so in this video I'm going to be sharing 17 of the biggest YouTube mistakes I've made over the past 17 years that could be costing you views subscribers and respect so stay tuned to see which ones you're guilty of and you won't believe number 11 number one not making eye Conta with the lens one of the most common mistakes especially for new creators is looking at the selfie screen instead of the lens the problem is if you're not making eye contact with the lens this creates a disconnect between you and the viewer and can hurt
audience retention mistake number two not starting when I first started YouTube I was uploading videos for my church but I had the desire to start a Channel of my own however I hesitated for 3 years I was waiting until I felt ready waiting for the perfect camera I was allowing perfectionism to hold me back but the truth is you got to start before you're ready you got to just punch fear in the face punch perfectionism in the face and press record which brings us to mistake number three and that is focusing on gear instead of
the content so there's actually a technical term called gas that stands for gear acquisition syndrome this refers to the dopamine rush you get from buying new gears or accessories that you don't actually need equipment that you buy but don't use books you buy but don't read software that you buy but you never Master it the key Point here is that to succeed on YouTube you actually have to upload videos on YouTube and it's not the camera that's going to make the difference it's the content that's going to make the difference so start with whatever camera
that you already have and level up as you go mistake number four is a lack of planning when I first got started with video on YouTube I made the mistake of winging it instead of planning ahead a lot of times this would look like just having a vague idea or no idea for the video at all just turning the camera on starting to capture footage ending up with tons of extra footage not knowing how to sort through it all and how to really edit a final product because I didn't plan ahead what I learned was
that the cure to this was starting with the end in mind and then reverse engineering backwards what's this video about what's the title what's the thumbnail what footage do I need what kind of story do I want to tell what's the messaging here and I found that a few minutes of planning led to an exponential return on not just my energy but on the views and subscribers and impact that the final video had which brings us to mistake number five and that is comparing yourself and trying to be somebody else I've found that sometimes watching
others can make me inspired and at other times it actually can make me insecure cure I learned that comparison is a killer of creativity and it's a thief of Joy because when I look at somebody else's gifts talents and abilities that I don't have that usually doesn't lead me to a place of feeling encouraged and inspired to create my own content however by identifying your own strengths what makes you uniquely you and tapping into your own authenticity whether that's your quirks your humor your stoic personality your bubbly personality a huge key to your success on
YouTube is being you times too and not trying to be somebody else now smash the like button if you've been getting value so far and let's hit number six which is making selfish content the truth is YouTube is your tube you can make whatever videos you want but that doesn't mean anybody's going to watch them or that anybody is going to give you views and subscribers and attention if you want your videos to perform better ask this question what value does this video add to the viewer what topics are people actually searching for what topics
are people actually interested in mistake number seven weak titles no joke I actually posted hundreds of videos before learning how important titles were mistakes I made it included doing an interview with somebody and just putting their first and last name in the word interview with no detail about what the viewer would learn in the video and the cool thing is with tools like chat GPT and vid iq's a eye coach you can start writing great titles even if you're an absolute beginner now you might have saw this one coming but M snake number eight is
weak thumbnails some of the mistakes I see people make with thumbnails includes too much clutter there's too many words there's too many images there's an overall lack of clarity don't forget a lot of people are consuming YouTube on their smartphone so another mistake is having your images or your text be too small and unreadable number nine is wasting time during the start of your video ever since I started creating videos and editing I've been using Adobe Premiere and I remember eventually I discovered a program called After Effects this allowed me to make a really cool
intro with music and a logo and sound effects but here's the problem I learned that nobody cared if you're starting your video with a 10sec 20 second swoopin logo that's got some electricity and a cool sound effect you are wasting the viewers time and hurting your video's performance when the video starts you want to cut right to the chase with you on camera with a powerful question a powerful opening and a powerful hook seriously just fixing that mistake will radically improve the performance of your YouTube channel if you want to level up your content with
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like epidemic sound if you want to check them out we have a special deal going on just check out the link down in the description below thank you epidemic sound for sponsoring this video now not a lot of people talk about mistake number 10 but here's what it is not not creating systems if you think about it when it comes to YouTube everybody has the same goals I want to get a th000 subscribers I want to get a silverplay button I want to go full-time I want my business to grow from the views and awareness
that my channel generates but of course a lot of people struggle to reach their goals and one of the reasons that happens is because of a lack of systems and so what are systems well they are the habits and the patterns and the routines and the checklists that you install into your life so so that you can produce consistent results on YouTube this is one of the reasons why I created the V system that is a process that I've used and now tens of thousands of people in our community have used to create consistent results
