How to Start a Motivational YouTube Channel

Starting a motivational YouTube channel is one of the easiest ways to break into the content creation game. But, there's a few tricks involved that will make your journey to monetization a whole lot easier!

In this comprehensive guide, I'll show you exactly how to start a motivational YouTube channel using my own experiences creating motivational videos back in 2022!

If you're looking to get started making motivational YouTube content, you're in the right place. 🙂

Why Start a Motivational YouTube Channel?

If you're reading this, you probably have a good idea why starting a motivational YouTube channel is a great idea, but let's dive deeper.

1. 1. Starting a YouTube channel is an excellent way to get started on YouTube today
2. 2. You don't need any expensive camera, microphones, lighting, or other studio gear
3. 3. You don't need to spend hours or days learning advanced editing software
4. 4. The cost to start is zero! (except your time of course)
5. 5. Motivational content stands the test of time and remains consistently popular
6. 6. The niche isn't over saturated
7. 7. Motivational YouTube channels can absolutely be monetized, as long as your content is original!

Overall, motivational YouTube channels are one of the best faceless style niches in the game. You can get started fast, with minimal cost, and you'll learn a bunch about YouTube in the process.

Let's learn exactly how. 👇

Motivational YouTube Channel: Extra Resources

I've put together a bunch of free resources to help you get started with your motivational YouTube channel faster:

• Motivational YouTube content ideas
• How to edit motivational YouTube videos
• Motivational YouTube channel name ideas
• Monetizing a motivational YouTube channel
• Best hashtags for motivational YouTube channels
• 10 motivational YouTube channel banners you can use
• 7 YouTube motivational channel descriptions you can use
• Resources for motivational YouTube channel filler content

These should make getting started that much easier. 🙂

How to Start a Motivational YouTube Channel?

In this section, I'll walk you through the exact process I followed to start a semi-successful YouTube channel back in 2022. The ideas are still relevant today and can be applied by you, right now!

There's a bunch of useful links throughout this article that will help build your motivational channel too! Be sure to check em' out.

1. Start Your Channel

The first step is firing up your motivational channel on YouTube. You can start your channel on mobile or desktop. Simply follow these steps:

1. 1. Sign in to YouTube on your device or a computer (or make an account with your email address)
2. 2. Click your profile picture in the top right, then click Settings
3. 3. Click Add or manage your channel
4. 4. Click Create a channel
5. 5. You'll be asked to create your new channel
6. 6. Check the details and confirm to create your channel

And done! Next we'll want to customize our channel.

2. Customize Your Channel

Now you'll want to look at customizing your channel. At the very least, you'll want a decent channel name and (profile) picture. The other things you can skip and come back to later after you've got a few videos out there!

I'll walk through each option and provide some resources here:

Banner Image

The banner image will be the first thing people see when they click on your channel name and visit your profile. It should communicate exactly what your channel is about to the viewer.

I created 7 free YouTube motivational channel banners you can get started with here. According to YouTube, the image should be at least 2048 x 1152 and 6mb or less.

Profile Picture

Your "Picture" will be your channel's profile picture across YouTube. Choose something recognizable and non-generic.

Make an effort to make your picture instantly recognizable to viewers. That way, when someone searches motivational content, they'll instantly recognize your channel!

Try different ideas and see what you like. You can change your profile picture at any time in YouTube Studio.

Channel Name

Your channel name is similar to your profile picture - make it memorable and recognizable! The goal is to build a brand that viewers will remember, recognize, and recommend!

I put together a list of 140 motivational YouTube channel name ideas here. Feel free to use or adapt any one of them. 🙂

Handle

Your channel handle will be your channel's URL. For example,

https://www.youtube.com/@motivation-nation

Usually, you'll simply want to set your handle to your channel name (provided it's not already taken.)

Description

Here's where you want to tell viewers about your channel! Your channel description will appear in the About section of your channel, search results, and other places across YouTube.

I wrote an article with 7 motivational YouTube channel descriptions you can adapt, borrow, and use.

Don't spend too much time on your channel description, keep it short and sweet. People don't like reading a wall of text just to figure out what your channel is about.

