YouTube Ideas

Looking for ideas for your own YouTube Channel? Here are 30 YouTube ideas to get you started.

Why YouTube?

Why would you even want YouTube ideas anyway? Why is YouTube so important?

YouTube is bigger than ANY television station. YouTube reaches 88 countries and over 1 billion users – 1/3 of all people on the Internet. YouTube reaches more 18-34 year olds than any US cable TV network.

YouTube lets you have your own television station with a huge potential audience – for free.

How Do You Make Money on YouTube Ideas?

Here are 6 ways to make money on your YouTube Channel:

1. YouTube Creators Program: YouTube has a built in creators program that lets you make money when YouTube shows advertising to your viewers.
2. Promote Your Products and Services; YouTube is a great way to promote your own products and services. You can offer reviews, how-to’s, demonstrations, case studies and more.
3. Promote Affiliate Product and Services: Find related products and services that would help your audience and join the product affiliate programs. Then you can promote these to your audience.
4. Sponsorships: You can invite people to sponsor your content.
5. Memberships: Offer a membership level where people get exclusive content.
6. Become a Speaker: A YouTube channel is a great way to position yourself as an expert.  Dave Carroll wrote a song “United Breaks Guitars” about his bad customer experience with United Airlines. The video went viral (now over 16 million views) and Dave Carroll ended up with a second career as a speaker on customer service and storytelling. He has now spoken in over 25 countries.

YouTube Ideas That Worked

There are tons of YouTube success stories. Here are just a few showing how varied successful YouTube ideas can be:

1. Music Artists: Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepson are just two of many music artists discovered on YouTube
2. PewDiePie: A gamer with over 1 billion views who has earned over $21 million
3. DisneyCollectorBR:  A YouTuber who uploads videos discussing Disney toys. Her channel has over 1.51 billion views, earning $5.1 million
4. Smosh – A comedy channel with 2.8 billion views, earning $19.6 million

Artists, gamers, collectors and comedians have all been able to earn millions on YouTube. So let’s come up with some YouTube ideas for you!

YouTube Idea 1: News Channel

Most traditional media in the United States has been taken over by huge corporations and are no longer independent.  “Hard hitting” investigative journalism is a thing of the past. Current news outlets often ignore or downplay stories as directed by the corporate office. Sadly, traditional media has become a tool for big business interests.

With YouTube, you can have your own News Channel that focuses on the stories YOU feel are important. You can bring back investigative journalism and provide your own approach.

An example of this is The Young Turks. The Young Turks was started by former MSNBC anchor Cenk Unger who was fired for not toeing the corporate line. Now, his news channel is #1 on YouTube, has 3x the views of CNN on YouTube and is #1 for news among millennials. They earn money by advertising and memberships.

Here are some tools you can use for your YouTube News Channel.

• Dynamic News: show automatically updating live news headlines and images
• Dynamic Wall: create a dynamic wall of monitors where your presentation is shown across the monitors
• Dynamic Pictures: automatically cycle through all pictures in a folder. This is great for capturing new live pictures from field reporters and social media as they are uploaded
• TickerPoint: add a  scrolling sports score and news feed to the bottom or side of your video screen

YouTube Idea 2: Sports Channel

Love sports? Why not create your own YouTube sports channel?

You can focus on the sports you want to highlight and talk about. You can focus on pro sports, local sports, or sports that don’t get as much attention as you think they should.

Share scores, stories and do interviews with players, managers, coaches and fans.

You can use similar tools to the YouTube News Channel above, but here are another couple of additional tools and how they can be used for your YouTube sports channel.

• DataPoint: connect your presentations to live sports score updates
• TickerPoint: add a  scrolling news feed to the bottom or side of your news screen

YouTube Idea 3: eSports Channel

Electronic gaming competitions (also known as esports) have become an important new sporting event field. Some tournaments and competitions have millions of dollars in prizes and have attracted sponsors like Red Bull, major gaming developers, electronics manufacturers and others.

