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5 Tips for Starting a Successful YouTube Channel

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Second Self Virtual Assistance

Nowadays, you can be a fan of someone that’s not an actor or artist. You can be a fan of someone who makes YouTube videos. ~Cameron Dallas

 

Take advantage of all that video has to offer in your social media marketing strategy. Create a YouTube channel for your brand or business. Here are five tips for starting a successful YouTube Channel.

Equipment is Secondary to Ideas and Concepts
You don’t need fancy equipment to start your YouTube channel. All you really need is a smartphone. Ideas and concepts are far more important than the equipment you use.

Start by writing down 25 to 50 ideas for videos. Think about titles for the videos and search YouTube to see what comes up and see what your competition is doing. Then do it better.

 

Keep It Short and Sweet
Give your viewers bite-sized chunks of information. Unless you know what you’re doing, you won’t be able to be successful by producing videos that are more than two minutes in length. When you’re first starting out, viewers don’t know you. The only thing they have to judge whether they’ll watch your videos is the title, thumbnail, and length.

 

Separate Yourself With Well-Designed Thumbnails
The only thing you have to market your videos when you’re first starting out is the thumbnail. While YouTube uses your descriptions and tags in its search index, the only thing you have to separate yourself from the other videos in the search results is your title and thumbnail. This makes it extremely important for you to make sure your video thumbnails stand out.

 

Give Your Videos a Title With Humans and Search Engines in Mind
The same SEO techniques that you use on your web page also apply to your YouTube video titles. You need to make sure that your video titles grab the attention of viewers and also include relevant keywords for the search engines. The first two lines of your the descriptions are usually shown on the search results. Make those lines count.

 

Use Comments to Engage Your Audience
You want everyone to know your name. One of the easiest ways to do this is to engage with your viewers in the comments section of your channel. It can be time-consuming but will be well worth the effort when you start to gain subscribers.

Starting a YouTube channel that people want to watch isn’t difficult. While it will take some time and effort on your part, keeping these five tips in mind as you move forward will help ensure that you’re successful.

Grant Schneider
Performance Development Strategies - Armonk, NY
Your Coach Helping You Create Successful Outcomes

Good afternoon Pamela Cendejas - Your points are key.  Just like blogging a video has to have engaging titles and keywords with humans in mind.

May 16, 2019 11:37 AM
Carol Williams
Although I'm retired, I love sharing my knowledge and learning from other real estate industry professionals. - Wenatchee, WA
Retired Agent / Broker / Prop. Mgr, Wenatchee, WA

Hi Pamela,
I'm a big fan of short and sweet.  I had someone just setting up a new YouTube channel tell me the other day they were going to put up 100 videos in the next 4 months!  Isn't that unrealistic, considering scripting and production time? 

May 16, 2019 11:39 AM
Pamela Cendejas

Carol Williams - That certainly sounds ambitious.  I wish them well. There are programs that make video-making easier. 

May 16, 2019 12:43 PM
Kat Palmiotti
eXp Commercial, Referral Divison - Kalispell, MT
Helping your Montana dreams take root

These are all good ideas. I was watching some industry videos yesterday, getting some ideas, and I thought they were all too long. I prefer short and sweet as well.

May 17, 2019 03:41 AM
Pamela Cendejas

Kat Palmiotti - I admit that I will look at the length of a video before I decide whether I have the time to watch it or not. So, you're right. A lot can be conveyed in a short video.

May 17, 2019 11:46 AM
Dan Jasmer
Fine Properties - Sarasota, FL
Changing the way you look at real estate

Pamela, thank you for continuing to provide valuable information re: YouTube. I think we tend to overthink our ideas and never get them off the ground. Realizing that ‘short is sweet’ helps to motivate me. Thank you

May 17, 2019 05:40 AM
Pamela Cendejas

Dan Jasmer - I'd love to see your first video!

May 17, 2019 11:46 AM
Greg Mona
West USA Realty - Scottsdale, AZ
Professional Real Estate Representation for YOU!

Thanks for the post, Pamela Cendejas.  Great tips here! The "short and sweet" idea is a very real thing. The average person's attention span becomes shorter and shorter all the time. The old rule of thumb for videos was to keep them to two minutes or less. Now 30-45 seconds is about all people will watch unless it really captures their attention. I used to participate in a real estate radio show and we had to keep our sound bite to 30 seconds or less. I learned you can't say a whole lot in 30 seconds, so every word was critical to get your point across in a very short amount of time.

May 17, 2019 08:10 AM
Pamela Cendejas

Greg Mona - Thank you for sharing your valuable insight and experience. I appreciate you for taking the time to share.

May 17, 2019 11:48 AM
M.C. Dwyer
Melody Russell Team at eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Felton, CA
MC Dwyer-Santa Cruz Mountains Property Specialist

Thank you for taking the time to write out these tips for us to follow!

May 17, 2019 08:15 AM
Brian DeYoung
also affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Heritage Realty - Ithaca, NY
The Realtor with personal investment background

So timely, this was exactly on my agenda today.

Thank you.

May 17, 2019 12:15 PM
Bruce Hicks
Best Homes Hawaii - Honolulu, HI
Your Best Hawaii Realtor!

Very good Pamela Cendejas we've been through Kingman 3 times.  Once on our way from Vegas to the Meteor Crater, we spent the night there and next day we awoke there was about 2" of snow on the ground!

May 18, 2019 05:25 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Thanks for the good tips. For me, it 's been long overdue, but still, haven't dived in yet :)

May 18, 2019 09:32 PM
Debb Janes
Nature As Neighbors - Camas, WA
Put My Love of Nature At Work for You

What? How did I miss this one, Pamela. I'm so sorry.  Such great advice and tips. Better late than never...thanks so much for sharing this in YouTube Thursdays. D 

 

May 22, 2019 09:37 AM