
INTRODUCTION

Hey guys so if you are here reading this you are probably either just starting a YouTube or have been on YouTube for a long time but just aren't getting the results you want. Maybe you are a new entrepreneur starting a business on your own and can't afford a social media marketer. Either way, this program is definitely going to be the best bang for your buck! I'm here to show you how I was able to do YouTube fulltime for three years and was able to build followers that led to so many opportunities. If you've read my 10 Free Tips e-book you already know I mean business. Back when I first started YouTube, they used to have medals for the country you lived in. I guess that's how long I've been on YouTube.

The one I was most proud of was "Most Viewed Artist In Canada" for an original song I had posted back in 2009. Just unfortunate I was featured for about 5 minutes, and then Drake came along with the song "over" and then bumped me back in the shadows so I never really enjoyed my 5 seconds of fame(*sigh). But moving forward I realized you don't need a viral video to have a great following of loyal fans. I'm here to shed some light on my tips and secrets that can really help you out especially in the long run.

Back in the day when YouTube first started, I was the first one from my city to receive partnership with YouTube within my first year of using it. When I used to post all the time, I had tons of interaction, tons of views and tons of support. Over 15,000 subscribers and over 1.5 million total views to my name. Which might not be as impressive as the people who become such big YouTube stars, but this program can get you to the point where you build a big enough fan base to make sales and generate income. As a result of people seeing my videos, I've been reached out to from promoters who've seen my videos who offered me gigs. I've opened for Grammy winners "112" of Bad Boy Entertainment, Billboard music winner "Dru Hill" and MTV Pilipinas winner "Bamboo" (also known as the Prince of Rock from the Philippines).

I've also been sponsored by local clothing brands who gave me tons of free clothes. I've partnered up and made money with other musicians in my city. I've been paid to collaborate on several tracks from people all around the world which is a powerful thing. I've been featured on tons of websites for my music. I've done tons of paid gigs - it all depends on what your goals are realistically. I can name drop a hundred different benefits I've had building my YouTube, but we're here today so I can help YOU! Obviously we all want more views and traffic to our channels, but is that all? Will that be enough for you to continue as goals? Or do you want to start making money from a passion as well? When you start making money for doing what you love, you're onto something.

I've found most people gave up on YouTube because they just couldn't afford to spend time on it with not much return. It's hard enough when your family and friends don't see it as a real job. But don't worry; once you put the time to get results, everyone starts to take your craft serious. Anyone can Google YouTube tips and tricks online but chances are; they are so generic and they all say the same thing. In most cases when you are looking for lessons, they end up being a survey or a scam.

I'm here to show you the important tricks I've learned throughout all my years of YouTubing. I'm not an expert marketer, I don't have my diploma in social media marketing but what I do have is experience. I put in blood, sweat and tears to learn how to become successful on YouTube. I'm here because I want you guys to save money and learn from my mistakes. What you guys have to understand is that a lot of companies pay for tons of advertising and that's why a lot of people look successful on YouTube.

But this isn't a rich get richer story, nor is it a get rich quick scheme. This is grinding at its very fullest, and once you start loving the grind, with these steps you'll have tons of success on YouTube. I've been a YouTuber just like you pretty much my whole life. I stopped doing YouTube by preference, because it isn't a big priority for me anymore. I used to work on my YouTube religiously and I made some pretty decent coin over the years. I still have my account and post every now and then as a hobby. So if you need proof, check out my YouTube and look through the videos, the comments and the interaction.

Most YouTube channels I see that say "Tips and Tricks" always sell their programs online. Maybe they have more schooling and have an educated background, but the courses I tried online from them were for somebody with zero knowledge. I didn't learn anything new so for me it was a waste of money. We're living in 2017 where the modern times are all about the internet. Anyone can be an entrepreneur now; anyone can wake up and decide they want to be a singer. We live in an era where the sky truly is the limit. Most of those companies that advertise "get viral on youtube" are usually scams. When I watch their videos I find it weird because; a) they barely have views on their "how to get viral video", b) there's never any comments c) Why would you take advice from someone who hasn't been there? I mean if your goal was rock hard abs, would you really take fitness advice from an obese person? It was the same thing for me; I was tired of reading blogs, watching tutorials and reading programs that all pretty much said the same thing. In my experience, when I've bought programs for jump training, I always thought it was strange that the people who wrote the program in the videos aren't ever dunking themselves. Never once did I buy a jump program where the guy who wrote it actually dunked himself. Of course the guy demonstrating the dunk is a 6"4 really athletic athlete. I think that's what separates this program from any other. It is also why I'm proud to be the model of my own book. A book on "How To YouTube" from an actual YouTuber. Now of course I'm going to cover the basics. The boring stuff some people may have overlooked. Some will seem common and some will open your eyes - everybody's different. I'm also going to throw in all my secrets that truly worked for me. I'm going to share my experiences, good and bad.

This book is yours just as much as it is mine, so please make a commitment to reading the whole thing and doing everything on here. You're going to find out a little later on in the chapters that if you can't commit to consistency, you won't have anything. There's tons of tedious steps that will seem to take forever, but once you form the habit of doing them, everything gets done pretty quickly just like any routine. If you are trying to make your YouTube account serve you as a good source of income, I can point you in the right direction. It takes tons of hard work at first and a lot of commitment, but since you've chosen to read this book, I guess that's something you are ready to do. Once you get going, you'll start to see small benefits that build up some momentum, and then you become unstoppable. You don't need luck when you put in the time. Let's get started.

"You don't need luck when you put in the time." -JSY
DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all the dreamers out there who want to make it big on YouTube. Keep pushing and your dreams will come true. Getting paid for doing something you love is a goal everyone should have. Don't stop chasing dreams.

I also wanted to dedicate this book to a close friend of mine -  **Chaz B**. I wouldn't have had such a successful reach on YouTube if it wasn't for you. When I first started YouTube, I didn't have much of a budget. I was straight forward with him, and he still took me in. He elevated my music, my videos and my work ethic. He believed in me and was a huge reason why I had so much success on YouTube. He is gone now, but he's never forgotten. The best videographer I'll ever know. I appreciate all you did for me. Rest in peace, brother.
**Copyright 2017 (CHRISTOPHER JOHN SY) All Right Rеѕеrvеd**

Thiѕ dосumеnt iѕ gеаrеd tоwаrdѕ providing еxасt аnd rеliаblе infоrmаtiоn in rеgаrdѕ tо thе tорiс аnd iѕѕuе соvеrеd. Thе рubliсаtiоn iѕ sold with thе idеа thаt thе рubliѕhеr iѕ nоt rеԛuirеd tо rеndеr ассоunting, оffiсiаllу реrmittеd, оr оthеrwiѕе, ԛuаlifiеd ѕеrviсеѕ.

If аdviсе iѕ nесеѕѕаrу, lеgаl оr рrоfеѕѕiоnаl, a рrасtiсеd individuаl in thе рrоfеѕѕiоn ѕhоuld bе оrdеrеd.

Frоm a Dесlаrаtiоn оf Prinсiрlеѕ whiсh wаѕ ассерtеd аnd аррrоvеd еԛuаllу bу a Cоmmittее оf thе Amеriсаn Bаr Aѕѕосiаtiоn аnd a Cоmmittее оf Publiѕhеrѕ аnd Aѕѕосiаtiоnѕ.

In nо wау iѕ, it lеgаl tо rерrоduсе, duрliсаtе, оr trаnѕmit аnу раrt оf thiѕ dосumеnt in еithеr еlесtrоniс mеаnѕ оr in рrintеd fоrmаt. Recording оf thiѕ рubliсаtiоn iѕ ѕtriсtlу рrоhibitеd аnd аnу ѕtоrаgе оf thiѕ dосumеnt iѕ nоt аllоwеd unlеѕѕ with writtеn реrmiѕѕiоn frоm thе рubliѕhеr. All rightѕ rеѕеrvеd.

Thе infоrmаtiоn рrоvidеd hеrеin iѕ ѕtаtеd tо bе truthful аnd соnѕiѕtеnt, in thаt аnу liаbilitу, in tеrmѕ оf inаttеntiоn оr оthеrwiѕе, bу аnу usage оr аbuѕе оf аnу роliсiеѕ, рrосеѕѕеѕ, оr dirесtiоnѕ соntаinеd within iѕ thе ѕоlitаrу аnd uttеr rеѕроnѕibilitу оf thе rесiрiеnt rеаdеr. Undеr nо сirсumѕtаnсеѕ will аnу lеgаl rеѕроnѕibilitу оr blаmе bе hеld аgаinѕt thе рubliѕhеr fоr аnу rераrаtiоn, dаmаgеѕ, оr mоnеtаrу lоѕѕ duе tо thе infоrmаtiоn hеrеin, еithеr dirесtlу оr indirесtlу.

Rеѕресtivе аuthоrѕ оwn аll соруrightѕ nоt hеld bу thе рubliѕhеr.

Thе infоrmаtiоn hеrеin iѕ оffеrеd fоr infоrmаtiоnаl рurроѕеѕ ѕоlеlу, аnd iѕ univеrѕаl аѕ ѕо. Thе рrеѕеntаtiоn оf thе infоrmаtiоn iѕ withоut соntrасt оr аnу tуре оf guаrаntее аѕѕurаnсе.

Thе trаdеmаrkѕ thаt аrе uѕеd аrе withоut аnу соnѕеnt, аnd thе рubliсаtiоn оf thе trademark iѕ withоut реrmiѕѕiоn оr bасking bу thе trаdеmаrk оwnеr. All trаdеmаrkѕ аnd brаndѕ within thiѕ bооk аrе fоr сlаrifуing рurроѕеѕ оnlу аnd аrе оwnеd bу thе оwnеrѕ thеmѕеlvеѕ, nоt аffiliаtеd with thiѕ dосumеnt.
TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

DEDICATION

PRE-AMBLE

CHAPTER ONE - BEFORE VIDEOS

BRANDING

WHO ARE YOU?

YOUTUBE 101

YOUTUBE IS A COMMUNITY!

VIRAL VIDEOS

BREAKING DOWN GOALS

PRE-REHEARSING

WHAT MAKES A GOOD VIDEO?

CHAPTER TWO- VIDEO EQUIPMENTS

EQUIPMENTS

CHAPTER THREE – YOUTUBE SPICES

COMPETITION

QUALITY VS QUANTITY

CONSISTENCY

WHEN TO POST

GOT NO STYLE

TRENDS

MASS RECORDINGS

MASS RECORD

THE COST OF FREE

CROSS PROMO

NETWORK

THE YOUTUBE COLD CALL

BEING HUMBLE

BEING PREPARED

BEING PREPARED PART 2

CHAPTER FOUR – DURING THE VIDEOS

YOUR IMAGE

YOUR IMAGE - FAKE IT TO MAKE IT

YOUR PRESENCE

TAGS

IN VIDEO CHECKLIST

INTRO OF VIDEOS

MIDDLE CONTENT RULES/TIPS

OUTRO BUMPER

CTA

ANALYSING DATA

OUTSOURCING

BEING CHEAP

BEING EXPENSIVE

BEING A BALLER ON A BUDGET AKA OUTSOURCING

THUMBNAILS

PREPARING FOR A RELEASE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

WHAT ARE YOU SELLING? CALL TO ANSWER

BEING RESPONSIVE

CHAPTER FIVE – PROMOTING YOUR BRAND

JOINING CULTS

FIENDS/FAMILY GROUP

FACEBOOK GROUPS

SEMINARS

GET ON BLOGS/FORUMS/ FEATURED ON WEBSITES

PARTNERING WITH A BRAND/SPONSORS

INFLUENCERS

SELLING YOURSELF

GETTING PAID

WHAT'S THE EASIEST WAY TO BUILD SOME FANS?

SERIES/PLAYLISTS

SERIES

PLAYLIST FEATURE TRICK

PAY

THE ART OF ASK

SHOUTOUTS

AUTOMATION

CONCLUSION
PRE-AMBLE

The Formula For Success

Is there a formula for success? My answer is yes and no, of course there could be no exact formula for it but here's a simple one that has given me a ton of success

S + U + X = SUCCESS or SUX for short ("sucks" ironic right?)

S - Structure

This is Structure. Take your whole project and send it out to the world imperfect and all. This might take a while at first because it's almost like trial and error. Take feedback from the people watching your videos. If you don't have any feedback yet because you don't have any fans, then ask your closest ten friends for it. Having family members say "it's dope" when it's not doesn't really help you, in fact it cripples you from getting real perspective and getting better. So make sure you have those friends who can be blunt and pretty much see it from a regular perspective. If you ask them for the truth and say, "What can I improve on?" - this is your first step. Give yourself a chance to grow in your craft, don't be ashamed if you are bad at first. Everyone is always bad when you do something for the first time. Who starts out a champ? No one. Most people don't like hearing the criticism but it is essential when trying to improve.

Don't let it hurt you or break you. Instead, use it as a tool to build on. Not just the bad, though. Also, ask them what do you like about it? I'm not saying listen to every single thing a person says, or they nit-pick about you. I'm also not saying take their opinions all the time and do what they tell you to do. But if you get a lot of comments saying "I don't like when you do this______," or maybe they say "I don't think you should swear too much", who fucking cares right? Well, that's one approach. But keep in mind these are the people taking the time to support you. It's not like they hate on you, they love your content but they just don't want to hear too much foul language. Is this an easy fix for you? That's something you have to ask yourself. If it's small, then just cater to your fans.

It's okay to be yourself but also keep in mind you have an audience. You might lose out on fans. If they are your friends, they probably don't want to hurt you; they want to help you. To please your general audience, just subtract/add whatever necessary changes to the equation. It all depends on what the criticism it is of course, but don't always take criticism the wrong way. See it as an opportunity to improve and appease your current fans. You can only get that from feedback, so if you're sensitive about the feedback then come with the mentality that you are going to try to improve. This all depends on what style you do, but just be mindful and don't take the criticism as insults. Think of what kind of example are you trying to show for the next person who looks up to you and wants to be like you.

U - You

Next is You! This only works if you can brand your name properly. If people like the idea of what you're about, and they like and appreciate it, they'll want to keep watching you. I'll get into some videos later about how to improve your presence on videos. But just know, this represents your brand. What separates you from everyone and makes you unique? It's so important to know this because this is WHY they would want to watch you.

