When you tell people about your YouTube channel and ask them to subscribe, sometimes people think you’re conceited, selfish, and even narcissistic. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. The story you tell about your channel and the way you pitch it make a big difference in how it’s received by the people who hear it. In this video I share a few examples of how to pitch your channel, ask people to subscribe, ask for likes, comments, and shares without it sounding like you want the viewer to do it only for your sake.

Joshua Luther commented and asked this:

“I’d like your thoughts on fighting the temptations of narcissism or coming across as being self-centered, or how we can have a healthy balance of not wanting others approval of what we’re doing here on YouTube. We all want people to comment on our videos. Sometimes that means we compromise our beliefs or act in a way we wouldn’t with people outside of YouTube. I am coming from a Christian standpoint. I have struggled to talk about my YouTube channel with other Christians, because it may come off as being narcissistic.”

Your intentions matter

It really depends on what the mission behind your channel is. The way all of us tend to talk about the things that we do, whether it be YouTube, whether it be an athletic sport, or with a business or whatever is really rooted in what we believe about those things, about why they’re important, why they’re special, why they’re significant, why we do them. So if you’re doing them for primarily selfish reasons, that tends to come out in how you talk about it.

So for example, Video Creators is actually not about videos. That might sound a little bit weird. But it’s actually about people. Even if it’s your first time here, maybe you’ve already picked up on that, like that’s what I believe. That’s why this is important.

Let’s use the context that Joshua was talking about in your comment. Let’s say the minister at your church goes up on stage there. No one, hopefully, thinks that like, oh, he is so full of himself. Every week, he gets up in front of everyone. And he’s the one who needs to talk.

No one thinks that, because he’s not getting up there to call attention to himself. And look how great I am and how awesome I am. He’s hopefully getting up there to spread a message, to do something that is more meaningful and bigger than what he is. He’s actually pointing to something else.

And hopefully, that is what each of you guys are doing as creators. You’re getting on this platform– this stage of YouTube– and you’re not just pointing at yourself. But you’re pointing to things bigger. You’re giving your audience what they want, what they need. You’re serving them well. And it’s actually all about the viewer.

What are you talking about?

So when you talk about your channel, are you talking about yourself, and what you’re doing, and why it’s so awesome for you? Or are you telling the story of your channel that’s actually about other people, and what you’re doing for them, and how you’re serving them? And all of that comes down to what I would define as, what is your mission for your channel?

And not everyone shares that belief with me. Not everyone believes this is about reaching people and spreading a message that changes lives. In fact, most people believe it’s about popularity, and it’s about money.

But that’s OK, because you’re not going to reach everyone on the planet. Hopefully, that’s not your goal. Your goals is like, who can I serve the best? Out of everyone on this planet, who can I serve the best? And let’s design a channel that is optimized and positioned to serve them better than any other channel can, because unfortunately, what happens when things like money and popularity take over, those are great tools. They make for terrible goals.

I want to hear from all of you, down in the comments below, what your mission is for your channel, what you’re doing to reach people and impact their lives. And I also want you to comment how would you answer Joshua’s question? If he were sitting right with you and talking with you, how would you answer that with him? What advice would you give to him?

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