Chapter 8 – Mistakes to Avoid on Your YouTube Channel
Now that you’ve established a YouTube channel for your business, you will likely find a ton of advice on how to make a quick buck. Since you want to become successful quickly, you may be tempted to take shortcuts. There are some mistakes that a majority of new YouTubers commit just because they don't know any better.
If you want to avoid crashing and burning, then you need to make sure you don't make these mistakes. If you can avoid the following pitfalls, you'll significantly increase your chances of successfully growing your YouTube channel for your business.
This is a mistake that is made often out of sheer desperation. Buying fake reviews to increase your stats on YouTube will only boost your popularity for a short time. New viewers are more likely to become suspicious if they notice a new channel that suddenly has thousands of views but with hardly any engagement. This raises a ton of red flags, and those legitimate prospects will just walk away.
While you may have created some excellent videos back in the day, the last thing you should do is use your YouTube channel as a dumping ground. You need to treat your channel like a unique website that is meant to promote your business. You may link your YouTube channel to your website, but that doesn't mean every video on your site should also appear on YouTube.
Ignoring Your Social Media Presence
You can't expect to establish a successful business if you ignore your social media presence. Marketing your YouTube channel through your social media channels is the best way to reach as many people as possible, and quickly. Many new YouTube channels make the mistake of thinking that it's enough just to promote their videos on YouTube. However, if you want your videos to be seen, then you have to maintain an active presence on your other social media networks.
The key to building and growing your YouTube channel is consistency. If you want viewers to come back to your channel and subscribe, then you have to make sure you are uploading content on a regular basis. If you're going to become successful on YouTube, then you have to continue to be active on your channel by uploading content consistency.
Not Engaging With Your Audience
Your YouTube channel is a way to make you money. However, it will be difficult to be successful if you forget to engage with your audience regularly. Get involved by asking your audience questions, responding to their queries and interacting with them. The more you participate, the more your audience will be eager to become loyal subscribers.
If you don't ask yourself what you want to achieve with your YouTube channel, then you are more likely to get sidetracked and distracted by other things. Starting the journey is just one step.
Your YouTube channel will only take you as far as your goals are willing to go, so make the time to create goals, milestones, and deadlines. This will significantly help you steer your upload schedule, marketing strategies, and social media engagement level.
Trolling Other Channels and Begging for Views
How many times have you looked at the comments section of a YouTube video and seen someone asking for others to click their link and check out their awesome video? This reeks of desperation. You don’t want to try and build your channel like this. It tends to aggravate the owner of the channel because you are using their platform to direct his audience to some unrelated video. It also annoys the audience. Instead, watch someone’s video, leave a valuable comment, and if your feedback is meaningful, people will want to know who you are and click on your username.
Not Linking Your Channel to Your Social Media Accounts
Never forget to link your Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts to all of your videos, as well as your About page. You can also include annotations at the end of every video where you tell people about your other social media pages. This will prompt viewers to find you on social media and may even share your videos with others. It is important to remember that your YouTube channel is part of a long-term plan, so informing people about your other social media accounts will help to promote your business in the long run.