If I Started a YouTube Channel in 2024, I’d Do This *Zero to 500k Roadmap*

Summary

In this insightful video, Izzy, a Cambridge graduate turned YouTuber, shares her journey to 500,000 subscribers and the valuable lessons she learned along the way. She breaks down the essentials of starting and scaling a YouTube channel into three main categories: defining your creative craft, executing high production value, and playing the 'spiritual game' of overcoming emotional hurdles. Izzy emphasizes the importance of intention, taking action, and engaging storytelling to captivate audiences and grow a successful channel. She also addresses the technical aspects of video production and the psychological challenges creators face, offering practical advice for maintaining motivation and enjoying the creative process.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Starting a YouTube channel can be life-changing and offers opportunities to share your voice, connect with a global audience, and potentially earn income.
• 🔍 Defining the purpose of your channel, whether as a hobby or a business, is crucial for setting intentions and focusing your approach to content creation.
• 🌟 Finding your niche often happens organically as you create content you're passionate about, rather than forcing it from the outset.
• 💡 Ideation is key: write down ideas as they come to avoid forgetting them, and don't judge ideas prematurely—let them flow freely.
• 📺 The 'engagement engine' of a YouTube channel is driven by click-through rates and watch time, which are influenced by the title, thumbnail, and the first 10-30 seconds of the video.
• 🔑 High-quality storytelling can make your videos more engaging and connect with viewers on a deeper level, reflecting change over time.
• 🛡 Building a 'moat' around your content involves leveraging your unique perspective, competitive advantages, and authenticity to stand out.
• 🎥 Good production value starts with the basics: using your phone's camera and microphone, ensuring good audio quality, and utilizing natural lighting.
• ⚙️ Video editing is about making tight cuts, incorporating visual elements, and supporting storytelling with music and sound effects.
• 💪 The psychological aspect of YouTube involves overcoming fears, perfectionism, impostor syndrome, and maintaining motivation and inspiration.
• 🚀 Consistency and patience are vital; even if initial growth is slow, the skills gained and personal transformation from creating content are significant.

Q & A

What was the turning point that led to the creation of Izzy's YouTube channel?

Izzy almost didn't start her YouTube channel, but she eventually did while still in medical school, which has since changed her life in many ways.

What are the three main categories Izzy breaks down to discuss growing a YouTube channel?

The three main categories are defining your creative craft, executing beautiful production value, and playing the spiritual game.

What is the importance of 'TNT' in the context of YouTube videos?

TNT stands for Title and Thumbnail, which are crucial for attracting viewers to click on the video and are considered the first step in the engagement engine.

How does Izzy suggest finding your niche on YouTube?

Izzy suggests not worrying too much about finding a niche at the start. Instead, creators should make videos about topics they enjoy, and their niche will find them over time.

What is Izzy's advice on the importance of storytelling in videos?

Izzy emphasizes the power of storytelling as a fundamental aspect of human connection. She recommends incorporating storytelling into videos to bring them to life and create a deeper resonance with viewers.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Starting and Scaling a YouTube Channel

The video script introduces the topic of starting or scaling a YouTube channel, emphasizing the impact it can have on one's life. The speaker, Izzy, a Cambridge graduate and doctor, shares her journey of reaching 500,000 subscribers and the transformative effect it had on her life. She outlines the intent to provide advice for a successful YouTube venture, covering aspects from defining creative goals to understanding the business side of YouTube. The importance of taking action is stressed, along with a three-part breakdown of the process: defining creative craft, executing production value, and playing the 'spiritual game' of YouTube.

05:02

🎨 Defining Your YouTube Channel's Intent and Niche

This paragraph delves into the importance of defining the intention behind a YouTube channel, whether it's a hobby or a business. It discusses the spectrum between creating content for the love of it versus treating the channel as a business to generate income. The speaker advises not to focus too much on finding a niche at the beginning, but rather to make videos about topics one is passionate about, allowing the niche to emerge naturally. The paragraph also touches on the ideation process, emphasizing the importance of writing down ideas immediately to avoid forgetting them.

10:03

🔥 The Engagement Engine and Crafting Compelling Content

The speaker discusses the 'engagement engine', focusing on clickthrough rate and watch time as key metrics for YouTube success. She explains the importance of the title and thumbnail (TNT) in attracting viewers and the video's hook in retaining them. The paragraph provides tips on creating curiosity gaps and open loops to engage viewers, while cautioning against clickbait that fails to deliver on promises. Storytelling is presented as a vital tool for human connection in videos, with a mention of 'Storyworthy' by Matthew Dicks as an influential resource. The paragraph concludes with advice on building a unique selling proposition and competitive advantages for one's channel.

15:04

🛠 The Technical Aspects of Video Production

This section covers the technical skills needed for video production, including hardware and software. The speaker starts with hardware, emphasizing that a smartphone is sufficient to start a channel due to its camera and microphone capabilities. She mentions the importance of audio quality over camera quality and suggests using a shotgun mic for better sound. Lighting is also discussed, with a preference for soft lighting using large LED panels. On the software side, the speaker mentions video editing software like DaVinci Resolve and the importance of creating engaging edits, such as cutting out pauses and adding visual elements to maintain viewer interest.

20:07

🎼 Enhancing Video Production with Software and Music

The paragraph discusses the use of software for video editing and thumbnail testing, as well as the importance of music in enhancing the viewer's experience. The speaker recommends using royalty-free music services like Epidemic Sound to avoid copyright issues and to add depth to videos. She also provides tips on video editing, such as making tight cuts and incorporating visual elements to maintain viewer interest. The speaker emphasizes the importance of creating a 'vibe' that supports storytelling and the use of music to achieve this.

25:07

💼 The Business and Psychological Aspects of YouTube

This section addresses the psychological challenges faced by content creators, such as fear of judgment, failure, and the spotlight effect. The speaker encourages creators to push through these fears, emphasizing that most people are not as focused on them as they might think. She discusses the importance of enjoying the process of creating content and not letting the desire for perfection or fear of failure hinder progress. The paragraph concludes with the speaker's personal experiences and advice on overcoming these emotional hurdles.