You can use your channel to provide:

• Highlights of competitions
• Your analysis on recent games
• Your predictions for the next round
• Profiles of top and up and coming players

You can use the tools we mentioned above for sports and news channels for your esports channel as well.

YouTube Idea 4: YouTube Weather Channel

“Weather” is one of the most used search keywords on the Internet. Everyone wants to know what the weather is going to do so you know if it is a good day to plan your outing or even what you should wear today.

With your own YouTube Weather channel, you can share local or national weather information. You can connect to online weather news and feeds or provide information from your own weather station. You can also set up live weather cams to show people what the weather is doing. I use live weather cams to see what the weather is like on my airport or ferry route or to see if the sky is clear enough in a local park to do a public telescope stargazing night.

Here are some tools you can use in your YouTube Weather Channel”

• Dynamic Weather: connect to live Internet weather feeds or databases
• DataPoint: connect your presentations to your own weather station data
• VideoPoint: show live weather cams in your presentations and broadcasts

YouTube Idea 5: YouTube Live Channels

With the advent of YouTube Live, you can share real time video and information about nearly anything.

There are many possibilities, but here are a few YouTube ideas:

• Live broadcasting of an event, concert or performance
• Live broadcasting of an attraction, showing waiting times and hours left until closing

Here is an example of a live YouTube channel showing visitors at an aquarium.

Here are some tools you can use with your live YouTube channel:

• VideoPoint: show a live cam in your presentation so people can see what is currently happening and see lineups
• CounterPoint: show queue (lineup waiting) times
• DynamicTime: show how many hours /minutes until closing, ending of the event or until midnight in the case of New Year’s events.

YouTube Idea 6: Vlogging

Vlogging is simply “video blogging.”

Vloggers talk about their life, hobbies, passions and quirks. They entertain, rant, inspire and make us think.

YouTube Idea 7: Review Channel

When people are looking for information about a product or service, they often look for reviews on the product. This is why magazines and web sites like Consumer Reports are so popular. Whenever I am thinking of buying anything new, I look for reviews online first.

You can review:

• software
• computers
• gadgets
• fashion
• cars
• bikes
• tools
• toys
• games
• outdoor gear and anything else you can think of

Think of your own interests and what you can review. Plus it is a great excuse to pick up the latest “toys” for your passions! 🙂

YouTube Idea 8: Live Cams

Live cams have become incredibly popular. Live cams can show:

• nature
• streets
• weather
• traffic

Some examples include:

• NASA’s Earth from space
• baby eagle cams
• puppy/kitten cams
• city streets in Amsterdam, Venice or your downtown

I personally use live cams a lot. Here are some of the ways I have used live cams:

• to see lineups at the ferry
• to check weather conditions on roads I have to travel
• to see if the sky is clear enough to take my telescope out to a local park

Here are some tools  you can use in your live cam YouTube channel:

• VideoPoint: show live cams in your presentations and broadcasts
• TickerPoint: add a  scrolling message on the bottom of your screen to show people what they are seeing

YouTube Idea 9: Travel Channel

With your own travel channel, you have an excuse to travel the world while sharing it with your audience. And your YouTube channel can pay for your travel!

Some YouTube ideas for your travel channel include:

• Showing different cities
• Discussing attractions in each area
• Travel tips
• Discuss best travel deals

One example of a successful travel channel is “Where the Hell is Matt?” Matt Harding travels the world, doing dance moves in front of iconic world attractions. Often, he invites others to dance with him.

His videos have seen millions of views and he has received corporate sponsorship to fund his travel and videos. Matt also has run a successful Kickstarter campaign where people can pledge money and vote where to send him and his film crew.

YouTube Idea 10: Gaming Channel

Love to play games on your computer or console? Start your own YouTube Gaming Channel.

