How to Start to Teach English on YouTube (What I've learned after 1 million subscribers)

- Hi, I'm Gabby, from Go Natural English.com.

Recently, Go Natural English hit one million subscribers

on YouTube.

I know there's a lot of other bigger channels out there,

but this is really huge.

There aren't that many channels with over

a million subscribers and I've learned so much

along this amazing journey with you.

And I've also been receiving a lot of questions recently

about how to get started on YouTube.

I realized there's a lot of teachers watching who want

to start their own YouTube Channels.

And even a lot of my English students are now starting

their own channels on YouTube to teach others English too.

And this is just amazing.

This is incredible the impact that Go Natural English

is having.

And so I wanted to answer the top three questions

that I often get about how to get started on YouTube.

And I'm going to give you my 100% honest answer.

And I hope it's helpful for you.

I'm going to tell you at the end of the video about

a special link for you if you do want

to get more information like this about

how to build your own YouTube channel

and how to teach online.

These tips are a little bit different

than my regular English tutorials,

so you'll have an opportunity to tell me

if you're interested in receiving more tips like this.

The link is in the description and I'll also tell you

at the end of the video.

I'm going to share a tool that I have used for almost

the last three years that has helped me

to double my channel every year.

And I'm also going to share that link in the description,

so that you can check out this tool as well.

Now, let's jump in.

I want you to tell me, are you an English teacher?

Are you a teacher of another language?

Or are you an English student who is interested

in creating your own YouTube channel?

Tell me in the comments.

And if I don't cover one of your questions today,

ask me your question in the comments.

That way, I can help you out.

Okay, the first question that I often get is,

isn't YouTube saturated?

Which means, isn't YouTube full of other channels

doing the exact same thing?

Well, yes and no.

You probably know YouTube is huge.

There are billions of views and millions of channels

and yes, pretty much every single topic that you

can think of is already on YouTube.

For example, I went to a special event for YouTube creators

last week in Los Angeles, and every single creator

in the room had a channel about a different topic.

And some of the topics were super niche, super specific.

Like one guy, creates children's songs specifically

about heavy machinery, really specific.

And so I'm pretty sure, that pretty much every topic

is on YouTube.

That's the bad news I guess.

But I wouldn't even say it's bad news,

because what makes your YouTube channel successful

is your topic plus the way that you do it.

Your experience, your personality, your examples,

your background, your style,

all make your YouTube channel unique.

There is no one who can replicate you and your way

of talking about your topic.

So, yes, there's probably other people talking

about the same topic.

Maybe teaching the same subject.

Maybe they have the same kind of format that you have

in your videos.

But no one, can be you.

And therefore, I do not think that YouTube is saturated,

because there is no other you on YouTube.

That's why it's called YouTube, right.

Because it's about you.

So, I honestly believe that every person has a unique voice

that should be heard.

And YouTube is an amazing platform to be heard.

That's why I love it.

So, I'm expressing my opinion.

I wanna know your opinion.

Do you think that YouTube is saturated?

Why or why not?

Tell me in the comments.

Next, a lot of you have been asking me about the money

that you need to get started on YouTube.

Or this is often an excuse for not getting started,

because people say well, I don't have any money.

I can't buy a camera or other equipment.

Let me tell you, it's not about the equipment.

There's so many people that I have personally met who buy

really expensive, top notch excellent equipment.

They publish videos and then they wait.

They don't get any views.

And they're waiting thinking, where are all the views?

I have the best equipment.

But it's not just about your equipment.

Yes, it's nice to have the best most expensive equipment,

but the best equipment in a lot of cases

is not even the most expensive.

The best equipment for me is the equipment

that is easy to use.

And the best equipment for you if you're getting started

is the equipment that you have right now

without buying anything more.

Let me give you some specific ideas here.

For your camera, you can use your smartphone.

When I started my YouTube channel, I actually did not have

a smartphone because it was 2011

and smartphones were not really so popular.

I had a Zoom flip cam.

You, getting started now, can use your smartphone.

You have a huge advantage.

The quality of the video recording on your smart phone

is incredible.

And you can go to the settings and choose the quality

of your video recording in your phone.

So, make sure it's set to the highest quality.

Second, for light.

The best light is free.

It's called sunlight. (giggling)

If you have a nice quiet indoor location,

in front of a window, that is the best place to record.

Get some of that beautiful sunlight on your beautiful

or handsome face and you'll look great.

So, it's really key if you don't

have any professional lighting, use the sunlight.

Even professionals, use the sunlight too,

because it's the best.