30:09

🌟 Overcoming Perfectionism and Embracing the Journey

The speaker discusses the struggle with perfectionism and the importance of releasing videos even if they are not perfect. She introduces the concept of the 'minimum viable product' (MVP) and encourages creators to launch with the bare minimum needed to create a video. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of consistency and iteration, suggesting that improvement will come with each video made. The speaker also addresses impostor syndrome, reminding viewers that everyone has a unique perspective and value to offer.

35:11

🌱 Finding Inspiration and Enjoying the Process

This paragraph focuses on dealing with a lack of inspiration and motivation. The speaker suggests actively seeking out inspiration through various activities and following one's energy and intuition. She emphasizes the importance of enjoying the process of creating content and warns against the cycle of coercion and guilt that can lead to burnout. The speaker also shares her personal experiences with feeling uninspired and how she overcomes these feelings.

40:13

🤝 Community and Collaboration in Content Creation

The speaker discusses the importance of community and collaboration in the process of content creation. She shares her experiences of learning through the internet, connecting with other creators, and the value of courses like the Part-Time YouTuber Academy. The paragraph also includes a Q&A session where the speaker answers questions about her journey, her gear, and her approach to content creation, providing practical advice for aspiring YouTubers.

💰 Monetization and Recognition on YouTube

This section covers the financial aspects of running a YouTube channel, including the requirements for joining the YouTube Partner Program and the factors that influence earnings. The speaker also discusses the personal experience of being recognized in public due to her YouTube presence and the joy it brings when viewers appreciate her content.

🎉 Balancing Content Creation with Life as a Creator

The final paragraph addresses the challenges of balancing content creation with other aspects of life, such as dealing with burnout and maintaining a schedule. The speaker shares her strategies for coping with these challenges, including setting input goals over output goals and lowering the bar when necessary to maintain creativity and prevent burnout. She concludes by encouraging viewers to take care of themselves and to enjoy the process of content creation.

Keywords

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube Channel is a platform for creators to share videos with a global audience. In the video, the creator discusses the process of starting and scaling a YouTube Channel, emphasizing its potential to change one's life and the importance of understanding the channel's purpose, whether it's a hobby or a business. The channel serves as a vehicle for sharing one's voice and making an impact.

💡Subscribers

Subscribers are individuals who choose to follow a YouTube Channel to receive updates on new content. The script mentions a milestone of reaching 500,000 subscribers, highlighting the growth and impact of the channel. Subscribers are a key metric for a channel's success and audience size.

💡Engagement Engine

The Engagement Engine refers to strategies that increase viewer interaction with a video, such as clickthrough rate and watch time. The video emphasizes crafting videos that capture attention and deliver value to encourage viewers to watch until the end, which is crucial for YouTube algorithm optimization.

💡TNT (Title and Thumbnail)

TNT stands for Title and Thumbnail, which are the first elements potential viewers see. The video script highlights the importance of creating compelling titles and thumbnails to attract clicks and set the right expectations for the content, using the concept of curiosity gaps to entice viewers.

💡Hook

A hook in video content is the initial segment designed to captivate the audience's interest within the first 10 to 30 seconds. The script discusses the importance of the hook in establishing the value or entertainment the video will provide, ensuring viewers stay engaged from the start.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of conveying events in a narrative form that appeals to an audience's emotions. The video stresses the power of storytelling in videos to create a human connection and make content more relatable and engaging, referencing the book 'Storyworthy' by Matthew Dicks.

💡Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage refers to unique attributes or skills that give a creator an edge over others in their niche. The script suggests leveraging one's unique experiences and knowledge to create content that stands out and offers something distinct from other channels.

💡Impostor Syndrome

Impostor Syndrome is the feeling of inadequacy and self-doubt, where one fears being exposed as a 'fraud'. The video acknowledges this phenomenon, encouraging creators to overcome it by recognizing their unique value and the authenticity of their voice.

💡Part-Time YouTuber Academy

The Part-Time YouTuber Academy is a course mentioned in the script that provides in-depth guidance on managing a YouTube channel alongside other commitments. It represents a resource for creators to learn strategies and techniques to grow their channel efficiently.

💡Epidemic Sound

Epidemic Sound is a music service provider highlighted in the script for offering royalty-free music for creators. The service is emphasized for its comprehensive catalog and the legal security it provides, avoiding copyright claims on videos.

💡Moat

In the context of the video, a 'moat' refers to the barriers or unique selling points that protect a creator's content from being easily replicated by competitors. This could be the effort invested in a video, the depth of knowledge shared, or the authenticity of the creator's personality.

Highlights

Starting a YouTube channel can be life-changing and offers opportunities to share your voice, impact others, and potentially earn money.

The channel's success is due to a combination of strategy, content creation, and overcoming personal challenges.

Defining the purpose of your channel, whether as a hobby or a business, shapes your approach to content and growth.

Finding your niche naturally over time by creating content you're passionate about is more sustainable than forcing it.

Ideation is key; write down ideas immediately to avoid forgetting them, without judging their potential.

Engagement engine focuses on click-through rate and watch time, which are crucial for YouTube algorithm success.

The importance of the title and thumbnail (TNT) in attracting viewers and the strategy behind crafting them.

Creating a hook in the first 10 to 30 seconds of a video is essential to retain viewer interest.

Storytelling in videos enhances connection and should reflect change over time for a compelling narrative.

Building a 'moat' around your content by offering unique perspectives and leveraging personal competitive advantages.

