9 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started YouTube

I love talking about youtube, and I love sharing what I've learned about growing on this platform. Here are 9 things I wish I knew when I started. Enjoy x

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WHO AM I?
If we haven’t yet before - Hey 👋 I’m Ali, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur and I’ve somehow become the world’s most followed productivity expert. Through my videos here on this channel, my podcast Deep Dive and writing, I share evidence-based strategies and tools to help you be more productive and build a life you love.

⌚️Timestamps:
0:00 - No one cares
2:14 - Architect vs Archeologist
4:57 - Supply & Demand
6:22 - Thinking In Systems
9:02 - Titles & Thumbnails
11:03 - First 30 Seconds
12:04 - Gear
13:23 - Unfair Advantage
15:13 - Video Editing

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

[EmilReignited]

1. Stop worrying what other’s think about your videos, they got their own problems
2. Rather than trying to plan everything in advance, focus on improving your content through experimentation and trying things out
3. You have less competition by making very specific and niched down content helps
4. Build a system that makes it easier to produce content
5. Make the Title and Thumbnail first
6. Front-load your effort into the fist 30 seconds of your video
7. Starting out, the quality of your content is more important than gear
8. Identify your unfair advantages, something that makes it harder to compete with you
9. Outsource video editing asap, frees up tons of time

[FirstLast-csyc]

I am a YouTube video watcher and I confirm, I do not care about YouTube videos.

[jeztravel]

I love it when you said, "You got to start by being bad" It brings comfort to me that it's okay to be a bad editor or storyteller, just do it, record a video, and upload it.

[reed_tech]

Before I started my channel, I have watched several videos on how to grow a YouTube channel. One major thing I learned from all these videos is to simply FOCUS ON YOUR CONTENT AND IMPROVING EVERYDAY
I believe once you enjoy the process and not too clung on the numbers, and focus on learning and improving your videos, the numbers will eventually follow suit.
I see content creation as an endless journey of learning, improvement and discovery. 🤗

[brittanywilkins]

I am an introvert so filming videos is uncomfortable. I realized growth does not come from a place of comfort. 2024 it’s my goal to slowly start doing more videos.

[TheNeonRabbit]

I always think it's weird that so many YouTube videos start out with the creator making some long apology because they haven't uploaded one in a couple weeks, like we've all been sitting here just waiting for their video.

[AugustSixth]

“Your niche will emerge overtime” - biggest takeaway for me. I’m working on a new direction of my channel and now realize I may do that many times in this content creation journey until I find what works and what I’m passionate about to make great content. Thank you 🙏🏽

[ItsGrievesYT]

I took the archeologist route, I was just trying different things and one just stuck, now my channel is growing more and more, good luck to everyone’s channel, I wish you all success, keep going and STAY CONSISTENT💪❤️

[okiburrahaman]

Once Mark Zuckerberg said, , "nobody does when they begin, , ideas don't come fully formed, , they are clear as you work on them, , all you have to do is just get started"..❤

[stijnnoorman]

The biggest lesson for me was the importance of storytelling. Ed (Film Booth) taught this to me. I always thought people just wanted information, but most people won't watch unless they're being entertained. It's one of the reasons why Hamza grew so fast. He's a great storyteller. It's the most underrated skill for YouTubers.

[rossthoughts]

Agree! I architect-ed my first videos. They tanked because I didn't know how to make videos or tell stories. Then I switched to the "archeologist" tactic because I knew I needed way more skill before going back to the reason (and topic) for which I have a passion. I wasn't being an archeologist to figure out my niche, I just want to figure out the basics of video story telling. I'm still on that "archeologist" phase. Did a 30 day video making challenge where I tried to make a video a day to get reps in with new software, etc. I'm still an infant but I think I'm getting close to getting off the hands and knees and running like a true wild toddler! Lets go!

[DarkMedia.]

Don't lie! We all knew why we watched this video, right? If you're starting a new channel like me, don't give up and just keep grinding. Remember, "Rome wasn't built in a day".

[dearjenn_]

I used to be so worried about my parents and relatives stumbling upon my channel and thinking it's lame, telling me to focus more on my full-time job.. However, the first step I took was sharing it with my parents. To my surprise, they were all about supporting me, no judgments whatsoever. So now, as I keep on creating content, I'm feeling way more relaxed about the whole thing.

[mayaleex]

This video was so helpful for me! Even though I've been doing youtube for 5 years, I still feel like there's always SO much to learn and so many ways to improve :)

[achievingfailure]

I must say this video was a huge help! As a tiny nobody channel, it's a passion project that I'd love to see grow and I really do appreciate the time you took to make this! It's definitely been a love/hate relationship starting a podcast in a oversaturated scene right now.

[TheArtofEngineering]

Yes!!!! I started playing ukulele, then did kayak camping…then art videos… then talking about my newly started journey as a mature age engineering student…. and then rediscovered amateur radio (ham radio). 2 years into the ham radio and I’m monetised. …as of yesterday 😝.

[no-hustle]

Great advice... especially the first tip, as we need to remind ourselves (not just with YouTube, but life in general) that other people are too busy and caught up in their own chaos to truly care or even notice what you are or are not doing. When you figure this out, it takes a lot of pressure off of things. Also LOVE your approach to systems (and batching). This is again so key to success on and away from YouTube.

[BryanEnsign]

Talking quickly and showing a lot of visual examples is extremely engaging for your viewers that will keep them all the way through. You totally nailed this thank you.

[malenamatisse]

Totally True, everything he says.I am still learning many things with my channel and I mostly regret that I was to hesitant to start earlier because this whole process and grow really takes time.

[designxmm]

I posted a video today that I worked really, really hard on — and 3 hours later, it’s has 23 views! I was re-evaluating my life when I saw this. I really do love creating content — Thank you for inspiring me to keep going!