0:02 If I had to start a brand new YouTube
0:04 channel from scratch today, I wouldn't
0:06 be posting random videos hoping that one
0:09 takes off. I'd start with a niche. And
0:12 most new creators fail because they try
0:14 to do a little bit of everything. And
0:16 that just confuses both your audience
0:18 and the YouTube algorithm. So, in this
0:19 video, we're diving into why niching
0:21 down matters, how to pick the right
0:24 niche for your passion and skills, and
0:25 three niches we would personally start
0:27 with if we were launching a channel
0:29 today. Okay, let's start off with five
0:31 quick reasons as to why niching down is
0:33 so important this year on YouTube. The
0:35 first is that YouTube is just really
0:37 noisy. Everybody's posting content.
0:39 There's a lot of creators out there and
0:41 you've probably hit subscribe on like
0:43 hundreds of different creators and
0:45 you're not seeing everybody's content
0:47 necessarily. And so, the reason why
0:48 having a niche is so important is so
0:50 that we can narrow our focus down and
0:52 cut through the noise and have a more
0:55 concrete topic and kind of avatar that
0:56 we're speaking to on the YouTube
0:58 platform. And just think about when
1:00 you're starting a channel, nobody knows
1:02 who you are. And so if you have a
1:04 similar topic that other people are
1:06 interested in, then there's a whole
1:07 audience there for you. This is
1:09 something I wish I knew when I first
1:11 started out because a lot of my energy
1:13 was going out kind of spread out because
1:15 I was doing different kinds of videos.
1:18 Had I focused on one subject and got
1:20 really laser focused, that growth would
1:22 be exponential and I would have grown a
1:24 lot quicker. And that goes really great
1:26 into the second tip, which is that the
1:29 algorithm does reward focus and having a
1:31 clear topic. And when you create videos
1:33 that relate to each other, then YouTube
1:35 starts to understand how to recommend
1:38 your content to the next viewer. And
1:40 there's there's habits and routines that
1:41 these viewers are forming. And if you
1:44 can serve up the same types of pieces of
1:45 content over and over again, the
1:47 algorithm is going to reward that kind
1:49 of focus. And not only that, but
1:51 focusing then saves a lot of time and
1:53 energy because you know exactly what
1:55 kinds of videos you're going to make
1:56 next. There's no second guessing and
1:58 wondering what video should I upload.
2:00 You probably already have a pretty clear
2:03 plan as to which kinds of videos are
2:04 going to succeed because you have that
2:07 narrow focus. Now, reason number four is
2:09 instead of thinking that you need
2:11 hundreds of thousands or millions of
2:13 subscribers in order to make YouTube
2:15 profitable for you, for you to go
2:17 full-time. In fact, there's this concept
2:20 called 1,000 true fans. If you have
2:23 a,000 people who regularly show up,
2:25 watch your videos, those people could
2:28 eventually become clients of yours. So
2:29 whether you have a larger business that
2:32 you're kind of advertising for or even
2:34 if you just want to start building your
2:36 own business with these thousand true
2:37 fans, think about ways that you could
2:40 sell a digital product. Think about ways
2:42 you could have memberships. All that can
2:44 really add up. And that is such a big
2:46 mindset shift knowing that you only
2:49 really need to focus on a,000 quality
2:51 subscribers rather than think about you
2:53 need a massive audience in order to make
2:55 this YouTube thing profitable. And that
2:57 is a perfect segue into our final quick
2:59 tip, which is that niching down is
3:01 actually the secret to scaling up. And
3:03 you mentioned things like profits. Like
3:05 yeah, your profit can rise, but also
3:07 your subscriber growth, your view counts
3:09 can rise as you focus narrowly on a
3:10 specific niche. And if we just look at
3:13 our CEO Sean Kel for example, his kind
3:15 of career path was focusing on more
3:17 video production principles and then it
3:19 was like broader church media equipping
3:21 churches with tech skills and then he
3:23 started focusing on YouTube more and now
3:25 he does like business and leadership
3:28 entrepreneurship speaks app huge events
3:30 and so his career path was really narrow
3:31 focus at first and then was able to
