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How to Start a Successful YouTube Channel in 2024

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I grew my brand new channel to 83,000 subscribers in a year and a half & have learned so much!  I’m sharing the best way to start a successful YouTube channel and a step-by-step guide to creating video content that will appeal to your target audience.

I may receive a small commission for items purchased through affiliate links in this post at no additional cost to you.

So you want to start a new YouTube channel and you’re wondering if it’s possible to start a successful YouTube channel from scratch in 2024 and actually make money?  This is a really important question to ask – and the good news is: the answer is yes!  Starting your own channel is a great way to make money online in 2024.  With over 2.7 billion users, YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform and the second-largest social media platform.  

YouTube is the place to be for content creators!  Plus, YouTube’s monetization requirements are very achievable. You only need to reach 1,000 subscribers or 4,000 hours of public watch time within a 12-month period.

Some of the top content creators boast annual earnings in the tens of millions from YouTube ad revenue alone, the potential is absolutely there.  But the average YouTuber with about 100,000 subscribers earns closer to $25,000 a year.  Don’t worry, we will break all of this down and get specific about earning potential in another post (coming soon).  We will also talk about how ad revenue is the only way to make money on YouTube – there are many more ways!

I’ll list the topics we’re going to be covering in this post, and then break each of them down in easy steps after sharing some of my backstory.

How to Start a Successful YouTube Channel in 2024

{To skip my backstory and get to the detailed list of actionable steps, keep scrolling.}

How I Grew My New YouTube Channel to 83,000 Subscribers in 2023

In this video, I share a little bit of my backstory – I was a night shift nurse, working nearly full-time hours and homeschooling my kids before I started my channel.  We worked really hard so that I could stay home after our fourth baby was born in January of 2022. 

Getting Started…

I had taken a blogging course a few years earlier and had a blog that I never did much with.  I also had a small following on Instagram where I earned a little income from sharing affiliate links here and there.  And I had taken a course on starting a YouTube channel, but I never did anything with that!  In the spring of 2022, with my newfound time and energy now that I was able to stay home, I decided to start my own YouTube channel and see where it went.

I reviewed the course I’d taken, ordered some basic equipment for beginners, made a plan for the type of content I’d be filming, and got to work.  I published my first video on July 7, 2022.  After publishing two new videos a week, my channel was monetized two months later in September of 2022.  This was such a huge milestone and it felt like I’d been working toward it forever!

Ready to Give up…

However, the excitement didn’t last long because I only earned a whopping $2 in my first month being monetized on YouTube.  And it didn’t get much better the next month, or the next. Even though my channel was still (slowly) gaining YouTube subscribers and my videos were getting views, I was only making $2-5 a month!  It’s safe to say I hadn’t done enough research on earning potential and didn’t have a long-term vision.  I was so discouraged that I completely stopped publishing videos.  I figured it wasn’t worth my time for a few bucks a month, but maybe I’d pick it up again someday down the road.

So for SIX MONTHS, I did not touch my YouTube channel.  I didn’t make any new YouTube videos.  I didn’t even log in to check on the old ones I’d made.  I did absolutely nothing.  But all of that changed in May of 2023.  I kept getting emails and notifications about my Google account – something about having payments waiting for me.  I ignored them for a while, but finally figured I’d log in and see what was up.  What happened next made my jaw hit the floor!

Seeing the Potential…

I had earned over $6,000 on YouTube since I last logged in but I’d never entered my bank information so I had no idea!  I quickly logged in to my YouTube account and saw that one of my old videos had gone viral with several hundred thousand views, and my subscriber count had gone from 1,000 something to over 25,000!

It was at this moment that I saw the true potential of YouTube.  If I could earn $6,000 on YouTube videos I’d published over six months ago, without having done any work since – imagine what could be done with consistent effort over time?

