YouTube Channel Help
February 18, 2023 2:39 PM Subscribe
I would like a sort of fresh start at a YouTube channel but need some advice on ways to deal with my existing accounts, and the best option to name it. (I've tried to anticipate any questions below)
What I have:
1. A YouTube account with no videos but lots of commenting on YouTube videos going back to 2011. (my main Google account)
2. A second YouTube account I made with a new gmail account I created for this purpose- which I found to be very annoying to deal with but maybe I wasn't doing it right. I posted about a dozen timelapse painting videos (same thing I'll be posting now but slightly better paintings and maybe voiceovers instead of free instrumental music). I have already changed the name of this account once and I'm not sure about the new name either.
I'm also not sure if I care about keeping the existing videos because they are not so great. The actual timelapse of older, not very good paintings don't bother me as much as my very dated approach to title cards. I haven't done anything with this account for close to a year. I may or may not be able to access those videos on an old hard drive.
3. A blog I've had since 2011, very sporadically updated, with a quirky name (brand?) that is different from and pre-dates any YouTube named things. I may stick with this name, or I may go with my given name (firstname lastname). But my given name is not very catchy or anything interesting, and I feel some attachment to my old blog name but I'm not sure if the name fits with the content. Maybe that doesn't matter. I can't decide. Ugh.*
As an added wrinkle, whichever name I choose may go on, for instance, art show signage and business cards. Artists usually use their given names. Maybe for good reason. May make things simpler.
What I am less concerned about:
finding a huge audience, advertising, monetizing, etc (not against these things but no plans to chase them)
keeping the views on the existing videos (less than 50 on most)
Anyway, any advice about any of that would be great.
tl;dr - Is there any reason not to use my main YouTube/Google account I've had since 2011 and start posting videos there? Should I keep an old blog name that is a little quirky (crowd-sourced at Mefi circa 2011) or switch to my given name to post painting process videos?
*If you want to know the quirky name, hover over link to website in my bio
What I have:
1. A YouTube account with no videos but lots of commenting on YouTube videos going back to 2011. (my main Google account)
2. A second YouTube account I made with a new gmail account I created for this purpose- which I found to be very annoying to deal with but maybe I wasn't doing it right. I posted about a dozen timelapse painting videos (same thing I'll be posting now but slightly better paintings and maybe voiceovers instead of free instrumental music). I have already changed the name of this account once and I'm not sure about the new name either.
I'm also not sure if I care about keeping the existing videos because they are not so great. The actual timelapse of older, not very good paintings don't bother me as much as my very dated approach to title cards. I haven't done anything with this account for close to a year. I may or may not be able to access those videos on an old hard drive.
3. A blog I've had since 2011, very sporadically updated, with a quirky name (brand?) that is different from and pre-dates any YouTube named things. I may stick with this name, or I may go with my given name (firstname lastname). But my given name is not very catchy or anything interesting, and I feel some attachment to my old blog name but I'm not sure if the name fits with the content. Maybe that doesn't matter. I can't decide. Ugh.*
As an added wrinkle, whichever name I choose may go on, for instance, art show signage and business cards. Artists usually use their given names. Maybe for good reason. May make things simpler.
What I am less concerned about:
finding a huge audience, advertising, monetizing, etc (not against these things but no plans to chase them)
keeping the views on the existing videos (less than 50 on most)
Anyway, any advice about any of that would be great.
tl;dr - Is there any reason not to use my main YouTube/Google account I've had since 2011 and start posting videos there? Should I keep an old blog name that is a little quirky (crowd-sourced at Mefi circa 2011) or switch to my given name to post painting process videos?
*If you want to know the quirky name, hover over link to website in my bio
As far as using a separate Gmail account, there's no need for that as you can have multiple channels under a single Google account.
There's also a way to move your separate account channel into your existing account.
Speaking as someone who watches lots of art tutorials (feel free to PM me a link!) I've seen some that use given names and some that use a brand name, and either one is fine with me. The branding you have on the website ("Quirky Name" art by Your Name) works fine as far as I'm concerned, although it does suggest a specific art theme, and if you're painting landscapes or portraits of people now I'd understand why you'd want a different name.
Best of luck!
posted by mmoncur at 3:57 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
There's also a way to move your separate account channel into your existing account.
Speaking as someone who watches lots of art tutorials (feel free to PM me a link!) I've seen some that use given names and some that use a brand name, and either one is fine with me. The branding you have on the website ("Quirky Name" art by Your Name) works fine as far as I'm concerned, although it does suggest a specific art theme, and if you're painting landscapes or portraits of people now I'd understand why you'd want a different name.
Best of luck!
posted by mmoncur at 3:57 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
https://www.quora.com/Is-it-better-to-start-a-new-YouTube-channel-than-reviving-a-dead-channel-with-18k-subscribers#:~:text=You%20never%20know%20if%20they,go%20for%20a%20new%20channel.&text=If%20the%20target%20audience%20is,still%20be%20worth%20rebranding%20it.
posted by LOOKING at 2:56 PM on February 18, 2023 [1 favorite]