Everyone knows of at least one famous YouTuber these days, and that has been inspiring more and more people to start channels of their own. I am in full support of everyone following their dreams, but starting as a YouTuber has been a little different than I expected.
I have been making weekly YouTube videos based around fashion and makeup for about 5 months. I love the process of filming, editing, and hearing the positive feedback. I didn’t realize, however, just how many hours I would be putting into it. The filming alone takes a good chunk of time, but editing is what most of my YouTube hours go into.
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Another thing to think about: equipment is expensive and confusing. Even after 5 months of making videos, I’m still getting my lighting and background perfect. It is a continuous learning process that I have put a lot of time (and money) doing research on.
The YouTube algorithms are CONFUSING. I can create a video I am really proud of, but only a small amount of people will see it if YouTube doesn’t promote it. In order for it to get promoted, you have to follow the YouTube guidelines and learn certain tricks to get more views. There are tons of websites and videos that talk about ways to do this.
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The views you get might not be as many as you expected. I try to see what videos people like and create more of those. But at the same time, it is hard seeing videos that you put a lot of effort into not perform like you want them to. The videos you think will get a ton of views might get very little, but that’s just how it goes.
You have to have a lot of patience when starting a YouTube channel, and you have to understand that it takes time to grow your channel. The odds of you blowing up immediately are very slim. However, all of the positive feedback makes it worth it to me. I love seeing what my friends and complete strangers have to say about my videos. It feels empowering knowing that you have a platform to completely be yourself on and speak to a large audience about things you’re passionate about.