I have been making YouTube beauty videos for the past 5 years, so I thought it was about time for me to give some of my tips to those with small channels. I myself have a smaller size channel, but since I’ve been in the YouTube community for so long, I’ve seen it grow and develop and would like to think that I know a thing or two (or five, actually).
The condensed-soup version of that 10 minute long video is…
- Leave a link to your latest video when commenting on videos. This is free promotion for your channel that not a lot of creators are utilizing yet. When the YouTuber or even someone reading the comments sees your comment, they will know you make videos and are more likely to check it out. And you don’t even have to mention it! I always comment about what the video is about, I don’t shamelessly promote myself, as you can see in this comment below. Generally, for most channels out there, those first youtube views were surely bought using legal methods, so without worrying you can go ahead and get yourself a marketing company who can ensure you more views on your Youtube video, thus guaranteeing you success.
Comment from I love makeup.’s new video series, Picture Day with Mamrie Hart. - Know when to network. Know when and when not to sign. Don’t sign with the first that knocks at your door. Networks are best when you live in a big city and will attend events they will be at, or you have a ton of subscribers and can’t manage yourself. I’m glad I have a network, and I generally like them. I believe there are ways to improve how the network manages smaller YouTubers, and I hope to see improvement in that soon. But, I still get a lot of benefits since I live locally in L.A. and can attend events like IMATS, Generation Beauty, BeautyCon LA, and even VidCon. A good tool to research networks is Social Blade, which you can also look up YouTubers on and see what network they are signed to.
- Collaboration & collab giveaways. It’s hard to plan collabs in person, but do them virtually or test the waters through a collab giveaway. I recently did one and found that it grew my subscribers and the amount of views I get per video. But, it hasn’t done much for interaction. I also kind of hate YouTube giveways because they are drama. Blog giveaways using Rafflecopter are straightforward!
One exciting video I was featured in this year was Stilababe09’s DIY Your Life on Seventeen. I was actually casted for this video, but click on the playlist to see a few more videos I’m in.
- Attend Events & Network. If you can afford it and are serious about your channel, this is a great thing to do. Attend events relevant to your content, YouTube in general, or are local in your area. I’d recommend doing this if you’re signed to a network, because the big ones usually have some sort of get-togethers with their talent. Don’t bother showing up to an event without business cards, unless you’re Miley Cyrus (but, you’re not). I have used Vistaprint since I made my first business cards when I was 16 and love the price, quality, and service. This topic also pertains to social media. Reply to tweets of creators you love, for example, and they’re more likely to notice you if you are always interacting!
- Be Consistent. Uploading weekly is key. Prefilm and upload on private if you don’t have time to film a lot! If you aren’t uploading on a regular basis, any subscribers you have might forget about you!
I think that’s all I have to say this time. I can talk about YouTube for days. It’s a great platform that is very different than blogging, but I love them both. It’s actually one of my goals of this year to really re-brand my channel and make it better than ever because I’ve been bored with my content. I’m excited to study abroad, because that will make for some awesome videos I’m sure!
Share a YouTube tip of your own in the comments! Promise my next post won’t be so technical! Back to the beauty.