Transcripts

if you've ever wanted to start or scale

a YouTube channel then this video was

made for you this channel recently hit

500,000 subscribers which is half a

million people which actually blows my

mind and starting this YouTube channel

has totally changed my life in so many

unbelievable ways but the weirdest bit

is I almost didn't do it there's

actually a huge amount that goes into

actually launching and then growing a

successful YouTube channel so in this

video I'm going to go through all the

gems of advice that I wish that I had

had at the start to hopefully make your

own YouTube Journey a little less

confusing or overwhelming and give you

that sense of clear intention and a road

map to success starting a YouTube

channel allows you to share your voice

have an impact connect with millions of

people all over the world and maybe even

make a little bit of money while doing

it wouldn't that be nice if you're new

here my name is Izzy I'm a Cambridge

graduate and a doctor and I started this

YouTube channel just over two years ago

while I was still in medical school

making videos alongside my medical

degree and then working as a doctor I've

also very excitingly started a

newsletter so if you're interested in

hearing more updates or interesting

things from me you know where to find it

I'll break everything down into three

main categories and while you're

watching this video just have a think

about how you could practically apply

any of these tips because actually the

most important thing that I want you to

take away from this video is to actually

take action it's all good and well

watching videos and tutorials about how

to do this side hustle how to start a

YouTube channel how to learn a language

but without actually taking these into

our real lives and taking action they're

not going to do anything for us so get

ready to take action and let's get into

the video the three parts will be

defining your creative craft executing

beautiful production value and finally

playing the spiritual game part one

defining your creative craft the first

overarching thing that you want to think

about is this whole spectrum of business

versus hobby when we're thinking about

our YouTube channels it's important that

we know what our intention is for the

channel and setting those intentions and

regularly checking in on them there's a

whole Spectrum from creating videos just

cuz you enjoy them on the hobby end you

find making videos fun it doesn't really

matter about the numbers or the

performance or the money or the business

it's more about the craft itself so

that's the hobby end all the way up to

the business end where some people view

their YouTube channels purely as a

business proposition to make money

whether that's via sponsorships or

funneling in organic marketing via their

YouTube channel into another product

that they have that kind of thing and

most people kind of fall somewhere in

the middle where you want to enjoy what

you're doing and enjoy the craft but you

also want to have some kind of financial

support from your channel and so I'm

definitely somewhere in the middle here

where I want a balance of the two but

just defining this early on is really

important because it completely changes

the way that you approach your YouTube

channel and how you're focusing on

starting and growing it if you're

approaching it purely as a hobby then

this video maybe isn't for you because

actually you don't really need to take a

strategic approach when it comes to

doing it as a hobby cuz you just do it

when you feel like it you make whatever

you feel like and you don't mind about

the numbers on the other hand if you're

someone who does want to see some growth

some numbers some maybe even money

coming in from the YouTube channel then

this video is more geared towards you so

if you're just doing this for a hobby

then make the videos that you love

follow your heart and you don't need to

watch this video I can save you this

time right now if you're on the other

Camp then let's dive in keep watching

and we'll build on your strategy the

first thing that people often think

about when they're starting YouTube

channel is oh like what's my Niche what

should I make videos about we hear this

phrase Niche down to blow up or the

riches are in the niches or if you have

an American accent niches which happens

to rhyme way better but unless you're

approaching your YouTube channel purely

as a business I actually don't think

that the niche is something you need to

worry about too much at the start just

start making videos about topics that

you enjoy fling out the ideas play

around enjoy it and your Niche will

gradually find you there'll be this

amazing intersection of videos that you

enjoy making and about topics that

you're passionate about along with an

audience who actually Vibes with those

videos and you will find that the next

stage of your creative craft is ideation

so once you've either decided on N that

you want a gun for or you've actually

decided that you're going to make videos

about topics that you're just interested

in whatever you feel like making which

is kind of how I approach it then

ideation is the next step the single

thing that has helped my ideation with

my YouTube channel the most is as soon

as I have an idea immediately writing it

down because as much as you think oh

this is such a fantastic idea there's no

way I'm going to forget this let's be

honest you probably will if I have a

thought even in the shower I will

literally come out of the shower and

write down a note on my phone or some

maybe even dictate it to Siri to take a

note and one quote that I think is so

applicable to the ideation phase is you

must not judge any thought or idea that

appears in your mind this is a Matthew

dicks quote from his book story worthy

just write out all the ideas don't start

to judge them yet just get out all the

ideas and then once you you have your

ideas you can sit down and select the

best ones for the next stage of the

video process both your Niche and also

your brand and also your aesthetic your

Vibe will begin to emerge naturally over

time and I find that this is a way more

enjoyable way to approach YouTube and

now we're getting to the good bit which

is the engagement engine so in the

engagement engine we are working on the

two most important things when it comes

to absolutely blowing up on YouTube and

going to the moon and these things are

clickthrough rate and watch time if you

can get people to click on your video

and then watch all the way to the end of

your video then you are on to an

absolutely magical recipe and you're

going to absolutely win at YouTube

immediately the algorithm will pick it

up and like that you're on the moon or

maybe Mars or Saturn or Jupiter or

something like that so the engagement

engine is how we can hopefully move

towards those two things how to craft

amazing videos that grab people's

attention and deliver amazing value the

first most important thing when any

anybody sees your video is the TNT the

title and the thumbnail this is what

will earn the click or lose the click

because if nobody Clicks in your video

nobody's going to see the amazing

content and the amazing video that you

put so much work into and all the stuff

that you shared in that video so it's

really worth thinking about the title

and thumbnail maybe even before you film

the video or before you script the video

right after the TNT is the hook of the

video which is the first 10 to 30

seconds of the video and this is where

you need to show the viewer that the

video they've clicked on is actually the

video that they want to watch and it

either has the value or the

entertainment or the kind of interest

that they want to see for these first

few bits of the title thumbnail and the

hook there are a few things that you can

think about in order to make an

absolutely banging TNT and hook but a

couple of things that come to mind

include creating open loops and a

curiosity Gap essentially where the

title and thumbnail or the hook raises