As for sound, this is the one area,

where it's probably important to invest first

because your sound needs to be really good

for people to watch your videos.

At first, I didn't have microphone.

I just started creating my videos.

And I suggest that you use what you have today.

If you don't have a microphone.

Then just try to record in the quietest place possible,

no wind, no construction, avoid really noisy places,

so I like to record at home when no one else is around.

Okay, you're always going to have some cars honking,

or some noise.

It's really hard to get away from that, but as you create,

you can invest in better equipment.

But I don't think that it makes sense

to invest a lot of money in the best equipment

until you start creating.

And until you start a relationship with your viewers.

So first, start creating, start posting videos on YouTube.

See who comes to watch and what they have to say

and what they would like more of.

And start building that relationship with your audience.

That is the most important thing.

And then you can invest in new equipment as you go.

You're going to have to invest in new equipment eventually

just because quality changes and eventually you're going

to want to buy some new better equipment.

But, don't let money stop you from starting

your YouTube channel.

The most important thing about starting your YouTube channel

is you.

The final question is about time.

How much time do you have to commit to making

a YouTube channel?

Or some people just simply tell me I don't have time.

I'd really like to create a YouTube channel,

but I don't have time.

So, I'll admit, I spent a ton of time working on

Go Natural English, my YouTube channel.

That's because I love it, it's also, my work.

My full time work now.

And I'm really glad that I have the opportunity

to spend so much time.

But if you're working a full time job like I was

when I started my channel, you have to use the time

that you have.

And when I started my channel,

I was teaching English full time,

so I was already doing what I was making my videos about.

So, I suggest, make videos about something

that you're already doing.

It could be your full time job.

It could be a part time job.

It could be your hobby.

It could be your side hustle or something that you do

as a kind of part time entrepreneurial side business.

It could be something that you do on the weekends,

but you're already doing it.

That way, making a video is not something

completely new that you've never talked about before.

It's simply an add on or something that you spend a few

extra minutes recording your experience or your thoughts

or whatever your format is about the topic

that you're already doing in your life.

So, it's not such a drastic shift in your life.

So, does that make sense?

What do you think?

Is it possible for you to take a few extra minutes,

like I did when I was teaching English?

After I taught an English class, I would take

an extra five minutes to jot down my ideas on that topic

for a video to record after class.

So, it was fresh in my mind and it would be really easy

to record when I had quiet time.

Okay, another thing, that can save a ton of time is using

tools to help you build your channel.

I mentioned that I would talk about a tool

that I've been using for almost the last three years.

And it's helped me to double the number of subscribers

that I have each year.

That tool is called TubeBuddy.

TubeBuddy is useful for a lot of different reasons.

I personally use it to help me with best practices.

So, TubeBuddy has a checklist of all the things you should

do when you post your videos.

So, I'm reminded of everything that I should do

and I don't forget anything.

Because there's so many things to do really.

Like when you upload your video.

You want to have a thumbnail, a title, a description,

and tags, and end cards, and playlists and so many things.

All the things behind the scenes that you don't always see

as a viewer.

So, TubeBuddy, reminds me of those things.

It also suggests tags for my videos based

on their algorithm.

So, it's super easy to think of tags.

You're not just sitting there with a blank mind thinking

what's a key word for this video.

They actually suggest keywords and I can see where each

of my tags is ranking on YouTube, so I can learn as I go.

And that's super cool.

They also have other tools like split test and AB tests

to see which cover or thumbnail image

is working better for you video.

They have promotional tools like trackable links

so that you can see what people are clicking on

when you share your videos on social media.

And a lot of other tools that are super helpful

to save you time.

So, if you wanna checkout TubeBuddy,

the link is right down there in the description.

And if you would like to get more of my tips about

how to build your YouTube channel to help people

to learn English or learn another language

or learn something completely different, I can help you.

Click on the link in the description,

GoNaturalEnglish.com/teach, and that will allow you

to sign up to my email group for people like you

who want to build their YouTube channels and teach online.

So, we can continue the conversation there.

So, thank you so much for watching this.

Let me know if this was helpful.

I know it was a little bit different than my regular

English tutorials.

But so many people, literally hundreds of people,

have been asking me about this in the last few weeks

and I really wanted to address it.

So, thanks so much for watching.

If you enjoyed this video,

then click down there to subscribe to Go Natural English,

if you're an English learner,

you should get the English Fluency Formula

Audio E-book right down there.

And to continue your English studies

or to check out another one of my videos,

click right over there.

Thanks, and I'll see you every Monday and Thursday.

Bye for now.