Ever since I saw Lindsey Stirling's Crystalized music video, I was amazed by the platform. The access Youtube gives and the way it opens people's eyes to different variations of life on this planet is truly remarkable. The way that Youtube teaches millions of people anything from coding to how to tie your shoes, gives people opportunities they couldn't have dreamed of otherwise. But then there are the creators. 
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Jenna Marbles was an example of an archetype I identified with so much but had never seen on TV. The people were REAL PEOPLE and not what sells, which gives minorities the ability to identify and explore themselves in a way which makes our society more open, diverse and accepting. 
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In high school my friend Keren told me to make videos, and I blew it off and think back to that until this day. Not in a regretful way, but a what if kind of way. What if it would have made the journey better, quicker or easier. But I pushed it aside until I was about 23. I had hopped on my friends moped and we crashed without helmets. I suffered a light concussion with no long term lasting effects (thank g*d) which made me hang around the house and consistently forget short term memory things for a couple of days (I totally don't recommend getting concussions in anyway, they suck). 
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I had faced a hard question during that time, what would I have regretted if something worst had happened? And the honest truth was making videos. Because for as long as I wanted to film things and edit them, I never did film or pursue editing.
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My Youtube Journey
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Step 1: Where inspiration strikes, narrow it. 
The first thing I wanted to film was to make a women's extreme sports video. I then realized how much coordination goes into filming this. Making a video at home is a million times easier, but I decided to try both. As a learning curve this was probably a good idea, but ultimately you realize that ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is a whole other thing.
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Step 2: Filming yourself, delightful and odd
While waiting for all the women I wanted to shoot to fit into my schedule, I decided to quickly film a video giving some tips about travel (with a black eye from the accident). I realized when starting to film you feel super excited, but the longer the tape rolls the excitement fades. It can become very draining to talk in front of a camera and after a while and it shows. Youtubers make it look so easy, but it can actually be hard sometimes. 

It's also worthwhile noting that before that I had always felt self conscious about filming myself talking to a camera, but with the concussion, the motivation was so strong (and the forgetfulness) which totally made it not too awkward. When watching the video I saw how annoying it was the few times I looked a way from the camera, and made it a habit to always keep comfortable eye contact with the lens.
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Step 3: Realizing you don't have an editing style is a crisis
I went out to film some friends skateboarding with a good camera and then came home to edit. I didn't know how to make a video look the way I wanted to look because I wasn't a professional editor, so I edited it 2-3 ways. But for the first hour looking at that footage, I had absolutely had no idea what to do. At first I read a poem over the background and thought it was okay. But then after a day I realized, when you take some time away from the project you understand it's true quality in a more sober way. I then tried editing it in 2 ways with copyright free songs off Youtube, and in all edits the video kind of... sucked.
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Step 4: Filming in front of people is awkward
When working at The Sunrise Shack my friend drove up once to hang out. We put funny moustaches on and roamed around making funny videos.
For me personally, filming next to people I don't know isn't that awkward, because I doubt I'll ever see them again. But when I film in environments where I know people just a little, I do get self conscious about them judging. However more often than not, people are really accommodating to this and are even happy to participate in the video. 
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Step 5: SEO, algorythms and marketing
Once uploading you realize that if you don't put in effort to market videos no one will ever find them. I started researching how Youtube works (it's a never ending rabbit hole), and how to make effective thumbnails as well as using good hashtags for searchability. Finding out how to make eye catching titles as well as the lengths a video I should be focusing on, was a really valuable lesson to learn. I also started posting videos to groups or threads that have people that may find the content interesting. If you make a video which solves a problem for people, like how to cook a certain dish, publish it on a cooking Facebook group and watch it take off. However keep in mind that on Facebook it's better to post a screen shot or the thumbnail and to mention that the link in the first comment (Facebook won't provide reach for a post thats purpose is to take people off the platform).
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Step 6: 1 idea and 2 in the trash is better than 3
Keeping an idea journal really helped me focus on one idea at a time without feeling guilty for not pursuing others. But honestly making videos takes a lot of time and it's worthwhile to consider if the ideas you have are worthwhile pursuing on a higher level.
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Examine:
1) If you are passionate about the idea.
2) if your audience will be.
3) How much effort needs to go into making this video.
4) How good do you think you can make it.
 
It's also fair to consider the competition a video will have to be seen. If there's a million Nike Unboxing videos, odds are yours will be hard to find. 
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Step 7: Noticing changing trends in intros outros 
For a while it wasn't clear to me if intros are useful or counter productive to watch-time. Most people don't care for a short presentation upfront, they want to get straight to the meat and potatoes. However intros and the outros have changed a lot in their value over the years and will probably change more. It's really important however to always keep calls to action visible, and at the end to add the "watch next" recommendations (and leaving enough time in the edit for that) to make sure Youtube favours it in the "binge friendly" algorithm. 
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Step 8: Growth through collaborating & promoting
Collaborating with another creator that has an audience that may be similar to yours or find your content interesting is a huge channel booster. 
