Are you thinking about starting a YouTube channel for your business? Maybe you’re holding back because you think it’s too expensive, you have to have a certain personality, it’s too late to start, and so on. Today, I’m going to give you 7 YouTube misconceptions about starting a YouTube channel for your business.

It looks like everyone has a YouTube channel, so you think the platform is oversaturated. Just because you think everyone is on YouTube, you might actually be losing money by not starting your channel. Keep reading (or watching) to find out if it’s worth it for you and your brand to start a YouTube channel.

7 YouTube misconceptions about starting a YouTube channel – busted!

01. It’s expensive

The first YouTube misconception is it’s expensive to create YouTube videos. Many people think starting a YouTube channel is a lot of Investment for their brand or business. That could be in time or money. In this section, we’re going to talk about time. You don’t need a lot of time to create YouTube videos, you probably only need about 2-3 hours a week to create one video a week. If you have a good plan and you’re organized, you can probably cut down a little bit more on the time.  I’ll actually get into this more in next week’s video. It’s going to be called ‘A beginner’s guide to creating videos without being overwhelmed’. 

02. I need fancy equipment

The 2nd YouTube misconception about starting a YouTube channel is you need fancy equipment. This actually ties in with the first misconception of being expensive, but I wanted to give it its own section. You actually don’t need fancy equipment to film YouTube videos, you can just use whatever you have.

Cameras

Right now, I’m filming using my phone, sometimes I film using a webcam. These are things that you already have. Most laptops and desktops come with a camera and every smartphone comes with a camera. Right now, I’m filming with a Samsung Note 20. It actually films up to 8K, but I don’t really use that, I just use the bare minimum, which is 1080.

Lighting

When it comes to lighting, you can use your window. I usually sit in front of my window to film my videos because natural light is the best lighting. But during this filming,  I’m also using a ring because this week it’s storming so I need more light because I don’t have enough lighting to film today. Even if you need more lighting, you can get a vlogging kit. Most of them are under $30 and come with a mini light already attached.

Microphones 

Most of those vlogging kits come with a microphone, but you can get a cheap lavalier mic for under $10 at Amazon. Lately, I’ve been using the mic on my phone because the quality is pretty good.

Video editing

When it comes to video editing you can use the video editing software that your computer comes with. I use a Mac, so my computer comes with iMovie and Final Cut Pro, I’m not used to using that software. I use Adobe since that’s what I was always trained to do since school. But most laptops and desktops usually come with editing software. 

Even this phone I have comes with editing software. I was editing an Instagram video and I didn’t know that I didn’t have to use an app for that. It came automatically with my phone. 

While you’re thinking about filming, you just have to remember you’re not filming a movie or a TV show, you’re just filming a YouTube video. You don’t need all those fancy equipment to film. If you start to love filming as you get used to it then yes invest in other equipment. You can go crazy buying backdrops, cameras, lighting, mics, and so on.

03. You have to be an extrovert

The 3rd misconception about starting a YouTube channel is you have to be an extrovert. You don’t have to be an extrovert to create YouTube videos. I won’t go into much detail about this because I actually created a video on this two weeks ago called ‘Why creating YouTube videos is not just for extroverts (how to make YouTube videos without sucking)’ you can check that out here. 

But the main thing you need to know is as long as you have a plan and a process, you can create YouTube videos. I mean there are videos where people are just tapping on the keyboard or scratching, so if they can make a video, you can make a video too. 

04. It’s only for influencers

The 4th misconception about starting a YouTube channel is you have to be an influencer or I should say it’s only for people who want to become influencers. You don’t have to be an influencer or want to be an influencer to create YouTube videos. There are a lot of content creators who are not influencers that create videos. For example, me. I’m creating videos to help my audience create videos and to build their brand. That’s the only thing I want to do. 

You can focus on creating videos that only focus on your audience. This means creating videos only geared towards the people that you want to help. So as long as you’re helping the people that you want, you don’t have to want to become an influencer.

