Fourteen Videos, Then He Stopped
The topic was "self-improvement".
He started excited. The first video was about waking up early, the second about habits, the third about time management.
By the seventh he was searching the internet for what to film, when he'd started in order to say what he already had.
By the eleventh he was rewording other people's material.
And on the fourteenth he sat in front of a blank page for half an hour and wrote nothing. So he closed it, and thought: I guess this isn't for me.
The truth is he wasn't short on talent or discipline. His topic was so broad that he had nothing about it that was his. Anyone can talk about "self-improvement", which is exactly why he had nothing of his own to say.
This article exists so you don't get to video fourteen before you find that out.
The Three Circles
Picture three overlapping circles.
The first: what you love. The thing you talk about with friends without getting bored. If you don't love the topic you'll hate it by video ten.
The second: what you know. The thing you know more about than an average person. You don't have to be an expert, being two steps ahead is enough.
The third: what people are looking for. A topic somebody besides you asks about. If nobody asks, you're talking to yourself.
Your channel's topic is what sits in the middle of all three.
And if your topic falls outside one of them:
- You love it and know it and nobody asks: a lovely hobby, not a channel
- You love it and people ask and you don't know it: learn it first, or make the learning itself the topic
- You know it and people ask and you don't love it: you'll stop after two months
Narrow Your Topic
This is the most common beginner mistake. They pick a broad topic thinking breadth brings a bigger audience, and the truth is the opposite.
Look at the difference:
| Too broad | Specific and good |
|---|---|
| Travel | Travelling on a small budget inside your own country |
| Cooking | Old family dishes, cooked the way they used to be |
| Technology | Explaining apps to people over fifty |
| Fitness | No-equipment workouts at home |
Why does specificity work? Because someone searching for "travel" doesn't know what they want, while someone searching for "travel on a small budget" knows exactly, and when they find you they feel you're talking to them.
A specific topic is easier on you too: you know what to film and what not to film, so the dithering stops.
And if our friend had chosen "small habits for people working shifts" instead of "self-improvement", he'd have had a year's worth of material.
The Twenty-Idea Test
Before you settle on a topic, open a blank page and write twenty video ideas about it. Now, in one sitting.
Wrote twenty easily: the topic works.
Stalled at seven or eight: the topic is too narrow, widen it slightly.
Couldn't get past three: find another topic.
This test saves you months. A topic that won't give you twenty ideas today won't give you fifty in three months. And it's the test that would have saved our friend fourteen videos and a disappointment.
And if the topic passes, keep those twenty ideas, they're your first stockpile. How to generate more is covered in: where do content ideas come from? six practical sources for a permanent stockpile.
Common Mistakes in Choosing
Choosing a topic because someone else succeeded with it. Their success was built on their person, their experience, their timing, and copying the topic transfers none of that.
Choosing a topic because it's "profitable". You won't reach profit at all if you stop in month three, and stopping is what happens when you can't stand the topic.
Waiting for the perfect topic. There isn't one. Start with a good topic and you'll discover the better one while working.
Fear of a crowded field. Other people in your space is evidence an audience exists, and the difference between you and them isn't the topic, it's your angle.
Your Angle Matters More Than Your Topic
Ten people make content about the same topic, and each has their own audience. The reason is that each has their own angle: their experience, their way of explaining, who they're addressing.
Ask yourself: what can I offer on this topic that no one else can? The answer might be that you lived it, or that you know a place no one else does, or that you explain with a simplicity others lack.
What if You Want to Change Topic Later?
You can. Plenty of successful channels started with one topic and ended on another.
The practical rule: stay with your topic for at least twenty videos before judging it. Less than that isn't a fair trial, and changing topic every month stops you from building any audience at all.
Your Next Step
Write one line: "My channel is about ______ for people who ______".
Example: "My channel is about simple home cooking for people living alone who can't cook".
If you can fill both blanks clearly, you're ready to start. And if you stumble, the problem is in the topic and not in you, so go back to the three circles and try again.