X or X-Factor

Last but not least is the X-factor. Here's the thing, most people on YouTube aren't the absolute best at what they sometimes do. I'm not the best singer; I've heard people sing on YouTube where my mind was blown. I've also seen rappers who weren't good get tons of exposure. Everyone's commenting like "this shit is junk" but it has millions of views, and those numbers don't lie. When I describe X-factor I like to base it on your overall package. You have to be good at doing a lot other things around you that compliment your style. So for me, I may not be the best singer. However I'm able to write my own songs, I play guitar, I play piano and I can perform with no fear and put on a great show. My overall visuals/audios are pretty high up there and I'll dress to look the part. All these things contribute to my total package giving me an edge or the X Factor!

For bloggers, if you are in a room with 10 people and you are all reading the same thing, who would you think was more interesting? We could all read it in a monotone voice and be at the same level, or you can work on your skills and bring out your X-factor. So when I say this, I mean it as bringing more of your strengths to help your X-factor stand out. Maybe it's your nice smile, great energy, cool hand gestures, sense of humour or the fact that you are very personable. Some people have no talent; they are just hot. But you know what - that's not a bad thing! Understand that your looks are a strength too. Whatever your talent is, make sure you are working on all the smaller things to contribute to giving yourself a total package or X-Factor!

So to sum this all up

**S :** Structure what's working and keep doing it - whatever's not working, take it out

**U :** Your brand - the sooner people can understand what you're about, the sooner they can decide whether they want to support your movement

**X-factor :** No matter what your skill is, improve it. If you feel you've improved it enough, work on things that will compliment that overall image for you

_"The question is not whether the formula for success will work, but rather whether the person will work the formula" -Jim Rohn_

•  Your Homework

Evaluate your last video set of videos. A big honest question to ask yourself is: Are your videos getting worse, staying the same, or getting better? Of course getting worse is bad, but so is staying the same. If the videos aren't always getting better and better, then something is wrong. It is your job to figure out which part of the formula to fix.
CHAPTER ONE - BEFORE VIDEOS

These are all the things you want to worry about before you start making videos. All the tips, tricks and your mindsets.

BRANDING

•  Making Brand Name with Target Niche

The single most important thing for your YouTube is your brand. Ask yourself - what do you want to be known for? Names must be unique. You can use your name. You can use a stage name. Any name is fine but make sure it's something that really sits well with you; I've seen a ton of success of people who incorporated their name with their niche (ex. JoeBrownMusic). Your audience came for entertainment; they want to think as less as possible. The less they have figure out what you're all about, the easier it is for them just to get on-board and listen. If you're planning to be successful with YouTube in the long run, make sure to pick a name that is going to be the main focus. Your chances of success will be higher with your niche in the name. If you do guitar videos and your name is, Guitar_ tutor. Perfect ! We the viewers know what to expect. If your name is unique like Chopped_melon_seed (off the top of my head) and then we view your channel and it's classical guitar music covers, some might remember it for the weirdness. It's cool to have contrast to your name, but chances are if it's not named close to your brand you're going to be striking out. Ultimately, if you are just thinking about starting a YouTube for the long term, make sure to put time into your name. Later when you try to make this your brand, you'll be happy you gave it some time.

•  Email – Create A Brand New Email For Your Brand

How many people regret their emails when they were younger? Mine was "kidrock_12@hotmail.com" and I thought that was so cool at the time. Looking back, I don't even know why I liked Kid Rock (lol). So be careful with your names because that represents your brand. Just like when you are going to a job interview and they ask for your email address and you say, "playboy_69@yahoo.ca". Chances are you don't get that job unless it's at Hugh Hefner's penthouse. Create a new email in case you make a mailing list and want to interact your fans. That's the thing about branding. You work hard with this name for years, but if you want to change it five years from now, you might lose all the fans on that channel trying to rebrand later on. This might sound like small silly step, but I honestly regret not doing in the beginning and wanting to change it later. I regret trying to change my name midway and confusing some of my converting fans. When that new channel didn't succeed, I had to try and get my new fans to move back to my old one. If you guys have does this before too, you'll understand it's a gong show nightmare. Don't make the same mistakes as me; focus on your brand and overall message before committing to a YouTube account, even if it's just a hobby.

•  Social Media Syncing

If you don't have all the different social media platforms, get them! Connect all your social media accounts! From Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, whatever it may be, connect them. I can't really stress this enough! I mention this now in the branding section because it also helps to keep ONE name if you can. If you are in too deep like me where you have account names that are all different, try to make them pretty darn close. A perfect example of what not to do is to copy me and how I did it. Let me paint a picture for you guys.

I'll pitch to this to you just to give you a sheer example of why this doesn't work. Please read this section out loud. "Hey guys make sure to follow me on all my social medias platforms; follow me on Twitter at jblaze204, follow me on Instagram at supersaiyan_xo, follow me on Facebook at Christopher John Sy, follow my website at HowToYT101.com". There are tons of things wrong with this for so many reasons.

More importantly, you better hope your fans have a pen and paper handy! Even if they do, there is just too much to write down. If you want fans to follow you, make it easy for them to follow you. If you make it hard they are not going to go through the trouble unless they are die-hard fans, but even some of my die-hard fans don't follow me on all of my platforms. To follow all those platforms, they would technically be following four different people. They can, but they won't. Trust me. In retrospect, I wish my video would have sounded like this. Read this out loud, "Hey guys make sure to follow all my social media platforms, its **jsymusic at Twitter, SnapChat, Facebook, Instagram.** Am I right? How much simpler is that for a fan to get on board with you? Out of all the people I've mentored, this was always a common issue so I thought I would address it. It was only after that when I realized, make sure of your brand and stick to it! It was so devastating when I had 34,000 followers on my Instagram and back then you couldn't change your name. I took a break and I got rid of my social media accounts and tried to come back with a new one called "jsymusic", with hopes I would name everything "jsymusic" and all the fans I had before would hop on to support from all my old accounts. That never happened and I only had myself to blame.

To be honest, when you rebrand in most cases, you're starting from scratch. Nobody has a clue what it is. All of your individual followings of hard work will have gone to waste. So to sum this all up, make sure your name and your brand is something that won't really change over the years, try to make it similar to your style in your field. If you are just starting and have a weird name already with not much of a following, I would suggest starting over. Do it properly! Get it right in the beginning for the long run. Make sure all social media accounts are connected under the same name so it's easier for your fans to follow you.

_"A brand is no longer what we tell consumers it is; it is what consumers tell each other it is." - Scott Cook_

•  Your Homework

Find a quiet place that is nice and quiet to brainstorm. Come up with 5 names suitable to the type of niche you are going to cater to. Visualize what your brand would be beside it fully blown up (websites, profile pics, types of videos) be sure it sets well with you because you only get one name. Changing it later won't guarantee your fans will stay. Get all platforms and connect all platforms so when you post a video, your fans get notifications on all platforms.

WHO ARE YOU?

This may sound silly, but you really have to find out who you are as a person. That in itself, of course, is a journey of trial and errors. But there has to be certain things which are your specialty. What have people always admired about you? Your natural strengths which you excel in without even trying? Those talents where if you put some effort into, it you would become legendary?! I spent most of my YouTube days changing up my style going anywhere from hip-hop, pop, RnB, trap, to pretty much anything. I mean I love all kinds of music and welcome all kinds, but "what style am I best in?" is a question I should have asked myself. I've done all types and was happy about it. But what I didn't realize was that if you take on too many different projects, it spreads your brand too thin.

People will have a hard time trying to figure out what you are about at the core. What I was best at and what came off as the most genuine in my music was acoustic guitar with singing. Had I had known that, I would have focused more on that type and tried improving rather than trying all different types. You may find random fans for all different styles, but if you are trying to lock down fans permanently, they'll have to see some consistency in your style. For example, I could do 20 different types of music but if I could only have one album, what style would that be? It can't be all 20 styles because your fans are all spread out, so you have to go with the style you are naturally best at. Focus mainly on your strengths and take on little projects if you need a change of pace.

_"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you." ― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching_

•  Your homework

Write down 3 different styles you are good at, also ask friends to give their opinion on 3 things they think you do well when it comes to topics of videos. Try to find the middle ground between what you think and what your friends and family think. This should be helpful while trying to get some insight into who you really are what you want to represent in your videos.

YOUTUBE 101

These are the basic concepts you need to understand now before you begin, so you don't get discouraged after you put out content and maybe not a lot of people view it (at first). We'll get into what type of things need to be in a video, regardless of what the content is in a later chapter. First, let's take a look at these concepts that could help your YouTube game in the long run.

YOUTUBE IS A COMMUNITY!

People think YouTube is simply a place to upload videos to the world and that's all there is to it. Maybe some people will see it and maybe some people won't. I hate to break it you although most are consumers on YouTube, your starting point for success is getting into the mindset that it's actually a community. Maybe your video is so cool, but since you only got 5 views, you think something must have been bad about it. What you have to realize is that YouTube is more than just a place to share videos, it is a community. The more time you spend interacting with other YouTuber channels in your niche and adding value to their videos, the more you will get out of it.

VIRAL VIDEOS

Everyone thinks YouTube is easy. Thinking "I could make a video and it'll probably get a million views," might be easy, until you actually start making videos and realize it's not as easy as it looks. As a YouTuber, I don't really believe in being viral so much as I believe in building a steady fan base that will stay with you with when your buzz goes away. Let's be honest here; there are tons of people who go viral and then disappear off the face of the planet. Easy come, easy go. They didn't take the time to build real fans or capitalize on the opportunity. So when their buzz goes, people are onto the next thing.

The good news is that you don't need a million fans to make decent money on YouTube. If you had 2000 fans who each bought a sweater at 20 dollars a piece, simple math would suggest that it would bring you $40,000. Obviously, those numbers aren't concrete because there would be money spent on manufacturing and video production, etc. I'm just trying to show you realistically 2000 fans isn't a lot and you can still make a living out of it. Our goal is a steady stream of traffic, not just for one video but gradually building a fan base where one day you can turn it into a source of income or have it as a really good part-time job for something that was once a hobby. Understand that this is a community and it definitely will take a lot of work before you get recognized in it. It's competitive but if you are willing to put in the time, you will have a ton of success.

_"Taking the time to build community, to get to know your people will have long-lasting benefits." -Clifton Taulbers_

•  Your Homework

Research some people who have common interests with you on YouTube. Whether they are bloggers or musicians, try commenting on their videos. Choose people who have the same amount of subscribers. If you only have 100 subscribers, don't reach out to people with 100,000 subscribers. Chances are they won't notice you or give you the time of day. Start adding value to your comments. Not just a "Good job," "Nice," or "Cool video" comment, give a lengthy detailed comment. Add them on social media and get to know them. It will stand out, and in most cases, they will read it and start noticing you adding real value to their videos. Then when the time comes for your videos to be released, you can count on them for a real review because you gave yours.

BREAKING DOWN GOALS

I'm sure there is no surprise there would be some talk about goals as a key focus of success. Setting a goal seems like a lot of work at first but needs to be part of your daily routine. We need to make long term, short term, and even daily goals. Forming a habit of day to day goals which leads to weeks, then months, then years will guarantee to improve your channel. The overall goal must be a constant improvement. Every day you must be better than you were yesterday. So let me show you how I broke my goals down for myself as a musician, and you can equally apply it:

**Daily Goals – Every Day**

  * 20 min voice lesson

  * 15 minutes meditation/visualization,

  * 30 minutes of writing/brainstorming

  * 15 minutes of performing motions/singing.

No matter what the day is, if I'm in a good mood or bad mood these daily goals must and will be done! This ensures that no matter what I do with the rest of my day, I sleep well knowing my voice is improving, my performing appearance is getting cleaner, and my creative writing is getting better. To make a habit of this is a daily goal for constant improvement. Find what your goal is, if you are a blogger.

Maybe you spend 15 minutes to practice your speech in front of a mirror, 15 minutes to work on hand gestures and smiling while talking, 15 minutes networking with others.

PRE-REHEARSING

I pre-rehearse all the things I say at the intro of a video until it sounds like I'm not reading a script anymore. I'm not the best speaker if it was a live "one take session" and you would hear me stutter and say "umm" 50 times. Sure you can record 50 takes and cut and edit, but it comes off more genuine when you appear relaxed. The purpose is to do it daily so after it's done 1000 times, when you finally record it, it seems natural and you can be yourself.

Some short term goals can be weeks up to three months. For me maybe an example would be, post four videos a month, as well as save up a certain amount of money for equipment, etc.

**_"People are rewarded in public for what they practice for years in private."-Tony Robbins_**

It couldn't be true sometimes. I've met a guy who was really bad at guitar asking me for tips when he first started. I taught him a couple of easy songs to get them started. I saw him a year later and jammed with him. This guy is remarkable now. He can bust out a solo and carry a tune no matter what song we played. He was honestly levels above me, and I must have had years on him. If I had not known this guy when he started, I would have believed that he was a natural talent. I would have assumed he was just born with it. It's just not the case, there's no substitute for hard work and putting forth a goal to practice every day. Those daily goals become habits, and one day at a time, soon enough years pass, and you've started to master your craft.

_"Small, constant daily progress will transform you from unskilled to skilled, to a highly skilled expert." -Jerry Bruckner_

•  Your Homework

Write down goals that you want to accomplish within the year. Be clear with a set number in mind, and a date. For example: I want 200 subscribers by 90 days.

  * Daily goal – daily routine + extra things plan the night before (schedule, errands)

  * Short term – 3 months or less

  * Long term – 3-6months

  * Quantum leap goal – One huge goal that your overall outcome is so big you could not imagine it happening but would be really excited to receive it. An end result if all your dreams come true.

***Don't be afraid to shoot high, but always be realistic**

WHAT MAKES A GOOD VIDEO?

I'm definitely going to go in depth later with what to include in a video specifically, but I figure I'd make a general check list because some people don't really know what's in a good video. Sometimes I see people post consistently and work hard, but at the end of the day, people don't want to watch a bad video. You have to understand the video is not only for you but for others watching. If your goal is to get fans, it has to relate to someone out there or be entertaining. Here are things to keep in mind.