05. My audience isn’t interested

The 5th misconception about starting a YouTube channel is your audience isn’t interested in watching your videos. According to Wyzowl Research, “84% of video marketers say video has been effective for generating leads and 94% of marketers agree that videos have helped increase user understanding of their product or service.”

That means, if you’re a business and you’re selling products and services, then you should be creating videos. Even if your audience isn’t on YouTube, which I doubt because YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Even if your audience isn’t on YouTube, creating videos is still useful for your business. 

Are you already convinced about creating videos for your business? Then check out Video Creation Mastery to get started.

What’s the one thing holding you back from creating videos? Let me know in the comments below.

06. YouTube is oversaturated

The 6th misconception about starting a YouTube channel is YouTube is oversaturated so you don’t really have anything to add to the conversation. If you’re one of the people who think all your competitors are on YouTube and everything you want to talk about has already been done, then you should change your mindset just a little bit.  Your thought process, the way you explain things, the way you teach things, your background, and your experience will come out on video. 

When you’re using your own voice, your own experience, your own background, your own personality, you differentiate yourself from your competitors. No matter what your competitors are doing, if you have a message, then you should spread it because not everybody learns from the same style. Different teachers reach different students. We all learn differently. One person might not learn from your competitors but might be able to learn better from you. Check out the competition because maybe their weaknesses are your strengths.

07. It’s too late to start

The 7th misconception about starting a YouTube channel is it’s too late to start. You might think it’s too late because it’s oversaturated or all your competitors are already on YouTube. This kind of ties into the 6th misconception. But it’s never too late to start. 

Getting visible

Even without the client aspect, you can think of YouTube as a search engine. If you have an audience of zero, but you want to reach people to get more visible online then YouTube videos are a good way because as I said before, YouTube is the second largest search engine. Creating videos will help you get in front of an audience you couldn’t reach before. 

Resource library

Another thing you can think about is using YouTube to hold a library of your videos because one of the first reasons I created YouTube videos was to help my clients. My clients had so many questions and they were the same questions about filming videos, lighting, and sound. So I decided to create a library of resources for my clients to use so I don’t have to go back and type the same answer over and over again. 

Plus being on video makes it easier to explain and show what you want to explain and teach. It’s better to watch than to read it in a blog post. So if you have a lot of frequently asked questions then creating videos is a good way to answer those questions. It’s always a good idea to have a library of resources to help your clients and your audience. 

Of course, if you’re hosting the videos on YouTube and it’s just a library for clients, it’s an added bonus if other people discover your channel and watch your videos. 

Bonus

08. You can’t make money on YouTube without a million followers

Getting monetized.

If you’re thinking about starting a YouTube channel because you want to get monetized, then you should change how you think about YouTube monetization because I think monetization is more of a passive income. It’s not something you’re going to use as your main income, especially if you’re selling services and products. 

Just think, if you were going to make $100,000 a year, you probably only need about 9 people to buy from you a month. 9 is a low number. This is all based on the idea that you’re selling your services for at least $1000. So 1000 times 9, that’s $9000 a month. And then 9 times 12 is 108. That’s $108,000. To reach your goal of $100,000 you need 9 people, 

I’m sure you can find 9 people to watch your videos every month. So instead of thinking about a big number, like getting in front of 1000 or 100,000 people, think about how you can reach your income goal. As long as you’re using videos to attract your audience, then you don’t need a general audience of a million people. You just need 9 people who are interested in what you have to say and are interested in your products and services. 

So back to the idea of monetization, you have to have 1000 YouTube subscribers and 4000 watch hours in one year. This is a lot of hard work. But if you’re working hard, it’s not impossible. I don’t want you to think of monetization as your main goal. It would be faster to sell your services and products than to depend solely on trying to monetize your channel. 

Summary

That was a lot, I know. The 7 YouTube misconceptions about starting a YouTube channel were it’s too expensive, you need fancy equipment, you have to be an extrovert, it’s only for influencers, you’re audience isn’t interested, it oversaturated, it’s too late to start, and bonus number 8, you can’t make money on YouTube without a million followers. If you need help getting started creating videos, then check out Video Creation Mastery.