If you are a motivational speaker, you know how important it is to reach and inspire your audience. But how can you expand your reach and grow your career using YouTube? In this article, we will show you some practical tips on how to use YouTube to build your motivational speaking career.
The first step to using YouTube effectively is to define your niche and your target audience. What is your unique message and value proposition? Who are you trying to help and motivate? What are their pain points and goals? By answering these questions, you can create a clear and consistent brand identity for your YouTube channel. This will help you attract and retain loyal viewers who resonate with your message and style.
We published maybe 100 short general tip videos and they did okay but one day, from a particular request, I filmed a 15 minute video tackling a very particular speaking competition needs and that video suddenly blew up. YouTube is filled with general content but if you can narrow it down into one particular keyword or situation, then your video will win the SEO game and you will be the top expert in that area. Now go and repeat the process until you are an expert in a multitude of niches and from there you can probably dabble into general educational content to keep your audience engaged.
The next step is to create valuable and engaging content for your YouTube channel. You want to offer your viewers something that they can learn from, relate to, and apply to their own lives. You can use different formats and topics, such as stories, interviews, Q&A, tips, challenges, and more. The key is to provide value and relevance to your niche audience, while also showcasing your personality and expertise as a motivational speaker.
Once you have created your content, you need to optimize your videos for YouTube. This means using keywords, titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, and captions that are relevant and appealing to your audience and the YouTube algorithm. You also need to optimize your channel page, by adding a banner, a logo, a bio, and links to your website and social media accounts. These elements will help you rank higher in search results, increase your visibility, and drive more traffic to your channel and your other platforms.
Another important aspect of using YouTube is to interact with your audience. You want to build a rapport and a relationship with your viewers, by responding to their comments, questions, and feedback. You can also encourage them to subscribe, like, share, and turn on notifications for your channel. You can also create polls, surveys, and contests to get their input and opinions. By interacting with your audience, you can increase your engagement, retention, and loyalty, as well as gain insights into their needs and preferences.
One of the best ways to grow your YouTube channel and your motivational speaking career is to collaborate with others. You can reach out to other motivational speakers, influencers, experts, or brands in your niche or related fields, and propose a collaboration idea. You can do a guest appearance, an interview, a joint webinar, a cross-promotion, or a giveaway. By collaborating with others, you can expose your channel to new audiences, increase your credibility and authority, and create valuable connections and opportunities.
Collaboration is instrumental to growing your career as a motivational speaker. You get the opportunity to appear on other creator's platforms and to sell yourself as an authority to their audience. It gives you a wider reach and with this, you can connect more and be of help to more people.
The final step to using YouTube to build your motivational speaking career is to monetize your channel. YouTube offers various ways to earn money from your videos, such as ads, memberships, merchandise, and super chats. You can also use your channel to promote your own products or services, such as books, courses, coaching, or speaking gigs. By monetizing your channel, you can generate income and reinvest in your content and your career.
In my personal view, youtube is highly overrated. It either takes a lot of either money or extremely good luck to become very visible there. Platforms like Youtube are necessary, in terms of having a presence but not the sole source. I have had success in delivering talks to physical audiences (offline as well as online) and let the word spread organically from there. But then, I am not a motivational speaker by profession: it is something that I do simply because I enjoy doing it!
??Create a Channel: Establish a YouTube channel dedicated to motivational content. ??Consistent Uploads: Regularly upload inspiring speeches or anecdotes. ??Engage with Viewers: Respond to comments and build a community. ??Collaborate: Partner with other speakers or influencers for wider reach. ??Optimize SEO: Use relevant keywords to enhance search visibility. ??Quality Production: Ensure high-quality videos with good audio and visuals. ??Promote on Social Media: Share content across platforms to increase exposure. ??Track Analytics: Monitor performance and adjust strategies for growth. ??Monetize: Explore monetization options to support your career.