Youtube Advice (HIGHLY REQUESTED)

1. Be YOURSELF.  As difficult as this can be when you're on camera it's very important to be YOU. Being comfortable on camera is a work in progress, it's not that easy, I know this!  LOL!   It took me years to finally come out of my shell but now I have no shame, I am always on camera without makeup and talk about mustaches, pimples and even period cramps. LOL!  With time you'll be comfortable with yourself and your real true self with shine through on camera.  You are the only YOU who exists in this world.  Embrace your individuality and let it shine through!

2. Upload consistently & never give up.  Personally, my channel hasn't drastically grown even after making videos for almost 3 years but I absolutely love Youtube so I film videos consistently and have never taken a hiatus or given up.  When I first started making YouTube videos I was a busy preschool teacher and part time waitress on nights and weekends, life was busy as can be and I still found time to make YouTube videos. When you enjoy something you find the time to consistently do it.  Uploading consistently keeps your YouTube friends connected.  Also, don't ever give up, Youtube is not about numbers but about the joy it brings YOU!  If you were to give up now you would have never known the potential you had for the future.  Believe in yourself!  And if no one is watching your videos or you think not enough are, do it because it brings YOU joy that is all that matters at the end of the day.  For example, my husband Justin has an advice channel, AdviceFromJustin and he told me even if his advice video helps one person he has made a difference in their life and that's all that matters.  

3.  Don't quit school!!! This is just my personal opinion but I think an education is extremely important. I double majored in college (Child Development BA & Family Life Education BA) and I can always go back to teaching preschool.  It's rare to make a living off of YouTube.  Sure the "bigger" YouTubers can do it but it's a once and a blue moon opportunity, it takes patience and hard work to get there and even with patience and hard work it's not a guarantee you'll get there.  You want to always have your education or some sort of training to fall back on.  If you quit college because you're doing well on Youtube now all that can end one day.  Have you noticed the rising stars on Youtube are 14-20?  It's plain and simple, the majority watching YouTube is 14-17 so they find channels they can relate with, their peers. What if one day someone hacks into your YouTube account and you lose it all?  You haven't lost it all if you had an education to fall back on.  Just sayin!  Another point is that when others watch you on Youtube it's natural for them to look up to you and want to be like you, don't you want to be a good role model?  I'm not saying college is the only education, there are other avenues to getting an education from vocational, training, beauty school, internships and more but always have an education or some type of credentials and or work experience, have something else going on in your life. My blog post has actually even inspired me to go back into teaching preschool or volunteering.

4. Be kind to others.  When someone reaches out to you and they ask you to check out their channel do it!!!  I don't mean the spammers who comment on your channel but the ones who take the time to send you a heart felt email.  If you have time please do it and give them feedback. I have helped so many girls on YouTube simply because I wanted to help and it feels great to pay it forward!  I watched a documentary called Happy and I learned the greatest joy a person can ever have in life is to help others and make a difference.  I remember I made a video on Egyptian Magic, one of my first Youtube videos and Lindy also known as Bubzbeauty went to my channel and commented words of encouragement -- that meant the world to me!  To this day I still think about Lindy's kind gesture and I always try to pay it forward and she is my leading example. Money, material things, all those things will NEVER make you as happy as you feel when you help others.  

5.  Keep your integrity. It's natural for companies to want to send you products but NEVER ever talk about products you don't believe in.  When I try products I try them out for weeks before I even consider mentioning them because I have to test them out and know for sure if I like it and if it's good enough to recommend to my friends/viewers.  I have refused to mention brands and companies even if they offer thousands, even if it meant harsh feelings. The utmost importance to me is having my viewers trust me and I won't give that up for anything.  I have always been a person of integrity on and off YouTube and I always will be and my viewers can always count on it!  Another side of integrity is being a good person and not trying to use others and befriend "bigger" gurus thinking they can benefit you because that's not what the world of YouTube is about.  The friends I have made on YouTube were based on true friendships and never by Youtube subscriber numbers.  Before you try to be friends with other YouTubers take a second to think about why you like them, don't consider their subscriber numbers as one of them because if you do that your friendship will end one way or another. 

6. Collaborate!  Personally I think collaborating with other channels is a fantastic way to introduce your viewers/friends to the channels you like. Collaborate with whoever you want.  Personally I don't let subscriber numbers restrict who I collab with.  If I like their channel, if they are my friend I will do everything I can do help them out plain and simple.

7. Connect with your viewers/YouTube friends! Take time to reply to comments it means the world to your Youtube friends when you reply.  Personally I use to reply to every single comment but having a baking and beauty channel has made it nearly impossible to reply to ALL comments but I still try my best to reply to some comments.

8. YouTube video content is important.  If you want your channel to be searchable create content that is helpful.  I attended a Google workshop and Kandee Johnson gave great advice, she said to create videos that will help others.  Her words stuck to me and I have stopped hauling as much because a haul video is only fun to watch the first time around but haul videos aren't searchable.  People don't search on Youtube "Forever 21 Haul 2009" but they will search for things like "how to get rid of blackheads".  

I promise to post more ideas but this is it for now!  I hope this was helpful!  

This blog post was not meant to offend anyone, just my personal thoughts and advice from having a YouTube channel for over 2 years.

What would you have added to this list?

Hope you all have an amazing weekend!  Sending you lots of love!

Sincerely,