10 top tips on how to make a YouTube channel

Shortly having come back from the Makers Central 2022 show we reflected on all that we’d done there. One of our projects while we were there was speaking to some great influencers, makers and creators. We got some totally amazing interviews from them all, if anyone knows how to be a Youtuber or how to make content for YouTube it’s these guys.

One of the questions we asked them during their interviews over the weekend was for their number one piece of advice on how to make a Youtube channel for any budding creators out there. So we’ve taken this advice from a bunch of makers who have a combined – wait for it – over 16.1 million followers, and boiled it down into a top 10 list of absolute gems. So here’s just some of the lessons we learned at the fantastic Makers Central show, and our guide on how to make content for YouTube and how to be a Youtuber, from the people who really do know all about it.

10. FILTER OUT THE TROLLS

Nick Zammeti

Self-taught maker & innovator who started YouTubing as a hobby in 2015 now creates videos full time as well as staging the epic Makers Central event annually.

878,000 YouTube subscribers
51,400 Insta followers

“There’s lots of different comments you get on YouTube and things, but I filter a lot of mine out. So I don’t allow any any trolls to get past my little barrier, and they all go into a little spam box. All I get is all the positive stuff.

But there are some mean trolls out there, but you just have to look past those and just carry on.”

9. SHOOT WITH THE EDIT IN MIND

Deer River Craftsman

North Wales based furniture maker creating commissions and unique items, especially with a sustainable or recycled focus. Joined the maker community to inspire and help others.

7,960 YouTube subscribers
38,100 Insta followers

“Have a plan of what you’re trying to film. A lot of people do actually get overwhelmed by the editing side of things. So if you film tight, it’s a lot easier for you to get through the edit. If you’re starting out, don’t film hours and hours worth of footage. Have a plan of what you’re trying to do, and then film tight. Then you don’t have loads of editing to do so you get to an end product. I think people really want to get to the end product as soon as possible.

And don’t get hung up on the audio too much because you can always overdub that kind of thing. You’ll be surprised how much stuff you can do pretty quickly.” how to make a youtube channel how to be a youtuber how to make content for youtube

8. DON’T BUY SUBSCRIBERS

The Bluelight Turner

A former ambulance technician, now hobby woodturner from West Sussex. Started wood turning in 2014 after being diagnosed with PTSD, and from there started his Youtube journey.

1,120 Youtube subscribers
1,299 Insta followers

“I ended up being really stupid and buying subscribers which killed my channel. If anyone’s even contemplating it, don’t do it. I felt pressured; there were people out there that were going ‘you should do this’ and ‘you should do that’ so I brought subs to make myself feel better. Bit it didn’t. My mental health at the time was low and for the week or so that it was saying that I was above so many subs I was like ‘yeah’. But then, you know, no, it’s bad don’t do it.”

7. NEVER STOP IMPROVING

Matt Estlea

A woodworker, tutor, and online content creator who considers himself fortunate to find himself standing at a workbench making things for a living.

304,000 Youtube subscribers
28400 Insta followers

“ I would say don’t over think it. Most people will just start by making a project and just film it. My first one, I was making this thing and just had a camera filming it. There was no narration or anything like that. Then people started responding saying it’s cool what you’re making, but it’s a bit boring. It’s this 40 minute video with like just me doing stuff and no one knows what’s going on. So the next layer was that I started narrating it. Then I started getting a little bit more comfortable with narrating and got in front of the camera. There was a cut every sentence because I screwed up every other sentence!

But you’ve just got to get going with it, get started. It’s not going to be perfect to begin with either. There’s videos that I filmed four or five years ago that i look back on, and look at the dirty pasta dish that I left on the workbench. You can’t go back to fix anything, but you can always refilm it five years later when you’re better. So that’s what i’m doing now. But that pasta dish really annoys me!” how to make a youtube channel how to be a youtuber how to make content for youtube

6. BE PREPARED TO SUFFER FOR YOUR ART

Tim Sway

A USA based maker and musician who I left his successful career as a touring and recording musician to pursue making goods from reclaimed and sustainable materials.

107,000 Youtube subscribers
14,000 Insta followers

“My whole life I’ve had adults and people older than me saying ‘oh that’s great but you should really have a something to fall back on’ or ‘oh you want to be a musician well maybe you should get a music education degree so you can teach’.

My advice, now that I’m on the other of that, I say that’s complete hogwash. I say if you want to be an artist go be an artist. Do not have a safety plan, go out and do it, But the difference is you have to understand what that means. You have to you have to love what you’re doing enough to not eat dinner every night. Enough to live at your parents house longer than you want to. Enough to you know sacrifice sleep and friendship for this thing.

And if you love creating content and you enjoy the stuff that you’re doing to create that content, whether it’s YouTube or just in the in the world. If you love it that much to where every day after putting 20 hours in and getting two hours of sleep in the back of a van and then getting up and doing it again and you’re still loving it then it doesn’t matter if you make money.

It doesn’t matter if you get clicks or likes or subscribes. None of that matters anymore. Because you’re living your life the way that makes you happy. If you live your life the way that makes you happy you are successful. Success is not money, it is not fame, it is not clicks. Too many people get wrapped up in that. I love everything I do every day, and I don’t care if die broke. If I die broke loving everything I did every day, I win!”