on YouTube this process of reverse engineering and then researching and then recording and then releasing the video the right way and then ultimately reviewing the results and repeating the process and the better your systems the better the results you're going to get on YouTube we got to hit mistake number 11 and here's what it is sacrificing your long-term brand for shortterm money this includes pushing products you don't actually believe in or jumping on trends that don't actually align with your channel topic this is a huge Temptation that new creators fall into because you're so hungry
to grow the channel to do this full-time you're so flattered perhaps by getting an invitation to your first brand deal or sponsorship ship and all of those things are good making money getting views building your personal brand but if you're compromising what you actually believe about a product or you're chasing views and vanity metrics disconnected from the core purpose of your channel then ultimately you're going to be sacrificing your long-term brand just for shortterm views and money and let me just encourage you that after 17 years on YouTube sitting here now I look back and
I regret anytime that I've made shortsighted decisions instead of decisions based on Legacy impact and the ultimate brand that I want to build mistake number 12 unrealistic expectations the opportunity is real the chance for growth is real but YouTube is a marathon and not a Sprint it is a mistake to underestimate the amount of work and grit and patience and time and learning and skill building that it takes to succeed on YouTube but the good news is if you go into this with the right mentality realizing that Rome wasn't built in a day it was
built Brick by Brick your YouTube channel won't be built in a day it'll be built one video at a time overtime so just get started and have realistic expectations mistake number 13 is covering too many topics on one channel one of my favorite things to do is look back at my Sean canel YouTube channel and reflect on the different topics I covered in the span of like 20 videos one week I posted a video with camera tips and Equipment tips which is a great topic but then I posted a video reviewing a bark box subscription
with toys and treats for our two Chihuahua then I posted a video with my green beans recipe and man that thing got over like 60,000 views so I thought I'm Martha Stewart I'm Anthony Bourdain but then I abandoned that dream and I did my review of The Amazing Spider-Man like what happened is my channel a movie review Channel now I was all over the place I was covering too many topics on one channel and my growth was suffering as a result so here's a phrase worth remembering or writing down never upload a video your subscribers
didn't subscribe for answering that question will force you to Define who is your channel for and what value does your channel provide for the viewer it's also worth considering that if you've already been posting videos and getting subscribers why are they clicking subscribe what topics are they clicking subscribe for and if you Veer away from those topics then don't be surprised when your views suffer mistake 14 trying to figure things out on your own listen I've got the utmost respect for hard work grit putting in the time just putting your head down and grinding that's
cool but did you know that there's a better way like rather than trying to figure out everything out on your own you could ask the question who knows how to do this that I could learn from and I understand I'm preaching to the choir cuz you're literally watching a video about YouTube strategy but I want to encourage you don't try to Pioneer your own path when someone else has already blazed away of course there is no substitute for you putting in the practice and putting in the work but trying to figure everything out on your
own is the slowest Road and so go faster by getting help now mistake number 15 is inconsistency now you may be thinking Sean I've heard that before but here here's the thing most people really talk about being consistent in one dimension and I have at least five Dimensions to share with you now of course the First Dimension is uploads like you actually have to upload videos on YouTube to be successful on YouTube and the more consistent your uploads over time the better your results but that's really just one dimension the second is consistent energy and
what I mean is a consistent tone a consistent feel to your videos it's almost like saying a consistent quality are you showing up with the same level of energy and the same level of quality in your videos now another dimension of consistency could be your message are you staying on brand on message are you covering so many topics kind of like we covered in last point or do you have a consistent theme and through line through all of your content and think about how that one relates to building your brand I mean are you saying
what people want to hear or are you saying what you actually believe and even another dimension could be a consistent brand do your videos does your content have a consistent look does it have a consistent feel is there a cohesive brand or does it just feel all over the place random no theme no through line all of these things make up consistency and the more consistent you are with your content on YouTube the more momentum that you'll build over time now when I think about my last 17 years on YouTube and I think about mistake
16 this one is probably the biggest mistake I've made consistently and it's this trying to do too many things at once a lot of times people will come to me and say okay I get it I shouldn't have too many topics on one channel so instead I'm going to start like two or three channels to divide up my content big mistake you see if you try and Chase three rabbits you'll end up catching none of them and I'm massively guilty of this cuz I think it was 2014 or 2015 when I realized I I was
operating four or five channels if there's one Banner lesson I've learned in my career it's that you need to focus and focus stands for follow one course until successful if you're multi-passionate and you want to do multiple YouTube channels I want to challenge you what is this strongest one which one are you most passionate about most proficient at and also has the best opportunity of producing an income in money because fast forward to today and I do run multiple channels but I've also built a team that supports me this might be the biggest mistake that
creators and entrepreneurs and the ambitious make overall too many social media platforms too many projects too many YouTube channels too many ideas not enough execution on one thing so make a plan work the plan kill distractions and protect your focus which brings us to mistake number 17 which is giving up too soon but here's the thing if you're feeling frustrated or discouraged with your growth on YouTube I don't blame you in fact I made an entire video about this point and you can click or tap the screen to watch that video or check it out
in the show notes
