How to Decide What Your YouTube Channel Should Be About
You probably have a lot of great ideas for a YouTube channel and can’t wait to get started! But, with all of those ideas to choose from, you can’t begin until you make a decision about what topic you should talk about. As a content creator or entrepreneur, it’s great to have a lot of choices, but sometimes too many options can also be overwhelming and cause paralysis.
To help you get over this hump and get your channel off the ground, here is a five-step process that you can follow to help you narrow down your ideas and find the best one for your channel.
Let’s get started!
1. Make a list.
Start by making a list of ALL of the different ideas that you’re considering, no matter how many you have. There might be a few you’re considering more strongly than others, but write them all down anyway, whether you think they are ideas you want to run with or not.
2. Brainstorm video ideas.
Starting with the idea that you’re most interested in, brainstorm as many as 20 video ideas that you are excited to make for that channel. Now, the reason I want you to do this is because sometimes you’ll have an idea for a channel that you THINK you’ll be interested in, but as you start brainstorming, you realize that you only have a few video ideas on that topic that you actually want to make — it might not be the best idea to run with!
As you come up with videos for each channel idea, you might find that one of them really excites you. If that’s the case, you could probably start a channel with that topic. But, don’t worry if this doesn’t happen either. Move onto your next channel idea until you find one that you get excited about.
3. Research those channel ideas.
The next thing you want to do is research your channel ideas on YouTube. You can do this by searching the main “keywords” or “topics” that each channel would encompass by taking a look at the video titles you came up with.
For example, if you want to start a channel about “baking desserts”, you could start with searching, “How to bake desserts”. You’ll also want to get more specific and search keywords like “cupcakes”, “cookies”, or “easy muffin recipes”.
Pay attention to how many views this niche or category is actually getting and compare each of your channel ideas to one another to see which ones are more or less popular. Now, you don’t necessarily need to go with the most popular idea (more on that later), you just want to see if people are actually interested in your ideas.
So, take some notes, write down the average number of views that the top videos are getting, and anything else that stands out to you as you look up these keywords.
4. Why do you want to start a channel?
Your reason for why you want to start your YouTube channel will have a HUGE impact on which channel you should start.
For example, if you’re trying to make money with your channel, then you need to make sure to pick a topic that is really popular, and that pays well. But, if you want to use YouTube to market your business, you’ll need to pick a topic that’s related to your niche. If you want to start a channel that’s simply about what you love, then the popularity of that topic doesn’t really matter and you can just pick the one that you’re the most interested in right now.
I recommend that as you get clear on your reason why you keep asking yourself, “And why does that matter?”
For example, if you think, you want to start a channel because you want to make money, you can ask yourself, “Why do I want to make money off my channel?” Maybe it’s because you don’t like your job right now and you want to make money doing something that you really enjoy.
Okay, well, why?
Maybe it’s because you want to find more satisfaction with your life or you want to spend more time on things that you really care about.
As you drill deeper, you’ll have more clarity on which channel will be the right one.
5. Which one fulfills your “why”?
Take a look at your ideas AND your reasons why, and find the best match that fulfills the reason you want to start your channel.
At this point, if you still don’t know which one you should choose, here are three really important things to consider as you are making this decision:
Your channel does not define you.
Your channel doesn’t need to define you and encompass everything that you love. If you’re anything like me, you probably have a lot of different interests and things you care about! So when you’re starting a YouTube channel, especially one that’s about YOU, it can be tempting to want to incorporate ALL those different things into one channel. However, a channel is going to be the most successful if it’s focused on just one topic so you’re not confusing your audience or trying to mix three different things that don’t really go together.
It’s okay to pivot in the future.
You don’t have to find the perfect idea right now. It’s okay if you start a little broad or a little bit more specific. You can widen your focus in the future, narrow it down, or pivot slightly. Change is okay. You’re not locked in forever to a permanent decision.
You’re better off starting now.
You’ll be much better off if you start your channel now than to wait for the day you have the perfect idea. The perfect idea might never come, and three months from now, you could either be three months into learning how to make videos and growing your channel, or, you will have started nothing, and be exactly where you’re at right now. You’ll either be moving forward with your idea or crossing it off your list if you decide it’s not the right fit. But if you never start, then you won’t be making any progress at all.
So there you have it! I hope this process helps you figure out which idea your YouTube channel should be about. Even if you’re not sure yet, I encourage you to take action and move forward with whatever you think you’re the most interested in right now!
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