I have a teeny, tiny, YouTube channel that I started because I thought flying was just amazing/awesome/exciting – and I wanted to share my excitement.

Looking back on the start there were several initial challenges – not least that I hadn’t a clue what I was doing, how to edit – either well – or efficiently, and I also didn’t have good cameras!

What have I learnt? Lots! Hard to compress that all of it into one blog, but there are some key things.

1. My subject area – microlight flying in the UK – is niche – extremely niche!
2. Flying as a general topic has many, many channels, so given viewers will only have a finite amount of time to watch content, there is an element of competition with similar content.
3. Most viewers find my videos through the ‘Up Next’ or ‘Home feed’ – which is to say that it’s great to have Subscribers, but they don’t actually drive the views!
4. The YouTube algorithm is an enigma – but ‘impactful’ thumbnails that can be read easily on a phone sized screen (apparently that’s the single most used platform to watch YouTube!)
5. Generally keeping vids to under 10 minutes really helps
6. Avoid setting an entire video to music
   1. Music tastes vary wildly, so there’s a good chance viewers don’t like your music taste and that turns them off immediately
   2. Most people will only watch max 2 or 3 minutes of music only
7. Voice is king – so find a way to record voice
8. Editing – decide what the purpose/story of the video is – and make the cuts to follow that – cut away anything extraneous
9. Editing – keep backups that will allow you to go back when you’ve hit a big problem!
10. When to upload – it seems to work to have a set time to upload – e.g. 4pm on a Saturday – that way any regular viewers will know when to expect a new video from you

If you are reading this hoping to generate an income stream from YouTube, I’m afraid you’re in the wrong place – certainly my channel is a very long way from being eligible for monetization, and I’m honestly not keen on it even if I was eligible! 

What I do recommend is if you want to start a YouTube channel, do be clear on your motivation – why do you want to go through all the hassle, the time commitment, the cost?

Is it for financial gain?

Is it for an experiment?

Is it to share a passion?

Is it just for your own fun and enjoyment.

I can only really give an insight into the latter – i.e. making videos for your own fun and enjoyment.

There is of course a bit of a trade off between what content you might want to make, vs what people want to watch.

Broadly my theory is to make videos I would want to watch – and if others like it, then that’s great!  As I mentioned above, I’m not fussed about monetizing my channel even if that ever becomes an option.

There is then a reality check – cameras and accessories cost money. Can you run with the gear you already have?

I started with cheap action cameras. They worked, but the quality was frankly awful, although it was only once I invested in decent cameras (DJi Osmo) , with much better image stabilisation and much better image quality all round, that I realised how bad the cheep cameras were!

Now the 360 degree cameras are calling – although I’ve managed to resist so far!

Is you computer up to video editing? It’s memory and processor intensive stuff. What video editor to use?  So far the best free one I’ve found is Hit Film, and the free version has enough tools for an amateur editor like me.

I hope you found this useful – maybe even interesting!