1. Content

What's in it? Is it worth watching? Would you seriously watch it more than once if it was someone else's video? You have to absolutely love it and be proud of it before it's posted. For me, I sometimes think my stuff is great, but as soon as I am about to show my girlfriend, I get so insecure about all the things I think are wrong with it and that I didn't take the time the fix. For example, "oh it gets a little loud here just a heads up," and "the harmonies weren't that great over here." And "I kind of messed up the timing in the beat I don't know if you're going to notice". Most of the time they don't notice the little things we critique about ourselves. On the other hand, sometimes they do, so take that into consideration. If you are already noticing little things to fix in a video, don't brush them off and just think it's acceptable, and "kind of good". Take the time to fix them too so that it's never on your brain again. Take care and be proud of your videos. I'm not saying it has to be perfect, but give your best effort at doing what your idea of perfect is. You won't have regrets years from then knowing you did your best.

2. Exposure/Optimization

After you're done, what are you doing to get it out there? I'll have a section up later on optimizing your checklist but make sure the tags, descriptions, and everything is proper. For most people starting out, the worst I've seen was the title "movie254.mov" on a VLOG. How can anyone support you when you treat your projects so unprofessionally?

3. Traffic

When I say traffic, I don't mean views. I've had 100,000 views which meant pretty much nothing to me. It looks good when trying to show it off to try and get some extra bandwagon fans but I'd prefer my videos having 50 views and 50 people being in tune, commenting and giving real thoughtful responses. Not just, "good job". I mean those are nice too, but it's nicer to have real feedback and criticism.

4. Engagement

That kind of ties in with number 3 but pretty much the same thing - you want people to be giving opinions. I even kind of love it when people argue in my comments from back in the day. You know one person would be like "u suck" and then this random person would be like "don't talk to him that way". When fans are taking the time to defend you, that's how you know people are engaging. Even if they are making fun of you, they are taking the time and helping you get ranked higher on the YouTube pages just by commenting. YouTube doesn't know which comments are good or bad, they just see interaction and rank you based off of that.

_"When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt"- Henry J Kaiser_

•  Your Homework

Look at past projects you've done - the ones that had the most success and the ones that had the least. Look for little things in this checklist and write down things that could have helped this video and would help in a future video. Also look for what wasn't good that you could remove for a future video. Was it your absolute best at the time? Or were you okay with mediocre? Some days I look back and wish I had done things properly because those little adjustments could have made a good video, GREAT. Make sure that you can confidently say this is your best work every time.
CHAPTER TWO- VIDEO EQUIPMENTS

EQUIPMENTS

This may not seem like a big deal when you are first starting YouTube, but you'll later find out that you'll eventually have to step up your YouTube equipment as time goes on and you get more serious. Before you go spending tons and tons of money on different equipment you'll need, make sure it is really something you want to invest in. For me it's 2017, my iPhone is way better than that camera I bought when I originally started. When it comes to equipment, things can get pricey right away. I'm here to talk about ways you can save costs on equipment.

I understand the toughest thing (especially when you are starting) is to invest money in your craft. Some people think the talent speaks for itself or that it does not matter what equipment you use. But if you could get the best image + best sound + best talent, it becomes an undeniably great video. I'm going to explain both ways to do this if money is tight. But if you don't respect your craft enough to throw some money down, in most cases other people aren't going to want to spend time watching low quality either. With everything listed below, figure out what's most important to you. If you are a singer, make sure your first investment is a good mic. If you are doing skits, make sure your camera is your first investment, and so on. There are so many different types of equipment needed make sure it suits what you are going to be mainly using if money is an issue.

1) Camera

Number one thing I would invest in is a decent camera; you can get away with a lot nowadays just make sure the camera is at least 1080P. There are a bunch of different cameras but you can get a starter one for about $500. Might seem like a lot at first, but it is definitely worth investing in my opinion. Also, figure out what time of filming will you be doing.

**Expensive Way**

  * Buy a camera

**Alternative Cheaper Way**

  1. Use Your Phone – If you have a smart phone it's probably your best shot, they have decent quality and most iPhones even with iMovie.

  2. Renting - If you are going for a big project it might be in your interest to rent a camera. Stores rent out cameras for cheap and most likely have pretty good warranty deals on them. The only problem with that is, you are renting and throwing in money for a camera that you aren't going to be owning. Therefore, you are better off saving your money until you can afford to buy your own.

  3. Financing a Camera – This gives you an alternative to making payments on a camera. For example, $500 split up in a year is about 40 bucks a month, which starts to make things sound pretty affordable. The plus side is that you will own the camera after throwing in your money. The downside is that you will definitely be paying extra for interest.

  4. Friends - This is the cheapest option where you essentially get a video for free. I will get into the topic of free and cross-promo a little later, but this is an alternative for people who are absolutely on a budget. Ask a friend who has a camera to record you, take all the footage onto a USB and edit it yourself.

2) Computer/Editing Software

When doing big projects make sure you invest in a really good computer with good editing software. I have played around with everything from iMovie, to Adobe Premiere pro, to Windows Movie Maker. I'm not going to review every single software, but just know that with free ones you can get away with okay videos but you are VERY limited. When it comes to owning a great computer, make sure you have a really good computer. There is nothing more frustrating than working for hours and hours on a project only to have it crash because you added so many details your computer couldn't handle. It doesn't have to be a gaming computer, but make sure it fits your needs to edit. My personal favourite was Adobe Premier Pro, but I'm also a big PC user.

**Expensive Way**

  * Buy a great computer, buy great video editing software

**Pros**

  * Great quality

  * Fast usage, no waiting times

  * Can handle big projects

  * Can store more files

  * Tons of different options for edits

**Alternative Way**

  * Using mediocre computer, free video editing software programs

**Pros**

  * Save lots of money

**Cons**

  * Trials expire

  * Sometimes won't let you save full projects

  * Very basic edits

  * Looks amateur

3) Microphone

No doubt that if you are trying to make this a serious thing with podcasts, singing, or even description videos it's great to have a good mic and decent audio software editing programs.

**Expensive Way**

  * The best way to get the best quality is to go to an actual studio with an audio engineer.

**Pros**

  * Most audio engineers can find the best sound for what you are doing

  * Sounds professional

  * The quality is levelled and appeals to all listeners

**Cons**

  * Cost tons of money

  * Takes a long time

  * Renting studio time to not own any equipment

  * Have to book studios in advance

  * Has to be at engineers schedule

**Alternative Way**

  * Buying software/microphone

**Pros**

  * Creative control over the audios

  * Can record/edit on your time

  * Can watch tutorials and get better

**Cons**

  * Good microphones and software can be costly

  * With no experience, the audios can turn out bad

  * Hard to level all the audios to match up

**Cheapest Way**

  * Using computer microphone/ free editing software

**Pros**

  * Free to use

  * Creative control on audios

  * Tons of free editing software's online

**Cons**

  * Very limited options

  * Sound quality won't be as a great

  * Might sound amateur

4) Camera Stands, Tripods, Lighting

When thinking of buying all of these things just know there are always alternatives. It depends on what type of videos you are focusing on and the overall quality you are going for. If you are just doing still shots, you can always stack up boxes or books and have the camera still and shoot it yourself. The problem is that it might be time consuming going back and forth trying to find a perfect angle and also very tedious. If you are going for a shot moving around, you can trust a friend to shoot your videos but depending on who edits it afterwards is a big deal. Best thing to do is have a guy who knows how to shoot, shoot your videos then edit it later yourself to save some money.

5) External Hard Drive

For big projects, you should always save all files and project files individually which takes up a lot of space. Invest in an external hard drive to carry all the files and to back up future projects. A computer could break down at any time so it's good to know your projects are safe on a separate drive.

6) Website/Web Designer

A good website gives you credibility. Would you take a real estate agent serious if he wasn't wearing a suit, didn't have a business card, and his company didn't have a website? The same thing goes for fans. If you are doing a show and trying to sell your album, it is better to announce it and have all your media links on your actual website. With YouTube being so competitive, it's honestly an extra step to say, "search my YouTube for my name _____" and they might or might not be able to find you based off of how competitive YouTube is. That being said, if you link your website you can easily have all your videos and content easy to view on them. Spending money on a website is cheap. I paid about $13 bucks a year. It would also be smart to invest in a web designer - they will make your website look amazing and easy to use. You can spend hours and hours learning, but I've found it's just easier to pay someone who knows what they are doing.

_''It's not advisable getting cheap service or equipment in this kind of economy. It's better you buy the best and cry only once'' -Knute Rockne_

•  Your Homework

I've provided many different ways you can avoid costs. List down the 3 top things that are important to your video quality and save some money for them. If you can cut some costs in your everyday life, make a list and start saving. I used to think the equipment was so expensive until I broke down all the numbers that I spend on things I never needed. It was then when I realized I should be investing in myself for goals that I loved and could make money off of. I cut costs like eating out, buying new shoes, cut off my subscription to XM Radio and then the equipment became easily affordable.

You don't have to buy the most expensive gear, but the quality will reflect what the viewers want to watch. Nobody wants to waste time watching videos that looked like they've been filmed by a potato. If you have tons of talent, you can work with cheaper equipment and make it work. Having the best talent on the best equipment will always give the best results.
CHAPTER THREE – YOUTUBE SPICES

Competition

When it comes to YouTube, it's always good to see and know who your competition is. It's good to do your own things of course and not let another person's success bother you, but it's always good to see what's working for other people who are in the same market as you. I'm not telling you to become a hater or anything, but pay attention to what they're doing. In doing so, you can see what's working for them and what they are doing right that you might have overlooked in your projects.

It's easy to hate and hard to understand where someone's successes could be coming from. People always think its luck, but when you break down the details, you'll see there's very little luck involved. Chances are they are doing so many things different from you, and you can't even tell if you aren't paying attention. You just see them doing better than you or worse than you. Which in most cases doesn't help without awareness.

_"When you know both yourself as well as your competition, you are never in danger. To know yourself and not others gives you half a chance of winning. Knowing neither yourself nor your competition puts you in a position to lose." -Sun Tzu_

•  Your Homework

Pick 3 YouTuber users who are in the same niche as you. Pick one with less success than you, one with about the same, and one who is levels above you. Write down the differences and break down the competition. Think about what their quality is, how their video and audio sounds. See the level of professionalism there is in the video edits. Try to be unbiased and very generous when complimenting all the strong points in the videos, and then incorporate them into your own video. This will help give you perspective on where you are on the scale of quality.

Quality Vs Quantity

When it comes to YouTube, the key is to have and maintain quality videos. It doesn't have to be perfect, but make sure it is consistently good or getting better. I'm not saying you should shoot an epic music video every single time unless you can afford it, but nobody has the budget for that most cases. Make sure everything is as clean as possible including cuts, concepts, audio, and video. I have dudes on my Facebook who post all the time every day, "new song snippets," or "working on something new," etc. Although it may be consistent and frequent, the honest truth is that the quality of it isn't as great. So now I don't really tune in when people say something like, "Music video coming soon," knowing the visuals are cheap just like all the rest of his snippets. It's really hard to take someone seriously when quality isn't the greatest and is never improving. People want to be amazed every time they watch videos. The best way to keep fans happy is by putting out high-quality videos out as frequent as possible.

_"Quality is not an act; it is a habit."- Aristotle_

•  Your Homework

Have a preselect few of your fans who really take the time for feedback. Sometimes I pre-release stuff to them first and they are more than happy to be the first ones to watch. Ask them if they think it is good. Try to get people who will give honest opinions, even if the truth isn't what you'd like to hear sometimes. I often find it hard to ask family members, as they could be the ones crippling you with dishonest feedback. Make a list of suggestions for improving the videos; ask them if this is the absolute best. If they can make at least 3 suggestions to improve your video with your approval on them, you'll know your video wasn't of the highest quality. For the next video, incorporate the adjustments and repeat the steps.

Consistency

Quality goes hand in hand with consistency when looking at success. When you start to become consistent with your work people will start to notice. Whether you've got the talent or not, that's not going to matter because eventually, people are going to respect your grind. They will continuously see you on their Facebook timelines, Instagram, and Twitter. They'll know that you mean business. If you were bad at anything, eventually after putting in work week after week, you will improve and start to become the person you need to be to obtain success. People will see you respect your time on your craft and start to give you the credit that you deserve. Every time you hit a goal and are consistent with them, it's a win morally and helps motivate you to continue. Beating on your craft every day you will help you to master your craft. When I look at the years I put into YouTube, I realize I was horrible at first. I barely knew how to play guitar, I always sang, but I wasn't anything special. I did it sorely for fun and didn't think I would ever make any money from it. This was a passion of mine. I decided I wasn't going to be afraid of sharing my love for my music. I would post week after week; I had no fans at first, random ones here and there. I wish I knew more about keeping fans happy and all the things I'm teaching you now. The more and more I consistently did my thing, the more I noticed that lots more people were engaged in my stuff.

The thing about consistency too is that most people aren't watching or even caring at first. Let's be honest, people make tons of time for YouTube, but in general, everyone has a busy life. They will miss some of your posts, but if you are consistent, it gives them an opportunity to see you because you will always be in their feed. I'm not saying that you should always put stuff out rushed and is ultimately junk; don't compensate quality EVER! Even for consistency. But that being said, always make time so that you can reach deadlines. Realistically, if you break down one week for a video, it's not hard. If you spend a couple hours a day for something you want as a career someday or are passionate about, then it should be easy.

_"Consistent action creates consistent results" - Christine Kane_

•  Your Homework

On a scale of 1-10 think about how consistent you are with your deadlines. If your goal is 1 video a week, is that demand being met? If YouTube is all about consistency, you have to see where you are inconsistent. This is a make or break point, so decide on what your goal is and either make it happen every week or choose a different business to get into.

When to Post

Not a lot of people consider this, but is there actually a right time to post? A certain day? A specific hour? As a general rule of thumb, I would suggest Thursday, Friday or Saturday. If you look it up on Google, you will find an updated list of days of the weeks and times. Maybe on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, people are too caught up at work. On Sundays, maybe people are too busy, hung-over, relaxing or watching a football game. When I used to do my thing on YouTube, my safest bet was always Thursday. I don't know if most of the people I knew always went out on Fridays and Saturdays. I would always know it wasn't a good time for me to post. Again, for the updated lists you can just Google Best time to post in 2017. Remember, you have to know your audience. If your audience is younger, maybe they won't mind Friday, Saturday and Sundays. It might be the days they can browse on YouTube all day.