some kind of question in the viewer's

mind and they're like oh I wonder what

the answer to that is and your video is

going to answer that so then people are

like oh okay if I click on this then I'm

going to learn more about what this

person's talking about and I'm going to

get the value of what is the answer to

my question and actually the reason why

we love fun facts so much is because we

are naturally geared towards loving a

level of learning where we think oh

these are cool things this is an

interesting question I want to know the

answer another way that you can do this

is by establishing value so are you

going to deliver some massive value to

your audience are you going to help them

with maybe their studying or learning a

language or starting a YouTube channel

are you going to give them information

that they need or alternatively are you

giving them an aesthetic and energy and

entertainment think about what your

video is providing and how your title

thumbnail and hook can help to reflect

that and Spark that Curiosity of like oh

maybe this is the video that actually I

want to watch one note here is that

creating clickbait is not the way

because people are going to very quickly

realize that if you have a clickbait

title thumbnail and hook that the rest

of the video doesn't actually have the

value or interest that they want and

it's going to make people lose trust in

you and in in this day and age integrity

and having someone's trust that you're

going to actually deliver a good video

that they want to watch is so important

so while you want to create a tth that

builds Intrigue you don't want to create

one that makes false promises because

that's kind of frustrating

honestly once someone's actually clicked

on your video the next most important

thing is the power of Storytelling ever

since anatomically modern humans evolved

around 200,000 years ago stories have

been the lifeblood of human connection

incorporating some kind of storytelling

into your videos is going to bring them

to life because fundamentally when

you're watching a YouTube video you're

not expecting just a bullet point list

of facts you're looking for a sense of

human connection to the Creator along

with some important facts that they can

share with you or maybe some kind of

entertainment or some kind of experience

depends on what kind of video it is

obviously a book that has a big impact

on how I view storytelling is story

worthy by Matthew dicks and there's a

particular quote that I'd like to share

with you which I found really impactful

your story must reflect change over time

a story cannot simply be a series of

remarkable events you must start out as

one version of yourself and end as

something new everywhere in movies TV

shows books there's always this sense of

a hero's Arc if you look hard enough the

hero starts out and sets out on the

Journey of some kind of Discovery or

transformation or some kind of mission

and then they go through challenges and

difficulty before finally reaching some

kind of Turning Point and either

achieving a transform or some kind of

goal or some kind of lesson in your

videos try to share something of

yourself in stories because this can

resonate so much more deeply the next

step is building the mode essentially

what are your videos bringing that other

people can't bring in their videos if

you're just starting out then this isn't

something really to worry about just

worry about making the next video and

getting good at making videos but once

you've established a little bit more you

need to think about what can you deliver

uniquely that other people can't and

this ties in very strongly with

competitive advantages every single

person on this planet has a competitive

advantage in some way that they can

leverage on YouTube it's about finding

out what these are recognizing them and

then learning to leverage them for

example if I were to try to make a video

about how to be a

carpenter I'm not a carpenter I don't

know very much about carpentry it's

going to be a struggle I don't really

have any competitive advantages in that

space But on the other hand if I want to

make videos about language learning I'm

currently self-studying Larin and I'm

actually also making a on it on the

complete method of how you can selfstudy

Mandarin check out the link down below

if you're interested in free discounts

or worksheets from it so that means if

I'm trying to make a video about how to

self-study Mandarin actually a much

better place to make that because I

already have some understanding of the

space and I can talk about it with

conviction and with actual real value

another way to build the moat around

your content is to share your

personality try to learn to relax in

front of the camera and share a bit of

your unique self because nobody can be

you you are unique and you have a unique

voice that has value to share with the

world so by learning to project that and

share that with your audience that's

really difficult to imitate because if

someone else were to imitate that they

wouldn't be being authentic to them so

share your authentic self and the final

thing in building the Moe is effort

perception if a video or a channel seems

to have more effort going into it often

that is enticing or interesting in some

way so for example if I made a video

about meditation I was like I meditated

for one day my experience

versus I meditated for 700 days my

experience which one of these are you

more likely to be interested in hearing

about and obviously it's still one with

700 days because you're like oh my

goodness she spent 700 days meditating

what did she learn that's crazy and also

in order to actually be able to make

that video and actually spend 700 days

meditating that is a moat where if

anyone wants to make a similar video

they would have to go through that

experience and put in the work equally

with research as well if you've done

loads of research into a video and spent

if I told you let's say I spent 10

minutes preparing for this video versus

I spent 50 hours preparing for this

video to teach you how to be a

successful part-time YouTuber then

that's a completely different feeling

there's actually a huge amount more to

this and near the start of my journey as

a confused beginner I actually took the

part-time YouTuber Academy course which

was a much deeper dive on exactly how to

be a successful part-time YouTuber

alongside some kind of day job

especially for educational talking head

videos like most of my videos like this

video all of the information in the

course is available scattered across the

internet in videos like these and people

sharing their experiences on YouTube and

you can definitely definitely learn that

way PTY just saved me a lot of time and

confusion by distilling down coherently

all of the core information in one place

in a slightly surreal full circle kind

of moment I'm now actually a guest

instructor for PTY and have a session

diving deeper into my exact workflow and

how I think about YouTube if you're

interested in checking out PTY I will

leave a link Down Below in the

description part two of this video is

executing beautiful production value

this encompasses all the technical

skills that you need to beautifully

actually execute on your video ideas and

bring your creative ideas to life I'm

going to separate this into hardware and

software so firstly in the hardware

section people often wonder about what

kind of gear to use what kind of camera

microphone lighting do they need a

gimbal do they need a slider do they

need all of this kind of stuff let's

keep it really simple while we're just

starting out the only thing that you

need to start your YouTube channel is

your phone it's got a camera and a

microphone and that's literally all you

need because you can get natural

lighting from a bright window and so you

literally have no excuse to not start

your YouTube channel and gear will not

hold you back so if you have a

smartphone with a camera and I'm

assuming that all phones need a

