7 Effective Habits of Successful YouTube

Ever wondered how the big-time vloggers got to where they are today? Did they just join YouTube at the perfect time, or is it something else fueling their success? I agree with you, who would not want to know that?! So, I started to find answers.

What I came up with was a fantastic list of habits that successful YouTubers are doing which can be easily done by anyone. Check out this article to find out which 7 effective habits successful YouTubers have so that you can copy them and be successful as well.

Sticking to the Niche

This is a huge tip: Don’t try to vlog about everything. While you might throw bits and pieces of your daily life into your vlog as “b roll” type content, you want your vlogs to have a specific focus. What’s the main category or topic you’re going to be focusing on? What are people going to come to your channel and want to see?

Maybe you improvise, maybe you prank people, maybe you talk about coin collecting or another hobby. Whatever the case may be, your channel needs to have a main focus–a niche. That’s what will help you build up a specific and loyal following of people who share that interest. Once you find an interest, give your channel 6 months or so worth of vlogging and see where things take you. Sometimes, you don’t find the winning niche right away.

As one example, highly successful YouTuber Tarus Kul, who’s better known as CrazyRussianHacker, started multiple channels with different focuses before he finally came across his niche: gadget reviews and life hacks. Now he has millions of subscribers and, off that success, he has even grown his other channel, Tarus Kul, where he vlogs about life on his farm and life with his three adorable dogs.

The point is, he tried multiple niches out until he found what worked for him. Maybe your first channel won’t be a rousing success, but if you focus on delivering quality content that viewers want to see, you can figure out something that will work.

Interacting with the Audience

Have you ever watched a YouTuber who completely ghosts their audience? It’s like they’ll show up to post a video and even ask people to leave a comment, but they never interact with their followers? These YouTubers often come across as being “too good” to actually join the conversation their audience is having. Even the biggest channels on YouTube, like Good Mythical Morning, take the time to ask questions in the comments and like comments on occasion.

Keep interacting with your audience as long as it is not a dolphin.

Although you won’t be able to like and respond to every single comment as your channel grows and you list more and more videos, you should take about 5-15 minutes out of each day to scroll through the comments on your most recent videos and give some alike. Respond to the first people who are there with a genuine question or interest.

In the comments, you’ll find that people may tag their favorite moments, make innuendos out of what you say, come up with silly jokes, and quote their favorite sayings. They’ll also be discussing the focus topic in general and even making suggestions about what they want to see in the future. All of this deserves your attention.

Plus, by monitoring the comments on your videos, you can find people who are harassing others in your community and block them from ever commenting on your videos. Being quick to block those who aren’t adding anything valuable to your channel will help keep your channel a fun and positive place for subscribers to hang out.

At the same time, keep an eye out for the commenters who seem to be watching all your videos and offering genuine questions and advice for you and other commenters. Maybe they’re experts on the subject too. Those are great people to have around so long as they are helpful and positive. Thank them for their input and pin their comments when you get the chance to encourage their interaction.

Staying Consistent

This is a very important point to touch on. No one will stay subscribed to your channel for long if you are posting at random intervals. Maybe you posted daily last week but, this week, there hasn’t been a video at all. What gives? People on YouTube will be quick to forget you and think that you’ve fallen off the face of the earth.

You might be too busy to post every single day, but you should try your best to post at least 2-3 times a week. And, make that consistent. Big channels like How To Cake It announce at the end of every video, Tune In Next Tuesday For Another Video. That way every viewer knows when they can expect new content. As a new vlogger, you’ll probably do better posting daily, but if you can’t make sure everyone knows when to expect fresh content.

Try to avoid overcomplicating the schedule of your channel. For instance, if you say new vlog every Monday, new review every Tuesday, and new prank every Friday, that’s just too long for most people to take to heart. You can simply put up a graphic at the end of your videos, and insert reminders where needed, saying “New Videos Every Mon, Tue, Fri!” Keep things simple and easy to remember.

Researching the Subject

Even if you’re making your channel all about fun stuff, at the end of the day, a vlogger is also going to be educating their audience to some degree and it’s important that the information is correct. This means researching things you aren’t sure about and being thorough when explaining things.

At least you don’t need to research with these anymore #thanksgoogle

Depending on your niche, you might want to assume that every viewer is a complete beginner. In this case, you might describe things in a simple fashion with each video where you talk about it. But, if you fear your content running too long or your advanced subscribers feeling belittled, you can also refer people to another video that goes in-depth explaining something in instances where advanced knowledge may be required.

As an example, Shaun Murray vlogs about his life as a wake surfer. A lot of people in his audience may be hardcore surfers too, but he also takes the time to explain things and offer excellent on-screen graphics for those who may be new to the subject and just getting into surfing.

Keep Making Improvements

A vlog is never perfect, things can always be improved. This is a lesson you could take to heart for many things about life, but when it comes to your vlog, it definitely needs to be at the forefront of your mind. You should always be looking for ways to improve your vlog, whether that entails employing a better video editor for a higher quality end result or getting a graphics guy in to add fun on-screen graphics that complement the content.

Whatever you might choose to work on, you should always be getting critique on your channel and taking comments to heart about what you could do better. While everyone’s comment is just an opinion, if there seems to be a general consensus about something–like the lighting is too dim or the camera is too shaky–this is something you need to address.

Editing the Vlogs Themselves

The viewer is invested in you, which in most cases means your videos might turn out best if you learn how to do the editing yourself. If you invest the time into learning how to edit and getting the right tools, it will give you the power to tell your story how you intend for it to be told.

Of course, not everyone has the time or money to learn a new editing software. If you aren’t capable of editing professional quality videos right now, consider reaching out to someone who can edit them for you, keeping in mind that you want to retain as much creative control over the process as possible.

Generally, this will require close collaboration with your editor. If you can find someone you know to help, that’s even better. Many professional YouTubers end up either editing videos themselves or bringing someone on to their crew that’s very close to them. Someone they can look over the shoulder of and work closely with. By having someone on your personal crew, they’ll also have a personal investment in the videos and the story behind them, which will vastly improve production quality.

Staying True to Themselves

A successful vlogger is the same person behind the camera as in front of the camera: be yourself. This is something that some YouTubers completely lose sight of, and it quickly begins to haunt them. Not only will you feel like you’re having to put on an act every time you step in front of the camera, your subscribers will soon catch on to the fact that you’re being fake.

It’s one thing to have a strong on-screen personality where you’re extra confident because you know, at the end of the day, your vlog is about you. That’s okay! Most people have a slightly different tone of voice they use when on camera and maybe even a slightly different way of holding themselves. This is called having a good on-screen presence, like facing the camera and speaking clearly. It’s acceptable to play those things up for your vlog.

What’s not okay is shifting into an entirely different person when you’re on camera. Many people struggle with drawing the line with this one but figure out what works for you.