As a small business owner, I disregarded the importance of core values until we made our first hiring mistake.

At the time, we were a close-knit team of four employees. We hired a fifth employee that the team was split on as a candidate. I made the decision to proceed with hiring the candidate anyway because of a gut instinct. Three months later, I had to fire the candidate and another employee to help save and maintain our company culture.

After that experience, we formed core values to avoid future mistakes and base judgments on foundational elements. Five years later, the company experienced a successful acquisition. Establishing core values was one of the reasons why I think we were able to build a company worth acquiring.

Core values help guide the decisions, actions, and behaviors of a company. As workplaces have gone remote, hybrid, or remained in-person, a company’s core values have served as a North Star for employees and executives faced with tough decisions.

But what are some examples of small business core values, and how do they impact a company?

We asked CEOs, founders and company leaders for their best recommendations. From “sisterhood” to “dedication to customers,” these strategies may help you develop or add to your core values.

17 examples of core values in small businesses

1. Be the human your dog thinks you are.
2. Strength in numbers.
3. Go the extra mile.
4. We believe in family.
5. Dedication to customers.
6. Balance.
7. Confidentiality.
8. Team members always come first.
9. Enjoy the ride.
10. Sisterhood.
11. We embrace change.
12. Transparency.
13. Grit is powered by love.
14. Radical candor — care personally, challenge directly.
15. The company wins when the team members win.
16. Sense of adventure.
17. Be a radical giver.

1. Be the human your dog thinks you are

“Be kind, show care for your colleagues. And even if you’re an expert, give others context, reinforce the positive and help them understand. This ideology helps us create an inclusive environment where our employees are comfortable asking questions, and productivity is heightened as a result.”

— Joe Spector, Dutch

2. Strength in numbers

“Employees wear a lot of hats when working at an early-stage startup. There are always lofty goals and never enough resources to achieve those goals alone or working independently. Strength in numbers — which we define as utilizing all available resources — inspires us to rely on those around us to accomplish our work, together. One example of this is operating in an Agile environment and using Kanban workflows, where a team member can easily jump in on a bottlenecked area to make sure things keep moving.

“There’s a good quote behind the value as well: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ By working together and relying on the creativity of our community, a strength-in-numbers approach enables us to go much further as a company.”

— Adrian James, Terkel

3. Go the extra mile

“To highlight when a team member goes the extra mile for a client or another team member, we share kudos messages in our monthly internal eNewsletter — often in the form of verbatim praise from the client or a direct quote from a colleague. This newsletter goes out to our team across Canada and at our virtual quarterly meetings.

“Since we are mostly remote, it’s important to communicate those successes to the whole team and ensure people know their work is valued. We want to recognize when someone goes out of their way to solve a problem, puts in extra effort, and sees an initiative through beyond the typical amount of work required.”

— Colton De Vos, Resolute Technology Solutions

4. We believe in family

“Since 1977, our business has been owned and operated by commercial finance brokers, who also happen to be family. While there are many challenges to having a family business, there are also many benefits. As a family of commercial finance brokers, we are real people providing real solutions for our customers for generations to come.

“Family-owned businesses have always been the backbone of our economy, and we are proud to be a part of that.”

— Carey Wilbur, Charter Capital

5. Dedication to customers

“We always act in the best interest of the client. We are a customer-centric company and we go above and beyond to make sure that our client strategies and recommendations provide the most value based on their needs. Some companies focus more on sales numbers, but our dedication to our clients has been the hallmark of our success. We take the time necessary to build a rapport and understand our clients’ needs.”

— Chris Abrams, Marcan Insurance

6. Balance

“It’s so hard to choose one core value above the rest, however, our core value of balance is integral to the framework, functioning and philosophy of Miss Details. It permeates every aspect of the work we do, from balancing data and design to create effective sensory branding, to mapping out a marketing strategy fueled by both logic and emotion. Personally and professionally my goal is to have and promote a healthy work-life balance for my team — which is a little more difficult as an entrepreneur!”