3:33 broaden out over time. So it's an
3:35 encouragement to you. not locked into a
3:37 niche forever, but starting with a
3:39 specific niche can really help you stand
3:41 out in a crowded field and then you can
3:43 expand your idea in your channel a
3:45 little bit later. So, now we're going to
3:47 talk about how to find a specific niche
3:48 for you. But before that, we want to
3:50 take a second to thank the sponsor of
3:52 today's video, Riverside. Riverside is
3:54 literally what we're using right now to
3:56 record this podcast. And it makes it so
3:58 easy, not only because it's an
4:00 all-in-one platform for creators who
4:01 want to make their videos look
4:02 professional, but it's also extremely
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5:01 and you'll get one month free of their
5:03 pro plan. So in order to find the
5:05 perfect niche for you, there is this
5:07 exercise that we like to do called the 3
5:10 P framework that is comprised of
5:13 passion, proficiency, and profit. Number
5:15 one is passion, which I think is the
5:17 most important. What is something that
5:20 you'd love to talk about even off
5:21 camera? What's something that you want
5:23 to express to your friends and your
5:25 family? Something that you could build a
5:27 community around and thus a larger
5:29 business. Because once you start scaling
5:31 up, you can quickly run out of passion
5:34 with the amount of work that is required
5:35 when starting a YouTube channel,
5:37 filming, and editing. So the more
5:39 passion you have about a particular
5:40 topic, the more likely you're going to
5:43 enjoy the process. Then the second P is
5:45 proficiency. And that's that piece of
5:47 thinking through what kinds of skills or
5:49 knowledge base do you have that sets you
5:52 apart in a specific niche? And just
5:54 think even even slightly like what do
5:55 you have like a little competitive
5:57 advantage of? What maybe have you
5:59 studied in school? What are you really
6:00 passionate about? And you've like spent
6:03 a ton of hours learning and researching.
6:05 And so think through what kind of skills
6:07 could I share with somebody? And you
6:08 don't need to be an expert. That's an
6:10 important thing to remember. You just
6:12 need to be about one or two steps ahead
6:13 of a beginner and the person you're
6:15 trying to speak to and that's enough.
6:17 >> That was definitely the position I was
6:19 in when I first started my channel. I
6:20 had the passion for film making,
6:23 cameras, lenses, I love talking about
6:25 that. I didn't really have a lot of
6:28 proficiency just yet. But because I was
6:30 so passionate and I was willing to
6:32 learn, then the more proficient I did
6:35 become as I started making videos, I was
6:37 still able to help those beginners that
6:39 were just interested in film making. and
6:41 then we both grow together. So, yeah,
6:42 you don't have to be an expert right
6:44 from the get- go, but just being a few
6:46 steps ahead, something that you could
6:47 teach to someone who's just starting out
6:49 is a great way to start your channel for
6:51 sure. And then that leads to that last
6:53 piece of profit. And so, this is
6:54 thinking through more of the business
6:56 model piece of your channel idea. How
6:58 are you going to be able to monetize
7:00 your channel in the long term? Maybe you
7:01 don't necessarily care about making
7:03 money right away, but it is nice to
7:04 think about, okay, if I wanted to really
7:06 pursue this passion and I get really
7:09 proficient over the next year or two in
7:11 this niche, how could I make money off
7:13 of this? Think through things like
7:15 affiliate marketing. How could you
7:17 market different products or services
7:18 which you might be able to generate
7:21 specific links for to then get paid for
7:22 distributing other people's products or
7:25 services? But then also like yourself,
7:26 like how could you make your own
7:28 products, digital products or even
7:29 physical products that you could
7:31 potentially sell or different coaching
7:33 services, courses, these are all
7:34 different methods for making money
7:36 online and on YouTube. And something you
7:38 do want to think through at least a
7:40 little bit at the beginning as to what's
7:42 the long-term outlook of the
7:44 profitability piece for your channel.