What I earned in my first full year being monetized on YouTube…

We were just wrapping up our 2023 homeschool year, so I decided to dive back in.  I already had all of the equipment and basic skills, so I was ready to go.  I did some research on earning and strategy that I should have done in the beginning and got to work.  In June of 2023, I published my first video in 8 months.  As I type this, it’s December 30th, 2023.  I’ve published at least one new video every week since.  My channel has grown to 83K+ subscribers, and I’m now earning a steady income from YouTube ads.  I only worked and published new videos for six months in 2023 and between my new videos and the old ones from 2022, my channel earned over 20K in ad revenue in 2023.  It hasn’t been easy and it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, but it’s totally worth your time if you do it the right way!

So, I’m here to share what I’ve done right, but mostly to help you learn from my mistakes (see my post on the top mistakes people make and why they fail on YouTube! ) so you can start a successful YouTube channel and see it through!

How to Start a YouTube Channel in 2024

Read my Post on the Top Mistakes People Make When Starting a YouTube Channel

There are endless opportunities to earn an income online these days, but there are also endless misconceptions and only a very tiny percentage of people who set out to start a successful YouTube channel reach that goal.  It’s very worth your time to take a few days or weeks to think about whether or not this is right for you.  I shared a list of the top mistakes aspiring bloggers and YouTubers make in this post, check it out and see if you’re willing to do what it takes to avoid these mistakes!  If not – maybe it’s just not the right time for you and that’s ok.  If you are ready, keep reading!

Create Your Brand and Pick a Niche

YouTube is the second biggest search engine that is owned by the first biggest search engine (Google) – that’s kind of a big deal!  The algorithms for these search engines – Google and YouTube, can be tricky and just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they change.  If that sounds confusing, it’s because it is, even to those of us who are having success.

But, when it comes to creating a brand and picking a niche, it’s not a total guessing game to come up with the perfect YouTube channel idea.  To sum it up, you need to *add value* and establish yourself as an expert on a particular topic.  

These search engines want to show people content that is made by knowledgeable, experienced, reliable creators – not someone who’s trying to please everyone and create content on every hot topic.  This means, when planning the type of YouTube channel you want to create, you do indeed need to pick a niche.

Now, maybe you’re thinking of some really big, successful lifestyle channels and wondering how they get away with covering a wider range of topics in their content.  It is possible to create a successful lifestyle YouTube channel if you already have a VERY large, well-known brand that people are searching for regularly on Google.  Your brand has to be huge for this to work because YouTube is an entirely different platform than the other top social networks like Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, etc.  

When I started my YouTube channel in 2022 I had over 40,000 followers on Instagram with great engagement….but only a few hundred followers from Instagram subscribed on YouTube at first.  It still took me a couple of months to reach 1,000 subs on YouTube and just like I’d been warned in the course I took – there was very little crossover.  I basically had to build my YouTube audience from scratch.  You need a much larger audience than I had to expect any kind of a head start.

Set a Budget, Purchase Equipment, and Select Editing Software

One of the biggest mistakes people make when starting a YouTube channel is not investing in equipment from the get-go.  Is it possible to run a successful YouTube channel from your iPhone? Yes.  But this rarely happens, and there are obstacles to doing so.  

Stories of successful creators who operate solely on mobile devices whether recording videos or live streaming are the exception, not the rule.  And you don’t want to start a business banking on being the exception – you want to play by the rules.  I’m convinced the reason I have had so much success in such a short amount of time is that I followed the “rules” laid out in the YouTube course I took from day one.

Now, this does NOT mean you have to purchase the most expensive, top-of-the-line equipment from day one.  I didn’t!  I purchased middle-of-the-road vlogging equipment that was enough to create content that stood out.  I didn’t upgrade until very recently, once I hit 75,000 subscribers.  

This is what I started with, and I really can’t think of anything on this list that I could have gone without.  (Trust me, you don’t want to be in the middle of filming a video just to have your battery die, and then you have to wait an hour to recharge it!  Everything on this list is essential for efficiency.)

