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The mistakes I've made as a small Youtuber since starting my channel in 2019.
Tools mentioned: (affiliate links)
Awin Affiliate Platform: https://tidd.ly/4elkKN2
VidIQ Keyword Tools: https://vidiq.com/geordiegrandma/
Video Ranking Academy (VRA) - Free Masterclas: https://courses.seancannell.com/a/2147510103/HkzgeFL5
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My aim for The Geordie Grandma is to inspire women over 50 to feel good, look good and enjoy life after 50 through budget fashion, beauty and travel in the UK and abroad.
Here’s how you can work with Karen at The Geordie Grandma:
Get your product or service in front of an engaged audience of women over 50 through:
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For brand collaboration enquiries please email [email protected]
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0:00
If you've got a small lifestyle YouTube channel or you're thinking about starting a lifestyle YouTube channel or you're just interested in what I've got to say, this video is 10 mistakes I think I've made with my YouTube channel
0:17
So if that's of interest here, keep watching. I started my YouTube channel on the 1st of July 2019
0:27
So I've had this channel almost five years and I only got monetised in October 2003
0:39
It is now the 13th of June 2024. So I've been monetised for about eight months now
0:48
And I think I could have been monetised a lot earlier and done a lot better
0:53
I had more subscribers, more views if I had avoided these mistakes
0:59
So I'm going to take it through each one and I'll tell you what they are
1:03
Now, these are only my opinions on my channel. I can't say that you need to do the same things on your channel
1:11
There are exceptions to every rule and there are some channels that will have been really successful
1:17
without doing a lot of these things, but these are just for me
1:22
Now, if you are just wanting a YouTube channel that's a hobby and you're not in
1:26
interested and making money, then it doesn't really matter. But if you want to turn this into a business
1:32
which is what I want to do, then these mistakes are definitely something that I am now working on
1:39
and hoping to get better at. I haven't masked at all of them, but at least I'm doing them
1:45
So number one, the first mistake, and I think the biggest mistake I made, was not thinking about the niche
1:56
of my YouTube channel. When I first started, it was just a hobby
2:01
so it didn't really matter. But if you want to have a successful YouTube channel
2:07
and again, there is an exception to every rule, it is best to niche down
2:12
and niche down really, really tightly. So, for instance, a lifestyle channel is a combination
2:20
of lots of different things that you do in your life. So it might be clothes try-ons
2:25
It might be makeup tutorials talking about different kinds of makeup. It might be food related
2:33
It may be shopping related. Lifestyle Channel is usually a mixture of all of those
2:39
But what I've learned is, and I think it is better to niche down really small at the beginning
2:46
So concentrate on just one of those. So if you're interested in fashion, just concentrate on fashion
2:52
if you're interested in cooking, just concentrate on cooking. And then when you've built your channel and you've got lots of subscribers
3:00
who are happy to watch most videos that you put out there, you can add all the other kinds of videos in
3:07
But I wish I had niched down right from the start. One of the things that I did when I first started
3:13
my very first video on YouTube was showing what makeup I was wearing
3:20
So I did a makeup video. Then I did a what I bought at home bargains video
3:24
Then I did a day in the park with my grandson video
3:28
And it was people probably didn't really know what was going on
3:33
When they watched my channel And I also, at the time The cat's just coming
3:39
Also at the time I was an IBA reseller So a lot of my videos were based around
3:46
What I was buying at carboats sales and auctions And how much I sold them for on eBay
3:51
I would do regular weekly videos on that. So a lot of my early subscribers
3:56
subscribe to my channel to watch those eBay videos and they wouldn't have been interested
4:01
in, you know, make up videos or a day out in the park. They just weren't interested in that
4:06
They came for the eBay stuff. So when I gave up eBay
4:10
I stopped doing those videos and of course all of those subscribers
4:14
are probably lost or maybe they're still subscribed and they just don't watch my videos
4:19
But whatever else I was doing after that would not be of interest to them or most of them. So I wish I'd niched down right at the
4:27
start but I'm not sure what that would have been. I've kind of got a channel now where I'm doing
4:34
a lot of clothing holes mixed in with some vlogs and other little bits and pieces and I'm not sure
4:41
that that is the right way still for me to go. I'm not sure if I'm going in the right direction
4:47
because when you pick your niche it has to be something you for you
4:51
really, not passionate, but you're really into it. And that you can come up with lots of different ideas for videos
