My new strategy to start a Youtube Channel to boost my micro-startups
Let's talk about how I'm planning to start my Youtube channel
Hello Solopreneurs! As I have often pointed out in my previous posts, I have launched various solo ventures, including this very blog. But, one obstacle I continually face during the initial stages of my projects is generating traffic when I introduce new products to the market. Just because certain products aren’t capturing attention, it doesn’t mean they lack value. Attracting users can be tough considering the sheer amount of competition currently present across different product types, markets, and industries.
Often, after a quick Google search, I find several platforms already offering the same or similar product to the one I planned to launch. This realization prompts me to shelve the idea, reluctant to invest time that might not yield revenue, especially since I am not prepared to fund advertising or form a development team. Thus, I find myself developing everything single-handedly.
Generating Organic Traffic
So, I began exploring ways to generate organic traffic and hopefully start earning some income on the side. The plan involves creating online content to foster a community interested in my ideas and projects, and that wishes to get involved right from the inception of the projects. I aim to share the lessons I’ve learned (both triumphs and trials) during my solopreneur journey. The motivation behind creating this informative blog, the Journeypreneur, was to form a community and boost traffic whenever I kick off new projects, while simultaneously generating some income (in this case through Medium’s monetization program, which earns me +$100 per month — not much, but it covers the time invested). Now, considering the time invested in creating content for Medium, I want to leverage this informative content to create video versions for Youtube.
Growing Revenue While Growing Traffic
The goal is to increase revenues in the short term and extend the reach of my publications. This content, besides complete videos, can also be crafted into short snippets for posting on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. As discussed in previous posts, one of the most effective ways to grow as a Solopreneur is by creating a personal brand, an image that can encapsulate your knowledge and the value you’re willing to sell. In this case, I want to establish my Journeypreneur brand first, start generating revenue through traffic (Ads, Affiliate Marketing, cross-selling), and subsequently, launch some scalable projects where the starting point will be the community centered around Journeypreneur.
Strategy for Creating Video Content
The strategy focuses on spending minimal time while delivering at least one ~10-minute video (and related short videos) each week. These videos will be the video versions of my Medium posts, thus giving an initial boost to each video through my Medium followers (who prefer video content over text). Initially, I will film the content using my phone and a near-professional quality mic, editing the videos myself to gain better insight into how to film my content to facilitate good post-production editing. However, the aim is to eventually delegate editing to a freelance video editor with more expertise and experience, because video editing is the most time-consuming part of video creation. This type of cost isn’t scalable, that is, as I grow on Youtube, the time spent editing remains constant, so it’s a cost best allocated to someone external (our time is more valuable than the fixed time spent on video edits). Nevertheless, for now, the plan is to gain more knowledge in video content creation, say around 5 or 6 videos, before I begin hiring a freelancer to assist me with video editing.
Type of Content and Content Ideas
The content will mirror the content I’ve been creating on this blog. I aim to talk about a Solopreneur’s journey (business ideas, success stories, motivation), finance (how to invest on the side, either in business or in product development), and finally self-development (a blend of both, advice for achieving our personal goals, which as a solopreneur, are always personal objectives). For content ideas, you don’t have to be a genius. In fact, there’s ample content online to re-create in a video format that suits our style. That is, we don’t need to be the most knowledgeable in the subject to create quality informative content. More importantly, we need to convey valuable content, something we believe could benefit the user.
These will be my first steps as a Youtuber, aiming to have the first video created and posted on Youtube by next week. Let’s see how it goes.
And what about you? Have you thought about starting a Youtube channel? What would motivate you to create videos? To generate traffic, or to earn revenue through Ads? If you haven’t embarked on your Youtube journey yet, what’s stopping you? Fear? What’s your biggest fear when it comes to creating videos on Youtube?
Have a great week,
David, the @JourneyPreneur
Follow me on: Twitter, Substack, IndieHackers, and Medium