Why You Should Start a Private YouTube Channel
People are often baffled when I say that you can start a YouTube channel and not make it public.
The difference between a private and public channel is literally a drag-and-drop.
When you are about to post your video, you have the option to either make it private or public.
To make a private YouTube channel, choose private.
Simple.
The question is:
‘Why the heck should I start a private YouTube channel?? Isn’t the purpose of YouTube to share videos with the world?
Yes.
But who is to say that you can’t only share videos with yourself and a few trusted peers?
Exclusivity is what the private YouTube channel is about.
When I Discovered Private YouTube Channels
Before I published a public video, I posted many private talks.
These talks were about a variety of topics ranging from:
- Public speaking.
- Storytelling.
- Emotional resilience etc.
Once I felt semi-confident behind the scenes, I went ahead and made my channel public.
A few years later, I met with a client who wanted to package his experiences into videos.
The only problem was that he hated recording himself.
He didn’t know where to look in the camera.
I told him to start a YouTube channel and post the videos as private content.
He’d be given a link.
If he was comfortable, he could send me the link so I could watch his talk.
In the beginning, he didn’t feel comfortable sending me the links.
He just told me that he recorded his videos for the week.
He could’ve been lying to me.
If he was, then he was only cheating himself.
So, I put faith that he wasn’t lying to me about uploading videos to his channel.
As more time went on, one day, he sent me a link.
It was a talk about entrepreneurship.
I watched the video and learned a ton.
After that, he felt more confident about posting public videos.
It’s like he stuck his toe in the water to see how cold it was before diving into the pool.
You Can Always Make Your Videos Public Later
Just like it’s easy to make private videos…
It’s also easy to make private videos, public!
You just need to drag-and-drop from private to public.
Wooo.
So technologically savvy.
Once you build confidence behind the scenes, it’s easier to post public content.
In my book, Lights, Camera, Action!!, I share why a creator should have a dark zone and a light zone.
The dark zone is the content that you keep away from the world.
You take the time to understand your ideas, experiment, and work on your body language.
The light zone is when you make your content public.
The reason a lot of people struggle with camera shyness is because they jump straight into the light without grinding in the dark for a few.
Add in a dark, then transition into light.
Over time, once you’re in the light zone, review your dark zone content every now and then.
You’ll make a fascinating realization.
‘Wow! A lot of my dark zone content is pretty insightful. I should bring them to the light too!’
Now you’re killing 2 birds with 1 stone.
You started off private but have gone public.
Why YouTube Channels Are Better than Hard Drives
I’m all for hard drives.
I have a couple myself.
I’m a very paranoid person when it comes to tech.
I feel like, one day, someone will hack into my system and delete all my work.
I’m all for hard drives.
But don’t put your faith only in the physical.
YouTube is one of the best hard drives.
The cool thing about YouTube is that you can store your video and access it from anywhere in the world.
Every now and then when I’m traveling, I’ll pull up one of my old school videos and watch it.
This is hard to do if you only rely on physical hard drives.
You need to remember to bring the hard drive, make sure there’s room in your suitcase, pull it out and plug it in to watch the video.
While with YouTube, you just need an internet connection.
It’s unique to see your evolution.
Sometimes, I can’t even recognize myself.
There is a physical component to having a private YouTube channel.
It makes you more introspective and aware of how you look.
I’ve seen:
- The difference between how I look with a beard vs no beard.
- Which hair products make me look sharp vs which products make me look sloppy.
- Hand gestures to avoid.
- Hand gestures to leverage.
All these insights allowed me to refine my body language.
Don’t just rely on a hard drive.
Watch yourself on TV, worldwide.
Watching Yourself on TV
If I say someone’s name around you, then your body won’t feel it.
However, if I say YOUR name around you, then your nervous system will feel tingling sensations.
That’s because our nervous system loves things that relate to us.
It’s one thing when you access your private YouTube channel from your phone.
It’s another thing when you screen share it to a TV.
Every now and then, I’ll connect my laptop to my TV and watch my private YouTube channel from there.
It’s like someone is saying my name out loud.
The dimensions of the TV Armani are the same as the real Armani.
It looks just like me.
My nervous system is engaged.
During that moment, I become hyper-focused on which ideas worked and which didn’t.
Which body language moves to keep, and which ones are annoying.
Which dress shirts I should burn because they’re so damn ugly.
Watching yourself on TV is a different experience.
It’s hard to do in the beginning but if you watch it anyway, you’ll be more refined with your body language and your speaking skills in no time.
If this post made an impact on you, think about uploading a short talk from your phone on YouTube today.
And make it private.
For more insights into speaking in front of the camera, check out Lights, Camera, Action!!
📷 Paperback/Kindle
📷 Audiobook