4:59
So, you know, you need at least one video a week for 52 weeks
5:04
Is there enough, you know, legs in the niche you pick? And for me, with the try-on holes
5:12
I don't want to be doing a try-on-hole every week. I can't afford to do a try-on-hole every week
5:18
I can't afford to keep buying clothes. and then sending them back and waiting for the refunds and all that
5:24
So I'm still not sure that that is the right road for me to be on
5:29
That's something I need to think about over the next few weeks. So that was mistake number one, not niching down
5:37
It was, my law. So the second mistake I made was not considering the thumbnails I was creating
5:45
Now, if you think about it, the thumbnail is probably the first thing people see
5:49
when they're scrolling through YouTube looking for something to watch. And if your thumbnail doesn't really stand out, then people aren't going to click on it
5:59
If you've already got subscribers, then, you know, they're going to get to know what you put up
6:04
and they'll probably watch it. But if you're trying to attract new subscribers, the thumbnail really has to stand out
6:10
And what I did at the beginning was I created a very generic template for a thumbnail using Canva
6:17
that a lot of other people were using as well and I think that was a mistake
6:22
I've since moved on to just having kind of a screenshot of a piece of the video
6:28
with a couple of words on it. That is another thing with thumbnails
6:32
A lot of people get into that thing of putting the same words on their thumbnail
6:38
as they've gotten their title. You don't need to do that. People can see the title
6:43
You use very little words in the thumbnail. You know, you can put two or three words
6:47
That's enough. Maybe it's just something that you're going to talk about in the video
6:52
but is not the title of the video. So thumbnails I definitely have improved on
6:58
and I will continue to improve on. And also with thumbnails, if your video starts slow and it's not getting much traction
7:08
think, is it the thumbnail? Are people just not, you know, not clicking on the thumbnail
7:12
and change the thumbnail, put something else up. Do that within the first 24 hours and see if it makes it
7:17
the difference, you know, play around with it and see what works for you. And also, you need to think
7:23
about your thumbnail before you even start recording the video, because so many times I've done a
7:29
try on video or a get ready with me video or something. And then afterwards thought, I should have
7:37
took photographs for the thumbnail, and I didn't. And I've had to go back and, you know, get the clothes
7:42
out again or get some makeup out again and take the photos. And if I'd thought about it before
7:47
before I did the video I would have been creating those opportunities as I was recording So think about it first And makes a thumbnail you know really eye
7:58
It may just be a facial expression. I think one of my videos is things that make us angry
8:04
And I'm kind of sitting with an angry look on me face. And that had quite a few views
8:10
So I don't know whether it was the thumbnail that people, you know, decided to click on to see what I was angry about
8:16
I used to do a lot of bargain shopping halls which I don't do so much anymore
8:21
because what I found was I was buying things just to make a video with
8:25
and I had to stop doing that because I ended up with a lot of stuff in my house
8:29
that I didn't want or need. So another video that I did with a bargain hole
8:36
I had bought a it was kind of a non-supportive bra what was supposed to be supportive
8:44
but it was like no a non-wiread bra that's the name I'm looking for in
8:49
I think it was Home Borgans or B&M and I put the picture of the
8:53
boxed bra on my thumbnail and that got a lot of views as well
8:58
so maybe that was what drew people in but think about what you're putting on your thumbnail
9:03
think about what you click on I don't mean just people you are already subscribed to
9:07
and watch regularly think about other videos that other thumbnails that catch your eye
9:12
and make your watch because it really does make a difference. So mistake number three is similar to the thumbnails and this is titles
9:20
the title of your video. Now what I failed to realize and I don't know why I didn't realize this is
9:26
YouTube is a search engine. It's not like other social media sites. People go to YouTube and the
9:32
search for things. So in your title it needs to be words that people are going to search for
9:39
So if you're just putting in bargain shopping hall, which I used to do a lot, people
9:44
aren't really searching for that. If you put in 10 things I bought at pound land for a pound
9:51
people may be searching for that. So you need to think about the keywords or the words that people
9:57
are searching for and put those in your title so that they can find your video. I used to do a lot
10:03
of beauty box unboxings and it was mainly the pit box, which was a vegan beauty box. And I would put
10:11
in the title, unboxing the pit box. Now, I don't think the PIP box was a very well-known beauty box
10:19
