Creating Buzz
Be culturally relevant. If you make videos that are related to news or pop culture items that everyone's talking about and looking up online, you'll have a better shot at getting famous. Stay in the know on your favorite subjects, and be willing to make and upload videos within a day or two of breaking news. You never know when your video will be the one to spiral toward success. To find the latest pop culture topics look over YouTube's trending page, Twitter's trending topics, or even Google news.
Make video responses and parodies. Take a famous YouTube video and create a response, or give it a hilarious twist. Responses and parodies are hugely popular and a great way to capitalize on other people's success. Your video will pop up when people search for the famous video. The creators of the original videos love responses and parodies because they catapult the originals to even greater fame. Collaborating with other creators is always a great idea to bolster your own influence. Make sure you include the YouTube username of the person you're referring to in the title of your video. This will give your video greater chances of showing up in the "up next" sidebar of their videos. Be sure to use the right tags so your video doesn't get lost in the Internet either. Doing an autotune version of a famous video is an easy way to crack your viewers up and create an instant hit.
Meet people in person at YouTube gatherings. People will be more likely to subscribe to your channel if they meet you in person. YouTube gatherings are held all over the world and they're a great way to get some attention, make friends, and boost your popularity. When you meet people who've subscribed, thank them and make an effort to get to know them personally. People often make collaborative videos at YouTube gatherings. Be outgoing and purposeful - make as many as you can! Don't be snobby at YouTube gatherings. You're there to meet the people that have taken the time to watch your videos and meet up with you. Be likable and friendly.
Collaborate with famous YouTubers. Try to meet famous people at conventions, or directly contact some of your favorite people through YouTube or Twitter. Ask them if they want to make a collaborative video. It's a great way to get more recognition and become a more prominent part of the YouTube community. A lot of people have gotten more famous this way! When you contact someone, have an awesome idea ready for the collaboration video. Make it clear you have something worthwhile to bring to the collaboration, too. Seek to collaborate with people with styles and viewership similar to yours. That way you can share each other's audiences. Never turn someone down who wants to mention you or help you out with a collaboration. The YouTube community is all about helping each other and sharing the wealth. If the person you want to collaborate with lives really far away then consider using Skype or other video calling software to make a video together. If you collaborate with a YouTuber, try to make the theme of the video something which everyone involved in the video as well as everyone watching will like.
Get a video featured by a YouTube editor. If you have a standout video, you might have a shot at getting featured. This could definitely catapult you to fame in a matter of days. Keep in mind that videos with a good amount of views and high audience retention are more likely to become featured. For the best chances of getting your video featured make sure that your video contains things that people are really interested in and that the title and description are accurate.
Relentlessly add new content. If you consistently produce interesting videos that offer original content and are relevant to your viewers' lives, you're eventually going to get recognized. Don't give up if you aren't famous after a few months, or even a year or two. Be passionate about making videos and participating in the amazing online community that is YouTube, and you just might end up getting famous.
Connecting With Viewers
Make your channel look impressive. The way your channel looks can make or break the success of your video, so be sure it adds to the allure! Create a catchy channel name and add channel art to get things started. Add a short description to your channel to give viewers a glimpse of the kind of content you're offering. Have a unique background image. Keep your channel art and description updated as you create new videos. Don't let it get stagnant. You can include links to your other websites in your channel description as a way to promote yourself online. Connect your other social profiles to your YouTube account so that people can follow you on other social media. This will help build your own community.
Tag your videos. This part is important. Without the right tags, no one's going to find your videos! When you upload a video to your channel, choose tags that are descriptive and specific. You don't want to use the exact same tags as everyone else, because your video will get buried that way. Choose keywords that apply to your video - don't mislead viewers with a keyword that's not really relevant. Use both broad and specific tags to get the most views. Tag with the names of people you mention, keywords related to events you talk about, and so on. Find out the tags that people are searching for and use them. There are many tagsforlikes websites that will help you find these tags.
Promote your videos only among people you know. If you don't have a relationship with someone, don't ask them to watch or link to your video. This is a faux pas in the world of YouTube. Instead, work the relationships you already have and let the viewership build naturally. It's not going to happen overnight, but with persistence you'll see your views going up. Share your videos via other social networks like Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter. Never spam people you don't know with links to your videos, either on their walls or in their comments. As a last resort you can artificially boost your view count by buying views on sites that offer that service; however do so only if you have tried everything else first, as these views may not always result in many subscribers.
Talk to your subscribers. To gain popularity, respond to each and every person who leaves you a comment. This is a good way to start building new relationships with your subscribers. If someone leaves you a nice message, respond! If they ask for advice, give it. Be genuine and friendly, and you'll attract more and more people. Here are a few other good ways to interact with your subscribers: Friend subscribers who friend you. Spread the love to other people! Get a Twitter account and follow people who have followed your YouTube channel. Interact with them as much as possible. Set up an email for viewers to privately contact you. Many users prefer email over the YouTube Private Message Feature. Reply to comments. Though you don't need to reply to all comments, reply to comments you like. Many viewers like to receive replies from the uploader. EXPERT TIP Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Engage with your audience to build an online community. Respond to comments across platforms like YouTube, Discord, social media, and relevant forums. Hearing your content inspire viewers is incredibly rewarding. No matter your niche, fostering a supportive community around your passion is a powerful source of fulfillment.
