Skip THESE Mistakes When Starting A YouTube Channel!

Jun 23

If you're starting a YouTube channel, you may be wondering how to start a successful YouTube channel... but there are plenty of YouTube mistakes out there that can hold you back! In this video, I'm sharing mistakes new YouTubers make and what to do when starting a YouTube channel. That's right, I'm giving your my best advice for new YouTubers but guess what? If you've been on YouTube for a while, you can still dig into these common mistakes!

00:00 Intro

00:50 Thumbnail

04:06 No Target Audience

08:09 Overthinking

09:34 No Greenlight Videos

12:10 No Repurpose Plan

13:48 Not Looking at Analytics

Mistake #1- Thumbnails

The biggest mistake you can make when starting a Youtube channel is not putting time into your thumbnail. If no one is clicking on it, no one is watching it.

And yes it's not JUST your thumbnail but your title too. Did you know most successful creators on YouTube spend just as much time on their thumbnail as they do actually creating the video?

What can you do to fix this mistake?

Make sure you are in it… thumbnails with faces get higher click-through rates… I just take self-timer photos after I shoot my video and then I will use the Lightroom app and a preset to have to the same look on every thumbnail
You want minimal text!
Spark curiosity, show emotion or an outcome.
Look at your thumbnails shrunk down. Most people are viewing from their mobile device so your thumbnail needs to be clear even on small screen.

Mistake #2 - Not Knowing Your Target Audience

And yes every time I talk about this most people click off because it’s the “harder” part of Youtube and not a quick fix… but if you don’t fix this you will NEVER grow a Youtube channel.

See, you can't create content for the masses. In fact, if you're trying to create content for everyone, you end up creating content for no one. Why? Because YouTube is trying to put your content in front of the right people. If you aren't aware of who you're trying to reach, YouTube doesn't know where it goes and may categorize it incorrectly!

🚨Ready to take a look inside a simplified YouTube strategy? Check out my FREE Masterclass! https://trenalittle.net/ytmasterclass-org

Mistake #3- OVERTHINKING

This is where I see a lot of people waste time on the wrong things they THINK will help their channel but in reality, these things aren't important when it comes to channel growth!

So you can stop...

Worrying about your background
Worrying about fancy camera equipment
Worrying about fancy editing

The key thing you should be thinking here is delivering GREAT content, content your target audience wants to watch. Learn what they're trying to find and give it to them!

I’ve said this before but I stood in front of a beige wall for an entire year and still grew my channel by 300%!

Mistake #4 - Not Picking Your Green Light Videos

Videos that overlap what your target audience (see why it’s so important to know your target audience) is searching and what you want to talk about. These are your green light videos! You can use a tool like TubeBuddy to make sure people are actually searching for content you want to create

If you want to try TubeBuddy out for free I have a code (it’s trenalittle.com/tubebuddy) but you need to be researching and figuring out your green light videos before you take the time to create them… don’t waste your time here!

Mistake #5 - No Game Plan

When you don’t plan your videos, you are going to waste so much time and you are going to get frustrated. Your video game plan is going to help you save time filming, editing and more!

While this sounds like a script, it's so much more than that! In fact, your video game plan will include things like:

What are you going to say?
What shots are you going to get?
What thumbnail photos you need.
Where you want edits.

Mistake #6 - No Repurpose Plan

Now if you're a business owner, I know you have a lot on your plate and YouTube can feel like just one more thing. But you have to realign your thought process around this.

Use YouTube as your content hub. This will be your main type of content. Once you have the video, you can then repurpose and get strategic with how you'll repurpose. Film alternate endings for Facebook and Instagram. Turn it into posts for all of your social media and you'll not only have your main content done but your social content as well!

Know what you are going to repurpose and when because YouTube shouldn’t be ‘another’ thing to do, it should be THE thing you are doing to drive more leads and sales to your business.

Mistake #7 - Not Looking at Your Analytics

Here's the thing- YouTube wants you to succeed and they give you the data to help you do so. But if you're not a "numbers" person, analytics can feel really overwhelming. This is why I recommend you start with the YouTube Trifecta.

The YouTube Trifecta is made up of these three things.