so I didn't get many views on that. If I'd used Glossy Box or some of the other well-known beauty boxes
10:27
it might have gotten more clicks, but the PIP Box wasn't an overall big draw for people to come and watch
10:36
It's since the PIP-box subscription is no longer available, so I don't know what that tells you
10:41
But you need to think about the words that you're putting in your type, are people searching for them
10:47
One of the other, I think I did a favourites and fails video
10:51
Now I love to do the favourites and fails video, but if you just put in my favourites and fails June 2023
10:59
yes, your existence subscribers will watch them, but nobody's searching for that
11:03
so you're not going to draw many new subscribers with that title
11:08
There was a one I did that I put in favourites and fails and I actually put FM makeup in it
11:14
And at the time, I think it's Federico Mahara makeup. And I think at the time, that was quite a popular foundation
11:22
That video got a lot of clicks. And I think it was because I had that makeup name in the title
11:28
Another mistake is not feeding your cat before you start a video
11:33
or else they'll come in me away. So make sure you do that. So that was the third mistake titles
11:38
And like with the thumbnails, if your video is not getting a lot of traction in the first 24
11:44
hours, try changing the title. You never know. Up until recently, I was just kind of guessing
11:51
what titles are what keywords I should put in your titles by using YouTube itself and seeing
11:56
what other people were doing. But for the last few months, I've been using something called Vid IQ
12:02
I will put the link to this down below and it helps you with keyword research. So you can type
12:08
in a keyword and it will give you a whole list of keywords related to that word and how many searches
12:13
it's getting and how competitive it is, which I find really useful
12:20
It's only about £10 a month or something, but they do have free trials
12:24
So I will put the link in below because I have found that quite useful for finding words to put in my titles
12:30
Mistake number four, having a rambling intro. I mean, how many times have you watched a video
12:37
and they said, oh, I'm going to show you this, we're going to tell you this, and five minutes later, ten minutes
12:43
later, they still haven't getting into the meat of the video. They do the, and I'm guilty of it myself
12:49
you know, welcome to the channel and welcome back and thanks for watching and all that, which is really
12:54
lovely for you, you know, your existence subscribers will probably appreciate it. But new people
12:59
to your channel don't know you. They just want to know what you've got to say about the topic they
13:05
clicked on the video for. So recently, I've stopped doing an intro. I always used to say
13:11
Hi, I'm the Jodie Grandma. Hi, I'm Karen, the Jodie Grandma, welcome to my channel, blah, blah, blah
13:18
And it would take us probably a couple of minutes to get into what I was talking about. Now I've stopped doing that. I'm getting straight into the video
13:24
I haven't had any complaints, so I'm assuming people don't mind that
13:29
So definitely get straight into the meat of your video. Sorry, I'm shaking the table, so if you're shaking around, that's what it is
13:36
Getting into the meat of your video so people can get to know that you're an expert
13:41
you're talking about or they like what you're talking about and they'll be more happy to subscribe
13:47
You can't actually check in your ytics how far people get before they click off your video
13:54
and you'll find a lot of people will drop off during the intro so make that intro count
14:00
Somebody who I really like, I really like the intros and I think they're very good at it
14:05
It's me Marlene. She's really good at intros so go and take a look at her video
14:11
and see how she introduces the video. You can introduce herself later on in the video if you want to
14:17
but it's really not necessary. Mistake number five, not thinking about how you're going to monetise your channel
14:24
How are you going to make money? If you are doing YouTube to make money and to turn it into a business
14:30
you need to think about this before you've even started your YouTube channel
14:34
and I didn't do this. I just thought, oh, it's going to take us 1,000 subscribers
14:40
and 4,000 watch hours before YouTube will monetise us and I will get paid for people who watch the ads attached to my videos
14:50
Like I say, I started YouTube in July 2019. I did not get monetised until October 2023
14:59
It just took forever. Bear in mind that I did take a break
15:03
I stopped doing videos on, hang on, I'm just going to check the date
15:08
I stopped doing videos on the 8th of December 2021. That was my last video I did until the 9th of August, 2022
15:17
when I started again. I got really disillusioned with YouTube because I was getting very little views
15:24
I was lucky if I was getting 200 views. Occasionally it would be more, but mostly it was that
15:29
And I just thought, what's the point of this? So I did stop. And then I started again in August because I quite missed it
15:36
