Growing a successful YouTube channel hinges on a strategic combination of a clear concept, consistent execution, and effective community engagement, as demonstrated through practical examples of content creation and client work.
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How do you grow a successful YouTube
channel? There is no one-trick answer to
this question. However, over the last
couple of years, I've made hundreds of
videos for this YouTube channel as well
as my client's YouTube channels. I want
to say that both of these channels are
successful in their own ways. And so
today, I wanted to share some knowledge
specifically on the topic of creating a
YouTube channel and community as well as
bringing you guys along and actually
producing and filming a video for my
client. So, if that interests you, then
I'd recommend grab a pen and paper and
let's get into it.
Okay, so firstly, if you guys are new
here, then my name is Tatsky. I am a
video freelancer that also makes YouTube
videos just about content creation and
my day-to-day life. I've been making
weekly videos on this channel for nearly
two years now, which is kind of amazing.
And I've also been creating a bunch of
videos for my freelance client on the
side. In particular, I want to talk
about the freelance work today because
that is kind of the brainchild that I
created after having a little bit of
success with this YouTube channel. Winen
is a tattoo studio specializing in
Japanese wabi style. It's like the
bodysuits and stuff. Super cool. Over
the last couple of years with them, we
have made so many videos and have
created a community of over 30,000
subscribers. Recently, we have found
that a lot of our clients at Bunin are
actually viewers of the YouTube channel.
And because of this, I think the whole
idea and concept of the channel is very
successful. To create a successful
YouTube channel, I think it boils down
to concept and execution. There are so
many people in the world. So, what is
your main niche in the videos? What are
the recurring motifs or characters? How
consistent can you be? I found that
there is a balance between creating
quality and quantity. You can't make
your best videos all the time at a high
output. However, if you put in 80% into
a video, then you have a much better
chance of being consistent week to week
or month to month. And social media,
it's like a game because no matter how
good your videos are, sometimes they do
good and sometimes they just don't
perform as well as you would have
thought. That's why I think it's
important to have this balance between
quantity and quality so you can have an
output that is going to steer you into a
successful direction. Having a niche or
a topic for your videos, it's a bit of a
superpower because if you have something
specific that a group of people are
going to search and look for, then you
have a higher chance of finding an
audience. What I think made Bunin very
successful from the start was that they
are a tattoo studio. So the niche is
tattooing, specifically Japanese
traditional tattooing. So anybody that
is interested or looking for information
on that topic will look through YouTube,
and they will find our channel. I also
knew that there weren't too many
English-speaking Wabi channels out
there, so this had a good chance of
working. Now, I mentioned characters and
returning motifs because in our videos,
having a face or a character that the
viewers can attach to is super
important. In this vlog, I am the
returning character. In the Buninen
videos, Chris and the other tattoo
artists are the returning characters. By
having these characters, you create
familiarity with the viewers through
your videos. And I think that is the key
to having the conversion of a viewer to
a subscriber. And the more engaging you
can be with your community, these
subscribers are also going to engage as
much with your content, with sharing,
commenting, liking, and all of that good
stuff that is going to help your views
increase by YouTube promoting your
video. I don't think anything that I'm
saying here is groundbreaking or new and
is definitely not the key to success.
It's just stuff that I've been thinking
about for the last couple of weeks and I
wanted to make a video. It is just my
understanding of how YouTube works and
how to create the community that I want
to find. That's actually a good point,
too. Before you actually make these
videos, have a think about who you want
your audience to be. This has honestly
helped me determine how I create my
videos, how I express myself, and it
actually translates into real world
results because everybody that I bump
into on the street who recognizes me,
you're all cool people. You dress well.
You're doing interesting things with
your life. And I am just so happy that
my community is probably one of the
coolest on the internet. And that's
exactly who I wanted to target with
Okay, so why don't we just take
everything that I've just said and I'll
bring you guys out on a realworld
example of this as I shoot a video for
Punin. I think we should do that.
Before shooting any project, I think
visualizing my thoughts, it allows me to
solidify a creative direction as well as
just resulting in a smoother shooting
experience. And my go-to planner for
this kind of project is Milano. As you
can see, I have spread everything out so
that anybody at first glance can
understand what is going on in my head.
I think that's very important. Millanote
is an interactive whiteboard style
planner that allows me to fully flesh
out my ideas. If you watch my videos,
then you would know why. You can simply
drag and drop elements onto the screen.