7:45 And specifically when it comes to
7:47 brands, there's been a shift where a lot
7:49 of these brands actually like to work
7:52 with smaller channels that have a clear
7:55 audience. If your channel can be really
7:57 clear, then you have a lot of potential
8:00 to start promoting products, getting
8:02 brand deals, and brand deals is a great
8:04 way just to get some money in. So that
8:06 way you can either pay for editors, get
8:08 some extra equipment to help you make
8:11 better quality videos. So I highly
8:13 recommend the more clear you are about
8:15 your audience and just thinking a little
8:17 bit creatively of ways you can profit in
8:19 the future. You don't have to worry
8:20 about tackling this all at once, but
8:22 having a simple plan can really help you
8:23 later on.
8:25 >> Now, finally, what are three niches that
8:28 we would recommend ourselves start if we
8:29 were starting completely from scratch or
8:32 even maybe a niche that's a little bit
8:33 untapped that we think has a lot of
8:35 promise? Well, we'll share three of them
8:37 and Nate has the first one. Nate, what
8:38 is a niche that you would personally
8:40 choose if you started a brand new
8:42 channel this year? I think the niche I
8:44 would focus on is something that
8:46 everyone can do because everyone is
8:48 their own self and that is a personal
8:50 brand. So personally, if I was going to
8:53 start a new channel, I would focus on
8:55 building a personal brand that could
8:58 kind of evolve over time. But even more
8:59 so than that, I would be focused on the
9:01 skill sets I have, which could be
9:04 YouTube, that could be camera film
9:06 making, and I'll probably dive into a
9:08 little bit more of that film making
9:10 niche. So the reason I would choose the
9:12 film making personal brand niche is I
9:14 think it's the perfect intersection for
9:16 all three. I'm clearly passionate about
9:18 it. I've spent several years trying to
9:20 learn the craft of film making. So I'm
9:22 very proficient. And then when it comes
9:24 to the profit side of things, I could do
9:26 affiliate marketing with gear. I could
9:28 have certain brand deals and potentially
9:30 I could even use that to promote or
9:32 crowdfund my future films. So I do think
9:34 that would be a great niche that I could
9:36 start following into if I wanted to
9:38 build a new channel. But Craig, I'm
9:39 curious about you. If you were started a
9:41 brand new channel, what is the niche you
9:42 would focus on?
9:44 >> Uh, for me personally, I would probably
9:47 right now pursue something in the tech
9:50 AI niche. I think everyone right now is
9:52 adding AI to their products or services.
9:54 Like even all the brand deals that we
9:55 do, everybody's trying to add a little
9:57 AI feature or AI tool into their
9:59 service. So, I think there's huge
10:01 opportunity to have a very profitable
10:04 niche where you talk about AI tools. But
10:06 also something about myself is I always
10:08 like to like be learning new things or
10:10 trying new things. I honestly get pretty
10:12 bored quickly if I say the same thing 20
10:14 times over, make the same kind of video.
10:16 So in the tech AI space, everything
10:18 changes so quickly. So I'd constantly be
10:20 able to be learning and doing research,
10:22 reading books, listening to podcasts to
10:24 find more information. So that's
10:25 probably where I would go if I like
10:27 totally jump ship and was like, I'm
10:28 going to start my own channel. It might
10:30 be something related to tech and AI. I
10:32 think that's so smart because you're
10:34 hopping onto this trend that is already
10:36 growing and there's a lot of revenue and
10:37 a lot of people who are curious about
10:40 this space, but there is another niche
10:42 that you wanted to talk about that might
10:44 be something that is untapped. Talk
10:45 about that one.
10:47 >> Yeah, so it's this niche that's actually
10:49 very big in other countries, but it
10:50 really hasn't picked up very much steam
10:53 in the US just yet, which is live
10:56 shopping or like creator commerce. And
10:58 what we're seeing here is like we're in
11:00 the very early stages of an absolute
11:02 massive wave where even sites like
11:05 YouTube, Amazon are investing in this
11:07 live shopping experience where we see it
11:09 now on YouTube videos where you see
11:12 little an annotations on the screen of
11:13 like, hey, do you want to actually buy
11:14 the product that's being mentioned in
11:17 this video and creators don't even have
11:19 to like link the product directly?
11:20 YouTube is smart enough to like know,
11:22 oh, Craig is talking about this camera.
