I’ve been watching YouTube almost since the beginning. Crazy. The only problem is that I was too young and maybe stupid for most of that time. At least too stupid to understand the big changes happening behind the scenes. I saw more YouTubers coming in, saw them making tons of money, and witnessed practically all the changes and content styles. It’s just a shame that I didn’t understand much more than that I liked watching it myself. YouTube has given me a lot; it feels like everything I know or can do comes from there.

I’m really good at Blender without ever studying it at any school. Completely free, completely self-taught.

My Own Channel

Have I ever thought about doing YouTube myself? Of course I have, hundreds of times. Talking about electronics, just like the YouTubers I watch myself. Making gaming videos and much more. I’ve actually uploaded videos throughout my life, maybe about 50-100 in total. Not too few.

The best one has gotten 61 thousand views. WTF. It’s a stupid Flash browser game I used to play for fun. A few videos got a couple thousand views, and a few others got a few hundred. However, I think all these videos are crap. What if I really tried?

Now that I’ve started doing more Blender work, I’m starting to want to make content from it too. I’ve been making content mainly for Instagram and TikTok, but that’s never been what I like to watch, so I don’t do it as eagerly either. I just do it because you have to be on social media (applies only to business-related posts; my personal posts are just for the joy of it).

Still, I could change things up and make a longer video for YouTube and then cut a short video from it for social media. That way, I would have both. This idea has been rolling around in my head, and it’s also why I decided to read this book when it was suggested to me.

What the book said

The book talked about YouTube’s history and how it became what it is now. It started as a local dating site that no one used, and when people started uploading funny videos, it was decided to change the site to one where videos could be uploaded.

After that, advertising options increased, and YouTubers themselves began to do collaborations. Algorithms appeared that started recommending videos, and now we’re in the current situation.

People have limited time, and you have to compete for their attention. If someone chooses to watch your video, it means they’re refusing to watch all others.

So you have to stand out right from the start, meaning the thumbnail and video title.

Thumbnail

The image is the first thing a person sees when browsing YouTube. It has to stand out. Nowadays, people use a lot of human faces that depict some kind of emotion, like surprise. It should preferably be on the left or right. Ideally, only one thing should be in the center. Colors should be used. Text should only be added if it enhances the whole.

Video Title

The video title is the next thing the viewer notices. The video title should grab attention in a way that sparks the viewer’s curiosity. It should reveal just enough that people must open the video to find out the answers or else they won’t be able to sleep. You can use words like ”top something,” ”10 minutes,” ”in seven days,” or ”someone vs. someone.”

Video Content

The most important point about video content in the book was that every action has a target audience on YouTube. Whatever you do, someone will watch it. Another important observation, in my opinion, is that you shouldn’t make videos because you want to be a YouTuber but because you want to share what you’re doing. And YouTube can be the enabling factor.

Money

There are many sources of income on YouTube. You can advertise through YouTube, find external sponsors, or promote your own service. An important thing that, for example, MrBeast did, is to put the money into making even better videos in the future.

4 Things People Love to Watch on YouTube

-Entertainment

-Education

-Inspiration/motivation

-Destress/relaxation

My field mostly fits into the education section and maybe a little into entertainment. So, I guess I’ll start with those and see how it goes!