Dear YouTuber,

Yes, I am myself a YouTuber and some of these can apply to my own channel. But, I am such a microscopic creator that my YouTube experience is mainly that of a watcher, a content consumer. And, I’ve been doing it for a long time. I’ve seen trends come and go. I see things and the directions that they have taken, and I have thoughts.

“Like, comment and subscribe!”

It is absolutely irritating to hear these words in the beginning of a video. So, Dear YouTuber, please don’t ask people to like, comment and subscribe at the beginning of your video. I don’t know you, I don’t know what you’re going to do or say, why would I do that? It’s like going up to a guy (or girl) and asking them to like you and going out with on the first meet. “But what are you about?” “What do you stand for?” (like Regina King said in Jerry Maguire). I’m here to get to know you, see if you have substance and integrity, let me…

I’ve seen this going around as a trendy advice given to YouTubers who wanted to grow their channel for a few years now, but that is, literally, bad advice. Do not follow this advice. In the beginning, the argument was that people didn’t know how YouTube worked, so they needed to be told what to do. That was maybe 8 years ago and my counterargument was that I’ve always known how YouTube worked as a watcher and no one needed to school me. But right now, it is definitely something a lot of YouTubers are still doing, but should stop immediately.

Look at your analytics, you will see that the majority of people watching you are not subscribe, and they are just finding your channel, especially if you are growing it. So talk to your audience in a neutral way taking into consideration that it can be a returning subscriber to a new watcher. Respect your audience, it’s important.

“I post video every Monday, Thursday, Saturday”

Why is this a trend? Why is this advice that is given to YouTubers trying to grow their channel? I really don’t understand… In a world where video on demand, streaming and binging is well established why would you tell people when you post? Dear YouTuber, we don’t care about you uploading schedule.

Also, on the same train of thought, it’s not useful for you to put a schedule on your banner unless you’ve gotten into a rhythm, have already posted a ton of videos regularly, and you absolutely want to put up that information (which nobody asked for). If I go and visit your page and see, “New video weekly” on your banner, when I click to see your video list, I expect videos on a certain frequency. If you haven’t posted weekly in a while (or ever – I’ve seen that), even if you seem to put up great videos, you’ve made a bad impression. I didn’t ask, you volunteered that info, and you are not living up to your own standards. People who come to you channel page and see your banner are already hooked. They want to see more. Make a good impression by having a nice and interesting banner and good videos that will make people stay on your channel.

Again and most importantly, aim to make your content bingeable. To get those watch time hours, you have to get people to watch your videos but also, and mostly, get them to stay and watch many of your videos.

“Sorry I haven’t posted in a while”

Not to be mean, but really, don’t start your video telling us where you have been and why you haven’t uploaded. We don’t care … We don’t care how long ago you last uploaded and where you have been. Again, most people watching have never seen you, and they don’t care yet. But, if it’s necessary to you, or if you feel you owe an explanation, or maybe you just really want to share, make a special video about it or update at the end of the video.

Please remember that people will stay if the content is interesting, informative and entertaining.

Some more advice…

Have good audio

People seem to really not tolerate bad audio. But in my personal experience, I’ve clicked out if the audio was very very bad. This usually means if I can’t hear at all because the mic gain is way too low, when the background music is too loud or does not go with you video style and therefore is annoying. Have decent audio but don’t sweat it if it’s not perfect.

Have good video

That, to me, is equally important as the audio. I’m a camera gear junkie and picture quality is high on my list when it comes to production appeal. But, most cellphones and affordable will give you great quality. Just remember to upload in HD and do not film vertical if you are uploading to YouTube. Again, it doesn’t have to be perfect but constant bad quality will most probably hinder your progress.

Intros and theme songs

I honestly think that intros and theme songs should be kept really short. The first few seconds of the video should focus on grabbing your audience’s attention. My opinion: even 15 seconds is too long for a theme song. I usually skip if the intro or the theme song is too long. Let’s be real, even in the times when I watched television, I skipped most theme songs (when the technology allowed it), or I used these few minutes to go to the bathroom or grab a snack.

You want to stand out and be original? By all means, go ahead. A great theme song is a plus. It can elevate your brand. Just make sure you don’t spend too much time on that one thing or make sure that the time spent was well worth it to you.

Channel banner / channel page / playlists

I would say keep your banner simple. When someone visits your page, it’s because they are already captivated, and they want to see more. Make your page inviting with a nice banner, have some playlists ready and available. All this will ease your audience into binging your videos. That should be your only goal.

Niche, yes or no

I keep seeing this advice that people should stick to a niche to grow their channel, but I’m not sure about that. Making videos only about a certain topic seems to be a recipe for burnout, in my opinion. People should have at least a couple of subjects to talk about, especially in the beginning. I personally do not enjoy watching YouTubers who are doing what they are doing for other reasons than simply because they truly enjoy it. For example, sticking to one topic just because it’s getting views without exploring your range.

Do what you love, tell us about it and follow your passion. Also, please take days off and vacation days. Being self-employed is scary, I know. For this reason, I didn’t choose this path, but people I love, have. It’s inspiring to watch them fully dive into their passion and find success. I definitely admire that and encourage anyone who feels strongly about their passion to go all the way.

That’s it for now! I will update this post whenever new ideas come to me.

xoxo, AK