an opportunity I wanna take."
So inside of me, I was like,
"Hey, I'm going all in."
And I was doing YouTube at the time
plus balancing the design business that I was doing.
And because of that, it led to a lot of pressure,
it led to me kind of isolating myself socially
and things like that
'cause I just didn't have the time
to do the stuff that I would normally do
because I was working around the clock.
And that was just because
I wanted to make sure that I was publishing
a fair amount of content
plus I was maintaining my customer base
for the design stuff as well.
And because of that, it led ultimately to be burnout.
And even though that was a horrible experience mentally,
I did come out of that back end
in a great place so to speak,
but going through that kind of sucked.
So, because of that, just telling myself of the past
to make sure that I pace myself
and to make sure that I commit
to the long game of YouTube versus just trying to,
let's just try to get this ball rolling as fast as I can.
Just committing to the long game of YouTube and saying,
"Okay, even though you're eager
and you wanna get this out as fast as you can
because every video that you publish
is more data that you can get back,
you can learn from
so you can make better content and all that."
Saying, "I'm just gonna commit to doing one video per week
for the next however long
until I work this comfortably into my lifestyle
so that I can then try doing two videos a week
and then try to build up from there
instead of just trying to go all in
and take on way more than I can handle at the beginning."
Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy
that I went through that experience
because it led me to where it is that I am now
which I'm extremely happy with.
So, because of that, I'm not saying that was like horrible,
but going in my brain,
there was just stress and isolating myself socially
and those things that I had talked about before.
It just wasn't a pleasant side
of being a YouTube content creator
that you normally associate
with being a YouTube content creator.
So because of that, I would take the advice of pacing myself
to make sure that I didn't through that burnout experience.
The next thing that I would tell myself
as a new YouTube content creator
would be to build off platform assets as soon as possible
because being a YouTube content creator
requires some Type of income
if you want to do all the cool stuff.
Like if you want to upgrade your gear,
if you wanna go to conferences,
if you Want to just travel
to network with other YouTube content creators,
that kind of stuff,
then you need to pay for certain things
even if you're using certain tools.
You gotta pay for those tools.
So because of that, having income
that's being generated
to immediately reinvest into the YouTube channel
is extremely advantageous.
So, because of that, another thing that I would say
is to start my website or multiple websites
where I can offer things right out of the gate
when I'm starting my YouTube channel
instead of waiting until I'm like a year in
or nine months in whatever it was.
Instead of waiting that much time
before I actually started implementing some of those things.
And the reason for that
is because due to the nature of YouTube,
when you are publishing your videos,
when you're first getting started on YouTube,
you're not necessarily thinking
that this video is gonna be on my channel kinda forever.
And this video could continue to generate views
into the far future.
And because of that,
every video that you publish
that isn't driving people to something
or spreading awareness about something or whatever.
Every video that you publish
is a video that is not essentially working for you.
So because of that,
that's why you want to start implementing
those types of things faster
so that you can make sure that every video that you publish
is something that's going to ultimately lead to that dream
of being a full-time YouTube content creator.
If you have a question
that you would like me to answer in a video,
leave it in the comments down below.
And if you are just starting your YouTube channel
and you're trying to learn
how to get the ball rolling with all this stuff,
click into this playlist right here.
It's a step-by-step tutorial
on how to become a full-time YouTube content creator.
And if you haven't yet, make sure you subscribe.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'll see you next time.