My YouTube journey so far - June Reflections

byGail-UK

3.8K followers

5 months ago

Hello lovely WA community!

I hope you're all well and working hard!

I just wanted to share a quick update on my YouTube progress this past month – especially since it was advice I got from doing some courses here that nudged me into action! (Thanks Jay, Vitaliy and Eric)

Although I've had my channel, for a while, I’d never really committed to using it regularly. But at the start of this year, I decided to create a few more videos as I kick-started my websites again. However, in June, I really set about trying to make a difference following the advice of fellow WA members. I originally started posting short Facebook reels to boost my Facebook pages and then I decided to upload them to YouTube too – to see if it would make a difference; and it did!

So here are a few numbers (June 2025)

• 27 short reels uploaded (all 30 seconds or less)
• 8 longer videos (30 seconds to 3 minutes)
• 5,937 views for the month
• 7.2 hours of watch time
• +4 new subscribers

Traffic spikes happened around the 5th, 11th and 29th of June – usually when I’d uploaded several reels close together. It’s not massive growth, but it’s a solid, encouraging start – and it’s a far cry from how things looked before I was posting more consistently.

Obviously, I have a very long way to go before I start to monetise anything here, but I'm very encouraged by the numbers and I'm learning all the time.

How I create my videos

Heads up! I do have a background in video production, but honestly, you don’t need it, and although I know how to write scripts, set up shoots and use Premiere Pro to edit, I have not done any of those things to create the videos I'm talking about here.

In fact, I only used 2 tools that anyone can access. I think that these tools are so intuitive that anyone can start creating lovely, on-brand content with just a little bit of time and some creative curiosity and I encourage everyone to have a go.

You don't need lots of experience, but you do need to be willing to experiment.

Short reels (under 30 secs):

• Created entirely in Canva
• Using their stock video footage and AI-generated background music
• I add in my own affirmations or quotes, usually with simple transitions and animated text
• I do pay for Canva Pro, but I find it well worth it since I can use the Pro images and videos and I don't have to worry about choosing free options - it's only about £20 per month
• Longer Videos (30 secs – 3 mins):

• Made with Lumen5
• Using free stock video and music which is available on their site
• These are more narrative in style, with no voiceovers and only using text
• I use the free version – and it’s surprisingly good because it can create a script from a blog post and you can customise most things.

There are some things I wish I could do which are a bit more advanced but if I really want to do those things, I can use something like Premiere Pro. However, for these short reels and videos, these tools are great - easy to use and beginner-friendly.

If you want to see examples of some of the things I've done, you can visit the channel through the YT link on my profile.

So far, I've only concentrated on one website's content since there are only so many hours in the day!

What I think is working so far

• Posting to Facebook first, then uploading to YouTube
• Short, uplifting messages with visual impact
• Batching reels in advance so I can stay consistent
• Letting go of perfection – getting something done and published is better than striving for perfection. I remember Jay saying that this type of content has a very short shelf-life and I've found that to be true. If it's not seen within a couple of days, then it's lost, so it's not worth worrying over, and you can clearly see this from the analytics graph. It's more important to be consistently posting something than working on your pièce de résistance!

Shout-out and thanks to the WA community

I also wanted to give a shoutout to all the training and help I'm receiving here at WA. If it hadn’t been for a few encouraging video modules here in WA about video content, Facebook and YouTube, I might still be “thinking about it” instead of actually doing it. So thank you, truly, for the inspiration and practical ideas!

Over to YOU!

Clearly, I'm not going to make it onto "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" as a YouTube celebrity anytime soon (thank Heavens!) and I have a very long way to go to monetise anything. However, "You have to be in it, to win it" as the saying goes, so at least I've got my foot in the proverbial door, or my fingers caught in the clapperboard, but I'm on step one of the ladder. Ooh, I do love a few metaphors!

Anyway, I hope that this will also inspire a few of you to join me in my video journey. Are you using video in your online business yet? Have you tried repurposing your content as YouTube or Facebook Shorts?

I recommend checking out some videos in other relevant niches so you can see what others are doing too.

I’d love to hear your experience – and advice, as always, is very welcome.

See you next month for more updates and I'll be posting soon about my Facebook journey.... Got to get that traffic from somewhere!!

Thanks for reading

Gail and Sparky, of course, who helps me with all of my content 🦊✨