I also never post on Friday or Saturday night - I find it's a party night. If they are young and they aren't in school, they are busy doing stuff. You have to think of more than just your general audience at first. Later on, you can start looking at the stats to see exactly when they tune in. What about you? What time of the day are you usually watching YouTube? For me, it is always in the evening where I find myself watching anything from cats dancing to workout videos. People watch YouTube in their downtime; most times they don't want to think. Now, what does this mean to you? We want to make it easy for them to know when you are going to post, so when you pick the day you think most people will most likely tune in, keep it there, and don't change it. From now on, you religiously become a Thursday post-a-video person.

Think of it like a TV show. If you know there is an all new Simpsons episode every Sunday at 7pm, chances are if you like Simpsons, you will set the date in your mind and keep it open. At least your fans will know on Friday if they had work Thursday and missed your post that if they check your channel, they know there will be a new video there waiting for them. They know what to expect every week. If you tell them straight up "New Video Every Thursday" that allows them to set a mental date in their mind so they can come back.

This is what you have to do with your YouTube. I don't even watch TV anymore; everything's online now. So make sure you capitalize on this and get some consistency in your posts. They aren't going to bother going to your channel randomly waiting for any random video from you. Set up a schedule.

_"Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time." -Arnold H. Glasgow_

•  Your Homework

Research your fans by looking at the statistics. Where they are from? Think about their time zones, especially if your whole fan base is in Asia. Cater to them, because this is going to be your main fan base at first. Secondly, pick a day you are going to post from now on. Then in every video, drill into people's heads "THIS DAY" of the week a new video will always be there.

Got no Style

Are you finding that you admire people on YouTube and think to yourself "I don't know if I'm that cool?" Especially when you are just starting it's a very nerve-racking experience to put yourself out there for the world to see. What you have to understand is most YouTube videos are well thought out and most people, who look like they are comfy on camera, are either natural talents or work really hard to perfect their face and hand gestures. If you feel like you have tons of style and charisma and your style speaks to a big YouTube audience, then ignore this section and move on.

If you feel your channel needs more style and personality that you don't quite have yet, no problem! My answer is to steal it from somebody else. Okay maybe stealing sounds wrong, and that statement doesn't really make sense to you. Maybe the right word would be to "borrow." If you are almost living in a shadow with no sense of identity, don't be ashamed. The camera tends to dull people out and they have difficulties handling the pressure of their first time on camera. I've seen a ton of videos where I'm one of the 5 views they have, and after watching just one, one was enough. They are probably thinking that making videos for them won't create a promising future. Mainly because they were BORING! They didn't seem interesting at all and had no personality. Who can honestly say they love watching boring videos? Fortunately, there are things you can do, like borrow someone else's "swag." Okay, I hate that word, you probably do too. But the main part of this is to act like them if you want to successful like them. To some, this may sound like this is you being fake, but if you don't have a style, then ultimately you're digging yourself a grave. Fake is all perception at the end of the day, that's why the crazy party animals who turn up on a Saturday are the same ones singing in the choir at church on a Sunday. Sometimes you just need to fake it to make it! I'm not saying no one will understand your brand or who you truly are; I'm just saying if you don't have personality, most YouTubers won't give you a chance.

Generation after generation, styles are borrowed. If not that, people are influenced and tuned into their style. You take the greatest rappers of all time, and you hear who his influences are, then you start to understand why they became the rapper they were. The same principal applies here. You'll always hear music sampled. I'm a little bit older, so sometimes I'll hear samples of samples. People in their younger generations will think it's a brand new song. Their styles helped mold the type of people they were and the same will apply for you. When I say "borrow" a style, don't borrow for it forever. Use it, mold it and then create your own. Eventually, you start to mix different styles of people you love and your own together, and that becomes your style. I might get a lot of hate for this topic, but I don't care. I'm not saying don't be original; I'm just saying if you are an artist, with no idols, no role models, no real talent in your circle, then it's good to start with what you know works well as a foundation.

Pick someone you really look up to. Take things that they do that really mesh with your style. I'm not saying steal everything, and even if you do, do it until you can figure out the style that works best with you and your personality. It's nice to cover a song. That doesn't mean I'm copying it straight up. It's nice to give it your own flavour and make it your own. It's a really useful tip for people who don't know where to start or just find themselves out of the loop. When I first started, I only listened to acoustic music and hip-hop. With no style, I mixed the two together and did a rap song on guitar which ended being where I had most of my success. I went on to perform tons of acoustic hip-hop at concerts and shows which was very different for people to hear at the time. However, they loved it and embraced my style! So what started out as a musician lost with no style, I ended up creating my own type of acoustic hip-hop style. Don't be afraid to try out different peoples' styles.

_"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." ― Oscar Wilde_

•  Your Homework

If you have no style or just want to improve and add more tools to your style and be more unique, pick your top 3 idols. Study them and try to mimic them. The next step is to mesh all of it together along with your style and see what you get.

*Copyright issues: I'm sure you know YouTube hates when you use other peoples content. Try not to build your brand around it because when you get big enough for YouTube to notice, your videos will get flagged one after the other and you'll have to start from scratch. Just a heads up while we're talking about copying.

Trends

When you are a YouTuber, you'll dream of going viral, but as your post and post, you'll realize the journey of a steady fan base that will stay with you means SO much more. Especially when your buzz goes away, and people are onto the next thing. But there's still an important lesson to learn there where you can use it to your advantage and have a bit of both. This may or may not sound like an obvious one, but no matter what you are doing, you must follow trends. Trends are seeing what's hot right now and making some content around it. I know a lot of people who make mainstream music are often called "sell outs." But whatever you choose to call it, these guys are the popular ones on YouTube and probably making the most bank. I'm not telling you to be disingenuous for who you truly are, but trends are the easiest way to find some new fans that are looking for something to follow.

Doing something trendy may lock in fans based on what is popular right now for people who may not have paid attention to you otherwise. Let's say you are a singer and only believe in singing 90s hip-hop style originals. To be quite honest, not a lot of people are going to vibe with originals. There might be a good crowd for it, but not as huge as TOP 40. How many times do you see someone out there on your Facebook saying "please check out my new original song"? Even if you're asking just your friends. I'm not saying I have bad friends, but if I'm not literally like shoving new music in their faces, like "please take 2 minutes of your life and let me know what you think", they would never really take the time to click. That doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad content or anything. Most of the time, when they gave me the time of day they are like "yeah you know what that was pretty good thanks for sharing." But I can't blame them for the lack of support because let's be honest, no one does. I support local because I know how it feels and I've been there where there's been a lack of support. Even your closest family or friends sometimes won't take the time share and really get your message out there. But if I was honest with myself, it's not always intriguing to me when somebody local posts something new. Nothing about it catches my eye. In most cases no one clicks, no one really supports because your brand are just not big enough yet. We as starting YouTubers don't have big money to just throw on ads and marketing. Usually, we are just chasing dreams. We don't have cash to throw in the air to try to make them come true. Now let's say you have a new video and you are saying "Check out my Drake - one dance cover." If it's a really popular, hot song, they will already love the song and it will be a lot easier for them to get on board when it is something familiar to them. There's always a lack of support in the beginning, until you get your real buzz going.

What I would recommend is covering a really popular song, put in your style and in doing so, it gives them a chance to recognize your talent. This might lead to them visiting your channel to check out more. If you can lock them in as a fan of your covers, they are more likely to be open to your original music. In my experience, it's never been the other way around. For me personally, even if I hate a song that comes out, if I look online the same day within hours, I guarantee people are trying to cover it. That goes without saying that if you are part of the first batch, you're going to get some exposure. YouTube is a community, and they love seeing new stuff. Sometimes I'll see covers and be like "man, that was good," then I go check them out to see what their all about. I mean this is a direct reference to music, but it applies to everything. If you're blogging, make sure you stay up-to-date on current events and review how you felt when this celebrity slept with this one, etc. Catch some fans that don't give you the opportunity right away. They might think you're funny, they might like your smile, and in most cases that's how you really get them to tune in for more. Just remember: it's easier for people to get on board when it's something they are familiar with. The "don't talk to strangers" rule is pretty much how they will treat new and unfamiliar content.

_''My goal is to spread ideas. Trends always start at the top''. - Homaro Cantu_

•  Your Homework

Subscribe to channels that always do new music. As a matter of fact, go on a site with music similar to yours and just research where I can find the newest music, the underground music. If you are a blogger, chances are you are always talking about the newest events going on. That's why TMZ is in business - people always want to know the scoop. And whoever is the first one to have it, that is where people will tune in. Just don't be the last. Don't cover a song that's 5 years old unless it's close to your heart. If you are competing with 5000 different covers 5 years later, chances are the exposure for that song has died as well. Sign up to blogs that stay updated on current events related to you. Start hopping on trends because that's where most of the active people are especially on the internet.

Mass Recordings

Now here's one of my biggest tips, we've talked about consistency, and we've talked about quality. Maybe some of you guys are fed up with saying how? How can you possibly keep this momentum up all the time? You don't have all the time in the world. On top of that, you don't feel good all the time. Life happens. Life can hit you in so many ways; can kick you down to the ground where some days YouTube won't even be in a realm of what you are thinking about. If you have a serious break up, I'm sure you aren't really in the mood to smile and make an uplifting video (maybe if you are a blogger, you might want to be honest and roast your ex). More likely than not, when we aren't feeling motivated or have a lack of inspiration, it's hard to make videos when your heart's not in it. How can you make quality videos when your heart's not in it? We must find a way. Yes, sadly the show must go on because once you take a big hiatus, you will lose a ton of fans. I know from experience. I took a year off of YouTube, life happened, and it was too much for me. Post after post of weekly stuff for years, most of it goes to waste if you stop for a few years. There's even celebrities you don't hear about if they are actively in the "scene". The same applies for you.

My close friend who used to be my mentor and videographer passed away. After that, I just didn't want to touch music. There was just no life behind it. I did mention in my intro that I stopped doing YouTube after a while. It took too much out of me and I didn't want to work with any other videographers. Plus I was horrible at editing my own. Though I'm better now, I know that one day I'll return to YouTube consistently with passion in my eyes. It's so sad and pretty depressing, but he would always say "we roll with the punches." Now I get it, more than ever. Now I don't want to discourage people at this point to say you are bound to stay within these rules; I'm just saying if you take time off, you are going to lose some fans. If something bad happens, usually you still go to work, right? That's how your YouTube should be treated if you are trying to make a business out of it. Your fans are going to want to see new content, and if you take a big break they can always find another. Now that I've talked about all the negatives and the risk, let's talk about what we can do. This, if anything, is probably the best advice I can give.

Mass Record

If you are having a great day of music, why stop? Bang out ten videos. Now the tendency of this is when you record ten you almost can't wait to share. So instead of waiting, you start sharing 2 videos a day and people are overwhelmed that you post too much. Hold off on posting those and save them for a rainy day, a day where you don't feel motivated. Have them ready because we all know life happens. It feels so good to know if you have 10 videos that means you have 2 and half months extra to be creative. Always try to stay ahead; I would always have at least 2 weeks extra to give yourself that time to help meet deadlines when the creative juices aren't flowing. I remember I would record all the songs then the next day, outfit after outfit I would change clothes, change scenario, and we would shoot a ton of videos to get ahead.

Once you start feeling the pressure of being consistent, if you apply this tip you'll feel a ton of relief. Think about the days that are certain too. Christmas always happens. Halloween always happens. There are always certain events. For me, if I'm feeling inspired and don't know what to cover or write, I'll do a Christmas song because I know when it's that time of year I'll already have a Christmas song ready. It's as easy as that. Preparing ahead of time and giving yourself tons of time to be creative and not have to rush. People can tell when your heart's not in it. So on a good day, make them count. Don't just stop at one. Do as many as you can. Usually, you can do 3 or 4 when you're in a good mood. You'll thank me later.

_You can't get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good. -Jerry West_

•  Your Homework

When motivated to go, brain storm a ton of videos you can do and then record all of them. Yes. Aim for posting once a week. But for actually creating (whenever you have the motivation and willpower to create) create as many as possible. Try to get ahead, so you don't feel the stress of coming up empty on a promise to post every week.

The Cost of Free

Everybody wants something for free. Nobody can say no to free. Here's what I've learned from all my experience about free. For me, it all depends on what stage of your life you're at when you decide on giving things for free (doing free shows, free collabs, giving free collabs, getting free collabs, getting free videos from videographers, getting free beats from producers, everything free, etc).

When I first started doing music, any show no matter what, I was down to perform. I wanted that. I was hungry for exposure. The thought of new faces seeing me every time, possible fans, sky's the limit. But if you do so many shows and they are always free, and you know you're good, why do it for free? You've put your time in to become good at what you do, they reached out to you because they know you are worth it. You have your following, tons of people bought tickets from you just to see you, so why aren't you getting paid?

This is the time you have to evaluate your worth. People are going to come to the show because you're going to be there too. For example, I might get paid $150 for 15 minutes to be an open act. To some, it may sound crazy, like I'm overpaid, you know? That's $600 bucks an hour which sounds insane! But for anyone who beats on their craft, they know if you have 2 months to prepare for a show, chances are you practiced every other day for 30 days. And in those 30 days, you put in 5 hours. When you break it down like that, you're only making less than half of minimum. So really know and realize what your're worth. If you work hard and you know you make good music, don't undercut yourself by cheap promoters. This is not related to charity shows; I still enjoy doing charity shows as long as 100% goes to charity. I'm actually at the point where I would only do a show if:

A) They are my close friends asking a favour

B) Its 100% for charity

{Sometimes people get it twisted. When it's not all for charity, the guys who run it make a ton of money, not fair to you so always ask Is it completely for charity. They might lure you saying it's a charity event.}

C) I know and love the main performer and would be honoured to open for them

D) For money

Now, this is just an example but I'm sure as a YouTuber you have something to offer or share with the world, and since you work on it all the time it wouldn't be fair to always take on free gigs. I find it easy to get taken advantage of. Music is a cold industry and I'm sure most artists can relate. But if you've honestly worked on your craft and know you can put on a good show, then charge money for it, or nobody will take you seriously. Otherwise you'll always be a filler act. I'm from a small city of Winnipeg and I started this book to help other people in this community by giving them some perspective based off of all my experience. There's tons of talent here but in most cases, my city is a place where dreams come to die just because of the lack of support. I don't know if they are scared to support, thinking it lowers them somehow. I don't know what it is. But what I do know is that whenever somebody from my friends "makes it" so to say (meaning they have big successes) that's when everyone wants a piece and pretends they were your "Day One Fans." I mean it's unfortunate, but that's how it goes. It didn't matter if they paid me or not, you know I love music; I'll always write music and I'll always work on music even when I don't post or if I say no to shows. I'm sure you didn't get this book solely for the money; it was so you could reach your potential and pursue your dreams. So really know what you are capable of and how much time you spend improving yourself. Don't be afraid to ask for what you are worth.

