I’ve built two successful YouTube channels, one in the area of business and entrepreneurship, and the other related to my passion for collecting Pokémon cards. Over time, each has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It didn’t happen overnight, but it wouldn’t have happened at all if I hadn’t started somewhere (learning a lot of lessons on the way!).
And creating your own YouTube channel is definitely not just about the money. In addition to the income potential, a YouTube channel can help you:
- Find a global audience and grow your reach and influence
- Build your brand and establish your credibility as an authority in your niche
- Network and collaborate with other creators, brands, and businesses
- Provide a creative outlet for your ideas, skills, and passions
If that has your interest piqued about how to start and grow a successful YouTube channel of your own, you’re in the right place!
What to expect in this guide to starting your own YouTube channel
I’m about to share a detailed, step-by-step approach to starting your YouTube channel in 2024—one that’s designed to help you reap all the benefits of a YouTube channel mentioned above.
By the end of this guide, you’ll have the info you need to start a channel from scratch in the right niche, one you can grow and eventually monetize.
The guide is structured into three parts:
Laying the Groundwork: Choose a niche and define your brand
1. Choose your YouTube channel’s niche
2. Research your YouTube niche’s competitors
3. Develop your brand on your YouTube channel
Setting Up Your YouTube Channel: Create your account and publish your first video
4. Create your YouTube account
5. Set up your YouTube channel
6. Verify your YouTube channel
7. Record your first YouTube video
8. Create a great title and thumbnail for your YouTube video
9. Publish your first YouTube video
Creating a System for YouTube Success: Measure, schedule, monetize, promote, engage, and collaborate
10. Pay attention to your YouTube channel’s analytics
11. Create a trailer for your YouTube channel
12. Come up with a list of video ideas
13. Create a content calendar for your YouTube channel
14. Promote your YouTube videos
15. Improve your YouTube channel’s SEO
16. Engage with your YouTube channel’s audience
17. Monetize your YouTube channel
18. Upgrade your equipment
19. Organize your videos into playlists and sections
20. Take advantage of other YouTube video formats
21. Collaborate with other YouTube creators
22. Stay up-to-date with YouTube trends and algorithm changes
23. More resources for starting your YouTube channel
24. Conclusion and FAQ
Let’s dive in!
Laying the Groundwork
Before you create a YouTube channel and start publishing videos, you’ll need to get clear on your channel’s purpose, as well as its look and feel.
1. Choose your YouTube channel’s niche
Choosing your niche is the first and most important step in starting a successful YouTube channel.
As I often say: the riches are in the niches.
Your niche is the topic or category that your channel will focus on.
You can build a YouTube channel that supports your existing business, or if you’re starting from scratch, choose a niche based on an interest, passion, or area of expertise.
It’s important to narrow your YouTube channel’s focus down. Going too broad at the start means more competition and a much harder time getting seen. In fact, this was a problem my initial YouTube channel had and why it didn’t grow for years. People were confused: was it for podcasters or for affiliate marketers? Was it for people learning video or learning how to speak on stage?
Once I got clear on who the channel was for, growth happened much faster. For more about the trial and error of finding a niche on YouTube, check out these episodes of the SPI Podcast:
2. Research your YouTube niche’s competitors
Once you’ve chosen your niche, it’s important to research your competitors. This means looking at other channels that create similar content. By analyzing competitors, you can see what’s working well and what you can do better. You can also use this information to create a unique value proposition for your channel that sets you apart (see #3 below)
Here are a few tips to help research your YouTube competition:
- Search for relevant keywords and topics in your niche and explore the channels that rank high in search results.
- Check out the videos YouTube suggests on the home page, as well as on the right-side column when you’re on a video’s watch page
- Look at the channels your target audience is subscribed to by checking their subscription feeds
- Use (paid) third-party tools like vidIQ or TubeBuddy to get insights into channel stats, viewer demographics, and top videos
- Attend industry events or conferences to learn about popular creators in your niche
- Look for channel mentions and recommendations in your niche from blogs, email newsletters, social media, and online communities
A simple competitive analysis trick: Not all videos on YouTube have this, but many have a graph located above the timeline. This is a retention graph and shows you what parts of a video were the most replayed. Paying attention to this retention graph is a great way to learn what a particular audience already likes and enjoys on other channels.
3. Develop your brand on your YouTube channel
Your brand is what sets you apart from your competitors. It includes your channel name, logo, and overall style. Take some time to develop a brand that reflects your niche and personality. This will help you build a consistent image across all of your videos and make it easier for viewers to recognize your channel.
The name and appearance of your channel encompass your brand, and in the beginning, you’ll have to make some choices (that are not permanent and can be changed later). Over time, your brand also becomes your voice, and the types of videos you create for your specific audience.
Speaking of the look of your brand, your brand styling may include things like fonts or the colors you use. Check out the Charli Marie logo in the below example and the purple motif that repeats throughout her channel and videos:
Your brand can be based on your theme, and your channel artwork can be based on the advice that you know you’ll be offering, like the Dad, How Do I? channel.
You’re also going to want to come up with a slogan for your channel. You can think of this as your channel’s value proposition — a concise statement of the benefits people will get from your content. The slogan for my YouTube channel is “Make more money. Save more time. Help more people.” It’s what all of my content on that channel is geared around.
Similar to step #2, research other channels (not just those in your own niche) to get inspiration for how brands look and feel on YouTube.
Here are a few more resources on branding:
Setting Up Your YouTube Channel
Now that you’ve laid the groundwork, it’s time to create your YouTube account and publish your first video!
4. Create your YouTube account
To create a YouTube channel, you’ll first need a Google account. If you don’t have one already, create one now by going to the Google Account sign-in page at Accounts.Google.com/signin.
Click Create account, and you’ll be prompted to enter your name and create a username and password for the account.
Once you have a Google account, go to YouTube and sign in with your new account credentials.
It’s as simple as that!
5. Set up your YouTube channel
Setting up your channel is also easy. Here are instructions for creating your channel on the YouTube website; the steps are similar on the YouTube mobile app.
Once you’re logged in, click on your profile icon in the top right of the page and select Create a channel.Add your name and handle, then click Create channel.
Follow the prompts to set up your channel name, description, and profile picture. Be sure to fill out all of this information accurately and completely. This will help your channel appear more professional and attract more viewers.