So thinking about how to monetize. even though I wasn making money from YouTube ads there was other ways I could have monetised which I thinking about all of these ideas now I not making a lot of money from YouTube ads I making roughly a month which is not enough to make a business out of this
15:56
I need more money than that. That's not even going to pay for me food. So different ways to monetise
16:03
YouTube ads, yes. You know, definitely turn them on when you have the opportunity
16:08
Affiliate links. people promote a product on their YouTube channel and they'll say, I'll put the link below
16:17
you have to say it's an affiliate link, which you always do in the description. They click through
16:22
If anybody buys anything from that link, then you get a small commission
16:27
Some commissions are bigger than others. It can range from about 2% up to 15%
16:31
but it's usually not a huge amount. So the idea would be to promote bigger
16:39
priced items or larger priced items. I only ever promote affiliate links if it's a product
16:45
or a service that I think is worth promoting. I would never promote anything that I thought was
16:51
rubbish because I want people to trust us so I don't want to promote anything that people
16:56
are buying and then go, well, this is crap. You know, why is you promoting that? So only promote
17:01
things that you think are worth promoting. And if you go to a site called airwinn.com
17:09
That site you will find hundreds and hundreds of different companies on there who want affiliates
17:17
You have to click the button to join their affiliate program. Some will reject you if they don't think you fit their product, but a lot of them will accept
17:27
And then you can start putting links in your description, promoting the products that you've already been promoting and get commissions on them
17:34
And Awin is a global company, so it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter which most of countries
17:42
you will be able to use that service in. Again, I'll drop the link below
17:48
It doesn't cost you anything to sign up. It may cost you a pound, actually, to sign up
17:53
just to activate your bank details and things like that. But I'll put the link to that below
17:59
It is well worth signing up to if you want to make money
18:03
through affiliates on your YouTube channel. The other thing that the way people get monetized
18:09
is with sponsorships by companies. So companies will say, you know, I'll send you these products
18:15
Will you promote them on your channel? And we will pay you
18:20
Now, what happened is most companies want to only give you free product in exchange for a video
18:29
Now, doing a video is really time consuming. You know, it takes a lot of thinking about for, you know, a good promotion
18:35
It takes a lot of thinking about. And then there's all the editing and all that stuff. So if they're sending you something, you know, that's like a £10 to £20 product
18:44
then is it worth your time? If you really want that product, then, you know, fair enough, go for it
18:51
And I have done that. But there has been some companies who I think are taking the pay a bit
18:57
because they are obviously companies who are making money so surely they can afford to pay an influencer
19:06
which is what I suppose YouTubers are, They can afford to pay an influencer or a YouTuber to promote their product
19:13
They will have a marketing budget. So just giving free product is not something I'm going to be working with anymore
19:21
If a company wants to work with us to promote their products, then I want them to pay us
19:26
I don't want them to pay as loads. I just want them to pay us because if this is a business, I need to make money
19:34
So think about it. When you first start YouTube, it's really exciting when all of these
19:38
company say, oh, I'd love to send you these. I'd love to send you, you know, you choose a hundred pounds worth of clothes. But then, you know, what do you do with them
19:47
If you get them, and I've done this, I've getting the clothes, they don't fit, I don't like them
19:53
what do you do with them? It's, you've wasted your time, basically. Yes, you might get a few more
19:58
views. It might, you know, get you close out to that monetisation on YouTube, but what if it
20:04
doesn't? You really need to start thinking about how you're getting people
20:08
for what you're doing because if you're treating it like a job, treat it like a job and you want to get paid
20:15
Like I said, if you really want the product, then go for it. I do that as well
20:20
The other thing to get, the other way to be monetized on YouTube is if you sell your own product
20:26
At the moment, I don't have a product of my own. It is in the pipeline and it will be coming next week
20:32
So if you haven't already subscribed to my channel and you're interested to know what that product is
20:37
hit the subscribe button and I will be putting a video out next week letting me know what that is
20:43
It's something new. I don't know if it's going to work, but it's worth a try
20:47
So if you do have a product that you can sell, you know, if you're a crafter or you've written a book or something like that
20:54
push it, you know, promote it on your YouTube channel and get some sales