microphone in order to be actually be a

phone then you have no excuses to not

start your YouTube channel yes good gear

makes things look better so obviously

you can see I'm using not my phone I'm

using an a7c camera with the 16 to35 G

Master lens currently and you can see

that it kind of creates a nicer visual

effect you can see the background is

kind of a bit more like it's got that

depth of field vibe to it but really you

don't actually need this the best camera

is the camera that you have so start

with what you have and then build from

there the next thing is audio quality

and microphone so actually audio quality

is much more important than camera

quality weirdly enough which obviously

is not what people immediately think

when they think about YouTubers they

think about big ass cameras but actually

the audio quality is going to affect

your viewers experience of the video

much more deeply than the video quality

try to position your microphone as close

to your mouth as possible so mine's

right up here this is my microphone just

out of shot just boomed in overhead

there are a few styles of microphones

that you can get I currently use a

shotgun mic I'm using one boomed in

overhead but in other videos I've also

used little like Bluetooth lav mic mics

that you can hold close to your mouth

and the closer to your mouth you can get

the microphone the better the audio

quality will be there'll be less noise

from the environment and also the better

it will pick up your voice the third

thing is lighting and arguably this

might be more important than the camera

that you have the main thing with

lighting is you want it to be soft

usually unless you want a very harsh

dramatic look for most talking head

videos you want a soft lighting which

means big basically you want a big ass

light that is going to be quite large

and close to your face cuzz if you have

a look at these two images with exactly

the same camera you can see that the

video quality is dramatically different

because they have different lighting So

currently I use a big LED light panel

with a kind of soft box on it which

provides the lighting so I've got two at

the moment sometimes I only use one just

depends on the setup I'll add a link

below to my notion page which has all of

the gear that I recommend at for

different budget levels next is the

software side so after I have filmed a

video with the setup then I upload it to

Google Drive where then my editor helps

to edit the video and then they upload

it onto a website called frame.io which

is a really great platform for leaving

video comments on because it allows you

to leave comments on specific timestamps

then in the video editing itself there

is a lot of stuff that you can do to

make your video more engaging the editor

that I personally used to use before was

de Vinci resolve which is absolutely

free other ones which are paid so

depending on your budget are Premier

probe and Final Cup Pro and there's a

bunch of others out there that are also

pretty good cap cut I've heard is

reasonable especially for shorts a few

quick fire tips for video editing make

the a cut really tight cut out any Paws

cut out any Ms and rs get those right

out of the video because they're kind of

boring they're kind of a waste of time

unless they're adding directly to the

energy of the video and the story that

you're trying to get across two is to

make sure things are happening on screen

things called pattern interrupts every 7

to 10 seconds on screen gives your video

more visual appeal so whether that's

text on screen or images or showing your

cup or being like okay look at my mug

this is a cool mug rather than just

talking about my mug I like bring it out

and show it to you or using broll those

kinds of things add more visual depth to

your videos because video is inherently

Visual and also auditory so make use of

both other software that I would

recommend is thumbnail tests which is

for AB testing thumbnails and titles for

your videos which basically means that

you can display an alternating thumbnail

for the same video and it will collect

data on that from YouTube studio and

then

tell you which thumbnail is better

performing or more interesting people

are clicking on more Etc one of the most

important things in editing is the vibe

to support the storytelling support what

you're talking about and the most

powerful way to do this is through music

this is why epidemic sound has literally

been my go-to for music and in something

of a pinch me moment they are very

kindly sponsoring this video and if

anyone asks me who I recommend for

royalty-free music for creators it's

always epidemic sound they are my

absolute go-to for for an amazing

selection of royalty-free Music I've

absolutely loved using their music

service for so long now they own 100% of

their music that means that you'll never

get a copyright claim for any of the

music that they have in their catalog

their catalog is I think over

40,000 music tracks over 990,000 sound

effects they're adding more every single

week they also have a really good

affiliate program for creators there are

two plans there's the personal plan

which is perfect if you're a Creator and

there's also the commercial plan which

is perfect for Freelancers agencies and

businesses if you're using the music for

multiple channels and also in clients

content you can sign up for either the

personal or the commercial plan down

below and you'll get a free trial with

the link down below any videos or

content that you create during your

trial will be safe and protected from

any claims even if you cancel right

after the trial give it a go I highly

highly recommend it the next thing is

camera confidence and presentation a lot

of people struggle with talking to the

camera and I definitely did at the start

I found it so unnatural I was so like

tight and awkward and in front of the

camera and I hated watching myself on

camera but it does get better with

practice like anything this is a skill

this is a muscle that you can exercise

and work over time and develop your

voice try to imagine like you're talking

to a friend or a family member somebody

that you know well and try as much as

you can to relax in front of the camera

remember that you have total control

over the Final Cut and whether or not it

gets published so just take a deep belly

breath and just relax and let the words

flow freely one thing that I would say

is it's really important to look into

the lens directly rather than at the

viewfinder so I'm talking into the lens

right now which makes it feel more like

I'm actually talking to you and now I'm

looking at the viewfinder and you can

see that this is something that a lot of

people including me would do at the

start of their YouTube Journeys and make

this mistake of looking into the

viewfinder and then in the edit I'd be

like oh my goodness I've been looking

into the wrong place the whole video and

so then i' have to reshoot the video so

to save you the stress of that look into

the camera look please look into the

lens and create this feeling and even

though you're staring into this black

hole of the lens it is worth it because

it gives this feeling that you're

actually looking directly at the person

that you're speaking to rather than

looking off somewhere to the side and

not really talking directly to them the

next thing is thinking about your

filming setup the background is

important to an extent and so think

about things like lights that you could

put in the background or plants or like

a YouTube plaque or Sammy the seal

things like this in the background add a

certain vibe to the video and figuring

out what you want behind you is part of

the video the third and potentially most

important part of this video is playing

the spiritual game of YouTube all of the

psychological skills that you will need

to succeed one quote that really feels

alive when it comes to this is that

business is a spiritual game and in the

same way having a creative business such

as a YouTube channel where as long as

