YouTube Tips for Beginners
What I learned from Ali Abdaal’s Youtube for Beginners skillshare course
Starting a YouTube channel has been a dream of mine for a while. Ali Abdaal and his channel have been a huge inspiration for me. I recently took his new skillshare course for beginners. I highly recommend it.
In one of his videos, he honestly said that his Part-Time Youtuber Academy Cohort (you know the one that is making him millions $) is for more advanced YouTubers, so this beginner course was perfect for me.
Here are some tips I learned-
1) Scripting -
Should one use a script? Ali suggests using only bullet points. Make rough points of what you are going to say, then speak casually.
2) Filming -
Film straight and not crooked lines. Be centered and leave a bit of headspace.
3) When getting started, you are going to suck -
This one makes so much sense and puts one’s perfectionist self at ease.
He gives an example- If you were to start learning to write Chinese, would you be disappointed if no one was reading blog posts you were writing in Chinese? No! Your first videos are most likely not going to be very good. There is so much you need to learn! Keep up the quantity and don't get discouraged.
His rule of thumb - the first 50 videos are for you, next 50 are for your audience.
This means also not to get discouraged that you are not gaining traction. Ali quotes statistics from TubeBuddy - channels with 1,000–10,000 subscribers have an average of 152 uploads! 10,000–100,000 average 418 uploads. Just keep going.
4) Public speaking tips -
- Let your personality shine.
- Talk through a smile.
- Add jokes and stories ( recommends Storyworthy to learn how to tell stories)
- Speak louder, slower and pause more.
- Practice by playing speaking games.
5) Thumbnails -
So important! About 70% of the video is the title and the thumbnail. It is more of an art than a science. Take a few pics of yourself and have a few options for a thumbnail before choosing one.
6) Editing -
- A-roll — cut as tight as possible, try not to leave any pauses.
- Add B-roll -especially to the first 30 seconds, when people are deciding if they should stay.
- Add texts and titles.
- Use music using epidemic soundtrack or YouTube studio audio.
7) Research YouTube and product-market fit -
- Watch YouTube intentionally and research. Notice most popular videos relative to the subscribe count. Make your own unique style by incorporating different aspects of things you like from other creators.
- Product market fit- As you make videos, you see which videos are doing relatively well. That can help you to determine your niche.
8) Stick to your unfair advantages -
- He uses the equation-> Success= (work) * (luck) * (unfair advantage). What are some of my unfair advantages? For him, it meant being a medical student at oxford. For me, it might be being an Israeli orthodox Jew, wife, and mom of 3, who works full-time in high tech.
- If you do have extra money or time- use it! Get editing help, invest in better gear, etc.
