How to Create and Monetize a Faceless YouTube Channel (2023)
Although Faceless YouTube channels have existed for a while, new ideas have surfaced and creators from all walks of life have begun to start new and creative faceless channels with content trending rapidly on YouTube. Young creators in particular are making significant cash from YouTube Partnership Programs (YPP) deep into six figures a month.
In this article, we want to help you catch up on faceless YouTube channels, strategies from top creators, automation for creating videos on these channels, and you can get started today.
With that said, let’s dive in!
What are Faceless YouTube channels?
Faceless YouTube channels are channels where the creator doesn’t show their face on camera or reveal their real name. They may use a pseudonym or remain completely anonymous.
There are a number of reasons why creators might choose to hide their faces including:
- Keeping their personal life private
- Feeling more comfortable talking to the audience from off-camera
- The ability to create faceless content at an earlier age. Many faceless creators are 13-17, who are allowed to open accounts with parental permission.
Faceless video types and ideas trending on YouTube
In this section, we want to break down the different faceless channel types and some ideas as thought-starters within each type. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of ideas. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to begin creating some faceless videos. Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
- Compilation Channels:
- Funny animal clips
- Best sports moments
- Top fails of the week
- Viral video compilations
- Educational & Documentary Channels:
- Mini-documentaries on historical events
- Science explainers
- Animated lessons on math, physics, or any other subject
- Myth-busting videos
- Listicle Channels:
- Top 10 mysteries of the world
- 5 strangest occurrences in history
- 7 wonders of the natural world
- Music & Audio Channels:
- Lofi or ambient music for relaxation/study
- Classical music compilations
- Soundscapes (rain, forest, city sounds)
- Storytime & Narration Channels:
- Reading popular short stories
- Creepypasta or scary stories narration
- Mystery and crime story narration
- How-to & DIY Channels:
- Cooking recipes or baking without showing the cook, just hands and ingredients
- Crafts and DIY project walkthroughs
- Gardening and plant care tips
- Review & Reaction Channels:
- Film and TV show reviews
- Book summaries and reviews
- Product unboxing and reviews
- Gaming Channels:
- Let’s play with voiceover commentary
- Game strategy guides and walkthroughs
- Reviews of new games
- Meditation & Mindfulness Channels:
- Guided meditations
- Daily affirmations
- Relaxing visualization exercises
- Trivia & Fact Channels:
- Daily or weekly fun facts
- “Did you know?” style videos
- Deep dives into odd or unusual topics
- Daily or weekly fun facts
- Daily or weekly fun facts
- “Did you know?” style videos
- Deep dives into odd or unusual topics
- Animation Channels:
- Animated shorts or stories
- Character design and animation tutorials
- Animated reviews or explainers
- Art & Drawing Channels:
- Time-lapse of art creations
- Digital art tutorials
- Calligraphy and lettering videos
- Travel Channels:
- Drone footage of beautiful locations
- Walking tours of cities or nature spots
- Virtual travel guides
- Nature & Wildlife Channels:
- Animal behavior and life in the wild
- Rare plant and animal profiles
- Underwater life and ocean explorations
- Slideshow Channels:
- Photo slideshows of historic events
- Collections of rare photographs on specific themes
- Visual essays on various topics
How to make money from Faceless YouTube channels
At Feisworld, we really like content created by vidIQ. Hence sharing a helpful video with a faceless YouTube channel creator.
Here are some key learnings and strategies shared from this video:
- Introduction to Faceless YouTube Channels:
- Noah Morris transitioned from a modest Minecraft creator to earning up to $200,000 monthly from over 20 faceless YouTube channels, using YouTube automation while working just a day a week.
- Finding the Right Niche:
- The first step is to identify gaps in the market, particularly in topics like sports, celebrities, crime, and other interests of American audiences.
- Noah recommends studying competitors, viewing their most popular videos, and using tools like VidIQ to pinpoint newer channels with high views and fewer subscribers as potential niches.
- Content Creation Process:
- Upon finding a niche, the next steps include emulating topics from existing channels, then innovating based on data-driven insights.
- Initially, Noah suggests newcomers script and edit their own videos, incorporating AI voiceovers. Once profitable, they can then begin outsourcing.
