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Being a YouTuber is a very popular career choice. At least, our future generations want to be YouTubers more than they want to be astronauts. That’s because YouTubers boast of a lifestyle everyone dreams of. Doing what you love, making a lot of money and having fun – all at the same time.
Still, you can run a YouTube channel just for fun even if you don’t want to make money. In any case, you must have a clear plan in place. Here’s what you need to do to start your journey as a YouTuber.
Understanding the Role as a Content Creator
Let’s talk a little about what it means to be a content creator or a “YouTuber”. As a creator, your job is to make and publish free content on the internet such as articles, podcasts and videos. The goal is to build a community around your content that consumes your work on a regular basis and respects your opinion on things.
Since YouTube is a video hosting platform, you will be pushing out your ideas, beliefs, and content in video format. That’s why being a YouTuber requires you to be great at talking to a camera, editing videos and coming up with viral-worthy video ideas. Of course, it’s not just about being entertaining. There’s a host of YouTubers who primarily create content in niches related to education, motivation, self-improvement and so on.
Why Choose YouTube as a Content Creation Platform
YouTube is the second biggest web search tool after Google, with more than two billion monthly active users. Although the competition is extremely high on the site, this means that you have the chance to access a huge audience to spread your message. YouTube also helps you achieve success by sharing its revenue with you.
Whatever money YouTube makes on your videos through advertisement, it gives you a 55% cut so you can continue to make great videos. Not to mention that you can also raise money from sponsors and brand deals. However, YouTube is not the only platform that helps you become a content creator. It really boils down to your talents and passion. If you’re passionate about video, go for YouTube. If you’d rather do photography, go for Instagram. And so on.
How to Become a Content Creator on YouTube in 5 Steps
Becoming a content creator on YouTube is easy. All you need to do is create a YouTube account and start uploading videos. The hard part is becoming a successful content creator and earning stable income. For that, you must have a plan of action. Here’s how you can get started:
1. Choose your niche
Remember: becoming a “YouTuber” is not the same for everybody. There are many types of YouTubers who create content in thousands of different niches. Each niche targets a particular type of audience. You can even come up with a completely new kind of niche by doing something that you’re passionate about.
For example, the Hydraulic Press Channel with 4.35M followers only posts videos of fruits, metal hammers, electronic equipment and other kinds of random items being crushed under a hydraulic press. That’s it. That’s a niche on its own.
Cyriak Harris (cyriak) posts the strangest animations videos which have a loyal fanbase of their own.
So, to some extent, picking a niche is all about looking inwards. Find something that you have (like a hydraulic press laying around), something you’re good at, something you know more about than others and then turn it into a YouTube channel.
2. What does your channel offer?
Your channel has to offer some type of value to its viewers. On the internet, of course, “value” doesn’t necessarily mean that you should educate your viewers or give them some business tips. The value of your content is defined by why your viewers should invest their time into watching your videos. Maybe your videos are visually appealing? Maybe they answer some of their most burning questions?
Maybe they make them laugh? Or angry? The point is, you should instill a certain type of emotion or reaction in your audiences so that they would want to stick around and consume more of your content.
Bad Lip Reading (8.18M subscribers) is a channel that provides the public services of dubbing important and serious videos of politicians, businessmen and celebrities with funny audios. They’re absolutely hilarious.
Mark Tilbury (1.75M subscribers), on the other hand, is a business coach who teaches people how to invest, how to run a business and how to manage money.
So, figure out what kind of value you bring to your viewer’s lives.
3. Learn from competition
Competitive research gives you an understanding of what’s happening in the market so you can make informed decisions. What are others doing? What’s working? What’s not working? How are people reacting to their content? This is very important information that helps you stay on the right track and learn from the mistakes of others.
If you have a certain niche idea, see if others are already doing it. Take inspiration from their strategies. Additionally, you can find things that they are lacking and improve on top of them. This will move their audiences to you when they realize that your content is better. You should always have something to compare yourself with.