Here are some content ideas for your gaming channel

• Gaming News: Discuss upcoming game releases
• Reviews: Do in-depth game reviews so people can choose the best games for themselves
• Gaming Conferences: Vlog from gaming conferences
• Game Tips and Tricks: offer tips and tricks on games to teach people how to get to the next level
• Live Broadcasts: do a live broadcast of your great gaming performances and epic fails

Once again, you can use VideoPoint to show a live or recorded game video feed in your presentation.

YouTube Idea 11: Tutorial Channel

People turn to the Internet when they want to learn something, so YouTube tutorial channels have become very popular. In my own case, I was gifted with two lovely sockeye salmon. I hadn’t cleaned a fish in over 25 years and, being a prairie boy, had never cleaned a salmon. YouTube to the rescue! I found an excellent video on how to clean a sockeye salmon and watched the video on my tablet while cleaning the fish.

Cleaning the first fish was a little shaky, but the second went well. My knife for cutting the fish was poor and not very sharp, but YouTube knife review channels can solve that as well by helping me find better knives and showing me how to sharpen them. The knives in my kitchen now are much better quality and razor sharp thanks to YouTube tutorials.

Some ideas for tutorials include:

• fashion
• musical instruments
• software (my son creates tutorials on the music studio software he uses)
• crafts
• cooking and more

Here is a tutorial success story for you. Michelle Phan was a struggling student and part time waitress who started creating “how-to” videos on applying makeup. She now has over 8 million subscribers, over 1.21 billion views and her own makeup line.

YouTube Idea 12: Technology Tutorials

We are surrounded with technology and people are hungry for information on how to use it more effectively. Most of us only use 10-20% of the power of the software and apps on our computers and devices.

You can create:

• in-depth software tutorials
• how-to’s on using electronics such as smart phones, smart TVs, and others
• computer tips and tricks

YouTube Idea 13: Music Channel

Consider setting up your own music channel.

You can offer:

• musical instrument lessons
• live jams
• hot indie music most people haven’t heard yet
• up and coming bands
• music industry news

Be cautious of music licensing – you can’t just put regular music on your channel. You have to license it. Look into Creative Commons music as a great source to get you started and you can form partnerships with new music groups to help promote them.

YouTube Idea 14: Cooking Channel

Guess all those people who thought we would get our nutrition from a pill in the future by now were wrong. Cooking is more popular than ever.

While recipes are easy to find, the skills needed for gourmet cooking are hard to teach from a book. You can show cooking skills like:

• knife and cutting techniques
• making gravy
• making your own sauces
• creating batter

I really enjoy the Crazy Russian Hacker’s life hacks tips which include tips like how to shell a hard boiled egg and testing a wide range of kitchen gadgets. Funny, enjoyable and informative.

YouTube Idea 15: Education Channel

YouTube isn’t just for short how-to’s any more, you can access a wide range of educational videos.  You can learn physics, history, math, astronomy, medicine, cryptography and much more at places like Khan Academy and other channels on Youtube.

I quite enjoy another channel called Today I Found Out, which has short videos on topics like “When Did We First Use Rubber Ducks?,” Why do Rice Crispies Snap Crackle and Pop?” and  “Why Do We Divide the Day into Seconds, Minutes and Hours.” Fun and informative and great for those of us who are always curious.

YouTube Idea 16: Comedy

Do you love making people laugh? Set up your own comedy channel so you can reach more than your friends and your local talent show audience.

Tell jokes, humorous stories or create your own short comedy bits like Saturday Night Live.

YouTube Idea 17: Lifestyle Advice

People seeking to enrich their lives turn to the Internet to learn how to live better.

You could create a lifestyle channel on topics like:

• finance
• home decor
• work/life balance
• parenting
• health

The possible topics here are nearly endless.

YouTube Idea 18: Entertainment Channel

Notice all those celebrity gossip magazines at the checkouts. Millions of people buy them every month. When Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia from the original Star Wars) passed away, sorrowful fans came together offered light saber vigils in multiple cities to mark her passing.