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Step 8: Lacking inspiration
Making Youtube can really kick your motivation to the curb. A lot of time goes into doing Youtube consistently and rarely do your friends and family care or really give constructive feedback to what you are doing. Plus it feels like the expectation is so high in an oversaturated market and it often feels like a race that never stops. Making weekly videos (not to mention several videos a week) can be exhausting if you're running the whole operation. When balancing school and my personal life while trying to make Youtube videos, I ended up sleeping at 5 AM sometimes, waking up to post at my regular scheduled hour, and going to sleep again. My parents and boyfriend were kind of sad when I stopped the hobby of making videos for a while, but it's hard to articulate to someone to someone how something that looks so fun takes so much work. It's hard in general for people to realize how the experience of watching a fun 10 minute video is nothing like the 10 hours of making it and marketing it after posting. The truth is sometimes you need to take a break in life and it's okay to lack inspiration and take a breather to rekindle it. Keeping up the Youtube time schedule is one thing for an algorithm, but ultimately one's health is more important. Everyone has their own decisions on how to compromise between quality, quantity, execution and health. Oddly enough making a quick Youtube that took 5 hours in one day to make when I was feeling uninspired is one of my most viewed videos. It's just a true story that happened in my personal life told with lots of effects and it did great.
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Step 9: You start seeing videos in a whole you lens
After several months of making Youtubes, every video I saw that was good was a work of art that I'd examine differently. I truly believe everyone experiences this in any art they take, and it's some evolutionary technique meant to make us better at our crafts by analyzing. I loved watching Yes Theory and over analyzing their edits, these days I watch a lot of Cody Ko and otter videos. 
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Step 10: Making content for others
After about 6 months of making content for myself, a Start Up I was interviewing for saw my Youtube and wanted me to make content for them. Making content for others was in some ways unimaginably cool. It was the first time in my life people paid real money for my creativity and for that I am forever grateful. However social media definitely took a toll on my creativity and working while studying made it very hard to find time to make my own videos and find inspiration in how to make them. I felt like my work dripped in to my personal videos (my job was in content creation and social media for a fashion startup) and I started showing off clothes which is probably the only time I kind of felt like a sell out making a video.
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Step 11: Getting burned out
Authenticity is everything on Youtube and getting burned out shows. It's better to either post something that doesn't show you if this happens or not pursue it for a while (but then risking losing the consistency and subscribers). While burned out from working while doing school and youtube, I made a video talking about apologizing for not posting and promising to post next week. Not only am I not thrilled I did that because I didn't actually post and it sucks that I lied, I also looked SO tired in that video, which at the time I couldn't see but months later I did and deleted it. If this happens to you ever, take a creative break. Breathe. Treat yourself. Only you really know at the end of the day how hard it is to do Youtube and rarely feel like a video is appreciated by someone. But ultimately if you end up returning later on, maybe it is a hobby worth keeping. 
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Step 12: Learning to work with data and doing courses
I started looking into how to get monetized and see if it's feasable to make some side income of Youtube to feel more encouraged to create. I then became aware both of the requirements and the analytics system. Youtube has incredible tools that are there to help you learn how to make better videos. I started using the information they provided to tweak my storylines and edits to make things more engaging. I also started doing different courses in video editing, tv production and storytelling both on and offline. 
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Step 13: After the fact changes and commenting on other peoples channels
I learned later on in the game that you can change titles to make videos more relevant in the search system after the fact they've been uploaded for a while. I also learned that commenting on other people's channel increases you own channels visibility, although I only really comment for fun.
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Step 14: Realizing the further you look back, the worst a video will look
I say this because as people we progress in our abilities to do things and we also become tangled in our vision and passion when we make a video. To til day I can watch a video I made 3 months ago and totally be baffled in how I don't understand the editing decisions I made.
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Step 15: Taking it up a notch (gear and outsourcing) 
I realized there are much more efficient ways to make content about a year into my journey. It's important to make videos that are simple and seamless as well as always double checking that the sound is good. I don't think video quality is that important, but getting a special light lamp for filming as well as a tripod has made the process of filming a lot more comfortable. Having a good monitor and blue light glasses for editing has also helped a lot. I also learned you can maximize on your effort by repurposing research or scripts that were done for a video and posting them on LinkedIn or other platforms. I also have been toying with the idea of having an editor on Fiverr edit a video for me which would cut down the effort a lot too.
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Step 16: Finding your voice
As a creator, it takes time until you ultimately stumble upon the way your videos hit the best. For me it took about 5 months of uploading weekly before I figured the tip of the iceberg of it. I do also honestly think this is the reason people stop creating. The feeling of watching a video is not the enthusiasm that's carried out throughout making it, and the learning curve is one of the steepest I've ever encountered. But the moment people connect with a video, it feels like your work is truly being appreciated and it's so gratifying. I've gotten guys tell me they cried watching my Burning Man video because it moved them so much and that felt life life goals. People can think whatever they want about Youtube, but at some level I almost feel like Youtube raised me. The ability to take something timeless and pass it on as a memory, a piece of knowledge or a work of art is captured in the legacies that we as storytellers provide. Although it's still a work in progress, I don't think I could ever fully want to stop, and it just makes me appreciate Youtube for the incredible website that it is. 
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