Links

Links are where you can add external links to your website, blog, or any other personal links you might have. You can add your email address in the Contact info field for any business enquiries that might come in as your channel grows!

Video Watermark

Totally optional. For motivational video content, I wouldn't worry too much about a watermark. But if it helps you sleep better at night, go for it.

Watermarks should be 150 x 150 pixels and less than 1mb.

3. Find Motivational Content Ideas

If you're reading this article you might already have some relevant keywords, motivational speeches, or personal development content in mind. If not, it's always handy to have some go to resources for video ideas:

• Books: Transform motivational books into YouTube videos using AI narration to share timeless wisdom with your audience. Tools like ElevenLabs can take text and turn it into speech for you. This is a relatively untouched niche and the resources are close to endless!
• Podcasts: Arguably one of the best resources for motivational content. Extract segments from podcasts and interviews to create your motivational content. Podcasts are also excellent for short form motivational content too.
• Movies: Find inspiration from iconic movie scenes and speeches to craft unique motivational content that connects emotionally. Be wary of copyright using this approach though.
• Commencement Speeches: These speeches are given during graduation ceremonies at colleges and universities. These speeches are excellent sources for creating motivational videos since they usually feature successful individuals sharing life lessons, wisdom, and inspiring messages.
• Other YouTube Channels: Study successful creators in the motivational niche to understand content trends while developing your unique style. It's also a good way to discover new motivational speakers.
• Who's Trending: Monitor current events and trending personalities to create timely motivational videos that capture viewer interest. Imagine getting in early on the David Goggins trend, your channel would explode!
• TED Talks: TED talks can be another source of wisdom and a relatively untapped space in the motivation game.
• Sports Players: Draw inspiration from legendary athletes like Michael Jordan's "Last Dance" mindset, Kobe Bryant's "Mamba Mentality," Serena Williams' journey from public courts to greatness, and David Goggins' extreme transformation showcasing the power of discipline and perseverance.
• Success Stories: Share real-life transformation stories to inspire your target audience and add authenticity to your videos. Success stories are easy to find as they generally do very well on YouTube in their full form.
• Historical Figures: Look to inspiring historical figures and their stories for timeless motivational content.

Probably the easiest place to start is podcasts. David Goggins, Les Brown, and Kobe Bryant are excellent places to start.

4. Find B-Roll, Stock Images, and Royalty Free Music

The benefit of starting a motivational YouTube channel is that they're usually "faceless" style channels - meaning you don't need a camera, microphone or expensive lighting.

One of the most time consuming things about creating motivational YouTube content, is finding the "filler content". There's quite a few marketplaces online where you can get free assets. Websites like Pexels offer free stock images and video, and Freesound can be a good spot for music and sfx.

But honestly? These sites will only get you so far. Most of the time there's one or two good assets, and a bunch of sub par ones with weird aspect ratios, low quality sounds, and other bad attributes you don't really want for your high quality content.

Luckily, you've found Createthat.ai where we've got over 10,000 high-quality stock images, 20+ hours of b-roll video, and endless royalty free background music you can choose from. The best bit? You can find everything you need using AI search.

Honestly if Createthat had have been around when I was making motivational content, I would have thought it was a god send!

5. Edit Your First Video

By now you're probably itching to get started and create videos for your new channel. You've got an idea, you've got b-roll and stock images, and you've got your royalty free music. Now all that's left to do is compose it into a pro level YouTube video. Here's how.

1. 1. Pick Your Video Editor: A lot of people make the mistake of spending too much time deciding on which video editor to use, so I'll make it easy for you. Use CapCut if you want to spend a bit more time learning the basics OR use OpenShot if you want the absolute bare minimum editor to get started. I would personally recommend CapCut.
2. 2. Pick an Audio Editor (Optional): Having a stand alone audio editor will come in handy for chopping up your royalty free tracks so they can be longer, or better timed to suit the high points in your motivational videos. Audacity is the best free audio editor I've worked with.
3. 3. Edit Your Video: I won't turn this into an editing tutorial, but once you have your idea, your filler content, and your editor, the video near on edits itself! If you get stuck with an edit, YouTube tutorials are your best friend. 🙂
4. 4. Choose Your Title and Thumbnail: If you're new to YouTube, you might not know how important this is. Do some research and see what's working for other channels. It's ok to copy while you're starting out until you decide what your own brand will look like. When starting a YouTube channel, getting the right title and thumbnail combination is critical.