20:59
The sixth mistake I've made over the last five years is creating content that I want to do
21:06
rather than creating content that the audience want to watch. So over the years, I've done YouTube videos on books
21:16
I've done YouTube videos on TV. I've done crafting videos. I've done videos with the grandkids, things like that
21:25
People aren't interested. They get a few views. I'm very lucky if they get more than 500 views, usually less than that
21:34
Again, my existence subscribers, you lovely subscribers who watch everything and are absolutely lovely for you
21:41
I love you for it. They'll watch most of my videos. But if I want to attract new subscribers, they're not going to come and watch for those
21:52
They just, they won't or they don't. So you need to think about what your audience wants to watch
22:00
Like I've said, unfortunately, unfortunately, I'm not sure. which I've decided yet
22:06
close try-ons, close holes seem to be the most popular on my channel
22:11
and I think that goes for a lot of lifestyle YouTubers. And I think because I'm plus size as well
22:17
that is an added attraction. One of the things that you should do
22:21
when you have a YouTube channel is think who your ideal viewer is
22:25
For me, it would be somebody who is over 50, probably plus size
22:30
probably lives on a lowish budget, I don't have a lot of money, so if you've come here for designer stuff, that's not going to be it
22:39
That is my ideal viewer. So you need to think about that because then it's easier to think of videos to record that they will enjoy
22:50
So because the closed try-ons are the most popular, I've ended up doing more clothing try-ons, which I don't particularly want to do
23:00
So like I say, that is work in progress. I need to see where that's going to go
23:04
over the next few weeks and what I'm going to do with that. So that was mistake number six, not creating content for your viewer
23:11
So mistake number seven leads on from that, and that is not having a content plan
23:16
So if I was putting a video up on a Tuesday, on the Monday, I'd be thinking to myself, I don't know what I'm going to record
23:23
I have no idea what I'm talking about. And that's no way to run a business. You need to know what you're doing
23:28
So recently, or the last few months, I have been sitting down with a planner and making lists of all of the things that I could do videos about and then researching them on YouTube to see if people are watching that kind of thing researching the keywords
23:46
researching the thumbnails, and then putting in the planner, you know, the idea for the video
23:54
And then maybe, you know, the month before. So I would maybe do that for a month, two months, three months
24:00
So then a couple of weeks before, I can really flesh out the idea of the video
24:04
I'm not just sitting down in front of the camera and thinking, what am I going to say
24:08
I've actually got a bullet pointed list of the things I want to talk about. I've researched it and it makes it a more interesting video for you who's watching
24:17
So definitely have a content calendar. You know, treat it like you're going to work, you know, sit at your desk or at your dining table or whatever
24:26
and have your planner or your notepad or whatever. And actually, don't pretend you're at work
24:34
or at work, so you need to get these things done. Mistake number eight was not doing collaborations with other YouTubers right from the start
24:43
I didn't start doing collaborations until, I think it was March 23
24:49
So last year when Tina from the Transatlantic Housewives emailed us and said
24:55
Karen, would you like to join us? And I was really thrilled
25:00
I don't know whether I'd never thought about collabs before. I think I was just scared of asking other YouTubers
25:06
but I was really happy to be asked and I've been working with them now every week for over a year
25:13
and my subscribers definitely grew once I started that collaboration because we're cross-promoting each other
25:20
the viewers that they had are coming to watch me and anybody who was watching me
25:25
that may not know them will go and watch them so if you really want to try and grow your YouTube channel
25:32
you need to find other YouTubers who do a similar thing to you
25:36
have maybe a few more subscribers than you have if you can
25:41
quite a few more subscribers because you're going to get in front of a bigger audience
25:45
but definitely doing the same thing that you do and then you can cross-promote each other
25:51
and that definitely builds your YouTube channel. I've seen other YouTubers do that right from the start
26:00
and you can tell the difference. They've had a real boost in their growth right from the beginning
26:06
Of course, there may have been other aspects that added to that, but looking at it, that's how it looks from my point of view
26:15
Mistake number nine, comparing yourself to other YouTubers. Now, it's really hard when you're not getting very many views
26:24
You're getting maybe 200, 300, you know, you're not getting many views at all
26:29
and you see other people who have started way after you, the YouTube channel
26:34