Now as for you spending money, everyone moans and groans about this. People are always looking for a "hook up" or asking if you know someone who can do it cheaper. As for me, I always offer to pay when I do music with anyone in the business. If they don't accept payments, I don't work with them. Why, you ask? Here are some reasons:

1) Because I take them seriously

[Do you want to be taken seriously and have money spent on you? Spend the money for top quality stuff on your end.]

2) Respect their time

[Time is 100X more important than money. Pay for their time if they have the skills you need to help you.]

3) I want it done right

[When it's free, you have no control over it. You don't want to be the person who complained over a video not looking good, and the person says "well, it's free so why are you complaining?" Makes sense to me. You need to pay or do it yourself if you want things right.]

4) They deserve the money

[If they spend time on a project that only benefits you, they deserve to be paid for their time. Sometimes I feel like I underpay people just because they don't see how valuable they are. If you get help, pay them appropriately.]

This is obviously different from cross-promo which I will talk about later. But even then, sometimes it's hard to do cross-promo. To be blunt, when geting stuff done for free, you get what you pay for. There are so many risks that I would never give people advice and tell them to be cheap and try to get it for free. Sure, free sounds good. But when you spend lots and lots of time on things just for it to turn out wrong and you have no control over it because its free (so you have no say), that's when free is WQRSE than paying. There have been countless times where I've worked with music engineers and when I asked them how much to charge, they didn't have a number. Of course, free sounds appealing until my songs ended up unfinished.

The master copy never gets sent and the dates are always pushed back. What was once an idea I thought would take off, ended and died there. The inspiration and the waiting killed the momentum. It is the same thing with videographers. I've had bad experiences with me taking time out of my day, and sometimes even time off of work. Times where I've had no sleep because I have to shoot videos and life is still happening. Times where I've paid for gas to go to locations, paid for their meals and THAT shit ain't cheap. So when there's no final product, they become flakey, and then they stop returning your messages or calls, it gets pretty tough and feels like shit.

Make sure to draw up a contract and pay the fee to get it done right. Don't count on a friend of a friend who doesn't know how much they are worth either. That means they don't take themselves seriously. I'm not here to put anyone in particular on blast. I understand people are busy, but given if they had accepted payment, you would be able to make the deadlines. My advice is, if they don't know what to charge, or aren't going to charge you, don't bother. Save your money and pay a professional to do it, because time is the most important thing and you don't get it back if you waste it. It's hard to know what their work ethic is. You just have to treat it as a lesson for you to not do anything with them in the future. Make sure to view their profile of work and let them know exactly what kind of deadline you are on before letting them accept your project. I don't want to make it seem like free is the worst thing in the world either, it's all preference. As for my experience, 95% percent of projects that were free ended up being junk or non-existent. Take this as a warning, because I know people are so drawn to trying to get free help, especially when just starting out. Cross-promo is of course so different which I will talk about next (if both parties equally gain from it). When it is free, don't expect much. If you find a gem who can pull it off for free, consider yourself lucky.

On the plus side, I've worked with a couple of great guys for cross-promo and we've been making awesome videos. So don't think that my overall message is that free isn't always good. I'd love to give a huge shout to Jerome Santome - he's a fantastic videographer. If you are looking for a professional videographer, he's always made deadlines. He knows his stuff, he's fast, reliable, and delivers high-quality content. We've put together a couple of videos, and his work is just amazing. Here's his website:

**https://jeromesantome.com/**

_"In this world, you get what you pay for." ― Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle_

•  Your Homework

Define your level and how many works you have put into practice and have performed. What is your worth? Everybody likes to avoid those questions especially when they've never been paid for gigs. What's your budget like? What would you be willing to do for free? Learn when to say NO. These are all some concepts to think through, so take some time to write it down because it might give you some clarity as to what path you want to pursue.

Cross-Promo

Now that I've touched base on this a bit, I want to go a little more in-depth. For those of you who don't know what cross-promo is, its pretty much a trade-off of skills. You are trading skill for skill with somebody and you help each other in the way you need to be helped. You both have something to offer and you both can benefit from helping each other. I am a musician but I've done cross-promo with fitness trainers and enthusiasts, rappers, artists, models, clothing brands, etc. It helped me not only increase my fans, but also put me in different communities. Utilizing this tool this can be one of your biggest opportunities for reach.

This takes a lot of people skills. If you can't sell yourself, chances are other people aren't going to want to work with you. The easiest way at first is to reach out to friends who do it. It's easy to get excited about doing projects with friends and get to brainstorming. Cross-promo can be an exciting project, but can also be a catastrophe. Make sure this is someone you can actually collaborate with. You'll notice some will have an ego and some people are willing to work on it. Cross-promo is a partnership on a project. Depending on their status, most are usually open to do cross-promo. In most cases, everybody has something to gain from collaboration. If they have a ton of fans and you don't, sometimes the friend card can help when asking for a favor. I always thought it was so odd that some people with no credentials are more of the type to be full of themselves.

Whomever you choose to collaborate with, make sure it is a good fit and that you aren't just doing it because you want exposure from their fans. The goal is to make a great project with the best of both your worlds. Always try to find somebody who is just starting out or is on your level. Obviously, the quality might not be as high as a paid job. But to have another YouTuber with credibility will makes you look professional and show you respect the talent of the YouTube community. You might also gain them as a fan in the process, making your long-term relationship strong. When you both need support, you can help each other by sharing and promoting each other's videos. You know when somebody else shares your video, their fans are likely to tune in. Make sure that everybody has something to gain from the result of the video, whether your skills lie in building fans, promoting, money, or maybe just helping out of the kindness of your heart.

Network

Build a group of friends who are just starting. Join groups. Get in touch with friends of friends. Cross-promo: you help me get a video going; I help you get exposure from my fans. In most cases, if you are taken seriously, these people don't need you to pay. That's not to say they aren't worth it, that's just to say they know the outcome will bring them business. You are the model of their work and giving the business of everyone else who wants their videos to be just like yours. Everybody wants to charge people for work but when it comes down to it, do they have the credentials? Ask yourself that. I couldn't believe when some dude I've never even heard of, told me he wanted to work with me cross-promo. Then I looked him up and couldn't find anything on him. In good faith, I was kind of like "yeah man what you have in mind? I'd be open to collaborating" and he was like "cool man I charge $100." This blew me away. I said outloud "whoa." Not to disrespect this guy, he was a pretty decent rapper. But without that following of fans, I wasn't really gaining anything from it. If I'm going to pay you $100 when you asked me for cross-promo, you better make sure you come to the table with everybody gaining something. A decent rapper on my track means nothing if I could spend $100 for a rapper with credentials and tons of fans.

Where to Start If You Don't Have the Credentials?

Best thing to do is find somebody like you, just starting out and hungry to get their name out there as bad as you want to get your name out there. If you truly like their work, say straight up "I love your work. I don't have any money to fund these projects, but I think we'd do damage." Nothing's better than a finished product with everyone commenting and showing love. It's pretty much saying "You're right. Thanks for making us work on this project." Collaborations can be a great thing, but make sure your work ethic is the same. Choose someone you can really work with. Don't chase views. Chase some good long-term partners to collab with where the results are always magical. It's nice when people can see you in a different light. Also, don't charge them if you are the one asking for a favour. Common sense is not too common as my example above. Always show what you can offer first. If that helps them, they will be willing to work with you.

_"The way to achieve your own success is to be willing to help somebody else get it first." -Iyanla Vanzant_

•  Your Homework

Find possible collaborations, feel them out, meet with them, discuss goals, and ask people who've worked with him how their collaborations went. Treat it like an interview; make sure you bring enough to the table too before asking bringing up the thought of collaboration. Pick 1 at a time, and then use trial and error. At the end of a video, you can clearly come to the conclusion towards whether or not this was a waste of time or if it can lead to a possible future collab.

The YouTube Cold Call

I'm sure everyone has heard somewhere that if you do door-to-door for a few years, those are the only sales experience you will need in life. Whether this is true or not, I've found tons of success from it. It gets you used to people saying no as well as the fear and anxiety we have of being scared of rejection. This will feel like cold calling, but sometimes for YouTube you've got to get out of your comfort zone and sell yourself. You'll thank yourself once you've grown from the process. We post videos yet somewhere deep down we don't want to ask others to share it. This one is super tough but effective if you can do it properly. It works! Create a script and start messaging people on YouTube.

The first thing to do would be to message your subscribers, which is the easiest because they are already onboard and support your channel. Then, ask your family and friends. In most cases, they never share your videos just out of the sheer knowledge that they don't know how much it means to you. If you ask them to, most will be happy to help. Next, try acquaintances. Most will say no, most will ignore you and some will delete you. But would you really want them in your life in the long run if they are around you and never want to support you? I'm sure anytime a random or old friend has messaged and said "hey can you support my cousin in a contest? All you have to do is click on the photo and like." Sometimes I do it, and sometimes I don't. But if they don't ask me, I have no idea that there is even a contest to be had.

Lastly, find random people and try to keep them in respect to your niche. Properly reach out and ask for suppor because there are billions of people in the world. So if you can't find a few of them who can support you, you are probably in the wrong profession. Go to a target niche and see who is viewing their videos. If they have active users and you message them, chances are they will be interested in viewing your stuff too. Pitch it properly. Otherwise, you just come off as a psycho. And of course, nobody wants that. Let them know "I saw your comment on a video I really like too and I was wondering if you can check my channel out as I do a similar style." You have to understand not everyone is going to like your video, and maybe 1000 people will say no. Just focus on the 1 that you DO get. Get comfortable with rejection and move on. This really is a grind, but how much are you willing to go through to chase your dreams? I have fans that are still with me after I haven't posted real content in years. Some overseas that I've never met, some from in-person contact through performances I've done. But if you aren't continually sharing it in their faces and asking for their support, you won't be very successful in building your channel.

_One of the most important keys to success is having the discipline to do what you know you should do, even when you don't feel like doing it. -Todd Smith_

•  Your Homework

What I would do before anything is to find someone pretty close to you (in terms of style) who is also just starting out. Pay attention to who is following them and see who the most active commentors are and reach out to them. Say something like, "you know I love and watch the same videos as you and we commented on the same page. I have a similar style of music. If you wouldn't mind taking the time to watch, I would really appreciate it." The easier fans are your current fans, family, and friends, but also try to expand your network by reaching out to strangers.

Being Humble

To be one of the best, you have to think like one of the best. You must work hard like you are second place but are hungry for first. When you think you are the best, that's when all the learning and improving stops. Some of us get to our best form and forget what it took to get there. They ease off, they don't maintain, and soon enough they disappear. Then when they realize all the hard work doesn't stop, they don't have enough in them to start over again. NEVER let your ego get the best of you. Always be in a state of mind where you are willing to learn, no matter how much people gas you up. Everyone has a piece of gold that we can extract from them, even if it means knowing who you don't want to be. We can always learn what people are doing right; even the ones we think can't provide us any useful information. If you consider people who have lower results than you regarding fans, viewership, venues, it can be easy to see what they are doing wrong in most cases. Now if you are looking at the top at your own videos (compared to bigger names), it's safe to say you have a ton to learn as well.

Be teachable by people who achieved way better results than you have. Look and reach out to the ones with expertise. Does he/she have the knowledge you want? Do they have the results you want? Many people think they know it all and say its luck when somebody around them is successful. They are unable to listen to people who know more than they do by saying that "it's just not their thing." Sometimes if people aren't teaching you, it's good to take a look at yourself and see yourself with honesty. What can you improve on? To contrast your videos, find someone who's the most successful in what you do and play your video right beside theirs. You'll be able to see the difference and understand why they are as successful as they are.

Stay level headed - it's good to be confident in your talents. But if you think you are the best already, you'll never want to improve. Always have the mentality that if you are number 2, you should continue learning and getting better. If you are number 1, your job is to defend that title and continually put out your best work.

_"In a humble state, you learn better" John Dooner_

•  Your Homework

Find mentors who have exactly what you want out of YouTube, people who are above your level. Reach out and ask them for experience and advice. Pay for their dinners and ask to interview them. Ask all the questions you need. Work under them for free so that you can see what steps they took to make a successful video.

Being Prepared

Let's say in a big case scenario, somebody sees you live and is so fascinated by you. They are excited and they want to work with you. People are interested and want to do business with you, and you've been trying to get your foot in the door for a long time. You've been searching for buying customers and returning fans. They might have heard of you through a friend of a friend that says you might have what it takes to take your career to the next level. Maybe you've been trying to work with certain producers or trying to get played on radio stations. Maybe you are a blogger who just got an opportunity to be published on a huge platform. Not only will you need a good first impression, sometimes successful people just have readiness.

Do you have a website ready? Your calling card? Your product? Do you know what your goals are? Ask yourself, are you even ready for the opportunity or have you wasted your spare time partying? Opportunities come and go, but whether you are ready for them is another question.

It's okay to not have all those things if the realistic part of you is saying you are broke. You are an amateur right now and can't afford to put money into your craft. But in most cases, those things are cheap to have and give you great credibility. I mentioned it in an earlier chapter, but this is when those times are needed. Sometimes all you need is at least a plan, it doesn't have to be carried out in full, but if people don't see you as a long-term investment, chances are you aren't going to get that big deal you are looking for.

Do you have your professional headshots ready? Are they good quality?? Are they pretty recent? Do you have a CD ready? Albums? Your demo's music video profiles? If you are trying to bargain for a spot, make sure you are as best prepared as you can. There is nothing more embarrassing than when somebody wants proof of credentials and you aren't professional on your end. The difference between an amateur doing it for fun and a professional is how well you've prepared yourself, including the way you carry yourself and what you are prepared to do.

