12 Youtube Channel Ideas Without Showing Your Face

If you’re like many people then you don’t like having your picture taken. Never mind recording yourself speaking on video!

Yet you still want to launch a YouTube channel and earn cash while not showing your face.  Don’t worry! There are plenty of ways to make videos for YouTube, even if the thought of speaking on camera makes you blush. 

Many of the ideas only need you to record your voice over stock images or b-roll video. Others let you tap into a skill you already have. 

Start Now – Get Good Later.

Don’t worry about being too polished when you start.  Many of the following examples show how successful channels started out.  

As you’ll see many of their first few videos have poor production quality.  The critical thing to remember is that they stuck with it.  You have to grind and persist in the early days while your channel grows.  

You can always improve your production quality as you go along.

So let’s get started with 12 ideas for YouTube channels you can launch without showing your face.

Remember if you need help with graphics, banners, subtitles or many other of my secret weapons to grow faster on YouTube then check out my resources page – dozens of tools I couldn’t live without.

OR if you need help of thinking of youtube video ideas without showing your face – there are 13 direct examples of what you can make RIGHT NOW!

Gaming

With over 100 million subscribers, PewDiePie has one of the biggest channels on YouTube. Run by Swedish gamer Felix Kjellberg, he uploads a blend of comedy, gossip, and gaming content.  

When Kjellberg launched the channel in 2010 though, he started with short, simple clips of him playing games like Minecraft.  

Are you a gaming great?  If you can do with your thumbs what others can’t, then you too could launch a channel demonstrating your skills.  Not that good at gaming?  Flip it around and show gaming fails instead.  

Make your clips compelling by adding a funny commentary, or show how to defeat a tricky boss. Remember, it’s all about adding value to the viewer.  

Here is the first video PewDiePie uploaded.  

Top List Videos

People love to rank things: the best striker, the funniest animals, or richest actors. Lots of YouTube channels list all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff from 10 to 1, 5 to 1, or whatever number to 1!

From the weirdest things caught on camera to the biggest waves ever to hit ships, there are plenty of possibilities.

It doesn’t have to be weird (though that does attract curiosity). You could rank the top 10 luxury watches or 5 best shades of green nail polish.

One channel with over 4.5 million subscribers, who only record commentary over images and b-roll footage stitched together is Top 5 Best. 

Below is a selection of the videos they started with. Today they get over 24 million views per month.

Make sure if you are making a listicle that you enhance your chance of ranking in search with close captions. 85% of all YouTube traffic is Mobile and 62% of them watch videos with the sound off – subtitles are important! – I use Rev to close caption and translate my subtitles.

Cooking

People are always on the lookout for tasty new recipes and cooking guides.  And as the focus is on the food, you can film from overhead only showing your hands. 

It doesn’t have to be gourmet cuisine; you could create a channel based on quick meals to build muscle or easy breakfasts to make before work.

Below is the first video created by a popular channel showing how to make Nepali food. Yummy Food World has over 600k subscribers, and it looks like they shot their first videos on a smartphone. 

They don’t even have voice commentary, just some basic captions.  Below is the video they got going with.

Life Hacks

Do you think you could make a good living filming your hands doing some simple life hacks?  That’s precisely what the owner of the channel 5 Minute Crafts has done. 

Attracting over 67 million subscribers, they show how to use everyday items in canny ways.  While their early videos don’t show any faces, they have more recently used models to demonstrate the hacks. 

Take a look at one of the early videos from them, showing you smart ways to peel fruit.  The production level is quite good for a first video,  but nothing you couldn’t manage yourself with a little practice.

Restoration

Are you handy in the workshop?  Another popular niche on YouTube is restoration videos.  These types of videos film the process of repairing old, tired and worn out items. Some people find them therapeutic, almost a mindfulness practice and they have become are very popular. 

Along with some filming equipment, you will need the tools and workspace to restore the items.  One of the popular channels in this niche is Black Beard Projects. He restores knives and vintage tools to their former glory and has over 1.6 million subscribers.  

Here is one of his first videos, with 133k views, it’s low production, and shows him removing rust off an old anvil.

Nail Art

Beauty has always been popular on YouTube – there are plenty of Youtubers making a good living doing makeup tips.   If you are not ready to show your face, how about starting a channel demonstrating Nail Art?