and they just explode right from the beginning. They're doing similar things to you
26:39
They're a similar kind of person to you, but they're getting a lot more views
26:43
And it is hard not to compare yourself. You might sit and say, well, you know, what's wrong with me
26:48
Why am I not getting this? You're not. So stop complaining about it
26:52
What you need to do is compare yourself to your own statistics, to your own ytics
26:59
So check your ytics. Don't just look at the views and the subscribers
27:04
Look at the average view duration of your video. You can find all this in your YouTube ytics
27:11
What is your average view duration? Have a look at it one month and see if you can improve on that the next month
27:17
And things that will improve that will be the things I've been talking about. The thumbnails, the titles, your content, all of those will improve your average view duration
27:28
So make that a benchmark for you to improve against yourself. Don't just compare yourself to other people because you don't know what they're doing in the background
27:37
You don't know how much, you know, they may be working a lot harder than you. They may have a lot more marketing know-how than you do or whatever
27:47
It's just don't compare yourself to other people because that's the slippery slope to give it up
27:53
And the 10th mistake I made at the beginning was I did not invest
27:58
in training. It took me ages to figure out different things to do with YouTube, you know, editing
28:05
and how to be successful on YouTube. I didn't really think about it. In all other aspects of my life
28:14
I have done training for things. I've got a degree. I've got a marketing qualification
28:19
I've got a teaching qualification. I've got qualifications coming out with years. So why I didn't
28:24
think about that when I started YouTube, I don't need the qualification, but I did
28:28
did need some help. So I think it was in November last year, I enrolled in the VRA Academy
28:38
I will again put the link to that below. It is a paid training thing and it's an ongoing
28:43
training. All of the information, all of the videos, the training videos are in the VRA website
28:50
but they also have a Facebook page, a very, very active Facebook page with the people that run the academy
28:58
and ask questions and they get people to, you know, put your video in here and get three other
29:04
people to look at it and comment and see where you can improve. So there's lots and lots of help
29:09
on there. You do regular live streams where they give you tips and you can talk to other
29:17
YouTubers on there on like a Zoom call. It has just got so much information in there. And my
29:24
channel has really started to grow in the last three to four months and I do feel it is down to
29:32
the things that I'm learning in the VRA Academy. I do think they have a seven day free training in
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there so I will put the link below if you want to have a look at it before you decide whether
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to join to decide whether the VRA Academy is for you. You can watch the free training first
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But for me it has been a real help. But I'm the kind of person who needs that kind of logical step-by-step training to help us
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But my views in the last, I'd say the last four months have definitely gone up
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I'm well over, most of my videos are well over the thousand view mark
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A lot of them go over the 2000. I even had a one recently, I think it was the shapeware video, hit 18,000
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That is the biggest views on video I've ever had. and I do put that growth down to the things I'm learning in the VRA Academy
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So definitely, I'm not saying you have to join it. I'm just saying invest in some training for yourself if you want to make a full-time income out of YouTube
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But I will put the link to that below. So those are my 10 mistakes that I feel are made on my YouTube channel as a lifestyle YouTuber
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Let me know in the comments below what you think. Have you made those mistakes? Are you a small YouTuber that hasn't done any of those and you've had really good growth? Are you struggling to grow? I'm happy for you to ask us any questions and if I can answer them, I will do in the comments. I also did a video last year about how a YouTuber spends their day. So I will link to that up here if you want to go and see what that looks like because I don't spend all day just having coffee and putting my camera on. There is a whole kind of
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routine to it. So I will link that here. So I hope you found that interesting. I hope you did get
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something out of it. I'll see you again soon. Bye for now
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