When you've been grinding constantly more likely than not, you are more prepared than anybody. If you have been vlogging for years, practicing inside and out all the different expressions you have to offer on your face and the opportunity arises for you to have your own webinar to speak publically, would you be ready? Do you have things you want to talk about, as well as your overall message? It could take months to come up with fresh material that isn't on your YouTube. What if your timeframe is only a few weeks? Always have extra things ready! The only way to stay sharp and keep improving is to grind and stay very active every day. Understand that sometimes people need other guys to fill spots. Sometimes people back out, and when any of those opportunities hit, that's when you'll strike and clean up. That's when your hard work speaks for itself.

So many times I've gotten shows when I've asked for the opportunity. But if you aren't ready to show up, you'll come off with bad results or seem unprofessional. Some people have a small time frame especially when you are getting gigs. Some people might call you a day before and say "hey we need a filler, the band fell out." Are you ready to perform tomorrow? Anyone can perform months in advanced notice, but only a few are ready to deliver ANYTIME. You must always be ready because an opportunity can happen at any moment. If somebody asked me to sing live, or even on karaoke, it may look like I'm being put on the spot. But it only seems like you are being put on the spot if you aren't prepared. For me, I've sung thousands of songs I can comfortably sing at any time. If ever that question comes up, I feel confident. You don't want to be on the spot and not have most of the answers to the questions people have about you, especially when you're supposed to be the master of your craft. That's why I always practiced, even when I had no gigs; I always worked on performing and visualizing crowds before the crowds were even there. So once it became a reality, I had already practiced and played it in my head a thousand times. Make sure you prepare for your best case scenario!

_"Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity" Seneca_

Being Prepared Part 2

Why Should I Choose You?

Like every job you've ever applied to, think of every YouTube video as job interview. You are trying to show them why you are the best for the job! Why your content should stand better than everyone else's. Just like a resume, all the things you've done towards your goal matter. When building your image, every milestone counts so keep track of it because later, it looks great and builds your credentials. When my friend said her talent recruiter friend was looking for a fresh new act, I immediately got excited and said, "introduce me!" Little to my knowledge, she said, "okay, all we need is a press kit, a list of your shows, headshots, your album, and website." CREDENTIALS. It was at that moment I knew I wasn't ready for what I thought I deserved. First of all, I didn't even know what a press kit was, so I had to Google it. It's pretty much a summary of all your work. That's the funny thing though, right? I wanted to be a famous singer, yet never googled "things a singer should prepare if trying to get a record deal." So make sure you are the expert in your market. Maybe my heart and practicing ethic was there. Maybe my songs that I wrote were great. Maybe I worked so hard with voice lessons every day. But the essentials I needed even for the basics weren't there. The knowledge of what ALL performers needed as a requirement. So when I say prepared, cover all grounds possible. No matter what it is you do, cover all the grounds that could make you the best at it.

•  Your Homework

Think about all the things that you should have ready if an opportunity should happen to take your channel. If your goal is tons of views and fans, what happens if your video goes viral? Are you ready to capitalize on it with the merchandise or lock them in with your email subscriptions? The time frame is always short, and you must act when an opportunity happens. Make sure when you get what you want, you are ready for what happens next.
CHAPTER FOUR – DURING THE VIDEOS

You made it! Now all the fun begins. These are the things you want to worry about during the making of a video.

Your Image

Believe or not your image could make or break your brand. I touched base on this in the structure section of SUX. I know some people might think "who cares about what I look like; I'm just trying to do my thing." OR "I want them to love me for me" and "what you see is what you get." There's so much more to your presence on how you want to be represented on YouTube. You wouldn't go to a wedding in a sleeveless shirt, and you also wouldn't wear shorts if your day job was in the office. YouTube can be a passion but if you are making it a part-time job, you have to treat it like a job when it comes to your overall image. This image also has to reflect on your everyday life, especially when you get bigger and bigger. Keep in mind this is the Internet, and in real life when people see you in person, they already have you dreamed up in their heads. I'm not superficial, but image is important.

When I first started, I took offense when somebody would comment on how I dressed or if I always swore in the outtakes. That's when the images would get mixed up; I was an acoustic singer singing love songs. So the image people draw up on me is "no swearing." I used to wear hats backwards and dress kind of gangsterish. People would give feedback like "you know I love that you do acoustic music, but it gives the wrong image when you dress like that." This for me should be a small sacrifice because I have to keep in mind, some of my fans and viewership could be younger kids. Now that I'm older I wished I could have set a better example. But instead I was like fuck it, I'm going to do what I want and dress how I want.

When I started doing a ton of hip-hop, I may have gained a ton of hip-hop fans, but it became way too hardcore for my acoustic fans causing me to lose a bunch. When you think about how small of a thing it is to change and how drastically your overall image is affected, I would have made myself look a lot more presentable and more approachable. Even finding a happy-medium of both looks could work if you are trying to be both hip-hop and acoustic. I'm not saying you always have to change according to what upsets your fans, I'm just saying that you should hear them out. More often than not, they are trying to point you in the right direction, and they support you. You don't have to go shopping for a new wardrobe, but be mindful about who's watching. You put yourself out there and you might be a role model. What kind of example are you trying to show for the next person who looks up to you and wants to pursue something like you? For me, I changed my look up when I realized so many young kids loved my music and loved playing acoustic music because of me. Which brings me to my next point.

Knowing your audience (I won't get too into this because there is tons of tutorials online about how to review all your stats bit by bit but mainly for me when I review), I just look for general stuff including whether they are male or female, what age range, and which videos have been the most popular. For me, I love all types of music, so it's no problem for me to do more of love songs if that's what most of my fans want to hear. Mine used to be 95% girl fans ages 13-30. I would honestly feel cooler when I would make a gangster hip-hop track, and my homies would get all excited and say this is the type of music I should do. Since they were my immediate crowd in real life, I continued to do that type of music over anything and over time I started to lose some of the fans that loved my acoustic sound. It's foolish to cater to the 5% in retrospect, especially when it's time to sell your album. It doesn't take a genius to know that I could have sold more albums if I paid more attention to the audience that actually truly supported me. Overall you do this for yourself, but keep in mind that with no fans, you don't have much to your name. It's the fans that give you the reputation. So whoever you are and choose to be on YouTube, make sure it's clear with not only your actions, but your overall image.

_"The most important thing to remember is you must know must know your audience. " -Lewis Howes_

•  Your Homework

Ask yourself, does the way I dress and the way I talk represent my brand properly? Am I contradicting myself? Make sure to really take care of your image and make sure it best represents what you stand for whether its, urban, classy, simple, etc.

Your Image - Fake It To Make It

I'm a firm believer in the laws of attraction that what you think about, you soon become. Look the part if you are trying to be a celebrity. Dress like a celebrity in your videos if you are trying to come off like a simple acoustic singer (for example, wear a plain white t-shirt). If you are trying to pull off the girl gamer, make sure you've got some Pikachu and Sailor Moon posters in the background or on your shirt. It's all about how people perceive you when you represent your brand.

•  Your Homework

Google how your idols dress - if it's the same genre, you'll notice tons of similarities. Take ideas and dress the part.

Your Presence

Now I know I just made the biggest spiel of dressing the part and faking it to make it. That's why when I say faking it; I mean it as if it upgrades you to the place you want to be, then do it, but only if it fits well with your personality. One thing you've got to do is to still be real and look authentic. Most people can't really fake that vibe, and that's why they look dull. People watching really feed off of the genuine vibe, though. So how do we accomplish this? Practice. If it you are not used to being animated on camera and it's not you, but you're not used to it. Practice. Pre-write the scripts you are going to say and practice them until they sound like you are doing it naturally - that's how you look authentic. At some point when you get really good, (especially when people bring up topics they want to hear about), you'll get to the point where you're really going off the top of your head and still sounding natural. But that doesn't come right away for most, so write scripts and practice.

Coming off genuine seems like something that's hard, but it really takes practice to be confident to say what you wrote. It's the only way to be believable. Like I said, you might have to get out of your comfort zone a bit when it comes being a little more animated. But for most, that's really huge in YouTube videos where people have more success. Appearance and presence is a pretty big deal, not a huge deal but definitely a factor. It's nice to look your best in the videos. I'm not trying to promote being fake or dolling up completely or anything, but I find it works in your favour if that's something you are okay with. Kind of a dumb concept, but for all my friends who kind of doll themselves up (whether it's the attention you want or not), it definitely gets results. I notice for some of my friends (whose content I don't vibe with too much, regardless if I'm supporting or not) I can definitely see a lot of male audience members tuning in for the simple reason being that: she's beautiful. She's okay with that because any exposure is good exposure.

Here are the keys to success to think about when doing a video.

1. Beg for conversation

Doesn't matter what topic you are trying to promote, you must be engaging and beg for a conversation. Ask people to interact

Beg for Conversation

  * Records like you're talking to someone. Don't be all indirect like (talking into a wall)

  * Topics that people will strongly agree or disagree

  * Ask questions

  * Answer questions

*Rehearse before anything until everything is natural

Tags

I know like everyone is kind of like "yeah, it's not rocket science", but let's dig into this a little further to optimize the usage. A lot of people use tags wrong.

Before we begin, don't ever use tags that aren't relevant to the video. When people are tricked and only visit your video for the first 10 seconds and then leave because it was fake, it actually hurts your YouTube channel and ranks you lower because the retention is lower.

Now let's use a general example of music. Let's use Justin Bieber - he's really popular. So let's find out why some peoples' covers get more exposure with less views.

Obviously to some extent, these guys have already worked pretty hard. So their following is big, they have lots of retention every time they post, and it's likely people will stay on the first page. However, it still gets you that extra traffic, especially in the beginning.

Let's use the song "Justin Bieber – Sorry" as an example. What sort of tags you would use for that?

I'm just assuming right now because clearly, I'm talking through this book to you, but from my experience, even people I've mentored always ask what types of tags you would use for this. They usually say something like:

"Justin, Bieber, sorry, music, pop "

And I mean that's good, that's a good start, but everyone for sure does that, you know? So when competing with other people, your chances are going to be a lot lower, so you need to start getting more specific to cover even more ground.

What you want to do is get into the habit of being more specific on tags, even if it seems tedious.

Use those, but also include other stuff like:

"Justin Bieber's Album name", "Justin Bieber", "Justin Bieber sorry", "Justin Bieber new", "Justin Bieber sorry cover", "Justin Bieber lyrics" , "Justin Bieber sorry 2016", "Justin Bieber acoustic", "Justin Bieber cover as much ground as you can. The more specific you are, the more chances you have of getting people to click on your videos.

These are all treated as separate phrases when people look it up, so that's one way to get more noticed when posting something related to Justin Bieber's - Sorry. If you just type in "Justin Bieber - Sorry", you don't know whose going to search for what.

Now here's another tip: Some people won't know the title of the song. And that's why I mentioned "Justin Bieber 2016" up there, but if there are common phrases in the song, I will put the phrase "is it too late now" as well "is it 2 late now". I know it sounds really tedious, but you get used to it. It literally takes like, two minutes. Just babble on about anything that could be related. Even when spelling his name wrong. To be honest, I don't know how to spell Bieber. So if I type it in, I might use tags like "Justin Beiber", "Jastin Bieber", or "Justin Beeber." Out of the billions tuning into YouTube, I know not everyone can spell everything properly. I'm sure you can name a time you just guessed the spelling of someone's name and you were still able to find the channel you were looking for. Some people are in a rush when they search, and that's one little tip to edge out other people who might just be typing in tags like "Justin Bieber sorry". If you look it up and look at the view counts, some on the front will have 2 million views. And some on the second page will have 25 million views. So it's not so much about the content as it is about keying in important words. The more clearly you can tag a video, the better the chance of other people seeing it.

•  Your Homework

Time yourself right now; see how many you can come up with in 2 minutes. Be creative and don't be lazy. If you are just posting generic tags like everyone else (or worse, not any tags at all) you are going to fall behind in competition with the people who are covering all of the specifics. Make sure you step up your TAG GAME!

In Video Checklist

This is a video checklist I made for you to have in your video and things that MUST be in each video. Follow this structure for your videos in order to have tons of success. This will be pretty lengthy, but if you can master this process, you will be able to engage in tons more viewers. Some of my "10 Step Guides" are in this section as they are the fundamentals for all videos:

Intro Of Videos

Title

A great title means all the difference. Would you rather watch: "guy sings country song" or "guy sings amazing version of country song"?

  * Be Clear

  * Be catchy

Tags

Using tags increases your chances of you getting found in the search engines.

  * Use All Related Words

Thumbnails

Thumbnails are the first thing people see and judge before they click.

Get creative and have fun with these

  * Nice colour schemes that go with your brand

  * Put text description in the thumbnail

Descriptions

A lot of people don't use this, but this is your best chance to be as lengthy as you want to be and use as many words related to your video as possible. This will help get you noticed in the search engines:

Use as many related words as you can

Plug in your social media accounts

Plug in key words to get you noticed

Websites

Download links

Make sure all links work

  * Make sure the raw video file is titled what you want it to appear as. Instead of CANON32.MOV, it's better to have Drake Song Cover.mov.

This all helps with ranking:

1. The Hook - Attention grabber 1-6 seconds of what the videos about

This is to grab the attention of your audience and reveal what your video is about.

2. Intro bumper your brand 5 seconds

Title brand logo, make it look nice, good audio, good animations; there are tons of free programs out there if you don't have a logo. MAKE ONE NOW! You can always rebrand, but if you aren't showing people your name on a consistent basis, you become forgettable.

Middle Content Rules/Tips

Annotations

This will show you where to insert little things, If you are new to annotations, they can be used for all different things from clicking to your next video to some text to call to action. I will be giving some general rules as well as tips on where you can place annotations:

1. Have good content good audio/video good content

After your intro, once you start getting into your content. Reference an older video with an annotation.

"In my earlier video, you saw me do this if you haven't checked it out here's the link here."

*This will get them to maybe take a detour and check your older video first, extremely effective when you have it in a series which I will talk about a little bit more in the future chapters.

2. Cut the BS

This rule is particularly for bloggers but can be utilized on all different styles. Cut the entire BS out. I read in an article that the attention span nowadays is close to 8 seconds. People don't have time to watch you think on camera for what you are going to say next, so make it is as short and crisp as possible. Don't put dry areas into your takes where there is silence and you are thinking on camera. Unless you are doing an awkward silence bit.