4. Create a content calendar
It may not seem like it in the beginning of your journey but running a YouTube channel is hard work. The hardest part for most creators is coming up with new ideas. Since YouTube rewards consistency, you’ll have to put out regular content on a weekly basis. However, if you run out of ideas, you might ruin your momentum and feel discouraged.
That’s where a content calendar comes in. A content calendar helps you plan all of your videos in advance. It includes the content of videos, editing, posting schedule and so on. This also allows you to delegate some parts of the process to someone else. For example, a lot of YouTubers outsource their editing to someone else (you can’t be expected to wear all of the hats yourself).
Finally, a content calendar allows you to sit down and brainstorm ideas instead of worrying about execution all the time. If you plan things in advance, you will come up with better scripts, better video ideas and titles.
5. Get rolling
Once you’re confident in your niche and content ideas, it’s time to hit ignition! Here’s what you need to do to start:
- Create a YouTube account
- Customize your channel (add About info and links to your socials)
- Get a decent camera and other equipment (no need to go overboard, for many content types a smartphone camera works just fine)
- Pick a video aesthetic and style
- Get an editing software (or hire a video editor)
- Start creating and posting as per your content calendar
How Much Can You Earn on YouTube?
There’s a common misconception that all creators can earn a lot of money on YouTube. YouTube does pay creators a share of its ad revenue. However, most of the revenue gets paid to the top 1% of creators such as MrBeast, Markiplier, PewDiePie and so on. In fact, $300 million of revenue was paid just to the top 10 YouTubers in 2021. On average, YouTubers in the USA make $1,154 a week or $4,616 a month. For most, income from YouTube’s Partner program is not enough to sustain a long-term career.
Then what’s all the glamor and buzz around being a YouTuber if it pays so little? Basically, a following on YouTube can be monetized in a number of different ways. The primary source of income of most YouTubers isn’t YouTube ad revenue but rather sponsors, subscription platforms, affiliate marketing and so on. A YouTuber builds influence on the site which then allows him or her to sell products or promote services. That’s where the paychecks come from.
Easiest Way to Earn Money from Content Online
While YouTube is perfect for reaching new audiences and gathering a follower base, it’s not the best way to earn money. There’s always fluctuations in how much you can make from it so it’s not a reliable way to build an online business as a content creator. That’s where monetization platforms like Paysenger come into play.
What’s Paysenger?
Paysenger is a social marketplace where creators earn money for producing content, interacting with their fans and working with sponsors. It offers a host of monetization tools that help you grow on your content creator journey. Since YouTube generally pays most of its ad revenue to the top 0.1% of channels, Paysenger was designed so that every creator on the internet has an equal chance at getting popular and earning income.
YouTube is also known to pay more to the top creators per view as compared to others. Paysenger uses a decentralized and tokenized environment that pays equal compensation to everyone irrespective of the size of their following or celebrity status. That ensures that everyone from all walks of life has an equal chance of going viral and earning a lot of money from content.
There are also other ways to earn money, such as:
- On-demand videos: Sponsors, idea makers and even fans can pay you in EGO tokens (the platform’s native currency) to produce content based on their ideas. They do this to claim partial ownership to videos produced by you so that they can also earn money on it.
- Collaborations: Paysenger makes it very simple to collaborate with other creators. Simply find their profiles, send a paid message (to get instant response), and create a content request.
- Paid messages: Receive paid messages from fans and other creators. Get paid every time you reply to a message.
Conclusion
Becoming a content creator on YouTube can be a rewarding and fulfilling career. By following these tips, you'll be on your way to creating engaging content that will keep your audience coming back for more. Remember to stay true to yourself and create content that you are passionate about. Good luck and happy creating!
Start your content creator journey on Paysenger. Offer exclusive content to your fans in exchange for one-time payments. Collaborate with sponsors, idea makers and other creators. Create a portfolio of digital assets that bring long-term royalties.