Have you been debating whether to start a YouTube channel or not?
There are a lot of perks in this–free publicity, opportunities for marketing, making money from advertisement revenue, and possibly getting sponsorships and additional income sources from affiliated links.
Most therapists realized that trading their time seeing clients has its own revenue limitations. Especially with the ups and downs of the client flow, most therapists are looking for other sources of income.
Having a YouTube channel can be beneficial. It’s a chance to bring you more clients, sell courses, and add on additional income streams. Hmm…sounds too good to be true, you may wonder. I would like to break down to you what you will need and expect to have a successful YouTube channel. And by the end of reading this blog, you will be able to make a better decision on starting a YouTube channel or not.
Prepare at least 20 hours a week
To be honest, starting a Youtube Channel can be time-consuming.
If you are first starting a channel on your own, you will need to plan for ideas, design thumbnails and titles, write for script, film, edit, and do the preparation for uploading your video and interacting with your audience who are commenting on your videos. All of this take time, so I am suggesting roughly at least 20 hours a week.
Unless you are deciding to hire someone to do some of the work for you, having a YouTube channel can be like a part-time job. One where you might not get rewards in the beginning, but will definitely in the long run.
Be a very good storyteller
There is a lot that can go into having an awesome video. You need to have good videos to keep your audience watching from one to the next. That’s how YouTube’s algorithm promotes your video and spreads it out for you if they can tell your audience love your work.
To do that, one might eventually master lighting, set setting, filming, camera work, editing, so on and so forth.
However, not to overwhelm you, from watching all the YouTube videos, I realized that if you can be a very good storyteller to start with, that’s the easiest way to keep your audience engaged with you. As long as you can tell a good story and have a good microphone, you are already ahead in the game.
Have a business plan
Yes, you heard me right–have a business plan.
I would not recommend you to just start a YouTube channel without any plan. That might have been the case 10 years ago when people could just pick up a camera and film whatever they wanted. Nowadays, for people to be successful on YouTube Channel, they will need to have a specific plan, know their target audience, and provide values, education, or entertainment for each video.
Therefore, you need to have a business plan, the more you know about what kind of audience you want to attract, what type of videos your audience would enjoy, and how you could relate with them, the better.
Be able to provide value
What I meant is your audience comes to the channel to learn something, find information, or be entertained. Some come to kill time and enjoy companionship.
With that in mind, you can have any channel you want–a meditation channel, a mental health channel, an entertainment channel, or an educational channel. To find out what you would prefer, list down your passion and your hobbies, your strengths, and your talent. When you combine something you like, where you would like to share it with the world, it will really transcend through your videos.
How much money do you need to start a YouTube Channel?
If you already have a phone and computer, you can start a channel for FREE. In the beginning, you can use your phone to film, upload your video to the computer, and find free editing software to edit your videos.
Later on, you can always upgrade your gear and budget for a camera, microphone, light, and editing software. Of course, if you want to have a good setting, you will need to design your surroundings and budget for that as well.
To conclude
Yes, you can definitely have a YouTube channel and have a successful one.
By reading this blog, you are already setting yourself up for success. Now you can start making a business plan and setting a consistent schedule where you can dedicate yourself to work for your channel.
You might wonder, then how do I know if YouTube is not for me? Well, you might not know until you try. Some people try YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok all at the same time, and find that they rather use TikTok or Instagram as they enjoy a shorter form of videos. If you are definitely against having a camera appearance, do the research on faceless videos or invest in doing blogs instead.
After reading this blog, do you have a better idea on if you should start a YouTube Channel now? Leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts or other questions that you have.
