Ask HN: Advice on starting a YouTube channel?

Find a niche. People love free content. It wasn't that hard.

I was making computer security videos for people, real basics for programming, networking, web interactions, number bases, bit math - stuff that you need to learn as a base to get into hacking. Grew my channel pretty quickly to 1k subscribers just by sharing them to reddit. I deleted it because I got annoyed that I was making content for YT for free (the videos are still archived on Odysee). It really didn't seem that difficult to grow though when you're giving it away.

For pure dev things, cover different algorithms or data structures. Mobile, gaming, and web will have large audiences but already some established channels.

Other tips -

- Get a good mic, mic stand, shock mount.

- Downsize your screen to 720p when you record so it is large enough for the average laptop screen to read. It is absolutely ridiculous when someone is recording a tutorial on a 4k monitor and the text is microscopic.

- I was less concerned about video but repurposing a DSLR as a webcam is a good move. Pay attention to lighting and your background. Some people like full bright lights, color LEDs are a good vibe too.

- Practice speaking. Slow down.

- Learn to edit so you don't worry about redoing your whole video in a single take. I didn't like editing so I would redo 20 minute videos a few times until I got it right.

Make sure every one of your videos starts with "What's up YouTube" and also includes such phrases as "don't forget to like and subscribe" and "check out my Patreon".

(/s)

On a more serious note, my feeling is that cutting out "fluff" content like that is something I'd really appreciate.

I've been at it for many years now, my channel @TheRoadChoseMe now has 60k subscribers, and gets pretty solid views.

I think the most important thing I've learned is to make videos that people want to watch. (I know that sounds basic, but I think it's the at the core) The more people watch it, the more YouTube promotes it, and the more people watch it. When that happens, YouTube will even give you a little notice that says they're showing it to more people because more people are watching it. When that happens I pickup tons of subscribers and tons more views than normal (and therefore more money)

Even when I have a post about my video hit the front page of reddit, the number of "external views" pales in comparison to YouTube recommended... so it doesn't matter how hard you promote it, the best thing you can do is make videos that people want to watch, and keep watching. YouTube will promote those videos for you. (See @StuffMadeHere for what happens and how quickly it happens when you make great videos - his channel got where it is now very, very quickly)

How do you do that? I think the best way is trial and error. Make many different types of video with different styles and approaches, and see what works. See what you enjoy, see what you are good at, and learn from that.

Also remember that YouTube is the "more content game". Sooner or later (I bet sooner) you'll run out of ideas and things to film. So start thinking about it now, you need to get in the "always create content" mindset.

I recently posted my first programming video after getting inspired by other fellow programmer youtubers

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PU75M0QkwTQ

Try to stick to a schedule. That's something I've personally struggled with a lot, and it's something that the more successful channels I follow have usually done better with. People like to know when new uploads will be posted, and YouTube likes to push videos that people check out quickly after their initial airing.

Because of that, it's probably best not to try and post daily (or multiple times a day) unless you can truly handle it. There's definitely a path to quicker growth if you have a new video going up day in and day out, but that's also often a recipe for burnout in the long run, and the breaks you take to avoid/fix said burnout will be far more damaging than posting once or twice a week would.

Think carefully about the niche you choose to focus on. It should ideally be both something you can get a decent amount of regular content posted about, and something you won't get bored of/burnt out on too quickly. Nothing on YouTube is more difficult than changing your audience when your channel is already established, and I've seen a lot of people's channels crash and burn because of it.

Don't go overboard on shorts unless you want to become a short focused channel. The people who watch those often don't have much patience for longer videos, and probably won't watch your normal content as a result. Focusing too much on these is a good way to get a ton of subs that don't actually care about your work, and to make YouTube think your audience isn't interested in what you're posting.

That's my advice anywhere. As for what my own journey was like?

Honestly, a bit of a mess. On the one hand, my channel has about 33K subscribers right now, and I've had a fair few videos hit the 100K or even 1 million views mark.

On the other hand, I feel I killed a lot of my momentum at various points by not being able to stick to a regular schedule (due to burnout, job and real life needs, etc), and my attempts to try and diversify my content generally haven't done all that well, likely in large part due to focusing too much on a topic where my long term interest was limited.