Starting a YouTube Channel — Why I Started!
Always Wanted to Do It
Growing up I have always wanted to make a YouTube channel to talk about technology. I grew up watching so many of the “OG Tech YouTubers” like MKBHD (Marques Brownlee), Jon Rettinger, iJustine, Jonathan Morrison, The Verge, Austin Evans, PhoneDog, Android Authority, SoliderKnowsBest…the point is, there were many that I watched and they all made me want to be like them. I had wanted to do so for so many years and it was always at the back of my mind.
Then the pandemic hit and I was left with extra time. I was laid off of work, school was transitioned online, and a lot of time was freed up throughout the day. The thought of starting a YouTube channel started to brew and I kept debating whether I should as I starred at my camera gear that I have been building up for the past few years — partly for starting a YouTube channel. Then one day when I was scrolling through Instagram, I saw a sponsored post from Think Media advertising a free 7-day challenge that would take place for two weeks in May of 2020. I thought to myself, “It’s now or never.” I signed up, started taking notes, and started making videos. Now, I am a few months away from a whole year since starting to post videos and I am so glad I started!
Reasons I Started
Starting a YouTube channel is a lot of work and it does take up a lot of time, so why did I want to do all of this? There are many reasons why I started my channel aside from just wanting to since I was a kid. I love releasing my creativity through photography and videography. I have always been fascinated by taking photos or shooting videos and editing them to create something that I envisioned in my head. Making videos consistently forces me to be creative and to learn new things and refine my skills, which is another reason why I wanted to do this. Posting consistently is a way for me to actually practice and get better at taking photos, shooting video, and editing. It is one thing to practice from time to time and it is a whole different world when you constantly practice.
This next reason might throw some people off, but I also wanted to because I love the idea of building a community to interact with. The coolest thing about the 1,000 subscriber milestone for me is the community feature that becomes enabled. It allows me to post in a community tab on my channel where my subscribers can interact with me directly from YouTube. I know that with a small channel, this might not be what I dreamed about, but it is a start. Building a community of fans also will keep me motivated to continue my work, even as I pursue a career in Mechanical Engineering once I graduate this coming May.
This leads me to the next reason why I started: it was my final year of undergrad. I didn’t know at the time what the future held because of the pandemic, but I knew that I had one last year as a college student because I intend on working for at least a few years after my Bachelor’s degree before going for my Master’s. In other words, I felt like I wouldn’t have the same opportunity if I waited another year, so I had to go for it!
Lastly, starting a YouTube channel can be thought of as starting a business, which was another reason it interested me so much. Sure, it can make money and that would be cool, but my focus isn’t to make my YouTube channel my full-time job. Since I have to build an audience, grow my social media, market my videos, optimize the SEO for my videos, and in a way, develop my product (aka my videos), it provides me with some business experience that I can use if I want to start a more traditional business. In other words, it helps me build some skills that will benefit me down the line. The channel will make me some money, but that will be used to reinvest in my channel to be able to buy more products to review and to improve my video quality. If it turns into something big, then I will decide what I want to do with it then, but for now, if it is able to make me some extra money on the side, then awesome! I love the idea of giveaways and I would love to run those using the money the channel earns. Plus, I have always wanted to help others, and if the channel makes ad revenue, then I can make specific videos where the ad revenue can go to charities or even run livestreams to help donate towards a cause, like what you have probably seen during the pandemic.
The Final Push
There was a span of about a month that was the final push for me to start my channel. I started seeing some smaller channels blow up like Fernando Silva, who makes his videos with an iPhone (to film) and iPad (to edit). I started thinking, he has been doing his channel with a phone and tablet, so I don’t have an excuse of not having the proper gear for it. He proved that you kind of just need to start making content, find your niche, and create good quality content. Another channel that had an inspiration during this time was Michael Caputo. He didn’t film with phone and edit with an iPad for his channel, but he was a smaller channel that was gaining momentum and that was great for me to see that it can still be done. Then, there was that advertisement by Think Media for a free 7-Day Challenge that would teach me about the YouTube creator life, tips and tricks, and it would force me to actually take action. There was this feeling of “this must be a sign” for me to start the channel and pursue this, so I did!
The final push actually taught me to get out of my comfort zone and to push the limits of what I thought I was capable of. I always loved watching photography and videography videos on YouTube, so I have been learning about content creation over the years, which I believe has helped me. It doesn’t translate into making some crazy cool content like the big name channels, but it does help me to turn some of my ideas into reality for my videos.
Finding My Niche
I still haven’t exactly found my niche, but I do understand that it is important to have a niche since YouTube is crowded. There are examples of using a method of having a niche while you grow your influence and then expanding your content, one of which being, Nikias Molina.
I originally wanted to do iPad only content, but iPhone’s also interest me, so I have kind of expanded to just the Apple products I use on a daily basis. My first set of videos was about the iPad Pro I own and videos related to using it as a mechanical engineering student. Since then, I have tested out different content for my videos and I am still working out a niche.
Reflection
In May, it will be one year since I started and by then I will have reached the 1000 subscriber milestone, which was my goal when I started. I’m excited for what the future holds with the channel and it has ben an absolute blast doing it.
I am surprised at the growth I was able to achieve and I was gaining momentum leading into 2021, but due to some personal emergencies, I took a break. I am back to making videos regularly and I can see that I will be able to build some momentum back up and have a great year!
Overall, I have to say that if you are thinking about starting your channel that you have dreamed about, JUST DO IT! It will be hard, scary, and time consuming, but it is so worth it. The benefit of starting now is that there is less competition than later, and there is no perfect moment so stop waiting for it!!!