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5. DON’T WAIT, JUST DO IT

Ruth Amos, Kids Invent Stuff

Ruth is a British entrepreneur and inventor of the StairSteady, and is now an in demand presenter hosting live events, TV shows, live tv and online streams as well as co-hosting Kids Invent Stuff and managing her own channel.

4,490 / 56,700 YouTube subscribers
8,256 / 3,453 Insta followers

“Do it. Just start on your phone. Most of us have a decent phone that you can film some stuff on. If you look back on Kids Invent Stuff, we’ve been doing this since 2017. Just watch the first videos, it’s so different to the stuff we put out now. The more you do it, the better you get. And the more you think oh I enjoy doing this.

Find the thing that you enjoy doing and just start bit by bit. It doesn’t have to be perfect, ask anyone that has ever started making YouTube videos or Instagram videos, no one started off with the perfect video. I’m not even sure if there is the perfect video. So just have a go, and then you’ll find the thing that you want to do.”

4. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Colin Furze

Lincs born Colin was a plumber before joining Sky 1 series Gadget Geeks. Now a British YouTube personality, stuntman, inventor, filmmaker and tunnel digger.

11,900,000 Youtube subscribers
475,000 Insta followers

“If you think back to when I started, you were always trying to get a video to be two or three minutes long. Short, snappy, grab the attention, bang, get it all out there. Whereas now, they try and push you for longer form stuff. Then of course you’ve got things like TikTok and Instagram and everything’s after filming landscape or portrait. It has got a lot more complicated.

So I recommend quality over quantity don’t just put stuff out for the sake of putting it out. It’s kind of weird, because if you put something out and it gets even a couple of hundred views or whatever, for your first video you still find that that’s a success. Then you obviously think you want to do more and more. It is very easy to get carried away and just put something else out which might not be as good, or it might not be much different to what you’ve done before. So just keep your eye on quality rather than quantity and then just see how it goes.”

3. DO IT FOR FUN

Derek From Malden

Derek is a Massachusetts based maker who came into his own later in life after recuperating from an injury, when his son suggested he watch DIY videos on Youtube. Now part of Netflix series Making Fun with fellow makers.

5,300 Youtube subscribers
20,300 Insta followers

“Make something you want to make, do it for fun and enjoy it. That’s what I find when I do something that I enjoy, it really shows on the video. Also don’t give up. You know your first video, your second video, even your tenth video is going to be a lousy video, just keep making them, and they’ll get better. Sometimes faster than other times, but if you’re doing it for fun, that’s OK.

My main goal was that when I’m gone I want to have a record of what I was making for my children, grandchildren or great-grandchildren. So for me if that’s the only people that ever watch them, it’s still a win for me.”

2. EMBRACE YOUR UNIQUE VOICE

Jimmy Diresta

New York-based designer, artist, fabricator and video producer, now Empowering the next generation of DIY makers through his Youtube channel and shows like the Discovery channels “Dirty Money” and Netflix show “ Making Fun ”

1,960,000 Youtube subscribers
228,000 Insta followers

“A lot of people are always like, ‘is it too late is it too late for me to bring something new to the table?’ I think just like everybody has their own facial features, or everybody has their own handwriting, everybody has their own speaking voice and everybody has something new and interesting to say about whatever it is they do. So i think everybody has a unique approach. So the advice I give most often is just start.

I came up with a phrase recently, I wrote it in my notebook. It says, ‘I’m finally ready to be perfect’. That’s a joke, because everybody waits and waits and waits for the most perfect idea or the most perfect camera setup or the idea that’s going to blow their socks. You got to just get into it and then that idea will come to you while you’re working. Don’t just sit and do nothing and wait.”

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1. DON’T SUFFER IMPOSTER SYNDROME

Dan Rees – Zebrano Wood Craft

A creator of beautiful, handmade wooden rings based in West Sussex, selling through Etsy. As well as living the dream as a full time sawdust creator, they also make Youtube videos to share projects and ideas.

33,000 Youtube Subscribers
22,100 Insta followers

“When I was starting out I had major imposter syndrome, where i was like, ‘No-one’s gonna listen to me’, ‘Why would anyone listen to me’, ‘I’m just a nobody’. But actually, I would say to not get bogged down in that. Even though there might be 50 or 60 other channels in your niche making content similar, those people are not you. And you have your own unique way of presenting things. So basically don’t worry about imposter syndrome, just do your uploads and get stuck in.” how to make a youtube channel how to be a youtuber how to make content for youtube

How to be a Youtuber take-aways

So that’s how to make a YouTube channel and how to make content for YouYube. In summary, ignore the trolls, be consistent, just get started even if you’re using your phone camera. As Jimmy Diresta and Dan from Zebrano said, everyone has got their unique voice and their unique personality to bring to the video. So there is no reason why anyone can’t start making videos and making content if you want to.

We really hope you got something out of this and if you’ve been able to take any of these pieces of advice to heart and apply it to your own YouTube or creator journey, please do let us know, we’d love to hear from you.

* Follower counts correct at date of publication