Fandom is extremely passionate and you can tap into this passion with your own channel.

You can create your own entertainment channel that can focus on things like:

• upcoming movies, tv shows, music and books
• celebrity news and gossip
• fan sites for your favourite movies, shows, bands and actors

YouTube Idea 19: Politics Channel

Ah, politics. Nothing gets the blood flow like a good political discussion!

Politics are crazy hot right now so you can tap into this with your own political commentary channel.

You can offer topics like:

• political insights and commentary
• political news of the day
• explainer videos on how politics works
• interviews with other pundits or politicians and activitists

Even your critics will visit your channel just to disagree with you!

YouTube Idea 20: Hobby Channel

Have a hobby you love? Turn your hobby into cash!

With a world wide audience, there are tons of people interested in nearly every hobby. Some ideas include:

• RC Aircraft
• whittling
• hiking
• knitting
• nostalgia
• antiques

The possibilities are endless.

YouTube Idea 21: Pranking

Still a mischievous child at heart? Play “safe” pranks on friends and strangers and video the results. People love to watch others get pranked.

YouTube Idea 22: Motivation Channel

If you love to motivate and inspire people, you can create videos to motivate others. Be the next Tony Robbins.

YouTube Idea 23: Photography

People love photography and are always looking for ways to take better, more amazing pictures. On your photography channel, you can:

• create how-to’s on how to take better pictures
• show photo retouching and processing techniques
• teach trick photography
• deconstruct award winning photos to show how it was done
• do reviews on camera and photography equipment

YouTube Idea 24: Drones

Drones give you an opportunity to do video and photography from angles you would never be able to access as a regular, ground based photographer. This brings up a host of drone YouTube ideas.

We saw one video where someone attached a running chainsaw to a drone and went through a row of snowmen with it. (safety first please)

You can:

• show the city from an angle most people have never seen
• provide amazing up close footage of attractions
• get closer to nature safely (although some drones have been taken out by eagles or hawks which makes amazing footage)
• show sporting events from a new angle

YouTube Idea 25: Do It Yourself

There is a huge number of people that want to learn how to do things themselves.  Some DIY YouTube ideas include:

• wood working
• gardening
• home renovations
• auto repairs

I found a step-by-step video for my actual model of washing machine on YouTube that helped me troubleshoot a problem which saved money on having a repair man come out.

YouTube Idea 26: Causes

Are you passionate about a cause? Passion makes for great videos. You can:

• save the rain forest
• protect animals
• clean up our water supply
• support the underprivileged

YouTube Idea 27: Film Making

Release your inner Steven Spielberg! The dropping price of great high resolution video cameras coupled with a potential worldwide audience on YouTube gives you endless possibilities to create your own independent film or documentary.

YouTube Idea 28: Rant

Sometimes you just have to let off steam. Why not video your rant and share it with the world?

You can rant about:

• poor service you had
• crappy products you’ve been sold
• things that make no sense
• issues most people ignore

YouTube Idea 29: Dating Tips

Help people who are looking for love in all the wrong places. You can offer:

• dating and relationship tips
• your own unique take on dating
• to share your funny experiences
• interviews with experts
• interviews with other love seekers

YouTube Idea 30: Interview Others

Not sure you have enough expertise to offer a channel on anything? Why not interview others? All you have to do is research the topic a bit and come up with powerful questions that your listeners might like.

You can interview:

• experts
• average people
• celebrities
• contrarians

You Don’t Have To Be An Expert

Remember that you don’t have to know everything about your topic. Be an explorer and share your exploration with others.

It is passion and creativity that draw audiences and epic fails can be more entertaining than a perfectly crafted story. And you can always interview others to being expertise into your channel.

Find Your Own Unique Voice

It is important to find your own unique voice online. Find your own approach to take. Find what you disagree with and make sure you provide the dissenting voice. Look for your passion and let it out.

We hope you have enjoyed these YouTube ideas and will share this article with others. Questions about this article? Contact Us.