- Building a Passionate Team:
- When hiring scriptwriters, prioritize those passionate about the chosen niche. For example, if covering tennis, hire a writer who loves the sport.
- Voiceover artists should fit the content’s tone, and video editors need to be adept at storytelling through clips. Thumbnails, essential for audience engagement, should be crafted based on what works and gradually outsourced as the channel grows.
- Financial Aspects and Challenges:
- Noah’s peak earnings from his faceless channels reached $200,000 in a month. Starting a channel can take a few weeks and might require an initial investment of $1,200-$3,500. One of the toughest aspects of YouTube automation is finding skilled thumbnail designers and video editors.
Top faceless YouTube channels
There are a variety of faceless YouTube channels, some of which you may have already stumbled upon. Here’s a list of our favorites.
- Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell: This channel offers animated videos on various scientific and philosophical topics.
- CGP Grey: Explains complex subjects from politics to geography using simple animations.
- Chills: Narrates allegedly true scary stories accompanied by footage or animations.
- WatchMojo: Offers top-10-style lists on a myriad of topics, from movies to video games.
- Top5s: Focuses on mysterious and paranormal subjects, often providing countdowns.
- TheOdd1sOut: A famous storytime animator who narrates life experiences with engaging animations.
- Jaiden Animations: Another storytime animator who shares personal stories through detailed animations.
- Gentle Whispering ASMR: Even though the creator sometimes appears, the main focus is on the sounds, not the appearance.
- ASMR Darling: Similar to the above, the face isn’t the focal point, but the relaxing sounds are.
By the way, faceless channels aren’t just limited to science, mystery, gaming, and animated content, they can also work for business content such as:
- Plain Bagel: Offers explanations of complex investment topics in a straightforward manner.
- The Money Guy Show: Provides financial advice and dives deep into money management topics.
- Investopedia: An educational channel tied to the popular financial website, offering tutorials and explanations on various financial concepts.
How to get started making faceless YouTube videos
After your topics and niches, the process of making faceless YouTube videos is slightly different than talking-head videos. Because there isn’t much a-roll footage to lean on, you will want to use b-roll (videos, animations, transitions) alongside possible voiceover recorded by you or through AI voice generation tools.
In terms of editing tools, you can use any existing video editing software you already have and are familiar with. Here’s a list of our favorite and user-friendly tools: Best Video Editors for YouTube Shorts (Top 4 Choices) [2023] – they aren’t just designed for landscape videos but also extremely well for YouTube Shorts (vertical content).
If you want the absolute easiest way to create faceless videos without worrying about coming up with b-roll and voiceover, consider exploring inVideo AI: Turn Any Idea Into Video Instantly (2023)
We also quite like Pictory for the same reason.Pictory is an AI-powered video creation platform that helps businesses create engaging and visually appealing videos in minutes. The platform uses artificial intelligence to automatically generate videos from long-form content, such as blog posts, articles, and presentations.
How to create a faceless YouTube channel
Perhaps it’s your first time creating a YouTube channel, take a look at How to Start a YouTube Channel for Your Business (In 15 Minutes or Less). In this article, we walk you through step by step how to create a brand channel on YouTube.
Don’t forget to repurpose your faceless videos
No matter the process of video content creation, there is still a lot of brain power and work that goes into production. Therefore we urge you to understand the importance of content repurposing and start doing that sooner, including opportunities to repurpose your faceless videos into segmented Shorts. Learn more about the process and tools needed to do that.
Conclusion: How to create and monetize a faceless YouTube channel
Perhaps you are starting a YouTube channel for the first time, or perhaps you are someone who’s already experienced with YouTube as a creator but wants to diversify your content to include faceless channels. Either way, we believe faceless channels have the potential to earn you new followers and even monetization opportunities.
However, it’s important to understand the strategy mentioned in this article and to be willing to adapt your learnings to your business. While there are teenagers who are making bucks through faceless channels, simply chasing shiny topics and niches will only saturate the platform with mediocre content that does not drive meaningful results.
What I like about faceless channels is the ability to test out content more rapidly, especially with AI tools such as inVideo and Pictory.
Please let me know in the comments below what you think of faceless YouTube channels in your niche, and what you find intriguing and challenging about the process. Look forward to hearing from you!
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