So I am back from vacation.

And while I was gone, we hit 100,000 subscribers here on this channel.

And I cannot thank you guys enough for your validation and support through subscribing.

It just helps.

Why say validation is because every day that we're spending nights and weekends both me and Zach on posting all of these videos and content and all that stuff, it's really pays off when people are joining and falling along.

And honestly, I've created so many amazing quality friendships with you guys, and it just means so much to me on a really deep level.

Another thing that I want to talk about today for anybody who wants to join on the YouTube bandwagon, if you're just starting a YouTube channel thinking about it.

Or maybe you already have one in just wants some tips from somebody else, then here it is.

These are the tips that I've learned with the past, like two and 1/2 years of posting the things I've really taken this channel a long way, and I just really want to help you guys on your own journey.

And these tips don't just apply to YouTube exclusively.

I have an INSTAGRAM account as well, and these tips apply over there, too.

The first thing that I had to really figure out is what's my story like there's so many aspects to myself, things that I really like interests, passions, et cetera.

I just wanted to figure out what it was that I really wanted to talk about and that I could talk about at length, and it was also important that other people cared about it.

You could definitely post whatever you want, but when people engage with it and you can relate to other people about that thing, it just really helps.

For example, I have first posted a lot of book reviews, and as much as I still read and love to do book reviews and talk about books, I don't talk about them exclusively on this channel by any means.

And most of my content isn't about books at this point.

I also tried things like how to grow house plants because I really like to have a lot of house plans in my house.

So that was something that I dabbled with on this channel.

I also did like some D I y stuff, but what really resonated with a lot of other people was when I decided to document my personal style, and I did that for a full year.

That was just something that I really needed to invest in.

And that was a point in my life where fashion was especially important being a designer.

So that was why I decided to post frequently about fashion.

And a lot of people related to that because there's brands to talk about and also different factors in fashion, like the whole ethical sustainable thing.

So that was fine, the Explorer on my own and I didn't wait till I was an expert in fashion.

And I still am not on expert, By the way.

I'm just always learning, and I am glad that I brought everyone along from the beginning.

So my advice is really to find different things that you're passionate about.

Just post online about them started flirt with different ideas of what you might want to post about, and you'll find what most people call a vertical.

Next.

I wrote all of my tips on my phone, so the next one is join the community and engage and What I mean by that is it's super important to not just post and leave it there and not engage with anybody who's writing on your stuff or in the community behind it.

It's super important to stay involved.

That will also help you do your own research a lot.

So the more that you talk with people and, you know, even looking on things like Pinterest, how between a lot in finding brands that I liked and style that I liked.

So it was really important on Instagram and on YouTube toe.

Also find other people who are talking about the same brands talking about the same things.

If if you're not really going to post about fashion, it's just important to explore different hashtags that you're using and find the community that lies beneath it and really engage with that community and have a real heart for whatever you're talking about.

That also means that in order to grow and engaged community, you really want to interact with people.

And that wasn't my goal at the end of the day is to just have a good community.

It was toe have friendships like I was seeking quality friendships in my community, and so that's what I have.

And that really helped me keep posting because I would not stop posting cause then I'd lose connection with those people that I've learned to love so much.

So engaging with every single post that you can has been really important on my stuff.

At least my next tip is really just to be predictable.

So once I really fell in love with posting about fashion, that's the majority of what I talk about.

And people also really like when I show my outfits of the week.

So I try to do those as frequently as I can, and that also makes my content predictable.

They know that I'm not going to surprise them with something completely off the wall.

Unheard of that's been really great to figure out is that when I follow someone, it's usually because I know what I'm getting into.

It doesn't have to be rigid or exclusive.

There's other things that people will come to you and want to realize more about you.

And so for me, another aspect that I love to share about is my art.

It's always been super important to me and so now and then.

I love to post art that I make about people that are really important to me and inspire me so those people are usually online.

And then I'm able to really connect with people online about people that we both really love, if that makes sense.

So in the past I have painted Este and I painted Madeline, and a lot of you guys love them as well, and we're all super inspired by them and just builds a tighter community.

So that's kind of a way where I feature mostly about one thing being fashion.

But then I start to introduce other aspects of my life.

And so that's been really cool to realize.

And maybe that's advice for you as well is post mostly about that one subjects, but then also mix in other aspects of your life that people really leaned into your content will love toe, learn more about you.

About tip number four is that patience is so key.