Simply Nailogical is a channel that started with low budget how-to videos for nail art.  A channel showing a mixture of pictures, static video, and simple captions, has grown to over 7.6 million subscribers.

When you show others how to do something, you also have other ways to earn money.  Add in affiliate links in the video description for products you have used and make extra earnings.  

Meditation

One niche that is very popular on YouTube is meditation videos. In today’s hectic world, many people seek out a moment of peace through mindfulness and meditation.  

Meditation videos come in several different formats.  Some have a voice guiding the mediation, and others have only calming music. Additionally, there are even some with only the sound of a bell marking the beginning and end of a timed meditation period!

So, you could create these videos with stock images and music, and could even outsource the writing and audio recording of guided mediation on Fiverr. 

You can see from the first videos from Meditative Mind that they started with just stock photos and sounds.  They didn’t even loop the videos into the longer lengths which are popular today.

Time-Lapse

Turn a camera on, point it at a piece of fruit, and let it rot.  Whoever came up with this concept must have got a few blank stares when pitching the idea to a friend. 

But this is precisely what Temponaut Timelapse did when they started their channel 11 years ago.  To be fair to them, it’s not all rotting fruit; there are also time-lapses of clouds, flowers, and cityscapes.  

But, the concept has proved to be popular, and the channel has grown to 1.2 million subscribers.  You can even shoot your first videos on a smartphone or GoPro.  Here is one of their earliest videos of a rotting Strawberries.

Animation

When faced with something we don’t understand, we often look for an ‘explainer’ video to quickly tell us what it’s all about.

If you can explain complex ideas in an entertaining way, then you could launch an animated education channel on YouTube.  

Now, you might be thinking you could never create an animated video.  But, you can make professional animations using a tool like Animaker for $30 per month.  You could even outsource the whole job on Fiverr for very little investment. 

Below is an early video from the channel  CGP Grey. It explains the dull topic of a voting system using jungle animals to make it enjoyable. You can see that it’s mostly pictures, editing, and a little animation.  

Now that the channel is a success, they have invested some of their earnings into better quality animation.

Luxury

When it comes to numbers of followers on Instagram, the rich and famous beat everyone else hands-down.

Tap into this hot niche by launching a channel that caters to the demand for knowledge about the lifestyles of the mega-rich. Don’t worry, you won’t need to own a Rolex or a Porsche; you can use content already freely available on the web.

One channel you can draw inspiration from is Alux.  Launched in 2014, they edited some photos together and recorded a commentary over it. But as you can see from their first videos pictured below, they weren’t even that long either. 

Today their videos have better production value but are still mostly stock video footage, text animation, and a voiceover.

Alux now has almost 3 million subscribers. 

Unboxing & Reviews

Most of us enjoy the online shopping process.  Checking out different products and making a final choice.  We often look at reviews to help us make up our mind.

You may think the internet is awash with reviews, who needs yet another review channel?

But many reviews are poorly filmed or miss out on the necessary product information.  And the injection of some personality can make you stand head-and-shoulders above other reviewers.  

You don’t even have to show your face – you can film a product from above using only your hands.

Do you have specialist knowledge of certain products?  It could be something as simple as emery boards or fountain pens.  If so, start by reviewing the products you own, borrow others, and if they are cheap, buy a few new ones too.  

As you grow your channel, companies will start to contact you and ask you to review their products which they might even send to you for free.

If you don’t have specialist knowledge film unboxing videos instead.  Some people like to see exactly what’s in the box of a product they want to buy before they purchase it. 

Unbox Therapy has 16.7 million subscribers built around the idea of taking items out of retail boxes. He does show his face today, but when he started, he used an overhead camera in a fixed position filming his hands.  

Here is one of his first videos.

‘How to’ Tutorials

People ask the internet ‘how do I…’ millions of times per day.  It’s the first place people go when they need help with a problem. 

Use your knowledge to set up a how-to channel yourself on something you are good at. You’ll find there are plenty of niches out there where you can educate others without needing to show yourself on video.

For example, do you know a piece of software as well as anybody?  Screen-record yourself doing something on your computer; there is always someone on the lookout for a helpful video.  

Do you hand-make your own jewelry? That is something that many people would like to learn to do and is perfect for an overhead shot of only your hands.