— Tanya Gagnon, Miss Details

7. Confidentiality

“When talking to clients about their finances, they want to ensure that they are in a safe space where I will not share their personal information with others. At the onset of the coaching relationship, I guarantee that clients know that their conversations with me are treated confidentially. This lets them know that they can speak freely without holding back on their struggles with their finances or their relationships. Ultimately, clients can talk comfortably and start making strides in accomplishing their future goals.”

— Annette Harris, Harris Financial Coaching

8. Team members always come first

“I run a digital online company using a team of virtual assistants. Keeping employees happy across multiple geographies can always be a challenge. But one core value I use is a quote from Richard Branson which goes: ‘Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.’ This helps keep employees motivated, and improves retention and overall productivity — thus improving the business’s sales and revenue.”

— Mogale Modisane, ToolsGaloreHQ.com

9. Enjoy the ride

“I work at an IT solutions company called Electric, and although that product might not sound fun, working here certainly is. One of our core values is to enjoy the ride and I think the company does a great job of promoting it. We’ve done Drag Queen Bingo over Zoom, taken happy hour boat cruises on the Hudson and members of our team even met Dan Levy when he was a keynote speaker at our big annual event. There’s a culture of fun and excitement here and I think it energizes us to perform better and make work more enjoyable.”

— Ryan McSweeney, Electric IT Support

10. Sisterhood

“In a primarily female industry, sisterhood is a company value that keeps our culture supportive and empowering. This value helps share our passions and connects us within the company and to our clients. These deep connections are powerful in maintaining a positive employee experience and an exceptional customer experience.

— Vanessa Molica, The Lash & Sugar Company

11. We embrace change

“If the last decade has shown us anything, it’s that change is occurring faster than ever. To sustain your small business in the long run, it’s crucial that you embrace this change and learn to adapt to it. While many small companies hate change and want ‘business as usual,’ avoiding updates to their processes at every turn or having to pivot, our company embraces it. Learning to love change and embrace it makes us more nimble and flexible. This allows us to more quickly adapt to changing customer preferences and modes of doing business. To me, this core value has been especially pertinent and important during the last two years of the pandemic.”

— John Ross, Test Prep Insight

12. Transparency

“In this remote work environment, it can be easy to hide mistakes or feel the need to cover up why you weren’t at your computer. Fostering transparency as a core value ensures no one tries to cover up their mistakes or feels the need to fib. Being a 100% remote organization, this is something we make sure our team feels confident in from day one.”

— Alison French, Emerged

13. Grit is powered by love

“Being an entrepreneur takes grit. Grit is powered by love. You must love what you are doing or you’ll never ever have the strength to get through the challenges.

“This is our core value that drives everything we do. We work hard to develop recipes, engage with readers and maintain brand awareness, but it would be impossible without genuine love for cooking, interacting online, and having a vision for our brand. It is a grind, but because we love what we do and love our readers, it makes it so much easier to tackle inevitable challenges.”

— Sylvia Fountaine, Feasting at Home

14. Radical candor — care personally, challenge directly

“Radical candor is the idea that you should share opinions directly and openly with your team. With smaller, growing businesses there is not a lot of room to hide your thoughts or feelings, both in the sense of physical space but also in the sense of being able to scale and build effectively. Radical candor forces us to lay all of our cards on the table — even if it may be uncomfortable. It allows us to uncover things that need to improve, small issues that if left untreated will become larger problems at scale. By having your entire team practice radical candor you work together to build a better business and are constructively forced into looking at things from multiple perspectives and be more successful because of it.

— Sam Gallen, collystring

15. The company wins when the team members win

“At Mashman Ventures, one of our core values is to ‘Always chase after your vision.’ Everyone on the team is constantly encouraged to chase after their own goals in business and in life. When the team meets, we ask each other about recent wins at work and beyond to celebrate them. We ask each other if there’s anything we can do to help, offering our expertise to each other. We also emphasize personal growth for everyone on the team.