During the video, if you feel you've provided some content make sure you say words like "thumbs up", "subscribe", "if you enjoy this so far..." along with an annotation. They can be pretty general statements; it catches their attention while they are already watching your video and helps you rank.

E.g., "thumbs up for my smile."

"Thumbs up if you like this artist."

"Like if you love music."

Outro Bumper

  * Thank your fans for staying until the end of the video if they make this far!

  * Acknowledge that they just spent time watching and supporting you!

  * Remind them why the info you gave was important

  * Display all your social media links, so they know where to find you

  * Make sure to have a subscribe button annotation at the end

  * Outtakes if you are funny otherwise don't.

  * Mention which day of the week you are going to post "every Friday tune in for the best reviews on gossip."

  * Have the preview of your next video at the end of each video

This is the most important thing you can do. Always make another link. They visually get to see what the next video is about if they are interested and it's accessible right away. Have you ever been browsing for basketball dunks and then find yourself just clicking and watching the next video? Then after two hours, you've watched cat videos, Japanese pranks, workout tips, and how to start a thought?

Most people might produce some good content, but since they are such small channels they usually get lost or can't be searched again. Make it easy for your viewers by making your next video clickable, and I guarantee your exposure will increase like crazy. By you making a video preview link where they can click instantly, you will get them to watch the next, and the next, another one, another one, another one (don't sue me, DJ Khalid).

CTA

If you are unfamiliar, this means Call to action. This is the step most people overlook. You must ask your audience to do something for them to do it. If you don't say subscribe, they won't.

Some great examples to say in the outro of your video are:

"Please rate, comment, subscribe and let me know what you thought."

"Please download my new song at this link."

"Please follow my other social media accounts for NEW unreleased content."

"If you are still watching message down below what you want to see in the next video."

"Share with a friend. "

*Also make sure these are at the end of the videos. So many times I see people put it at the beginning of a video and I have no idea why. Why would anyone want to subscribe to you at first? Provide value and entertainment them. Prove you are worth watching, and THEN ask for the CTA.

Analysing Data

Of course, this is not the most exciting part of YouTube but it is really important. The more you pay attention to this, the biggest advantage you have at locking down a great audience. Knowledge is power. I won't go crazy with this topic because there are hundreds of tutorials online, so there could probably be a whole book on what you can do with the data YouTube gives.

  1. See what type of videos work the best to get most views.

  2. Continue to do more of those

See what age, what type, what sex. Cater if it fits your style.

•  Your Homework

Fix up the structure of your videos. Think to yourself, where do you lack the most? Once you start applying all of these techniques I GUARANTEE, you will start seeing results. Most people don't know these steps, or maybe they do,  but they apply them at the wrong times. Start including all these steps in your videos.

Outsourcing

I don't know if you are guys familiar with this term, but this is the step between being cheap by doing it yourself, and having to overpay a local professional. I've been on both sides of the spectrum so let's start with being cheap.

Being Cheap

For me, I invested in a high def camera recently, but not a crazy one. For me, if I'm just talking in the video right now, 1080P is fine with me. I don't need it any clearer. But before that, my camera was ghetto. As for my editing skills, I mean they are mediocre but honestly if you take the time to watch YouTube tutorials on how to properly use your editing software, I think anyone can be amazing at it. I used to use Cool Edit Pro for like 10 years of doing music, and most peoples' minds were blown when I used to tell them that I use such an outdated program. But I was just so familiar with it and I knew every little function and every effect. I can mix and master my songs, although some sound good some don't. From a professional mixing standpoint, they probably don't sound that great, but for listeners who don't know much about how a song should be mixed, it passes. That's the DIY approach which I'm sure most people do. It's a great way when you're starting, but when you start to want to get more serious about your craft, it's time to see professionals.

Being Expensive

For songs that are really important to me, I always go to the studio and spend money. I'm from Winnipeg and I've worked with so many audio engineers here that charge anywhere from free sessions (not many times in my life) to 65 bucks an hour. To roughly break it down, most times I'm there 4-6 hours, and maybe 3 separate days to fix things ($975). This is fair. Sometimes they are pretty good; sometimes you walk out knowing better. It's a little tough especially when you are just starting out and trying to make a passion into something real. I remember this one music video was around $1200 plus renting the space, plus buying the liquor and food. The song itself to mix/master the beat was $50 bucks online. I had to be in the studio so many times (I spent around $400) just to get the sound right. Man, it was crazy expensive. It was a fun project, but was so expensive. No one can afford to do that every week. Sometimes you just want to say "fuck this song" but you've already invested so much time that you think it has to work. I've put so many songs down in the studio which end up going unreleased. It was such a waste of time and money. But sometimes the engineers don't find your sound, and sometimes I didn't prepare enough beforehand. So I mean it's not that I don't want to support local, but some people in my city charge way too much. I don't mean to disrespect them, but it's just such a small city, so there are only a few people that come to mind when deciding who to hire. Even if I loved what they do, most of the time, I can't afford it. Especially when our goal is one video post a week. This brings me to the medium that I recommend.

Being A Baller On A Budget AKA Outsourcing

What is outsourcing? Imagine sending your job to be done across the world, and some smart person will do a great job for cheap. That's my definition of it anyways. They literally can do EVERYTHING. They do it faster than you and better than you. Cheaper than any local you can find. When it comes to graphics, website design, mixing mastering audio, editing videos. Some guys I've hired are from the Philippines or India and if you live in Canada like me, the difference in currency really helps stretch out cash. These guys are professionals in other countries who can do what you want for cheap. You know you can make the videos yourself, but you have to ask yourself, "Do I do this good enough that people will take me seriously?" There is nothing worse than amateur video. This is YouTube, not YouPorn. For me, most of the time I outsource to save time and money and most importantly, stress. If I'm the one editing a video, it might look perfect to me, but it will have taken me 10 hours on a good day that I'll never get back. And you know when you think of losing 10 hours a week on editing, you can do so much more with that time like being creative and working on good content.

•  Your Homework

Have a clear concept of what your budget is and what you time is.

If you don't have money – learn the free skills and take time

If you do have money and no time – outsource the projects to someone else

If you are somewhere in between like me, outsource the little things that take tons of time and put your focus into the more important projects.

Thumbnails

Anyone who is anyone on YouTube knows their thumbnails MUST be proper. I touched on this a bit, so this might be a bit of review. It gives the viewer a good idea already before they click to determine whether this dude is legit. The occasional hot bikini girl that will troll users always get tons of dislikes; I wouldn't advise taking that route for fast clicks and negative reviews. Check some others. You know as soon as I see VEVO on any music thumbnail the instant thought I have is "this legit music video", even when it isn't. Maybe I'm judgemental, but I will always click a nice thumbnail before any other. I saw VEVO on a guy's thumbnail one time, and I clicked and thought his music was horrible. I Googled him, and nothing came up. Yes, that was a dirty trick but he just included it in all his thumbnails, and it's up to the viewer to be attracted to it or not. I noticed his views were so high, so it told me that dirty trick or not, he got me to click. That doesn't mean you have to go that route but be creative with your thumbnails. If you just have a random thumbnail of your face, no text and no font, people probably won't know what's going on in the video. Why would they care to find out? Remember you have to make it easy for the viewer, so they don't notice they are supporting. Those blank faces with a description on the side I don't bother to read because it doesn't appeal to me. But when I see bright colours and fonts and texts that catch my eye, those are what I'm interested in seeing. Browse YouTube to get a better idea. Have title or text on whatever it's about and look animated. Look excited if you're a blogger. Maybe a big open mouth or a big smile. Rarely would you see someone who looks like a serious ass pose in a thumbnail unless it was for like, bodybuilding, then I mean the serious look is good. To sum it all up:

Thumbnails are the first thing people see and judge before they click.

Title, your face or brand

Get creative have fun with these

Nice colour schemes that go with your brand

Put text description in the thumbnail

•  Your Homework

The best tip I can give to make this successful is to do a photo shoot and get a bunch of pictures of yourself, so that every time you post a new video, you can play around with the fonts. It makes you look more professional because you have variety instead of the same picture every time unless you are trying to do a theme.

  * Don't take anyone else's photos or use misleading photos

Preparing For A Release On Social Media

Preparing for a release is more important than the video itself. If nobody knows the video is on its way on a certain date, you won't get as much exposure. It's not like you ever just walked into a theater and said, "Oh damn I never knew this new movie just came out today" or "I did not know that it was gonna be released, but since I'm here I'm are going to watch it." There's a lot of preparation before they release a movie. You will hear about it for months beforehand. They show previews so people get excited and geared up to watch. So what does mean for you? Well for me this is sort of similar to my last video but once you start making the videos and people are following you, you don't have to be left in the dark for the whole week until Sunday. Let's pretend you have a video you are planning to release on Sunday.

Normally my schedule looks like:

**Monday** \- writing some new music tonight can't wait to record it (Ah ha! now they see you're working on something) fans will be "hmm what he's working on."

**Tuesday** \- hitting up the studio tonight recording my brand new song Christmas. You know to include a video or picture of you in the studio

**Wednesday** \- just finished the mix and master for my new song "Christmas" you know play a little clip of it some people will be like "spirit that's fire," some people won't say anything don't take it personally

**Thursday** \- on set to shoot the music video for my song Christmas - show the set

**Friday** \- video is finished I can't wait to share it with you guys on Sunday

**Saturday** \- make sure to tune into tomorrow I'm very excited to show you my new videos

**Sunday** \- release video, it shows the process to keep your fans in the loop without having to post a new song every day, like can I have your attention every day. So hard to get people's attention but at least the ones following you feel like they are with you in the process because most cases it's the journey were not the result.

Note - Switch it up I said change it up vary between your different social media accounts, they are all linked up anyways so once you post you won't seem so obnoxious like spam.

•  Your Homework

Start planning a routine for your weekly posts, so whenever you are posting, follow the pattern and change out the Xs and Os. Your fans will feel special that they know what's going on and they will be happy that you included them in the journey.

What Are You Selling? Call To Answer

Now that I've touched base on the CTA in the video playlist, these are some more concepts to keep in mind. You aren't going to be a making a ton of money overnight. YouTube is a steady pace platform to build your brand.

  * What are you selling? Otherwise, you'll never make enough to money to support your new path.

  * Call to answer concept; this is just to know, so you don't get discouraged and think your content isn't any good.

  * Product to sell in mind (I can't remember the number exactly, so we'll go based off a random number. Let's say 1000 people view your video out of that. You call to answer 100 people visit your website, and out of that, 10 people buy. That's just to let you know what to expect and that it is normal. I know at first I would be discouraged when I would have 100,000 views and only 1000 people bought my song. I would think that 99,000 people didn't like my song enough to buy it. But the reality is, people don't want to spend money. So let's focus and be happy instead for the 1 percent that does.

So regardless if you are getting 100,000 views don't let it get to your head. Keep working at it and keep communicating with your fans, even if it takes you all day to respond.

Being Responsive

When I say traffic I don't mean views. I've had 100,000s of views which meant pretty much nothing to me. It looks good when trying to show it off to try and get some extra bandwagon fans. But I'd prefer my videos having 50 views, and 50 people being in tune by commenting and giving real, thoughtful responses. Not just, "good job," or "great video." Those are certainly nice to read too but it's better and more meaningful to have real feedback.
CHAPTER FIVE – PROMOTING YOUR BRAND

Joining cults

Okay. I talked a bit about networks and how to find some cross promo, but maybe its time to join a cult? Okay, maybe not the time to join a cult but let's venture a bunch of ways you can expand your awareness on YouTube. At some point, your friends and family can only do so much for you. Now it's time to find people who do exactly what you do and are willing to support. It takes a ton of time to build relationships, and maybe you lose out on a lot of your weekends and spare time. But this is what it takes to become successful.

Fiends/Family Group

Networks build a group of friends of people who are just starting. Join groups. Get in touch friends of friends. Friend-of-a-friend Cross promo.

If your friend of a friend has somebody who could potentially help you, ask them for a favour. He/she will help you get a video going; You help by giving them exposure from your fans. In most cases if you are taken seriously, these people don't need you to pay. That's not to say they aren't worth it. That's to say when you are the model of their work, long-term you are going to be giving them business from the fans they obtain from you.

Facebook Groups

There are millions of different Facebook groups, so join groups in your target niche and don't think so small. Don't think just locally; YouTube is worldwide so reach out and get that support from all over.

Go on Facebook and look for active groups. Don't just start posting. Sometimes you see groups of around 100 000 people. You can tell who's active by the number of likes or comments the videos get. They might just be a community of people looking for that easy exposure or a community filled with people just throwing videos on and not really taking the time to check anyone else's out.

Comment first and be a listener. Give positive feedback. If I don't like it, normally I don't say anything.

After a while of you building some credibility in the group, try posting and ask them what they think. The fact you took the time to comment might lead to them taking the time to notice you and possibly comment when you post.

Seminars

It's good to go out to seminars in your field; you'll be able to network with people who have the same interests as you. Whether you are a beginner or a pro, you always have something to offer, and you can always learn something. This is a great way to connect with people who have the same goals as you.

Get On Blogs/Forums/ Featured On Websites

So you've reached out to your family and friends but are still only getting a few people to support you. This is where the magic can happen. Reach out to blogs and ask if you can get featured. If you fit the style, most blogs are always looking for new content. Get on forums and network with like minded people. They will come in all different ranges of experience and likely to want to help. Being on a website boosts up your credibility and looks cool when you share it with your friends and family.

Partnering With A Brand/Sponsors

Once you start creating some buzz, partner up with some brands. See how your styles can compliment each other. If you have tons of influence, most likely a bunch of local brands will reach out to you. Start rocking their clothes in your videos. Sometimes they can even help with your giveaways. Most companies are okay to leave merchandise with you in exchange for exposure.

Influencers

Influencers are a huge way to jump start your channel. Influencers are people who are popular, kind of like a local celebrity. Sometimes you have to pay one to give you a shoutout so other people can notice you. To take it a step further, sometimes collaboration between the two or asking them to do an interview will help boost your following. It is rare that they give you this chance, so if they do, make sure to deliver on your end.