A lot of people get a number in their head and when they don't see that number of followers, then they beat themselves up about it.

But honestly, the point of posting is to really share with the world something that you can bring to the table and to post often keep up loading because there's always going to be one video that takes off.

And it might not be the one that you expected might not be the one you worked the hardest son.

And then all of a sudden, all of these people come enjoying and so that's been really fun to do on this channel.

It wasn't always easy, though.

I've been posting for about two and 1/2 years.

Until this spring, I was at about 17,000 followers, but then I posted one or two videos that really resonated with my community and with a much larger community than even I had thought of would reach.

And then all of a sudden, 10 days later, I had doubled what I worked for for those two years so that amount of people doubled and then it was like quadrupled.

So again, I just thank you guys so much for following along, and that just resonates with me on such a deep level.

Honestly, thank you guys.

I think a lot of times people see someone with big numbers and think that success came easily and, you know, honestly, it's still can feel that way.

I think that numbers are very insatiable and they're very relative, and I try not.

Don't really think about that too frequently at any point in this journey.

But most people that I have heard about how they have had successful social media accounts or blog's have said that it takes about three or four years, sometimes five or more.

And it's really just a journey and something that you should love at any point in this whole thing.

Next hustle.

It's so important to be able.

Thio, once you've realized something that you really want to talk about, is to put your time and energy into that thing.

Always be thinking about what you want to post about next, what your video is going to be about.

Try to take extra time that you can post and doobie roll.

All of those things are going to make your channel or anything that you make really a lot better.

The more that you hustle, the more that you're going to stand out from the crowd.

So depending on how much time you have in your week.

And also how many times you wanna upload.

Be thinking about how much time you wanna put in each video or each post if it's on instagram or photo, where would not and why.

That's important is if it's YouTube.

I would say that a 15 minute video between all of the editing and planning all of that stuff bureau it's going to take about 4 to 5 hours on average, at least for me and to create a video and you get faster with that.

So if you want to be a daily blogger, you might want to not be a daily vlogger right off the bat until you get really in the habit of things until you can make things a routine.

It's going to take you a lot more time at first to post, but then, once you get your routine, you can upload more frequently, and that really helps with engagement.

So YouTube and Instagram both have algorithms that favor people who post frequently.

So when I started posting three times a week, that really helped my channel.

So YouTube grows channels.

It doesn't grow videos necessarily.

So if one video starts doing well, it's gonna push all your other videos, and so that's really important.

To keep in mind is just to have a really healthy channel that's just constantly putting out content with that.

I also have to say it's super important to rest, so that's why I just got back from vacation.

And I took a break not only from, you know, life work location, but also took a break from Instagram and YouTube and all that stuff just so I could reframe my mind and get perspective.

One of the most destructive things about a channel is if you get burn out when you get burned out, that's it.

You're done.

It doesn't matter how much you try.

It's just nearly impossible to push through burnout.

So that's why resting, taking vacations every few months or least time off is super important.

Next is important to be yourself to be you.

I think that was one of the main mistakes that I have made.

Starting off with everyone else on YouTube was super loud, peppy, and I just have always been a little bit soft spoken, a little bit nerdy.

I laugh at my own jokes.

You know, I you know I'm just kind of a nerd and so that doesn't mean that there's not people out there who don't relate with me on some level, when people write in the comments or whatever, that I wasn't their cup of tea.

That's really okay with me, like there's just so many people in the world and I'm a content for those people and I'm a content for you like this is what I want to do is to create content and build friendships.

And there's again so many people in the world that someone out there will be like Oh my gosh, you are just like me and we just think each other amazing.

I think nowadays people can spot a fake a mile away and if you're not being yourself not being authentic, I think that people just know that.

So the more that you can be comfortable in front of the camera, which also comes with time, you can really identify with other people on a very deep level.

So I've talked a lot in this video, but I would say that my two main things that I have learned over posting all of this time has been consistency, an engagement.

Those have been the factors that have really carried this channel the most and allowed me to be able to connect with you right now.

So again, I just can't thank you guys enough for letting us reach 100,000.

It just means so much after, Especially all this time.

It's been really cool to be able to connect with you guys.

Hopefully, if you're thinking of starting your own Instagram or YouTube, I hope that these tips really help.

And I love to be able Thio See in the comments.

If you have a YouTube channel, definitely share that with me in the comments and I will see you guys hopefully on Friday.