We made over $1.7 million yearly just by creating faceless YouTube channels. At present, my team is running 8 YouTube channels, with the first channel starting in March 2022.
In this article, I’ll walk you through exactly how to find viral niches on YouTube. These insights focusing on YouTube growth strategies, niche selection, content creation, and monetization, will be helpful to anyone just starting out on their YouTube journey.
1. Find the right Topic or Niche to Start your YouTube Channel
When it comes to creating a new YouTube channel, the first question that popped into our mind is, “What topic or niche should we actually choose?” Here, this is my keyword method. I start by inputting random keywords, like “basketball,” into a tool and then filters the results to show the most-viewed videos from that month. I use tools like VidIQ to analyze the subscriber count and views on these channels. If I find a channel with a bunch of views but a small number of subscribers, it’s probably a channel that started recently. If I find multiple channels like that—ones that are getting above 200,000 views per video consistently — I know I’ve found a gap in the market.
The reason this works so well is because, just like in economics or business, YouTube runs off supply and demand. YouTube has over 122 million active users every day, but everyone’s videos are competing for the attention of the same viewers. The key is to find niches where, even if the content is the worst imaginable, the videos still go viral. We can look for niches where we can’t find anyone who has failed. Instead of trying to compete with massive creators like MrBeast, who make videos around high-budget topics, it’s better to find an underserved topic that people are actually interested in. For me, the real insight comes from looking not only at successful channels but also at those that tried and failed. That says more about a niche than success stories alone, which can happen for a variety of reasons, including luck.
So, what niches do I recommend? After all, I’ve been doing this for years, I run over 8 different faceless channels. For me, the most successful niches include sports, celebrity content, crime-related content, and essentially anything that appeals to American audiences. American audiences typically have higher RPMs, which means that some of these channels can earn insanely high revenues, especially in Q4 when advertisers are willing to spend more. RPM, Revenue Per Mille is a metric that represents how much money YouTube pays per 1,000 views, and it can range anywhere from $4 to $15 which is quite high.
A common question that comes up is how to target an American audience if you’re not even from United States. It doesn’t really matter where you’re posting from or if you use a VPN. The only thing that matters is creating content that American viewers are interested in watching. For example, if you want to make a documentary about Conor McGregor, YouTube will find you an American audience that’s interested in UFC fight documentaries.
We have a channel focuses on reactions in courtrooms, we saw a gap in the market for this type of content. We noticed that smaller channels using this format were consistently going viral, so we jumped on the opportunity. Initially, we stuck to the format that was working, but once the channel gained traction, we started innovating. It’s important to note that when you run a lot of channels, you might start outsourcing the work, and the quality can drop. At the start, you’re heavily involved in consulting on thumbnails, titles, and videos, but as the channel grew, you will begin to outsource more.
2. Optimizing Content Creation
After finding a niche that you want to get into, the next step is creating the content. At the beginning, I outsourced most of the work for our faceless channels. I organize everything using a Discord server where each team has different sections, like general chat, deadlines, scriptwriting, voiceover, editing, team management, and client management. When it’s time to make a new video, I typically hire a scriptwriter, a voiceover artist, and an editor. You can find these freelancers on platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, or Twitter. This process for managing them is pretty straightforward using Trello.
Here’s how it works: once a topic is chosen, it moves over to the script section in Trello, where the scriptwriter starts working on it. The scriptwriter then attaches the completed script to the Trello card and moves it to the recordings section. The voiceover artist records the script, attaches the audio file to the card, and moves it to the video editing section. The editor downloads the script and voiceover, edits the video, and then uploads the completed video back into Trello.
Curious about the cost? Let’s check out Fiverr. For a YouTube scriptwriter, prices range from $10 to $30 for about 500 words. A 10-minute script is roughly 1,800 words, which could cost you around $60 to $80. For a voiceover artist, you might spend around $35 for a 10-minute video. As for editing, if you’re making talking head videos, a good editor might charge $18 for every 2 minutes of video, so around $90 for a 10-minute video. Altogether, you’re looking at around $185 per video if you outsource everything.
But don’t let that freak you out—there are plenty of freelancers just starting out who charge less because they’re trying to build their portfolio. You don’t need to go for the perfect quality freelancers. Instead, look for someone who has the basics down, is open to learning, and can grow with you. It’s easier to find and train someone from the ground up rather than compete with others paying top dollar for the best freelancers.
Of course, if you’re just starting out and don’t have the budget, you can always do any of these tasks by yourself. With time, you can negotiate bulk discounts with freelancers if you plan on producing multiple videos.
3. Revenue Potential and Long-Term Strategies
Now that we’ve covered the process and costs, let’s talk about how much you can actually make with faceless channels. On average, a faceless YouTube channel makes around $10K to $20K in revenue per month. That might sound crazy for someone with no experience, but even if you make just $5,000 a month starting out, there’s a good chance you could break even on your costs. As your channel grows, you can scale up, get more views, and eventually run multiple channels since you’re outsourcing most of the work.
In addition, you also have the opportunity to work with brand sponsors for product promotion or brand advertising, earning revenue through embedded ads or brand collaboration content. You can also place affiliate links in your video descriptions, and earn commissions when viewers purchase products or services through the affiliate links.
After doing YouTube myself for 2 years, I’ve learned that success on the platform comes down to making content your audience really wants to watch. Any secret for going viral? It’s understanding human psychology on a deep level and seeing patterns in how people view things. It’s not just about data but understanding that humans are creatures of habit.
Don’t get intimidated — YouTube is like the modern TV. Just like your favorite shows or movies, it all boils down to creating a popular video that people will click on. Success on YouTube can take time, but it’s worth it. YouTube is the second most visited website in the world, and once you learn the skills to succeed, they’ll help you in other fields like business, marketing, and sales.
Even it takes time to get started. YouTube can be in your whole life. My first YouTube channel grew to 20,000 subscribers within the first 10 months after the first video was uploaded. The more you learn about YouTube, the better you’ll be at working with editors or scriptwriters to create a perfect style and format of videos that fit you as a creator.
If you want to be really great at something, Sticking to one thing for a long time. Choose something you think will still be around in the next 5 or 10 years, and do it every day for an hour or more. After 10 years, you’ll be thanking yourself for the success you’ve built.