That's it! Check out this guide on how to edit YouTube motivational videos using CapCut if you want to learn the tips and tricks in detail.

6. Promote Your Motivational Videos

When starting out with your first few videos, it can be difficult to blow up on YouTube (unless you're lucky or super talented), so you'll want to promote your content any way you can.

Getting your content seen across social media platforms is a great way to spark channel growth. Start by sharing your videos on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. These 3 seem to work especially well for motivational content.

Also remember that creating videos consistently is more important than perfection when you're starting out. Aim to post 2-3 times per week to keep your audience engaged. Use your video titles and thumbnails strategically - they're your first chance to attract viewers scrolling through YouTube.

7. Check Your Analytics and Metrics

Building a loyal following means understanding what resonates with your audience. Pay close attention to your retention rates - the longer people watch, the more YouTube will promote your videos to others.

Study which video topics, titles, and thumbnail styles perform best so you can create videos that consistently engage your viewers.

If you find something that works, lean into it and make more of this content!

Don't get discouraged by early numbers. Focus on gradual improvement in watch time and subscriber growth. Make every video just a little bit better than the last one.

Keep track of which posting times work best for your audience and adjust your schedule accordingly. Most successful motivational channels take 3-6 months of consistent posting before seeing significant traction.

5 Motivational YouTube Channel Examples

Here's 5 examples of what you can do with a motivational YouTube channel:

• Motiversity: One of the biggest motivational YouTube channels in the game. Motiversity has nearly 4 million subscribers and close to 1,000 motivational videos.
• Motivation Ignited: A newer channel that shows that the motivational YouTube channel niche is alive and well. Motivation Ignited has 49,000 subscribers and only 23 videos!
• Absolute Motivation: With 1.52 million subs and just under 900 videos, Absolute Motivation is another example of how massive your motivational videos can get.
• Ben Lionel Scott: With a fresh motivational video dropping every week, Ben Lionel Scott has nearly 3.3 million subs with just under 1,000 motivational videos.
• AlexKaltsMotivation: This channel is a great example of niching down within a niche. AlexKaltsMotivation focuses specifically on motivational content for gym enthusiasts, and is hugely popular.

There's no reason why YOU can't do this with enough time and dedication to the art of creating videos and personal development.

Motivational Channels: 3 Things to Watch Out For

Starting a motivational YouTube channel is straightforward, but there's some important gotchas to avoid. Let's take a look at the 3 most common gotchas with motivational video channels:

1. Content Originality

While podcasts are goldmines for motivational content, simply ripping segments and adding background music isn't enough anymore. YouTube's algorithm (and viewers!) favor original content. Instead, try:

• Combining multiple speakers on the same topic
• Adding your own insights or commentary
• Creating themed compilations
• Using podcast clips as supporting material rather than the main content

2. Music Copyright Issues

Music can make or break a motivational video, but copyright strikes can kill your channel before it starts. Always:

• Double-check your music sources are truly royalty-free
• Read licensing terms carefully (some "free" music isn't free for YouTube)
• Run your video through YouTube's Copyright Checker before publishing
• Keep a spreadsheet of verified safe music sources (like Createthat.ai)
• Consider purchasing a music subscription service specifically for content creators

3. Oversaturation in Popular Topics

While motivation is evergreen, certain topics can quickly become oversaturated. For instance, after David Goggins' book release, YouTube was flooded with similar content. To stand out:

• Find unique angles on popular topics
• Focus on untapped motivational speakers or rising stars
• Create content for specific niches (like motivation for artists, entrepreneurs, or students)
• Develop your own unique editing style or presentation format
• Mix in practical advice with pure motivation

Wrapping Up

Well there you have it folks! ✅

By using this article, and the resources contained within, you should be well on your way to glory making YouTube motivational content.

Hell, I'm even thinking about dusting off the old channel and getting back into it!

Happy editing. 😎