you're not all the way on the hobby end

and you are slightly approaching it with

certain elements of business and

entrepreneurialism being an

entrepreneurial Creator is the ultimate

spiritual game as there will be hurdles

at every single stage there are four

horsemen of emotions that very commonly

get in the way of us creators actually

creating so let's go through each of

them and figure out how we can beat

these guys the first one is fear this

includes fear of judgment fear of making

a fool of yourself fear of failure fear

of what are all my friends and family

going to think and say there's a

psychological effect known as the

spotlight effect which is where we

almost have Spotlight on our own lives

and see all the things in it with such

detail and are watching our own lives so

carefully and we think everyone else is

also looking at us and scrutinizing our

lives but realistically most of the time

they're really not and they're focused

on their own lives they're so busy

worrying about their own stuff and their

own life that they're not really

thinking about you if you've heard that

your friend started a YouTube channel my

thought would probably be like oh cool

that's nice and then move on and

actually their opinion of me is probably

going to be the same they're probably

going to I think oh okay cool and then

move on it's probably no big deal to

them and we just create and blow up this

thing in our heads which often is an ere

exaggeration in our own mind no one who

has achieved something so whether that's

a successful YouTube channel or a

successful business or some kind of

success in a career is going to talk

badly of somebody who is trying and

beginning and learning how to do the

thing so for example a successful

YouTuber is never going to talk badly of

a beginner in YouTube who's starting out

and just launching their Channel a

successful business owner or

entrepreneur they are not going to talk

badly of somebody who is hustling and

trying to start their very first

business obviously making lots of

mistakes along the way but learning

those lessons and trying hard equally a

successful consultant doctor physician

they're not going to talk badly about a

medical student who's learning the

basics of anatomy and trying to study

medicine the only people who are going

to potentially talk badly of you are

people who either have failed at the

thing you're trying to do or they don't

have the guts to to do it so for me when

I started my YouTube channel most people

were actually really surprisingly

supportive but there of course were a

few people that I heard about talking

about me and talking about my YouTube

channel or like laughing about it and

this absolutely felt really bad and hurt

me at the time but I'm so glad that I

kept going with it and didn't listen to

those voices because funnily enough one

of the people who was actually talking

badly about my YouTube channel they had

actually tried to start their own

YouTube channel a year earlier but then

given up on it and then when I finally

became successful they didn't really

have that much to laugh about anymore so

just remember if someone's trying to

discourage you or talk badly about you

pursuing your dream your business your

YouTube channel Etc it says more about

them than it does about you they're not

on the same path as you you're on a

different path you have chosen a

different path to them the moment you

decide to start your YouTube channel

where you are creating your dream life

Brick by Brick step by step a journey of

a Thousand Miles begins with a single

step you are taking those steps and they

probably aren't because if they were

they would be in the ring with you they

would be cheering on with you or if they

had a sucess successful YouTube channel

they would see you and see themselves in

your struggle they would see you and see

oh I remember what it felt like to

struggle and start my YouTube channel I

remember so clearly all of the feelings

that I had when I started my YouTube

channel I'm feeling kind of emotional

talking about it because it was hard and

pushing through was a challenge and

that's why I see this as a spiritual

game with content creation you are

creating videos sharing a piece of

yourself and you're also including

elements of business elements of

Outsourcing growing a team figuring out

how to learn all skills and manage all

these things and manage yourself another

fear that we often have is fear of

failure it's scary to do something put

yourself out there when you know that

you could fail ultimately pushing

ourselves outside our comfort zone into

the Zone where we know we could fail on

the edge of our ability is the only

place where we can really challenge

ourselves to level up if you start your

YouTube channel and keep making videos

for 1 to 2 years your life is absolutely

going to change you're going to learn

skills that you never thought that you

could have you're going to connect with

people that you never thought that you

would and you're going to learn how to

share your voice and whether or not your

YouTube channel blows up and ends up

with millions of subscribers or if it

doesn't blow up massively you're still

going to change your life you are taking

those strides forward and learning new

skills that are going to honestly

transform your life there is no single

Shire method for Success on YouTube it

is a game of luck but also hustle and

also competitive advantages all mixed

into one so you can't know if your

channel is going to succeed in the

metric sense but I can say that if you

make videos consistently for 1 to two

years the skills and the transformation

that you will experience on a personal

level will totally change your life the

next emotional hurdle is perfectionism I

struggle so much with this where I want

my work to be perfect I want my videos

to be something I'm really proud of but

when you're starting on YouTube it's so

difficult to create a video that you're

truly wholly proud of and so letting go

of this idea of perfectionism is so

important because ultimately perfect is

the enemy of good if I tried to only

release a video when it was perfect I

wouldn't have a YouTube channel I

wouldn't be sitting here right now

talking to you about how to do YouTube

because I would never have started cuz I

would never have been able to make a

perfect video as my first video think

about what's the MVP so MVP stands for

minimum viable product it's a concept in

business and startups where you think

okay what's the minimum for a product or

a video that I need in order to launch

it when you're just starting what is my

MVP for a video can I just launch this

can I just turn on the camera and talk

to it as the first step and is that good

enough to upload as my first video I

think yes honestly cuz remember that at

the start no one's really going to be

watching your channel it's going to be a

long time probably until you start to

gain traction on YouTube if you follow

the trajectory of most creators

obviously there's some people like James

Johnny who release an absolute Banger

Netflix style documentary about

something and that blows up but for the

majority of creators myself included

many others included you'll make so many

videos before you actually start to gain

traction so remember that even if your

video is bad or you think it's bad

firstly not many people are going to

watch it and secondly you're going to

improve with every single video that you

make iterate and improve every single

time you make a video make something

better every single time you make a

video think about a way that you can

make it better launch ugly launch before

you're ready and when your video making

skills are still kind of diamond in the

rough you're going to get there I

promised you you're going to get there

if you just keep putting in the practice

and the work and keep trying to improve

the next thing is impostor syndrome

often we feel like we aren't the right

people to be talking about a specific

topic we feel like oh like who am I to

