Number One Tip To Becoming Successful On Youtube

My little cousin called me from Ohio to ask me a question. She knows that I have had great success on YouTube and wanted to pick my brain. She is thinking about starting a YouTube channel for her son and wanted to get some tips on how to be successful on that platform. Since I have been on YouTube for almost 10 years I have quite  A bit of information to share and I thought this would be a great place to do so. I wanted to give you my number one tip for being successful on YouTube.

The number one tip to becoming successful on the YouTube platform is to create Evergreen content. This is content that is informative, valuable, and never expires. Evergreen content will remain searchable after it is created and will help the viewer long-term.

Why Start A YouTube Channel

 I know that this is a very popular subject because YouTube is such a large platform. Each day hundreds of bright-eyed and bushy-tailed individuals charge to the platform. With smiles and visions of grandeur in hopes of making it rich. I mean hey, there are 10-year-olds who are making almost $1,000,000 on the platform so I totally understand the appeal. However, what I do want to share with you is going to be information that is valuable to you so that you don’t feel this is a get-rich-quick type of career. I understand we all work hard you want to share our gifts with the world.

But there is a strategy to being successful on YouTube and if I would have known this 10 years ago I would be much farther along in my YouTube Journey.

 When I started YouTube over 10 years ago we were all on the platform just for fun. Other creatives like myself such as makeup artist hairdressers, even playwrights flocked to the platform as a way to express themselves creatively. I remember uploading a video without any fancy editing and little to no music or captions or any of the fun stuff you see in videos today. I sound like such an old lady right now but it’s the truth. We were so focused on sharing our creative sides we didn’t get hung up on marketing, video descriptions, or any of the things that you now have to think about when utilizing the platform. Honey, YouTube is a job now.

 For instance, my first video was me curling my hair 9 months pregnant with my daughter Here. I didn’t have a fancy camera or a tripod. I set my camera on a box of tissues in the bathroom and created my first video. Talk about humble beginnings this is going to lead me to my first few tips for joining YouTube.

Tips For Success On YouTube

• Start with what you have. don’t invest hundreds or thousands of dollars on fancy equipment that you can’t even use. you can be successful on YouTube with a smartphone and a plan.
•  Do not try to mimic other channels that are on the platform. Be your authentic self and this will help you grow your brands in the long run. Your views will be able to see right through the nonsense. BE YOU.
•  Create a schedule for when you upload and stick to it. We all know that being consistent with any new business pursuit is vital to its success. YouTube is no different. Your subscribers will get familiar with your upload schedule and will show up for you to watch your content.

What I Wish I Knew 10 Years Ago.

 Now I want to talk about the number one tip I wish I knew as a content creator. Again, I have been on YouTube for almost 10 years. In this time I never took YouTube seriously as a career. I always did it as another creative outlet. As many of you know I own my own hair salon and it creating video content took a back seat for quite some time. During my years on Youtube, I have had quite a few videos go viral as well as reach over 1 million views. You can view those videos below.

1. Watch Me Crochet Braid My Hair|ChimereNicole
2. Crochet Braids |Braid Pattern| New INSTALL METHOD|ChimereNicole
3. How I SILK PRESS my NATURAL HAIR – ChimereNicole

This is a course without any strategic plan or without me giving any thought to the subject matter. I just created content I loved and what my viewers like to watch. This wasn’t the best business strategy for me in the long run. Although my viewers loved the content. This was quick success with no long-term benefits. I want you to think about this.

Think about your favorite video game or even your favorite song in middle school. Now, your a video creator and want to make a video talking about your favorite song. Mine in middle school happens to be the Thong Song by Sisqo lol. Please don’t judge me, we were kids and we didn’t know what a thong was. The song was catchy lol. You create an amazing video talking about your favorite song and you get 100,000 views. Awesome right? Here’s the issue, in 6 months no one will be searching or even talking about that song and you will not benefit from having content no one is watching anymore. We want content people can search for and enjoy FOREVER.

EVERGREEN Is Best

This leads me to my number one tip. Focus on Evergreen content. What that means is content that will be searchable in 2,5, even 10 years. The way to create residual income on YouTube is to have content that does not become trendy or outdated. Evergreen content always stays current. It’s informative and will help the viewer solve a problem.

 Think of the things you search in Google. Things such as:

• What do I need to start a YouTube channel?
•  How can I color your hair blonde?
•  Best curry chicken recipes.

 These are examples of Evergreen content. No matter what year it is someone somewhere is going to be searching how to do these things. If you are an expert in a particular niche this is great for you because you can now create the content that you love and also had it be valuable for years to come. Master this and watch your channel take off.

Learning From My Mistakes

 Because I specialize in hair and hair care, all of the videos that I created over the years were not Evergreen. I focused on teaching creative hairstyles that are trendy and were popular during those time periods. The mistake that I made is now that no one is searching for those types of hairstyles my content is not relevant anymore. See, been there done that.

It was a huge mistake. Don’t get me wrong I love all of the content that I created because it is an extension of talents and I take pride in my work. However, I wish I was more strategic in creating content as well as being more consistent. I just thought of ideas and turned my camera on. No plan, just winging it. I was able to get my silver play button from Youtube doing this so It wasn’t all that bad right? You live and you learn. Here is a mini clip of me opening my award from YouTube.

Moving Forward

So moving forward on my personal YouTube journey I plan on creating content that is targeted to my audience but also content that will be valuable to them in the future. Another personal goal of mine is to become more consistent on the platform. I’ve never considered myself as a YouTuber however I have quite a large following on the platform and I want to be able to grow my audience there as well. If you haven’t by now, subscribe to my channel. I will be taking my own advice and being more consistent on my channel, new videos each Monday.

Next Up: Getting Your First 1000 Subscribers