You Don’t Need to Be First to Be Original
Have you ever wanted to write about a certain topic or record a YouTube tutorial around one of your skills but thought to yourself, “This idea already exists. Why would anybody watch my version?”
I found myself in that exact spot before I started my YouTube channel in 2019. I created it to be a resource for young entrepreneurs of color looking to take the first steps in forging their own paths to greatness. Really proprietary, huh?
A quick search on “How to Start on YouTube in 2019” returned hundreds of thousands of video results made by creators that were hungry for attention. Was there really a point in adding to the chaos? Well… YES! And the comments and DMs that followed prove that people found my version to be valuable.
The thing I didn’t realize at first was that although people could find the answer to their question anywhere, there was only one place they could go to hear MY reasoning — and that’s on my channel. A thousand people can say the same thing a thousand different ways. Each of those ways has been influenced by that person’s experiences up until that point.
In a world where there’s no shortage of generic information, there is so much value in sharing your unique perspective. Someone may not relate to the guy from New York who never went to college. But they can definitely relate to the girl from Indianapolis who went to school out of state and has two dogs. See how those small details make a person’s perspective on topics more interesting?
The other thing people have to realize is that the internet is always on. That allows for new people to join the party every second. You can’t assume that everyone has seen what you have seen.
I recently watched a video on how to set up a particular audio interface for my podcast. Most of the tutorials were from 3+ years ago. I’ve been on the internet for over a decade now, but this was my first time venturing into the audio equipment side of it. Boy am I glad that someone found it necessary to create a modern version of an old idea and made it easy for the casual user to follow. Value.
As long as you pull from your own unique experiences and wisdom, you can always put a twist on an existing idea. Peter McKinnon wasn’t the first YouTuber to make photography tutorials. However, he blew past a million subscribers within a year. What made him so special?
