14 Tips To Help You Find Success On YouTube.

Contrary to what most people think, it’s not easy building a following on YouTube (or any social media platform), especially with regularly changing rules which affects creators. Yes there are a few people who do see rapid growth and the fame plus income which tags along, but with over 1.3 billion registered YouTube accounts, you’ve got to really stand out.

Did You Know?

Almost 5 billion videos are watched on Youtube every single day. You can navigate YouTube in a total of 76 different languages (covering 95% of the Internet population). YouTube has launched local versions in more than 88 countries. YouTube gets over 30 million visitors per day.

While I’m no expert, I do own a relatively successful channel on YouTube. Here are 14 tips (in no particular order) for having some level of success on YouTube, based on my experience on the platform since 2009.

• be mindful when creating a channel name (must be brand-able.. try to have a story behind it). Think long-term and how easy it would be to market and/or attract sponsors/advertisers.
• develop your own style and try to be original. Being original is almost impossible with the amount of creators there are already on the platform and it’s human nature to want to try to replicate other creators you may like or you see as being successful.
• be genuine (it will show after time if you’re fake or putting on a show for the camera) Be YOU!
• be consistent and stick to a schedule. Let your audience know what that schedule is. (try to post at least one video a week if possible)
• if for some reason you won’t meet your schedule (maybe you’re taking a break for school or going on a vacation) it’s important to communicate that to your audience in advance. Remember you can always upload and ‘schedule’ posts to publish when you’re not around.
• have a call to action in every video to encourage engagement (ask people to comment, like etc)
• keep updated on the latest YouTube updates
• create playlists to keep fans watching your content. Watch-Time counts!
• monitor your analytics.. especially how long someone watches your video before they leave your channel (you’ll quickly learn what the perfect lenght of your video should be)
• tie in your other social media platforms (especially Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) and use them to promote your content when you publish
• create good quality videos.. but it’s ok to start and perfect later (don’t focus too much or blame equipment – you can get started with your mobile phone). The goal is to produce watchable content on a schedule
• respond to comments.. your channel will grow and there will be a time you cannot respond to everyone, so it’s important that you teach them to comment the first 12 hrs and only then will the receive a response from you (or whatever works for you) 
• if you cannot respond to comments directly, maybe you can use those comments/questions as a base for content (answer in videos or do live video streaming
• thank your audience often.. make them feel appreciated and part of a community

While I cannot guarantee that you will be successful on YouTube, I will say that by following these simple tips you’ll position yourself nicely on the platform. Being a creator takes a lot of work, but if you’re like me and you honestly like the content you’re creating, it will never seem like a job or task. It will all happen naturally!