", I can tell you first hand, its not an easy life. I hope these tips and pointers will help you decide whether you want to go all in on YouTube."
Darren Taylor
There is a good chance you have a favourite YouTuber. Whether you’re into politics and news, gaming, comedy or business and sales, it’s likely that you can name a prominent YouTuber.
The phenomenon of YouTube over recent years has skyrocketed previously unheard of people to celebrity status, but the question is - should you become a YouTuber?
As a YouTuber myself within the marketing and sales niche for my SEO and PPC consultancy, I can tell you first hand, it’s not an easy life. I hope these tips and pointers will help you decide whether you want to go ‘all in’ on YouTube.
You’re Not Going to Become Famous
Sorry to start on a negative footing. The famous YouTubers you see and adore who become overnight celebrities are in the top 1% of the top 1%. You are highly unlikely to become a famous YouTuber. In fact, I have spoken to many YouTubers who reach the point of getting a silver play button, an award given to YouTube creators who attain 100,000 subscribers and they all say it took years! A silver play button is by no means a ‘celebrity’ YouTuber either, so keep that in mind.
The typical journey of a YouTuber is not becoming famous in a year or two. It’s grinding out video after video, getting no views, then some views and eventually more views after years of getting better and better at being on camera. If you go into YouTube thinking you’re going to become rich and famous, you’re going to get a rude awakening.
You Need to Enjoy It
Do you enjoy being on camera or recording things that you do? Do you have the right personality and temperament to start being absolutely poor on camera and evolving into somebody who looks media trained?
To get from rookie to professional it takes time, so you need to enjoy it. From my perspective as a small YouTuber, if I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it. I have been on YouTube for 2 years, I have 2,200 subscribers and generate around 300 video views per day. This is by no means a successful channel in the eyes of most. Thought it does provide a steady stream of leads for my business, my YouTube channel alone won’t pay the bills.
However, the secret is, I enjoy it. I love getting on camera, editing videos and producing content knowing that the vast majority of people in the world either wouldn’t or couldn’t launch and maintain a channel. If you enjoy creating videos, then your mind is in the right place to become a YouTuber. The fastest way to become demoralised is to keep checking the numbers in your channel analytics and hope and pray your views and subscribers increase. Enjoy the process instead.
You Need to Be Yourself
Many people look at their favourite YouTubers and think they need to copy exactly what they do. This is a terrible idea. If you copy your favourite YouTuber, then what are you offering? You need to be uniquely you and differentiate yourself. Your individuality is your selling point. By copying your favourite YouTuber, you simply become a weak imitation of them.
You won’t even get 10% of the results that they get because as an imitation, you’re not offering anything new or different and you don’t give people a chance to like you and your ideas. People think YouTubers are all overconfident and full of life, but that’s not true at all. Many are introverts who specialise in a particular subject and can bring their ideas to life through the power of YouTube. Be yourself.
Summary
YouTube is both challenging and exciting. It provides a huge opportunity for personal growth and allows you to step out of your comfort zone and be creative. If you enjoy the process more than thinking about the result, you’re ready to get started on YouTube.
If you start a channel and from day one your focus is on being famous, you’ll become demoralised and burn out quickly when the results don’t go your way. Even people who become famous, didn’t go into it thinking that they would, they all enjoyed the process first. I hope that now you have the right information and can make a sound decision on whether or not you should start a channel.