To-do lists, drop-own tabs, lines that
you can make dotted to separate the
screen. My favorite part is the ease of
dropping in screenshots and links. So,
pre-planning the shoot, I made a simple
Miller note board. In the screen, I've
actually created a mood board which you
can open up and it just essentially
shares the vision, the visual identity
of this video that I want to create.
Having a mood board makes it easy for me
to go into the shoot knowing what kind
of shots I want to get, which kind of
angles, and I guess being able to share
this with the clients as well. They know
what to expect. I've also added a gear
list so I don't forget any important
pieces of equipment. You can drag and
drop links onto the board, and I just
love how Milanote presents map
locations. They're interactive, they
look cool, and it's very easy to do. And
the web clipper function allows you to
save images to your boards directly. I
think this is great when you're
brainstorming. On the left side, I've
created some talking points. I do this
often when I'm working at Punin. I talk
to the artist. We decide what they're
going to be working on that day, and
then I figure out some talking points
that I think are going to be
interesting. We always start off with an
overview, an introduction to today's
work. A cinematic sequence of their
tattooing process, which I've also drawn
an arrow to must need shots. I'll try to
bring a client interview. This will give
value to any of the viewers watching the
videos because they can connect with the
customer because they can put themselves
in their shoe thinking, "Oh, this could
be me getting a tattoo." And then, of
course, closing out the video at the
end. Millerote is my go-to planner
because it lives online where I can
simply access my project from my laptop,
my iPad, or my mobile app, which are all
synced together. And for a smooth
shooting experience, I always share this
project with clients or other people
that I'm working on the project with
just so they can understand what's going
on in my head. Now, if you're interested
in pre-planning your videos out like me,
then you can start from scratch, but
Millino also have a bunch of templates
so you can get a head start on your
creative process. And the best part is
Milanote is free with no time limit. So
you can start visualizing your projects
with the link in my description when
you're ready. Okay, so we've discussed
concepts and execution as well as
pre-planning and my methods in that. And
now let's go actually shoot the video.
Okay, in the city now, just about to
head towards the cafe, get some food,
maybe a coffee, just get ready for the
day, prep stuff, and then head into the
studio for our actual shoot. I've got a
huge bag today.
A lot of stuff, a lot of equipment, but
everything that I need for a really long
and packed day of shooting. So, yeah, I
Hey guys. So, I'm at the studio now and
yeah, I'm probably just going to start
setting up getting ready for today's
shoot. I'm here a little bit earlier
than when the clients arrive. So, I've
got about an hour to just set everything
up. So, let's do that.
Yeah, we're just going to unpack the bag
first and get all my camera gear and my
computers out. I made a video about this
stuff. You know, what's in my camera bag
just maybe about a month or two ago. Not
too much has changed since then. I'm
just carrying a lot today, that's all.
This right here is the wireless
microphone kit that I use for
everything. This is by DJI. I'm using
that right now as well. My FX3. This is
the main camera that I use for all my
client work. This thing is such a beast.
I'm going to pair it with the 24 mm lens
today as well as my 24 to 70.
Essentially covers everything that I
need for this job. So this time I have a
little photo camera as well with me.
This is the Rico GR3X HDF model. I got
this recently and I have a little flash
to pair with it and I'm going to try to
take photos with this today because you
never know when you need the photos.
comes in a little box like this. And
it's just very handy to have because the
gimbal shots, it makes a big difference
when it comes to this kind of client
work. Smooth, consistent footage is it's
just really good.
Okay, so now that I'm all set up, what
I'm going to be doing is just double
checking that like my batteries are
full, my SD cards are formatted, so I'm
ready to film a lot, and then prepare
for the actual shoot. My client Chris,
he's going to come down in a bit, and
we're going to debrief each other about
what we're going to be working on today.
And then the customer is going to come
in a little bit later and that's when
the filming process will start.
Typically the tattoo sessions, they run
for quite long and therefore my shooting
days are also quite long. It's why it's
very important to stay proactive with
your time. I want to talk about this
more in depth because I think as a
freelancer managing your time is one of
the most important things you can do.
Got about 20 minutes before Chris comes
down. So I'm going to shoot some B-roll
of the studio that I know I'm going to
be using in the video footage later just
Yes. Okay.