The channel Beadaholique has 500k subscribers and shows viewers how to hand-make jewelry.  And they started nine years ago with simple short videos like the one shown below—just a static camera showing their hands making jewelry.

Where to find stock images and video.

So, as you can see there are lots of ways you can make money on YouTube without showing your face.  If you aren’t filming your hands doing something and want to create videos by editing together stock images and b-roll footage.

Then Pexels, Pixabay, and Unsplash offer images and video you can use free of charge and without attribution. 

But if you are looking for engaging video that you can add voice overs to or to illustrate your points in a video I use storyblocks – For an example of how this could work check out my video with 25 More Ideas for Channels without showing your face.

Conclusion.

From voiceovers on stock images to filming quick and tasty recipes; there are many ways to launch a YouTube channel without showing your face.  

Maybe you are camera shy and need a little boost to get started. Have you been thinking about making a YouTube channel for years but worry about putting your face on camera? I talked to one of my clients about this exact issue in a consultation call – the video below might help you too.

Most of the channels covered in this post started as one person, with basic equipment, recording a simple video.  So there is no reason you can’t do it too.

Success won’t happen overnight. To make a lot of money, you need to upload compelling, fresh content regularly.  But, don’t let the dislike of showing your face on camera hold you back.  

Just remember you might want to make it easier for your audience to focus on the visuals you do give them. If they can’t read your lips they might want to read subtitles in situations where playing a video out loud isn’t possible – that is why I use Rev for my subtitles from as little at $1.50 per minute of video!

Find your niche and make a start. Good luck!

Top 5 Tools To Get You Started on YouTube

Very quickly before you go here are 5 amazing tools I have used every day to grow my YouTube channel from 0 to 30K subscribers in the last 12 months that I could not live without.

1. VidIQ helps boost my views and get found in search

I almost exclusively switched to VidIQ from a rival in 2020.

Within 12 months I tripled the size of my channel and very quickly learnt the power of thumbnails, click through rate and proper search optimization. Best of all, they are FREE!

2. Adobe Creative Suite helps me craft amazing looking thumbnails and eye-catching videos

I have been making youtube videos on and off since 2013.

When I first started I threw things together in Window Movie Maker, cringed at how it looked but thought “that’s the best I can do so it’ll have to do”.

Big mistake!

I soon realized the move time you put into your editing and the more engaging your thumbnails are the more views you will get and the more people will trust you enough to subscribe.

That is why I took the plunge and invested in my editing and design process with Adobe Creative Suite. They offer a WIDE range of tools to help make amazing videos, simple to use tools for overlays, graphics, one click tools to fix your audio and the very powerful Photoshop graphics program to make eye-catching thumbnails.

Best of all you can get a free trial for 30 days on their website, a discount if you are a student and if you are a regular human being it starts from as little as £9 per month if you want to commit to a plan.

3. Rev.com helps people read my videos

You can’t always listen to a video.

Maybe you’re on a bus, a train or sat in a living room with a 5 year old singing baby shark on loop… for HOURS. Or, you are trying to make as little noise as possible while your new born is FINALLY sleeping.

This is where Rev can help you or your audience consume your content on the go, in silence or in a language not native to the video.

Rev.com can help you translate your videos, transcribe your videos, add subtitles and even convert those subtitles into other languages – all from just $1.50 per minute.

A GREAT way to find an audience and keep them hooked no matter where they are watching your content.

4. Learn new skills for FREE with Skillshare

I SUCK reading books to learn, but I LOVE online video courses.

Every month I learn something new. Editing, writing, video skills, how to cook, how to run a business – even how to meditate to calm a busy mind.

I find all of these for FREE with Skillshare – Sign up, pick all the courses you want and cancel anytime you need.

5. Shutterstock helps me add amazing video b-roll cutaways

I mainly make tutorials and talking head videos.

And in this modern world this can be a little boring if you don’t see something funky every once in a while.

I try with overlays, jump cuts and being funny but my secret weapon is b-roll overlay content.

I can talk about skydiving, food, money, kids, cats – ANYTHING I WANT – with a quick search on the Shutterstock website I can find a great looking clip to overlay on my videos, keeping them entertained and watching for longer.

They have a wide library of videos, graphics, images and even a video maker tool and it wont break the bank with plans starting from as little as £8.25 ($9) per month.