Start an e-diary, says Sanjyot Keer, a seasoned and much-loved YouTuber with 1.58M subscribers, also a chef and founder, Your Food Lab (YFL), his YouTube channel. “Note all your ideas, execution plans, deadlines, and schedules. It’ll keep you organised,” says Keer.
You’ll need equipment to record, and your phone will do the job. “These days most phones come with excellent cameras so you can start shooting with that but in a few months, save up for a DSLR. In my time, I did not own one so I rented it for a year and you could do the same,” says Keer.
You will need a tripod. They come in different sizes and shapes but you should pick what suits your needs best.
For good video, you need good audio as well, so investing in a microphone, which mounts on to your camera or your phone, is necessary. This is needed to record clear, crisp audios.
Lighting can make or break you. Literally. Nothing puts off a viewer more than bad lighting. “Your videos need to make an impression and adequate lighting will be a game-changer in this regard. The good thing is that today, you have access to excellent yet affordable lights,” he says.
A good card reader and a reliable hard disk reader to transfer all of the footage you’ve created is a must.
“In the same breathe, you’ll need editing software. I divide my editing software into three types—one for video editing, the other for photo editing and the third for audio editing. As a beginner, you can rule out an audio editing software but you will need a photo and video editing one. Video editing software are available for free as well. Photo editing software allows you to create thumbnails so they’re extremely important,” says the YouTuber.
Learning about how your channel is performing is imperative to be successful. “YouTube analytics is something you'll have to pay a lot of attention to as it will tell you all about numbers, how your channel is performing etc. You’ll also get gender-specific numbers, age-specific numbers, watch time and more,” Keer says.
Learn how the YouTube algorithm works as it’ll show you what kind of thumbnails work for you, what type of titles are picking views and more.
Monetisation matters
Monetisation is tricky business, says Shraddha Gurung aka LilMissGurung, a young YouTuber with 41.9K subscribers. She adds learning about ways to earn revenue from her content helps you devise the right strategies and become independent.
“Google Adsense is the first way to go about it. However, it requires 4,000 watch hours and at least a thousand subscribers, which does take a while. It’s essentially the ads that you see on people’s videos. Some of them pay and some of them don’t. YouTube and Adsense both have all details that are very easy to understand,” says Gurung.
Collaborations with brands, memberships on your YouTube page, affiliate links (easy process on Amazon, even Nykaa does it) are some of the other ways to go about it. “As you grow, this can be later extended into selling your merchandise or starting your own product line/service. YouTube is supportive but it takes time, patience, and perseverance,” explains Gurung.