Now, one of the biggest things that I've
learned when working with clients is
learning not to overshoot. If you do the
pre-planning and you know what you need,
then you only need to shoot what is
necessary. You don't need to overshoot,
which is going to make your work harder
in post-production when you're cutting
through all your footage and you're just
getting rid of a lot of stuff. When I'm
at the studio, I dedicate all of my time
to the studio YouTube channel. to be
able to balance this high capacity of
video editing with my own personal
stuff. I learned that by reducing the
amount of time that I'm filming and at
the studio better utilizing that time to
edit. Essentially, I'm killing two birds
with one stone, making sure that I'm
filming what I need to do for the video
and in the in between moments preparing
and editing the other videos. Once I
understood how to better utilize my
time, I reduced the hours that I would
need to edit this at home, therefore
keeping a better work balanced life.
It's not all client jobs that you're
going to have to stick around for a long
time. So, this is just how I made the
most of the hours that I spend here.
It's a really sunny day. I think it's
time for a break. So, let's go grab a
Okay, we're just heading out to get some
B-roll. It's a nice sunny day, so I have
to make most of it and get footage of
outside while I can. And I'm also going
to get lunch cuz I am hungry.
I got barbecue pork. So hungry. Look at
I don't know what it is, but there's
something about having a lunch break on
a very sunny day out in the sun, just
like reabsorbing some energy and having
a sip of water. Something amazing about that.
Next time we'll finish the line and
maybe start the shading.
What does it feel like? We'll just do
the lining and then we'll stop the
shading the next session.
>> I feel pretty gnarly like maybe
you want.
It's a wrap.
>> Thanks for the Thanks for the t-shirt.
>> Okay, so we just wrapped up that first
shoot. It's pretty much like a normal
full day experience here at the Binant
Tattoo Studio for me where I'm doing
like a maybe 11 to 5:00 sort of session.
But today's a special day because Chris
has booked in another client who we're
going to be filming a full like a
finishing touch to a big bodysuit piece.
So, I really wanted to film that. I'm
here uh maybe till like 900 p.m. to do
that. We've got a little bit of time to
kill, so I'm just gonna rest. I'm gonna
recuperate some energy and then when the
next client comes, Jerry, we're going to
film his completion of his back piece,
which is going to be crazy. I'm also
going to set up some of my film camera
equipment because I want to take some
really high quality pictures. Getting a
little hungry after smelling this my
Okay, so it is the day after. That was
actually quite a long shoot. We ended up
finishing at like honestly 11:30. But
the reasoning was because there was
actually a second shoot after the first
shoot and it just ended up being double
as long as I thought. But you know what?
It was worth it because at the end of
the day, I really wanted to take those
photos at the end, which I don't know if
I'll actually have ready to show you
guys. But yeah, I'll share them in the
future. Now, I needed to talk about one
more thing because packaging your videos
for YouTube is just as important as the
actual content itself. It sounds silly,
but even if you make the best video of
your life, if you don't package it well,
it will not perform well on YouTube.
That's just the name of the game when it
comes to social media. For me, making
thumbnails, it was always such a
question mark because I never knew what
was going to work or what was not going
to work. But over trial and error and
making hundreds of videos, I have found
a style that works for me. I like to
include either my face or my full body
and then also have text with the image.
I make sure the text is highly legible
because the smallest size it is seen is
on the phone. It's it's quite small and
I like to keep the image quite bright.
Now from this I think it is important to
consider the vibe of the thumbnail and
the title and how that pairs with your
actual video. You want it to sort of
work together because if you have a vibe
of a very aggressive thumbnail and then
the video is very peaceful, your viewers
going to be quite confused. I also think
over time it is important to sort of
keep a theme or like have harmony
between your thumbnails. So if someone
opens up your YouTube page after seeing
a video that they watched, then they'll
see a list of thumbnails and titles that
kind of work well together as a
collective rather than just individual
things one by one. It's quite valuable.
There's no statistics that I can show
you to prove that it works, but I just
personally think from a design
perspective, it makes sense to do that.
For instance, with the bunch videos,
while I was at the studio last, I came
across a style of thumbnail that I want
to create more consistently. It's a bold
look with the tattoo and a big kanji
character with the word wabi. This is
going to mean that over time, the
thumbnails, they're all going to look
very cohesive. It's going to look like a
TV show. And by doing this, the viewers,
they know that every time they see that
thumbnail, that style, they know what
video to expect. And that's exactly what
I'm going for. So I don't think there is
one right answer to how to make a
YouTube channel. These are just the
things I have thought about and come up
with from just my own experiences and
learnings. And I hope that you got to
write down some notes, something
interesting. And if you have any
questions on any of the topics we
discussed today, just let me know in the
comments. I'll try to reply to you. And
yeah, honestly, you just need to have
fun. Have fun, have a plan, and you can
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