How to Build a YouTube Channel

When people used to ask me what I did for a living, I always had a hard time coming up with a good, succinct answer.

What label do you pick when your work includes speaking, writing, recording podcasts, filming videos, web development, bookkeeping, “business-ing” (yes that’s a word I made up, and yes I’m going to continue using it), and a dozen other things?

Entrepreneur? Too broad, too nondescript. Blogger? I used to say I was a blogger, but it no longer fit. Blogger/podcaster/speaker/author/entrepreneur? Takes too long to say, and the guy who asked me just fell asleep face-first in his tomato soup.

These days, things are a bit easier. Today, when someone asks me what I do, I simply tell them,

“I’m a YouTuber.”

I came to realize that I could confidently use this term to describe myself after I saw Casey Neistat’s Twitter bio, which pretty much says that same thing. Despite the fact that Casey does many other things, he describes himself as a YouTuber because making and sharing videos is what he loves to do most.

After a little over two years of creating my own videos on a regular basis, I’ve come to realize that Casey and I share the same passion. While I still love writing and podcasting, I’m never more excited about my work than when I’m about to publish a video I’m really proud of.

Even if the thing I’m proud of is a transition that involves a horse farting a rainbow.

Additionally, YouTube has become – by far – the biggest driver of College Info Geek’s growth. Altogether, the videos on my channel are viewed more than 3x a many times per month than are the articles and pages on this website.

So, while I will continue to produce content of all types on this sites (and push myself to try new things in the future), I’m a YouTuber.

Want to know how I got to this point? If so, today’s episode is for you.

After Martin and I recorded the episodes on how to start a blog and how to start a podcast, we got a lot of requests to follow those episodes up with one on how to build a YouTube channel. Here it is.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

Why I started creating YouTube videos in the first place
Which elements of video/audio quality you should focus on first
Gear recommendations for beginning video producers
Editing tricks that can save you a ton of time
Tips for making your channel stand out and get subscribers

And, with this episode now out, the College Info Geek Podcast now contains what amounts to an entire series on how to become a media mogul. So, you know, if you wanna do that, you can follow this episode up with the rest:

Things mentioned in this episode:

Want more cool stuff? You can find all sorts of great tools at my Resources page.

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