October 27th, 2021
David Peachment
Why Your Kid Should Start a YouTube Channel
As of the writing of this post, YouTube is the second biggest search engine on the planet, only behind Google itself. And last year alone, there were over 500 hours of content uploaded to YouTube every single minute! That’s a lot of content! And a lot of people are watching it. YouTube has become such a staple and fundamental part of our lives that people use it for recreation, learning, and even operating their own businesses. Thousands of people also make their entire living off of YouTube! The platform has become so popular that there are over 2 billion users! That’s a lot of people that rely on the video hosting service.
Now, why do I think that kids should start a YouTube channel? Other than the fact that recent surveys have shown that 34% of kids aged 6-17 want to be a YouTube personality, countless life lessons and skills can be learned from it. Let’s dive into some of those!
Life Skills Learned
I’ve grouped the different things that can be learned into two distinct groups: Life Skills and Technical Skills. Both are very important, but both are very different. And by no means is this an exhaustive list!
Since starting a YouTube channel is essentially like starting a business, there are all kinds of business and work skills that can be learned. Skills such as entrepreneurship, management, marketing, and so much more! Because your kid would be creating a product (videos) for customers (viewers), there are a lot of components that need to be learned and considered on the job to succeed. Kids will need to figure out what kind of content would grab people’s attention and their unique selling proposition (what makes them stand out). This involves a certain level of market research and product development over time to determine what interests potential customers. What videos will get more watch time? What niche will the child compete in? What is the competition currently doing and not doing? The kid would also learn how to handle criticism and how to improve their videos based on viewer feedback. Should the channel become big enough to become a YouTube partner and start making money, they can learn some fundamentals of proper money management, advertising, investing in their business, and more.
Some other soft skills include working and collaborating with other kids to make videos, self-management, perseverance, strategizing, and how to grow their new business. And all of that just scratches the surface! But I don’t want to spend forever discussing the life skills that can be learned, so now I will switch gears to the technical skills.
Technical Skills Learned
There is a huge medley of technical abilities that would be created throughout the process of building a YouTube channel. Chief among these are the skills that will be developed over time in the creation of the video itself. Some examples include editing, adding effects, basic audio engineering, filmmaking techniques, and so much more! Learning all of this will require them to be invested in researching and trying things out for themselves. Because to effectively succeed in YouTube their videos will need to be constantly evolving, the kid can learn more and more techniques and skills to improve.
To rank higher in YouTube’s search algorithm, they’ll need to figure out some fundamentals of search engine optimization to tailor their videos for being more searchable. Not only that, but the child can learn graphic design in order to improve their video thumbnails and the overall “clickability” of the video they’ve created.
And even if they don’t get to the point where the channel makes money, all of the above skills will vastly improve their abilities and help them develop work skills and experience that employers will love! Ultimately, this will set your kid up for success in the future.
Tips for Starting
To make it easier for your child to get started, there are a number of ways you can help facilitate their learning and set them up for success. The first is to use YouTube itself to research and learn ways to start, things to consider when beginning, basics of filmmaking, etc. The one downside of using YouTube is that there is a lot of content to sift through, and getting distracted can derail your kid from properly acquiring information. If you aren’t sure how to use YouTube effectively to learn, I wrote a blog post about it that should help a little HERE.
Another way is to take self-paced and self-directed online courses that will cover in detail all of the necessary information and equipment required to hit the ground running. Some websites, such as SkillShare and Udemy, offer free and paid courses that provide tons of useful information. The only downside is these classes are typically one way, so if your kid has questions, they can often go unanswered.
A third option is to take a one-on-one online or in-person course with an instructor that will directly teach the individual child all of the essential lessons and even get your kid hands-on and experienced with the proper equipment! Google nearby classes or visit our website, where we offer one-on-one online and in-person instruction to ensure your kid is set up for success on YouTube! Check it out and other classes HERE. We offer a wide variety of classes teaching 21st-century skills and allow for a lot of flexibility on the length of the courses.
Whatever route you decide to go, I hope you will consider letting your kid start a YouTube channel. There are so many essential life skills and lessons that they can learn along the way. And they will be very well set up for the future in whatever career they undertake!
Until next time,
David Peachment