Watch other people's channels. YouTube is a community, and if you want to be popular, you need to participate. Interact with other people on their walls, via messages, on Twitter, and in any other way you can. Give genuine positive feedback. Make sure you actually watch videos before leaving a comment. People will know if you're being fake, especially if you spam them with a link to your channel. Keep your own viewers in mind when you engage with other channels. Like videos you think your viewers will benefit from. Link to videos that will enhance your channel, too. Mention the YouTubers that you watch in the videos you make.
Make new videos at least once a week. To keep people coming back, you need to update your channel frequently. If possible, do it on a schedule so people will know they can expect to see new content on a certain day. Make videos that are consistently high quality and offer something original every time. In between new videos, spend time "liking" other people's videos and promoting other content so your subscribers will have something to keep them occupied until your next video is ready. Keep engaged with your subscribers throughout the week, not just on the day you post videos. If you know you will not be able to post on a certain day or week then make a video in advance and schedule it. Post as frequently as possible, the top YouTubers will often post videos daily.
Making Great Videos
Be the real you. Viewers will be able to tell in less than 10 seconds whether you're being genuine in your videos. Are you funny, intense, or sweet and bubbly? Whatever your unique personality traits might be, show them off in your videos. The same way you'd be yourself with your family and friends, you need to be you in your videos. Otherwise, viewers will look elsewhere for authenticity and entertainment. You're going to be nervous the first few times you make a video - that's normal. If it helps, think of the camera as your friend, sister or brother. Joke around or get deep the same way you would with someone you trust. Don't be worried about embarrassing yourself! If you stumble over your words a little or say something that's not very funny, your viewers will relate to you even more because they'll see you as human. People don't go to YouTube to find polished Hollywood-esque stars. Be relatable. Don't copy other people's styles. Figure out what's original about you and play it up.
Offer something great to your audience. If you look through the most popular YouTube videos, you'll see that each one offers something interesting. Some offer amazing music, others offer thoughtful advice, and still others offer a few minutes of hilarious entertainment. What are you going to offer to people watching your video? Keep this in mind with every video you make. What's your area of expertise? Your own life is a good place to start. Offer advice based on what you've experienced, like how to become the most popular girl in school, how to kiss, how to play guitar, how to build a robot, or how to straighten curly hair. Offer opinions. What's your take on world politics, pop culture news, sports, music, etc.? Offer something that will make people laugh. Tell jokes, show your pet's antics, parody someone else's video, or do impressions of a famous person. Ask for other peoples opinions at the end of your videos and encourage them to comment. This will help to build your community.
Speak up and make eye contact. Just like you would in front of any audience, you need to speak clearly and make eye contact with your YouTube audience. This holds viewers' attention and makes your videos much more interesting to watch. Look directly into the camera and enunciate your words!
Have good video quality. This is YouTube, so no one's expecting your video to be perfect, but if it has terrible lighting and bad sound, people are going to click away. The best way to have good video quality is to use a decent video camera. Some phones come with pretty good video features, so this shouldn't be too hard to do. No matter what kind of video camera you're using, do the following things to improve the video quality: Turn on lights for indoor videos. This will brighten the picture and make everything look more colorful and interesting. Experiment with turning on lights placed in various parts of the room until you're satisfied with how your videos look. Make sure your face and features are clearly visible, even if the background isn't. The light should be facing whatever it is your recording. Eliminate background noises. Turn off your air conditioner, get your dog to stop barking, and turn off the TV in the other room. These noises will lower the quality of your video. Try to record your videos in rooms that do not have an echo.
Edit your videos. Use Movie Maker or another type of video editing software to boost the quality of your videos and make them a lot more interesting to watch. Aim to edit them down to about 5-10 minutes — anything longer isn't going to hold people's attention unless it's truly fascinating. Keep these pointers in mind when you're editing: Use tools to brighten the video. It shouldn't look too dark and dreary. Edit out the boring parts. Pauses, dull expressions, coughs, sighs, and other boring interludes can be cut to give your video a faster and more interesting pace. Use text and music to add more personality. This isn't totally necessary, but you can add background music and text to your videos for a little extra oomph. It's a good opportunity to include a message to "like" your video, include some funny descriptions of what you're doing in the video, or promote your Twitter or Facebook account. Your videos aren't complete until you give them awesome titles and descriptions, and make sure the thumbnail is an attention-grabber. Include keywords and search terms within these fields to maximize the chance of your videos being found.
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