Once you've finished uploading the video and added the Meta tags, click the
social media icons and add a personalized message which would send a note
to all your subscribers while informing them of the new upload on your
channel—once you get subscribers, that is, but don't ever let that hold you
back from marketing your content on social media especially since these
platforms provide the quickest way to rapidly increasing the exposure of your
intellectual offerings.
Finally, once the video has finished uploading, you will receive the option of
three thumbnails from which you can select one to serve as your video's
thumbnail while viewing it within a list as a visitor. Although this option may
not be immediately available as soon as you upload your first video, you will
also receive the option of uploading and using a custom thumbnail instead
from your computer. This may serve you better if you don't like any of the
choices among the auto-generated thumbnails provided by YouTube.
While we aren't discussing monetization options yet, once you do have them
enabled—you will be able to activate monetization of your videos from
within these settings themselves.
Furthermore, another impressive feature available in YouTube is the “Creator
Studio”—available as an option once you click on your picture icon on the
top right side of the YouTube page. Once you access that feature, you'll be
taken to your channel dashboard, where all the relevant analytics of your
work will be available, with your total number of subscribers, total views,
and the estimated minutes of your content watched by viewers. It would be a
great way to check whether most viewers watch the entirety of your content
or tune out after a point.
This is also the feature which you'll have to access if you wish to upload
videos longer than 15-minutes. Click on the “Channel” option visible on the
left-hand side column in the Creator Studio page, and search for the “Longer
Videos” tab under “Feature”.
On the left-hand side, you'll see a column with the option of “Video
Manager” available therein. Upon accessing this option, you'll be taken to a
list of your published content, with options to publish, remove, or monetize
videos with the click of a button (after you've enabled Monetization
methods).