11:23 I'm just going to put it in the video
11:25 and give the viewer the opportunity to
11:27 buy right now. Somebody who I really
11:29 admire who talks about this a lot is
11:31 Gary Vaynerchuk and he just continues to
11:34 to press in creators. Like guys, this is
11:36 an untapped market. If you want to make
11:38 millions of dollars as a creator, look
11:39 into live shopping and how it's already
11:41 being used overseas, places like Japan,
11:44 China, creators are making six, seven,
11:45 eight figures leveraging this live
11:47 shopping format. So, it's something I
11:49 think the US market is going to adopt
11:51 here in the near future. Craig, have you
11:53 ever like turned on the TV late at night
11:55 and you see like these people live
11:57 demonstrating these products and then
12:00 like suddenly you're interested in a new
12:02 toaster that's a microwave. I don't
12:03 know. Like that's what it seems like to me.
12:03 me.
12:05 >> It is that. And for some reason when I
12:07 was a kid, when I was like 9 10 years
12:09 old, I would like go downstairs and my
12:11 sister, who's my older sister, at like
12:12 10:00 p.m. at night would just be
12:14 watching the QVC channel. Like these
12:15 random like, "Oh, do you want like one
12:17 of those slap chop that's going to like
12:19 chop up your onions and veggies?" like
12:20 should just be watching these videos.
12:22 But I was always so enamored. I was
12:24 like, "Oh man, like do I need a slap
12:25 chop now? Like this thing looks kind of fire."
12:26 fire."
12:28 >> That's awesome. And what are some
12:30 practical ways someone could start this
12:32 kind of get into this niche?
12:34 >> Well, this is what I would do if I So,
12:35 I'm a tech creator. I cover cameras and
12:37 YouTube. How I would apply this myself
12:39 is I would probably just go live on a
12:41 site like YouTube and then start
12:44 browsing marketplace, eBay, different
12:46 locations where people can, you know, I
12:48 can be a curator of information for
12:50 people and sell products that way. Sell
12:51 other people's products almost like
12:53 affiliate marketing style. Hey, I just
12:55 found this camera. It's a great deal.
12:57 Copy the link, paste it into chat. First
12:59 person who clicks the link can then buy
13:01 that at a discount or a deal and I get a
13:03 commission potentially. That's the way I
13:04 see this going in the future. And then
13:06 creators even having their own
13:07 storefront where they don't have to have
13:09 their own inventory. It's almost like
13:11 drop shipping how you would drop ship
13:13 product like physical products but you
13:14 don't necessarily have to have the
13:16 inventory. You could just be curating
13:19 information for you know consumers on
13:20 the back end. So
13:21 >> there's like a YouTube channel I used to
13:23 watch. His name was Chris Winters. I
13:25 believe this is several years ago. He
13:27 would just screen record showcase like
13:29 the latest deals of the week when it
13:31 comes to cameras, photography, film
13:33 making gear. And I remember just
13:35 watching those shows just to kind of
13:37 what's on sale, what's a good deal cuz I
13:38 didn't have that much money back then.
13:40 So I think that is like being
13:42 re-imagined into like a more live format
13:43 which is really cool.
13:45 >> It is cool and it the cool thing about
13:48 it is it has the profit piece built in
13:49 from day one. So
13:51 >> you don't even really have to worry
13:52 about the profit piece. It's just going
13:54 to come from the constant affiliates and
13:57 and the moving of gear or tech that
13:59 you're selling or whatever it is, beauty
14:02 products. Um, but then you but then you
14:03 do want to make sure though you don't
14:04 just get lost in the the profit piece
14:06 and that you actually are passionate
14:07 about what you're talking about because
14:09 this live shopping niche could get a
14:12 little um overwhelming if you're just
14:14 trying to sling products all the time
14:15 and push other people's stuff. If
14:17 especially if you don't have your own
14:18 stuff that you're selling, you're
14:19 selling other people's stuff could get
14:20 kind of exhausting. What I love about
14:22 this too is you're not just relying on
14:24 the AdSense, which doesn't really make
14:26 that much money at all, but you also
14:28 have this extra revenue stream, which is
14:30 affiliate marketing. And there are
14:32 multiple ways to make money on YouTube.
14:34 If you want to learn out more ways about
14:35 how to make money if you are starting a
14:37 brand new channel, check out this video
