Have you ever wondered what it takes to start and grow a successful YouTube channel? Well, I know I have. As a content creator myself, I've always been fascinated by the journey of other successful YouTubers and how they got their start. That's why I'm excited to share with you my personal experience of starting a YouTube channel from scratch and growing it into a platform that has garnered a large following.

Throughout this blog, I'll be sharing my own strategies, tips, and lessons learned that led to my success. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your channel to the next level, I hope my story can provide you with valuable insights and inspiration to help you achieve your goals.

Launching My YouTube Channel

To be honest, I never had any intention of becoming a YouTuber. It was never on my radar as a platform where I could grow my public persona or monetize my content. However, circumstances led me to launch my channel spontaneously.

I was teaching etiquette in schools and workshops internationally, where I would take my students out to restaurants or afternoon tea places to practise table manners. But with the pandemic and restrictions, I needed a way to share these experiences with my students online. So, in November 2019, I shot my first video on afternoon tea etiquette at the Four Seasons Hotel.

After receiving positive feedback from my students, I decided to shoot more videos on body language, confident speaking, and other topics that I felt would be useful resources for them. Slowly but surely, my subscriber count grew, and I realised that I could do this semi-professionally.

In November 2020, I reached my first 100,000 subscribers and received my silver button. It was an incredible feeling to see my channel grow, and it made me realise the power and responsibility of having a large audience. In June 2021, I hit half a million subscribers, which was another important milestone for me. Through my journey, I've learned the importance of consistency and dedication in growing a YouTube channel.

My Personal Tips for Starting a YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel can be a fun and exciting experience, but it can also be daunting. With so many channels out there, it's important to find your own unique voice and niche. As someone who has started and grown a successful YouTube channel, I'd like to share some of my personal tips that can help you stand out on the platform.

1. Find Your Voice

The first and most important step to starting a successful YouTube channel is finding your voice. This means taking the time to do internal research and figuring out what sets you apart from other creators. While it's okay to watch and get inspired by other channels, it's important to know what your unique strengths and passions are. Once you have a clear idea of who you are and what you stand for, you can start creating content that reflects that.

When I started my channel, I knew I wanted to focus on etiquette and manners, something that I was passionate about and felt was missing from YouTube. I did internal research and realised that there were very few channels dedicated to this topic, which made me even more excited to share my knowledge with others.

2. Bring Value

Once you've found your voice, it's important to bring value to your content. What is your channel's intention? Is it to educate, entertain, make people laugh or cry, or motivate them?. Your audience will find you once you bring value to them. People who want to be inspired will subscribe to your channel, those who want to laugh will subscribe to your comedic content, and so on.

For my channel, my intention is to inspire people to have better manners, be more confident, and be a better version of themselves. I want my viewers to take what they learn from my videos and apply it to their daily lives. Knowing my intention has helped me create content that resonates with my audience and has allowed me to build a community of like-minded individuals.

3. Don't Search for Trends

One of the biggest mistakes new YouTubers make is trying to follow trends instead of creating content they're passionate about. While it's important to keep up with the latest trends and stay relevant, it's more important to create content that you genuinely care about. Don't let external opinions sway you. Listen to your gut and follow your heart. Just because something isn't trending now doesn't mean it won't be in the future. As Steve Jobs once said, "sometimes people don't know what they want until they see it."

When I started my channel, some people told me that I should create content on popular topics like makeup or fashion if I wanted to be successful. However, I knew that wasn't what I was passionate about, and I wanted my channel to be authentic and true to who I am. Instead, I followed my gut and created content on etiquette and manners, something that I knew I could provide unique value to. While it wasn't the most popular topic at the time, my channel has grown and reached millions of viewers.

4. Quality over Quantity

While many people think that uploading multiple videos each week is the key to success on YouTube, the truth is that quality matters more than quantity. Creating high-quality content requires a lot of preparation, thought, and effort. As a content creator, it's essential to focus on delivering value to your audience through your videos. This means doing less but delivering a better-quality product.

When it comes to creating high-quality content, the pre-shooting stage is crucial. It's essential to think about the topic, read comments and suggestions from viewers, and note them down. Creating a shooting schedule and planning the setup, lighting, and wardrobe can make a significant difference in the final product. This way, you ensure that each video is a masterpiece, and viewers will be aesthetically and visually pleased.

5. Consistency

Consistency is key when it comes to YouTube content creation. However, it's essential to strike a balance between consistency and quality. Consistency is vital for building an audience and growing your channel. YouTube's algorithm recognizes consistency, and it's more likely to recommend channels that upload content regularly. However, uploading high-quality content less frequently is better than uploading low-quality content regularly.

6. Pay Attention to the Technical Parts

One of the biggest lessons in YouTube content creation is that technical matters, such as the thumbnail, title, description, and tags, are critical to a video's success. The thumbnail is the first thing a viewer sees, and a visually appealing and coherent thumbnail image can attract viewers to click on the video. It is important to choose a clean and visually appealing image that aligns with the video's message.

Additionally, the title on the thumbnail should be short and easy to read, and the title and description should provide relevant information about the video. Finally, choosing relevant tags is crucial to ensuring that the video is discoverable in search results. Tags should be relevant to the video and include words used in the video. By paying attention to these technical details, content creators can improve the chances of their videos being discovered and watched by a larger audience.