Selling Yourself

When selling yourself don't compare yourself with celebrities or even pretty big YouTubers and be like "well they never seem to have to work hard on selling themselves so why would I?" What you have to realize is that these people have worked so hard that now they don't need to. They have teams of agents, marketers, PR guys, film crew, audio crew, vocal coaches, life coaches, fitness instructors, a makeup crew, personal barbers, you know, the works. You are just starting out and probably just have yourself. Just reading this book is a good step to start educating yourself on things to do. Most people are kind of shy to share their content. Not on your page, but I mean more so after a project is done they don't reach out for support. They just like just to put it out there, and whoever likes it, likes it, and whoever doesn't, which is understandable. When I record music, it's a vulnerable area for me. I'm a pretty shy reserved person in real life for anyone who does know me. You definitely wouldn't think that if you've seen me perform live. I'm pretty anti-social, kinda geeky, I have tons of acquaintances but only a handful of close friends. The thing about me is, I hate to sell myself.  I don't like bothering anyone. But it's a great way to get results. It gives them some awareness for projects since most people are so busy they don't have time to leisurely look for your projects. Step out of your comfort zone and start reaching out for help and support. I mean you can just not bother anyone and post videos. But in doing so, you're really crippling yourself, and your potential will go to waste. In the beginning, people are going to understand where you're at and try to support as long as you are putting consistent effort towards your craft and as long as you are getting better.

See, the types of people from my experience that you run into, are the people with talent and don't ever really sell themselves. That could be because they think their talent alone is good enough to attract a broad audience. Some people might not even know it's a thing you have to do. For some people, it's easy just to post but that's kind of the easy part. The hard work is after your projects done. I also run into people who might lack that talent, but everyone can see that they are working hard. I'm sure you know a person or two. You know I'm sure a lot of people would classify me as part of that category. I know I'm not naturally gifted, so if I was put in "The Voice" and they do that showdown 1 on 1 thing, I would think to myself "Oh man. I'm gonna get crushed." Lucky for me, I work hard and do all the little things other people don't. So if they do match me up, I know I'll have a lot more to offer.

The proper way to do this in my experience is:

  1. be as real as possible when you ask- if you are shy person sorry to bother you

  2. tell them your goal –If they are a close friend I'm sure they already know what you up to. Telling your goal to the world isn't something you should be ashamed of; most people want to help if they can. Say something like, "You know, I'm trying to get as much reach as possible for this new project I did, so if you could take a couple of minutes to watch it and please share it on your page or with somebody you think would like it, it would mean a lot." Like I said earlier, it would take them literally 2 seconds, it hurts no one and if they didn't like it, maybe one of their friends will.

•  Your Homework

Start doing this, It's gonna be tough, but get out of your comfort zone.

Getting Paid

If you've made it this far then we bout to get dis money! I've talked about so many bad experiences and mistakes, but was it all worth it? FUCK YEAH! I am the only one I know in my city who can literally say proudly that YouTube paid the bills for 3 years. It's one thing to say you do YouTube, and another thing to say YouTube was my career. To get my first cheque from Google was honestly life changing. I don't know why I didn't frame it and post it all over Instagram. Oh yeah, maybe because at the time I was doing YouTube, the Razer was the phone I had and YouTube wasn't even accessible by phone. Then they switched it up, and you had to change over to direct deposit. No problem! To hear "deposited $412 from Google Incorporated" was just a feeling I'll never forget. I know I saved that first direct deposit on one of my old computers. What can I say, when you start to hear things like that, dreams sound possible. Before you get paid, let's just talk some numbers. Don't quit your job unless you're making good money from everything YouTube and social media has to offer. I know this is a YouTube book, but apply these skills to Instagram and Facebook too. Lets get into some math! (This is a rough number without taxes...)

Your goal should be 2000 loyal fans. Not 2000 subscribers. 2000 LOYAL FANS. There are billions of people in the world - I'm sure you can find 2000 people who love your content.

Now what most people think is that people make a killing off of YouTube advertisements. While some obvious million subscriber channels do, there's the rest of us that don't. But don't worry, like I said our goal is only 2000. Are there others with fewer subscribers that do just as good? Yes! The reason why this is possible is because of merchandise. You need to invest in some merchandise obviously and maybe a pay a designer to make your logo. But once you start having that solid following, it won't matter. If you are cheap, take Pre-orders, so you have cash in hand before you even make a bulk purchase. Every weekly video, constantly plug your merch at the end of the videos once you have a solid following.

Just imagine if each real fan spends $20 a month, that's already $40,000 a month. Sounds crazy but it's not, once you start racking up those numbers. Then it's time to reap the rewards! This is the fun chapter. Obviously, not everyone will buy a shirt every single month, but if you keep making entertaining videos and your team is coming up with new designs, it is definitely possible. Custom shirts are so cheap nowadays you can literally get them blank for 1.80 a piece if you get them in bulk. Most people think the money is in the ads, but that's nothing compared to having real influence and creating a group of loyal fans. Fans who will support and buy good merch you put out. This will work with just about anything whether it is posters, CDs, hat or clothes.

You can even use this thing called Patreon. This is a place where you can set up packages and subscribers have the option to donate to your projects. They are donating fully without receiving anything, or you can create packages. Maybe a package with sneak peeks, exclusive stuff like one-on-one webcam meetings. Being able to connect with you is something your fans will happily pay for. Especially when your content is amazing.

What's The Easiest Way To Build Some Fans?

Giveaways/Contests.

The fastest way to get people to start spreading the word about your channel is if you do giveaways and contests. Something to keep in mind if you are just starting out would be that your giveaway has to be pretty crazy. Like an iPad or laptop. I know it sounds like a lot of money at first, but if you are looking for a ton of buzz, this is the way to do it. Make sure you don't give it away without a call to action, however. Make sure you say clearly "Must be subscribed, and share on your facebook timeline" or something like this. Like I said earlier, everyone wants free. Imagine something huge for free. The buzz will start coming in, and you may get 5,000 people who just want the iPad, but maybe they stay tuned in, just in case there are future giveaways. In doing so, they start watching your content and become fans. When you actually have a great following on YouTube, it's easy to hold contests where they are inexpensive, and people will go crazy for them just because they are yours. When you've reached this point, the snowball effect happens. Just be sure that before you do this, know how many people interact with your YouTube on a daily basis. Check your analytics. I would not hold a contest or giveaway if I knew less than 1000 people would participate. You don't want to have a contest for an iPad and only have two people competing for it. It would be a waste of money with no exposure, so be smart when planning one. Make sure you are mentioning it on all your social platforms to get the biggest reach possible.

I hope you are inspired by this chapter. I feel like people overthink it and compare themselves to YouTube rockstars with millions of fans without realizing you can still make a life from it. People are getting paid way more than you for your 9-5 and some are getting paid less. So why not take a chance on doing something that you love? I'm not saying that you need to quit your job tomorrow, but work towards building yourself a career out of it if you really love making videos on YouTube. I was working two jobs I hated before I really started seeing the support for my music. Then money started rolling in from all different places. From shows, guest appearances, collaborations, and mentoring. Be creative and find ways you can sell your brand once you've gotten some buzz on YouTube.

Series/Playlists

Having a series on YouTube targets down your viewers a little bit more and gives them more of what they want to see. I always get the question, "I want to make a new style of videos, should I restart from scratch? In my opinion, if you don't have a crazy following of 100k or more, then there's no point in rebranding. It's better to just shove them in series or on playlists. It also allows your fans to see you in a different light - that you aren't just a one-dimensional person mastering one skill.

Series

  * Get creative and think of a cool series you can take up

  * Maybe side workout fitness tips

  * Maybe series of Disney song covers

Playlist Feature Trick

When I post a video, I immediately add it to my playlist. When I'm sharing a video, I'm actually sharing the playlist with my video as the first one on it. Not just the video link. Not only do you lock down fans on the video, if they let it play out fully, it will go to your next video. Your next video automatically plays until your whole playlist is done. I discovered this when a famous Filipino singer named Jireh Lim, posted my cover of his song on his Facebook. He actually reposted my link that I had tagged him in, but my link was a playlist. After that, I noticed that not only my cover increased in views, all the views from videos on my entire playlist increased too. Pretty sweet, right?

Pay

There's always tons of controversy when we talk about spending money to be featured or as people love to call it "selling out" or having "fake views." Let me tell you that this doesn't take away from your authenticity. It shows that you take your brand seriously enough to spend money on it. People might see it as paying for views and exposure, but spending some good money on marketing and hiring a good team was one of the best choices I ever made for my channel. I know there are a lot of people who think you can get all you want without spending money by just being really good at what they do. Some take the time to learn every single trait themselves and solely do everything. I don't think it's impossible, but that falls under a category of such a small percentage of people who can actually do that.

For the people who don't want to leave it to chance or luck, maybe start thinking about paying some professionals to help you build and market your brand. I won't touch on this subject like crazy, but it is one of the best forms of blowing up your growth. If you can cut costs in other parts of your life like drinking or eating out too much, then please consider spending some money growing your channels as well. There are tons of growth sites out there that can help build your channel for you organically. There are tons of local businesses that I could recommend to you if you are really interested. Also, spend money to pay for ads to play your YouTube videos on Facebook. It doesn't cost much and can boost your views like crazy. There's no successful business out there that doesn't pay for advertising. Sometimes you have to spend some money to make some money.

The Art Of Ask

Most people aren't psychics. They don't know what you want or really care to know unless you bring it to attention. They don't know it means a lot to you if they share or not. They don't know that you appreciate their comments and support. Personally messaging people to share your message might sound embarrassing at first, and is definitely an uncomfortable thing to venture for most of us. I didn't do this approach, however when people messaged me personally and asked after having a conversation with me first, I was more than willing to help them out and share. Don't just copy and paste a message. Be genuine and don't be overwhelming. People don't want to read an essay right off the bat. Throw in some small conversation first and it might get genuine love back. I still don't ask. That was probably my biggest problem. But if you ask me and if it doesn't sound copy and pasted, I will share. It doesn't hurt anybody. I'm not sharing it if it's some twisted content or if it doesn't sit well with me. But 99 percent of the time, the content you share (hopefully not offensive) people will want to help if you ask them. Why wouldn't they? It takes literally 1 second, but don't make the mistake of assuming people will just share it on their own. There's no harm in asking, just don't spam them.

Word of mouth is clearly the biggest thing that can grow your audience. For every person that loves you, they will recommend your channel to 1 person. For every person that hates you, they will usually tell 4 people. Regardless of who is talking, there's always that saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity". I'm not saying gather some haters I'm just saying word of mouth is powerful, so you don't have to play by the system all the time. Be controversial, and people will engage. People are more attracted to the negativity and would rather click on, "Guy gets scammed" rather than, "scam artist makes sale."

Shoutouts

A shoutout goes a long way. Whoever supports you, shout them out. They will feel so happy they will go out of their way to make sure they show their love for your content even more. For the people who do support your music, shout them out. Show other people looking in, that this person pays attention to their fans.

While doing that, plug in your link so that it's indirectly making it easier for someone else to see your video, while indirectly advertising because the focus is in you showing love to your fan!

For example "Shoutouts to Jer for the support on my newest video!! ".

Your fans will be so happy that you've acknowledged them and might go the extra mile to make sure your video is being shared even more next time!

Automation

Here is where my years of schooling in Network Administration paid off. If you didn't know by now, I'm a geek. Don't be fooled by the fact that I've been saying I'm a musician and how comfortable I might seem on camera. Just like everyone reading this, to do everything I said on here may seem overwhelming and not humanly possible. I've always wanted to do things an easier way and in that sense, I'm just like everyone else. For those of you who don't know what automation is, by definition it is:

  1. the technique of making an apparatus, a process, or a system operate automatically

  2. the state of being operated automatically

  3. automatically controlled operation of an apparatus, process, or system by mechanical or electronic devices that take the place of human labor

I had no idea how to explain it technically, but simply put, it is how to make a computer do human interactions. There are tons of apps nowadays that can automatically do anything. An example of this is TubeBuddy, which is a paid service, but what it can do is amazing. It can message people, manage your stuff, and make custom thumbnails. It does take a little bit to set things up but once they are rolling, you can expect a lot of traffic. I used to use this program called "TubeToolBox," which I think is discontinued (cause I'm old). But when I used to use it, it gave me amazing results. I was able to pick and target people based on similar styles and message everybody with a custom message. It saves you tons of time and is constantly reaching out to gather your fans. Search online for apps - there are thousands of free ones that will do all the tedious work for you. Some will repost on all your different platforms as soon as you post a video and have a custom caption for each post. The world of technology is improving and making everything so easy, so take some time to do some research to find the newest apps for automation. It will save you tons of time once they are all set up.
CONCLUSION

Can't believe we've made it this far! I know it's a lot to take in. But honestly, be excited and welcome the journey. I worried too much during my days of actually recording YouTube videos. Have fun with it. Don't be afraid to fail or look stupid. Don't be shy when recording. Remember you can always delete it and try it again. The whole reason why I wrote this book is to encourage others in achieving success on YouTube and be able to chase the dreams like I did with confidence.

Being a musician on YouTube, I know the struggle of every trial and error in attempting to get exposure. With these tricks, you'll be able to earn more income, get more views and build a better following. There's lots of hard work to be done, but now that you have all my templates for success, you're on your way! Utilize all these tips and I promise you will start to see the improvements on your views and engagement. I know YouTube can be frustrating at first with all the work involved for littler results. But STAY AT IT. Put in the work required and you will get the results you want. There is continuous learning when it comes to YouTube as things in social media are always evolving. My final piece of advice is: keep learning and stay current with all the new gadgets and apps that can really help you be efficient. Good luck on getting your message out to the world!

I want to thank you personally for putting your trust in me, and hopefully you enjoyed the book from my perspective. If you do have a ton of success, please, please, PLEASE reach out to me! I love hearing success stories and knowing that I was able to help people. This was a really long project for me. I poured my heart and soul into this book. So if it helps you in any way, please contact me. I would love to feature your reviews on my website.

If you have any questions or comments and wanted to reach out to me, feel free to email me at **_jsymusic@hotmail.com_**. Also, If you would like to write a review or testimonial to be featured on my site, that would be amazing. I want to reach out and connect with all of you who took the time to read my book. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

From your fellow YouTuber,

**Christopher John Sy**