Upgraded Equipment

Purchase A Domain (optional)

You don’t need to do this because your YouTube channel is your website.  But I highly recommend it.  And trust me, go with BlueHost for hosting – they’re very affordable at under $3 a month and this is the hosting platform all of my blogging and YouTubing friends like the best.  

If at all possible, you want your brand name to be the same on all platforms.  So, choose a brand name with an available domain.  If the name you choose isn’t available, you can try variables but don’t get too crazy.  When I chose my domain, hopewellheights.com wasn’t available, so I added blog on the end – hopewellheightsblog.com

You may never branch out any further than creating videos on your YouTube channel, but odds are – you will want to once you get monetized and get in a good groove.  Having a blog or website has many benefits, and the earning potential on a monetized blog is usually more than on YouTube!  It’s not that difficult at all to take a few ideas or topics you cover in each video and turn them into blog posts.  

Now, just like starting a YouTube channel, there is a strategy involved.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, try to start a blog without taking a course and understanding exactly what you need to do to get monetized and make it worth your time.  The blogging course I took is fabulous and very affordable.  I know the creator of the course and have told her a few times she should raise the price since it’s so much better than other courses that are 2-3x as much,  but she’s happy to offer an affordable option to aspiring bloggers.  

If you’ve got room in the budget, I’d recommend just purchasing the Blog & YouTube course bundle.  You don’t have to take both right away, but you have access for life once you purchase.

Create A New E-Mail Address for Your Channel/Business

Eventually, as your channel grows, you may want to hire someone to help with video editing, creating shorts, managing an email list, negotiating with companies for sponsorships, etc.  You don’t want any VA’s you hire to have access to your personal information, including your email.  

Create a separate email address now for your channel and use this address to set up the channel and subscribe to any services you’ll be using.  Then, when you’re making some money and ready to hire a VA, you can give your VA access to the Google account with this separate e-mail and you don’t have to worry about personal information being compromised.

Since you’ll be creating and managing your YouTube Channel through Google, I recommend just creating a free Gmail email address.  For example, mynewchannel@gmail.com is just fine.  Try to make your email address the same as, or very similar to your domain name and YouTube channel name.  My business email address is hopewellheightsblog@gmail.com – very simple.

Create The YouTube Channel and Add Basic Info

Once you’ve created the free Gmail email address, you can log in and create a new YouTube channel with this new Google Account, it’s so easy!  Just log in to YouTube with your new email address, click the little circle account icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen, and then click “Create a Channel” or “View Your Channel.”

You will be prompted to enter your name and handle.  Please consider whether or not you want your actual name to be public.  If not, just enter the name of your brand/channel for the first and last name.  Your handle needs to be your channel name.

Next, click the Basic Info tab and add a channel name, a short channel description (describe your brand and the type of content viewers can expect very briefly, no novels – you can see below that mine is one sentence), relevant links like social media accounts or websites for your brand, and your new channel email in the contact section.

Create and Add a Logo and Banner

I recommend using Canva (it’s free!) to create your logo/channel icon and banner.  Canva has pre-made templates so you know they will be the correct size.  You do not actually need a logo or banner if you’d rather just use a headshot for the logo and a photo for the banner.  I use a headshot for my logo so it’s more of a profile picture than an actual logo, but I did create a photo collage with a title using a Canva template for my banner.

Do NOT put a bunch of small writing on your logo or banner.  Less is more.  Big, bold writing is best.  Do not overthink this.  Set a timer for an hour to work on this and stick to it.  The bulk of your time needs to be spent on creating actual YouTube content, not on branding materials.  

