Today I’m going to let you in on how to make your YouTube channel into a business.
Now I can tell you overall, the secret is to treat your channel like you would a business. And I have to tell you, I’ve had great success with this because I’ve taken the principles I use in my brick and mortar video production company and apply them to my YouTube channel. And it’s going pretty well. So let’s get right into the secrets.
Do Market Research
The first thing you want to do is market research. If you were starting a real brick and mortar business, you surely would look online and see what the competition was in your area. Right? You should take the same approach when it comes to YouTube. Think about the kind of channel you want to start and then go on YouTube and see what other similar channels are out there. What could you deliver that’s a little bit different that will make you stand out.
Now that market research doesn’t just start at the beginning of your channel. Every video you make, you should do keyword research before you even create that video to make sure that it’s going to be searchable on YouTube, and that it is a good topic for you to cover. You definitely want to get TubeBuddy. TubeBuddy is a Chrome extension on your browser that tells you all this insider information about whether a topic is a good topic for your individual channel. There’s a free version of TubeBuddy, but I would definitely recommend going for the paid version. I have a whole video talking about how to get found and rank on YouTube. But definitely make sure you’re doing that market research, that’s basic for any business.
Find Diverse Income Streams
My next tip for you is to find diverse income streams, you don’t just want to rely on the YouTube partnership program for money from your YouTube channel. Think of it this way, if you had a brick and mortar business, and you had just one big client, that would not be a sign of a healthy business. What if that one big client went away? Your whole business would collapse, right? So you want to take that same approach when it comes to your YouTube channel and find other ways to monetize that channel besides the YouTube partnership program.
So here are some examples. If you have a real life service that you offer, you can use your YouTube channel as a lead generator to bring you more business. That’s how I made money from my YouTube channel when I was just starting out. I would blast out my videos to people in my network, in my community. And they would think of me when they needed Video Production Services and hire me in real life. So that’s one way to do it.
Another one is to get sponsored. If you have enough subscribers and enough eyeballs on your channel, companies will pay you to talk about their product on your channel, that’s another great way to make money. Another one is through affiliate marketing, which is when you may recommend a product and people buy the product based on your recommendation. You get a commission at no additional cost to them. That is a great business model. I have a whole course here on my website, JennJager.com, about how to make money with affiliate marketing, you should definitely check that out. Another great way is to, maybe, sell an online course. So there’s a lot of different avenues for generating revenue that aren’t limited to the YouTube partnership program. So you should definitely think creatively about how you can turn that channel and your platform into other income streams.
How Can You Keep Your Money In Your Pocket?
My next tip for you to make your YouTube channel into a business is to not spend money when you don’t have to. That is the fastest way to go broke in a brick and mortar business or on a YouTube channel, right? So you want to think about what you really need to get this channel started and then reinvest as you make money. You can reinvest back into your channel. But don’t feel the need to go out and buy expensive equipment right off the bat. You really don’t need to do that, that’s just going to eat into any profits that you do make or put yourself into debt, which is definitely not the way you want to go.
The other thing is you might need other accessories or products for the content in your YouTube channel. So don’t go overboard buying like a new expensive eyeshadow palette for every video that you make, right? You don’t need to do that. Think about how you can use what you have on hand. The other thing to think about is some companies will send you product if you say you want to talk about it on your channel. That’s a way to get free products for your channel without having to spend money. And all you have to do is ask. They might not seek you out, but if you ask they might send you something for free. That is definitely something you should try doing.
What Is The YouTube User Experience?
The next big thing you need to do is to understand the user experience on YouTube. You would be shocked at how many people I talked to who say they want to start a YouTube channel, but they don’t really watch videos on YouTube. You need to become a consumer of YouTube content so you really understand the user experience because those viewers are your customers. And in a real business, you would want to understand how customers are relating to your business and what it’s like to be on their end of the deal. Right. Don’t just limit yourself though to watching competitors of your channel, watch stuff you actually like and want to watch. You’re still going to get a lot of information that way because that’s how people watch YouTube, they watch a lot of different types of channels with a lot of different types of content. So immerse yourself in the YouTube experience, it is your business.
Keep Up To Date With What Is Happening At YouTube
The next way you’re going to turn your YouTube channel into a business is to stay up to date on what’s new with YouTube. You guys need to subscribe to the creator insider channel. That is YouTube’s own channel, just for YouTube creators like you and me. They tell you everything you need to know about what’s coming up in features, what features are going away, what trends they’re seeing. I mean, there’s so much information that they give you behind the scenes on YouTube. It’s pretty fascinating, but it’s also really helpful.
How Do You Get Found Outside Of YouTube?
Another way you’re going to turn your YouTube channel into a business is by creating a website for it. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate website, but it’s going to have information about you, and it’s going to have information about how people can hire you or to the products you’re offering. Because remember, you’re going to be doing other income streams related to your YouTube channel. You can also have a blog page where you link to your YouTube channel and then have articles underneath (like this one) that’s going to help you get found on Google. Remember, if you had a brick and mortar business, you would 100% have a website. And if you’re turning your YouTube channel into a business, you need to do it.
How Do You Market A YouTube Channel?
The next way you’re going to turn your YouTube channel into a business is to market it as if it were a real brick and mortar business. If you were starting a business, you would tell everybody about it right? You would post about it on social media, you would ask for referrals, you would build an email list and email people newsletters periodically, right? You might even join a professional organization and network. Bring that same energy to your YouTube channel.
Blast out your content on all your social media platforms. Tell everyone you know about it, ask them to subscribe, ask them to ask anyone else they think might be interested in subscribing, and then network. Now, in business that might mean joining a professional organization, going to like, mixers and shaking hands and passing out business cards. But in the world of YouTube networking is doing collabs. Collabs are when you and another creator who have a similar topic or similar channel work together on two videos. One of the videos goes on your channel, one of them goes on their channel. And what it does is it helps you reach their audience of people and they can reach yours. You both benefit. That is the online version of networking, it is a great way to market your channel.
Pay Yourself First
My last tip for you for turning your YouTube channel into a business is to take a “pay yourself first” approach to your YouTube channel. Now what does that mean. You may have gotten the financial advice, maybe, when you were younger to pay yourself first when you get your paycheck. That means you put money away in your own savings account before you dole out money for all your bills and all your other expenses. You want to put money away to work toward your future goals, instead of worrying about everybody else’s. That doesn’t mean that you ignore your other responsibilities, it just means that you’re prioritizing yourself in your future.
You want to take that same approach when it comes to your YouTube channel. Don’t leave creating your content to the end of the week when you’re absolutely exhausted from your day job. You want to prioritize your time so that you’re working toward your long term goal, which is your YouTube channel, before you spend all your energy and time working toward your job, which is somebody else’s dream. So it doesn’t mean that you shirk all your responsibilities in your life, it means that you prioritize yourself by doing the work of YouTube so you don’t run out of steam, and you stop creating content.
You guys, YouTube is a great business, if you can make it work, but you have to be less emotional and more clinical when it comes to your channel. You definitely want to apply the regular standard practices that work in real business to your channel and slowly but surely you will get there.
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