start a YouTube channel who am I to make

a video talking about how to do YouTube

tips like for me I could say well who am

I to make this video because I've only

got 500,000 subscribers Mr Beast has

like 100 100 million plus like he's got

so many subscribers who am I to make

this video but actually fundamentally

every single person has something to

share and you have your own voice and

the point of a YouTube channel is it's

your space to share the things that

you're interested about people who want

to hear from you and want to hear from

your perspective they'll come and find

you and they will watch your videos and

learn from it and Gain real value from

it and connection if someone doesn't

think that you're qualified enough to

make a video about the topic that's fine

they just won't watch it it's not a

problem you are the exact right person

to share your experience and your

knowledge with the world I have to

remind myself of this so often because I

so so often feel this sense of imposter

syndrome where I'm like oh why would why

would people want to hear from me why

would people want to watch my videos I

don't really think it's that interesting

but clearly people do and I get messages

every day by email or DM of people who

say that my videos have changed their

life and I'm like oh wow that's amazing

the final thing is having a lack of

inspiration a lack of passion motivation

it's easy to feel uninspired to make a

video and I think that's quite a natural

feeling sometimes this comes back to Our

intention for YouTube what what was your

intention when you set out for this is

this a hobby or is it a business if it's

on the hobby end if you don't feel

inspired to make a video you don't have

to if it's a pure business decision then

if you don't feel like making a video

you might have to approach it like a

business decision do I need to make this

video if you're somewhere in the middle

then there's a balancing act there but

one thing I will say is that there's

this cycle of coercion and productivity

guilt that can so easily be fallen into

when it comes to this I definitely have

where sometimes I'll feel oh I don't

really feel like filming a video but I

should film a video I need to film a

video in order to keep posting on the

channel and then I force myself to film

a video then I find it less fun to film

a video next time and it becomes harder

so one thing I will say is that finding

the joy in the process is so important

one thing that can help to spark

inspiration is actively trying to do

things that inspire you so whether

that's going to a museum so I love going

to the British museum I love going to

art galleries like the Tate modern in

London or reading a magazine or watching

an interesting movie or journaling some

of these things can help to spark your

motivation and inspiration But

ultimately for me I found that it's

important to follow my energy and listen

to my intuition because making this into

an unenjoyable thing is really not the

point for me for me it's in the middle

bit of a hobby bit of a business

somewhere nicely in the middle something

I have realized which I wish that I knew

at the start is that the single biggest

existential risk to your YouTube channel

or to your future YouTube channel is you

not enjoying the process it's me not

wanting to film a video that is the

biggest threat to my YouTube channel is

me hating the process so to make myself

love it I need to learn to follow my

energy and listen to my intuition and

find inspiration actively okay so now

I'm going to answer some questions over

on Instagram feel free to follow me over

there I post random things about my life

and also q&as and things like this so a

question from Ruben gber did you ever

feel like giving up at the

start yes when I first started there

wasn't that much traction on my videos

it was a very slow kind of trickle of

views and it was hard honestly it was

really hard every single stage was hard

learning to sit in front of my camera

and talk to it was hard learning to set

up a good filming background was hard

learning how to have good production

value was hard learning all the

emotional skills was hard and also

figuring out what I was making videos

about how to make a good video video

editing skills all of this and I felt

like giving up at several stages I think

at one point as well I got into this

cycle of coercion and productivity guilt

around my channel and I learned to let

go of that over time but it's definitely

an ongoing process once my channel

started to gain traction it was easier

to stay motivated cuz I was like okay

actually there's someone watching my

videos because when nobody's watching

your videos and you're putting so much

effort into making them it's like oh

that feels kind of sad it's like oh I

spent 10 hours 12 hours making this

video and now nobody's watching it that

feels bad and that almost made me give

up but I'm so glad that I stuck it

through because actually some of those

first few videos which initially only

got maybe a few hundred views now

they've blown up and they have hundreds

of thousands or even like millions of

views and it's a lot of it is about

having patience and faith in the process

that you are taking one step at a time

towards building your dream life crazy

stock news is asking can I use a gaming

headset to record audio or do I need an

expensive looking podcast mic you can

use any microphone that you have you

don't need an expensive podcast

microphone to get started you can

literally I know some creators who they

they literally use their iPhone so they

just record a voice note on their iPhone

like this and the audio quality on

iPhone is actually pretty good and you

can use your gaming headset one thing I

would say is just think about how the

aesthetic looks as well whether it has

to be in shot or you have to be wearing

it but literally the best gear that you

have is the gear that you have access to

Mar is asking hi Izzy how do you get

ideas for your videos I get ideas

whenever I have a spark of inspiration

or there's something interesting that I

think would be a cool video topic I also

often ask on Instagram what kind of

videos you want to see on a little Q&A

box on Instagram uh and you help me out

so much when you come up with

suggestions for that that's how how did

you learn all of this I learned all of

this via the Internet so via blog posts

via YouTube videos kind of a bit like

this one via PTY which is the part time

YouTube Academy course which I'll link

down below um and then iterating over

time really just learning by doing every

single time I'd make a video and I might

get stuck on a point then I'd be like

okay how can I how can I fix this okay

I'm going to Google it or I'm going to

search on YouTube or I'm going to ask

one of my creative friends who I linked

up with via the part-time YouTuber

Academy and so it's a very gradual

process where you build on your craft

how much did you invest in Hardware

camera and others before starting before

starting I bought a microphone because a

microphone is the most important piece

of gear that you can get it is the

single first thing that you should get

after as long as you have a reasonable

iPhone camera and some kind of lighting

whether that's natural lighting so I

think the microphone that I bought I

bought quite a nice one because I wanted

it to be able to last me so it was

around £200 it was the Road video mic

ntg I'll link this down below in the

notion uh guide to all the gear for

different budgets fundamentally though

if you have an iPhone you really don't

need to invest anything else if you or

even just any other smartphone so

Samsung or any other brands as well as

long as they have a camera and a

microphone you're good to go how did you

get the confidence to believe you were

in a position to give advice this is a

great question kind of touches on this

whole impostor syndrome thing and I'm

actually going to make a video about how

to build quiet strong deep confidence so

stay tuned for that video because I

think that ties into this very much do

