How Shane Built a YouTube Channel to 1.7k Subscribers
Hey — it’s Kenya.
Welcome back to Creator Paths!
If you’re new, Creator Paths is a project where I interview content creators — YouTubers, writers, podcasters, and more. I aim to share how ordinary people build online audiences with content. In each newsletter, creators share how they started creating content, the tactics they’ve used to build their audience, and the advice they would give to new creators.
This week I talked to Shane, an electrical engineering student at Northeastern University who makes YouTube videos about his college life. Currently, he has over 1,700 subscribers.
In this conversation, we discuss:
What inspired Shane to start his YouTube channel;
The gear he uses to create his videos;
His advice for people who want to start a YouTube channel.
These articles are a condensed version of our conversations. If you want to check out the full audio version, I created a podcast for Creator Paths. All links will be at the end of this newsletter.
Hey Shane! Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Hey, I’m Shane! I’m a fourth-year electric engineering student at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
I started a YouTube channel during the second semester of my freshman year. I’ve been making videos for 3 years and have built a community of 1,700 people!
In my videos, I document my college experience and make informational videos about Northeastern to help prospective students learn more about the university.
How did you come up with the idea to start your YouTube channel?
I don’t come from a social media marketing background, but I’ve always been interested in videography and photography. I used to make collages for my Instagram and often played around with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop because my school gives us free access to Adobe products.
When I was in high school I enjoyed watching vlogs about college. One person I watched was Anthony Po, a student at Rutgers University who documented his college experience with his friend group.
When I got into Northeastern, I didn’t see creators making content about the university besides walking tours. I knew then, that I wanted to make videos about my college experience and informational videos about Northeastern, so prospective students could learn about the school.
What were some marketing strategies you used to grow your channel?
I didn’t initially pay attention to how growing on YouTube works. I just knew I wanted to make videos every week until the end of the semester.
Since making videos I’ve learned that keywords are important for the college niche. As a consumer, I know “Day in the Life” and dorm room videos do well so I made sure to make those videos. I also made sure to put Northeastern in the title of my videos so that when people searched for Northeastern my videos would show up.
How do you balance making videos with your schoolwork?
I focus on getting my schoolwork done first and going to tennis practice since I’m on the tennis team. I use the evening for editing and usually edit in my dorm room or the library.
Something that’s worked for me is planning videos out in advance. By the time I release a video, I’ve already drafted out the next video. I also try to make the planning process collaborative, so I’ll ask my friends for video ideas.
How long does it take to create your videos?
I make two types of videos. First are informational videos. For these videos, I sit down and talk to my audience. They are more research-heavy. The second is vlogs.
Informational Videos take 10-15 hours
Research - 2hrs
This involves reading questions I get from my subscribers and doing research to answer their questions in the video.
Filming - 1hr
Editing - 6hrs
This involves cutting footage, adding text, and more
Making the thumbnail and doing keyword research 1-2hrs
Vlogs take 7-8 hours
There isn’t research involved with a vlog, but I tend to make a voiceover to guide the story of the video. These videos tend to take less time than informational videos.
What is something you wish you’d known before starting a YouTube channel?
I wish I’d known how to balance making videos I enjoy versus videos that will perform well. When I started making informational videos about Northeastern they did pretty well. After a while, I got tired of making those videos because I felt like I was the ambassador for Northeastern, a role I didn’t want. My goal was always to document my college experience and treat the informational videos as a bonus. As the informational videos did well I started making more of those even though I enjoyed making the vlogs more.
Now I want to create more videos about my life as a tennis athlete but those videos haven’t performed well compared to my informational videos about Northeastern. So the main challenge is making videos I enjoy creating that also perform well. This is something I’m still learning how to do.
What tools and gear do you use to create your videos?
Editing software: Premier Pro
Camera gear: iPhone
A lot of people ask about my gear but I would say to focus on creating good content first, then update your gear later after learning the fundamentals of making a video.
What are your goals for the future?
Since I started making videos about tennis, my videos haven’t performed as well. I lost some motivation to create after seeing those results.
I still want to make videos that help students, but I want to keep making videos I enjoy. My goal is to focus on making the best videos I can. The views will come later.
Do you have a challenge to inspire people to start creating?
Post a video every week and make sure it’s the best quality you can put out. Don’t miss a week for 1 month.
🧠 3 Takeaways from the Interview
Create content you already consume. Shane consumed college vlogs, so he understood the type of videos his audience would be interested in. This led to his early growth.
Draft out your next video before publishing your current one. This can help with getting out videos more consistently and having less stress if you have an upload deadline to meet.
Identify a problem that is not being solved. Shane realized there was a lack of videos about his university, so he created videos to document what life at Northeastern looked like. As a result, he created a loyal niche audience.