I know a gal who spends HOURS on branding every month.  She is constantly “rebranding.”  So much so that she never actually creates new content, or at least it’s very sporadic.  She has had no success.  Learn from this mistake by not repeating it.  Here’s my Logo and Banner, it’s the same as it was when I started the channel…

Download and Install TubeBuddy

This tool has been invaluable for coming up with interesting video titles that will perform well and researching to see if an idea for new content is actually a good idea.  TubeBuddy is the only paid subscription tool I use for my YouTube channel, and it’s very inexpensive.  

Once your channel reaches 100,000+ subs, you may be able to get away with winging it with titles since you may have a very devoted and loyal audience, but until then, choosing good video titles with relevant keywords is crucial and TubeBuddy is the absolute best tool for this.  

The bulk of your video views will NOT be from people you know, they will be from users who clicked your title after it popped up in search results or on their home feed so focus on keywords rather than trying to be original.

Pick a Launch Date, Develop a Content Strategy, and Research Video Content Ideas

Maybe one good thing I learned in my time grifting in MLMs is how to set SMART goals.  SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.  Once you’ve created your brand, narrowed your niche, and claimed your title with a domain, channel name, and email – you’re ready to make a plan.  

You know what they say, fail to plan…plan to fail.  It’s true.  Make your plan, but make sure to orient your plan toward content creation, NOT toward subscriber and monetary goals, at least at first.  Because you’re not going to make any money at first.  

A watched pot never boils.  Watching your subscriber count like a hawk, praying for instant fame rather than creating content is a waste of time.

Pick a launch date.  Ideally, give yourself at least a month to create, edit, and schedule your first few videos.

Develop a content creation strategy.  How many videos will you publish weekly?  The most common strategy for beginners is 1-2 new, long-form videos each week.  I started with 2 new 10-15 minute videos a week but eventually switched to one 30-minute video a week plus 3-4 YouTube shorts taken from that weekly video.  You can always scale up or down, but I’d recommend no more than 2 videos a week to start.  Once you have an established, loyal audience, you can experiment with live video or remixes.

Research Video Content Ideas.  Use TubeBuddy to type in keywords and come up with content ideas.  Keep a running list of at least 20 ideas for new videos at all times.

Film, Edit, and Schedule Your First Videos

Set aside dedicated filming time in your content plan and stick to it!  Depending on the type of videos you’re planning on filming, the time required will be different.  Makeup tutorials, for example, can be filmed in one sitting.  Talking head (podcast-type) videos can also be filmed in one sitting.  Day in the Life or What We Eat in a Week style videos need to be filmed in intervals over an entire day or week.  You need to consider this when planning your content so you’re not rushing.

Best practices for content planning include filming 2-3 weeks in advance, editing 1-2 weeks in advance, and having new videos scheduled 1 week in advance.  This takes a lot of the pressure off of you and makes your job more enjoyable.  

If you’re publishing daily videos or covering the latest news – this won’t be possible.  But when it is possible, work as far in advance as you can.  This becomes especially important as your channel grows and you consider hiring a VA or a manager for sponsorships.  So just get in the habit now.

Plan on having at least 2-3 videos scheduled to publish on your launch date so that anyone who watches your first video has more content available to watch and see if they want to subscribe.  Having a few videos ready to go at launch time will help your watch time.

I have used iMovie to edit all of my videos from the get-go and as of right now have no plan to upgrade.  I use free music from the YouTube Creator Studio music tool for my videos as well.

Announce Your Launch Date and Publish Your First Videos

While the majority of your YouTube presence will be established by getting views and watch time from people you DO NOT know, it still doesn’t hurt to announce your launch to any audience you have currently.  Once again, do not expect much crossover.  But even if you get 50-100 subscribers from your current audience, that’s a great start to getting views and accumulating watch time.

Once your launch date arrives and you publish your first videos, watch them!  Every watch hour counts in the beginning, so watching your own videos helps.

With a vision, good work ethic, willingness to develop skills, and consistency – you can do this! Best wishes and be sure to check back for more posts on blogging and YouTubing.

Basic Vlogging Equipment for YouTube

Upgraded Vlogging Equipment

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