you recommend starting with the parttime

YouTuber at Academy like you did or is

it not necessary so so I absolutely

think you can learn everything that you

need to start a YouTube channel for free

on the internet 100% you can watch

videos like these I also have another

video that I made about this and lots of

other creators have fantastic videos

like this blog posts as well the thing

with PTY is it distills everything down

to save you time and confusion because

there's a lot of noise out there and

lots of conflicting opinions so if you

want to make great talking head

educational Style videos or kind of kind

of videos like this then PT way is a

really good distillation of all the cool

things you need to save you all that

time it also brings together a community

of creators and has a lot of support

along the way what can be a good

motivation to make YouTube videos in the

long term I love this question

fundamentally for me I found that when

my motivation for YouTube was to grow

the channel that actually felt really

Hollow what feels really alive to me is

making videos that provide value to

other people that can actually serve and

share knowledge because that feels so

much more exciting and purposeful so for

me I always connect to that sense of

service in my videos and how can I share

what I know in the best way obviously

the growth side of it is important too

because that adds to the sense of impact

and I would say that for you if you're

trying to figure out how to stay

motivated have a little journaling

session of actually like why are you

doing YouTube what's your intention with

this is a is it a hobby is it a business

is it somewhere in the middle and try to

find something that feels alive for you

and then come back to that each time

another question collab with Mr Beast go

on

then we've got such different content I

can't even imagine what that would look

like but I mean I'd be down but he's

he's not going to be down is he another

question is what content am I planning

to make videos of this is always

evolving over time I'm planning to make

some more videos about how to do YouTube

about my workflow people seem to ask

loads of questions about this and be

super curious about it also about

language learning specifically Mandarin

and more videos about personal

development and how we can integrate

that into our lives health and

well-being is also a huge topic to me

obviously as a doctor this is a massive

topic and anything else that really

feels alive always open to suggestions

from you guys so let me know down below

if you have any suggestions for video

ideas how many subscribers does it take

to start making money from YouTube and

what decides the amount of money we can

make views or subs or ads Etc thank you

so much so the requirement to join the

YouTube Partner program which is how you

can make money from AdSense is you need

1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours

in the last 365 days on your channel and

then you can join the YouTube Partner

program so I reached this requirement in

I think March

2022 and started making a couple of

pennies a day um from my YouTube videos

which was kind of fun it's like oh cool

a couple of pennies a day it can pay for

I don't know a coffee a week um but this

obviously increases over time time with

more watch hours and the way that it's

determined is a combination of something

called CPM which is cost per Mill SL RPM

which is revenue per Mill which

basically means how much YouTube will

pay you per thousand views this is based

on your audience demographics primarily

so their age and where they're based

geographically and it also depends on

how many views you have and how much

watch duration you have I'm just talking

about AdSense here you can even get

sponsorship deals before you have

reached 1,000 subscribers when you only

have a few hundred views on your videos

if you have a really good fit with a

brand do you get recognized at work or

out and about so yes I do get recognized

when out and about so either at the

hospital I've been recognized by some

medical students or some like other

healthc Care staff or like doctors

nurses in museums or in restaurants

around the place I've also been

recognized it's really sweet when

someone comes up to me and is really

nice about my channel it's very

heartwarming how much value do you place

on expanding your audience versus

putting out what you want to make such a

good question I think of it in terms of

a mix of some kind of browse content

which is designed to be picked up by the

algorithm a bit more interesting for a

wider audience and some Community

content which is stuff that I want to

make stuff that you guys or my audience

are more interested in actually seeing

uh so things like what's in my bag or

like a Reflections video or a Q&A versus

a browse video which is more like how to

learn Mandarin faster and smarter is

more of a kind of brow Style video so I

kind of have a balance of these two

things and I think it's nice to feel

like you can make what you want but with

a spin that makes it interesting to a

broader audience fundamentally if you're

not enjoying making a video and it's not

what you want to make that's going to

come across in the video in some kind of

undertone and people can sense that so

it's important that you're making stuff

that you actually Vibe with oh there

some really cute comments here from Cole

yesterday watched your video about being

productive that's why I followed you

keep going love heart that's very sweet

knowing what you know now if you had to

restart your content create a brand

would you start with only YouTube or

another social media app like Tik Tok or

a combination of others I actually would

start with YouTube still I feel like

YouTube is an amazing platform where you

can share longer form stuff I find Tik

Tok or reals or shorts to be well very

short so it's hard to really get into

any depth in that kind of video they're

good for little clips and little

Snippets of stuff but there's something

about a long form video which really

allows you to go deeper nearly Anna is

asking how do you cope with feeling

burnt out and being a Creator and having

a schedule this is so difficult and

again comes back to this cycle of

coercion and guilt what's important here

is to sometimes go easy on yourself

recognize that you need time for rest

and recuperation in order to refill the

well which is where you draw your

creativity from and where you draw the

value that you share in your videos from

so what I find helpful is instead of

having an output goal of I must make a

video this week I have an input goal of

today I will dedicate to working on

YouTube stuff and then I see how my

energy feels see if I feel ready to make

a video see how much research a video

needs for it to feel good again it's

also about lowering the bar and being

like actually I can just make a video

where I talk from the heart with a few

bullet points there are some videos on

my Channel that I have made totally

unscripted some have had a very involved

script and a very involved

pre-production but equally some have had

no preparation I just turned on the

camera and started talking so just

remembering that actually we can lower

the bar for ourselves and also we don't

have to hold ourselves to a really

really strict schedule unless that's

something that feels like it works fast

so I hope this video has been helpful or

interesting in some kind of way again if

you're interested in checking out

epidemic sound I'll leave a link down

below where you can get a free trial and

also I'll leave a link to the part-time

YouTuber Academy in case you're

interested in checking that out as well

if you enjoyed this video I think you're

going like this one over here where we

go into more depth on the exact YouTube

workflow that you can use to systematize

and strategically run your YouTube

channel alongside maybe a day job thank

you so much for watching as always take

care of yourself and I will see you in

the next video bye