“Our founder, Isaac Mashman, likes to say that ‘At the center of all achievement is personal growth.’ When everyone on the team is eating well, the company must be doing well. In creating this culture, all of us on the team grow professionally and personally, have a great support system, and the company benefits as a result.”

— Eric Chow, Mashman Ventures

16. Sense of adventure

“My favorite core value is our sense of adventure. It’s what we built our company on, and we still live by it. Successful entrepreneurs don’t wake up one morning and decide to become one. They’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset. Don’t be shy if you have a business idea or project; try it. ‘You’ll always miss the shots you didn’t take.’ Without my sense of adventure, I would not be where I am today.”

— Ouriel Lemmel, WinIt

17. Be a radical giver

“On January 1, 2018, I made ‘giving’ my word of the year for 2018, and that decision has had ramifications in my business and ripple effects across the people I serve. My entire team approaches business from the perspective of serving more and giving more value to everyone in our audience. Although it’s not the reason we give, we’ve found that the more we give, the more we get. Giving is no longer my word of the year; it is the essence of my business.”

— Bobby Klinck, BobbyKlinck.com

Creating core values for your small business

As you can see from these examples, creating core values for your company can be a fun and incredibly impactful way to shape an organization and guide employees.

A perfect core value aligns with the beliefs of a founder and the employees who work within a company. If everyone can buy-in, understand, and get inspired by a core value, then you know you’ve found a winner.

Use these core value examples to get inspired and create the guiding principles for your small business.

There’s no denying the power of YouTube. It’s the second-largest search engine in the world with over 2 billion monthly active users and 500 hours of video uploaded every single minute. And, 68 percent of YouTube users watch videos to make purchasing decisions. With usage statistics like that, you might be wondering how to start a YouTube channel yourself.

Consider this: If YouTube is responsible for one-third of all internet traffic — reaching nearly 95 percent of online users every month — then how can your business afford to not have a presence on the platform?

To get in front of your consumers when they are searching for information and forming buying decisions on your products and services, you simply need to be on YouTube.

Today we’ll explore how to start a YouTube channel to attract new viewers and convert them into customers in the following sections:

• What is a YouTube channel?
• Frequently asked questions about YouTube channels.
• How to start a YouTube channel.
• Important YouTube channel elements.

Let’s jump in.

What is a YouTube channel?

I still remember the first YouTube video I ever watched back in 2005. My friend booted up his laptop to show me this site where some random guy posted a video about how cool elephants are because they have long trunks.

I was mesmerized by the video and asked my friend to play it over and over again. It wasn’t the charismatic elephant expert who kept me coming back for more, but the idea that he was able to take a video from his camcorder and upload it to the internet for everyone to see.

Back then, video stars like our zoo host (and famed YouTube co-creator) Jawed Karim, would record their video, log in to YouTube.com and upload their finished work to their YouTube channel, which was more like a basic Myspace profile with name, age, gender, relationship status, and last time logged in.

In 2006, YouTube was purchased by Google and has dramatically improved over the years, now offering a more robust YouTube channel experience for creators and viewers alike.

YouTube channel frequently asked questions

Before we can dive into how to create a YouTube channel, I’ll take you through some frequently asked questions about YouTube.

What is a YouTube Creator?

YouTube Creators (sometimes referred to as YouTubers) are the heart of YouTube. They are individuals who produce content for the YouTube platform. If you upload a video to YouTube, you’re officially a Youtube Creator.

What kinds of videos can I upload to YouTube?

You can upload almost any type of video to YouTube. Creators make YouTube videos about everything from personal vlogs, to how-to videos, to travel and lifestyle journals, to comedy skits and much more. Keep in mind, there are community guidelines for YouTube Creators which prohibit adding videos with deceptive content, nudity, violence, hate speech, or misinformation.

Do I need to create a YouTube channel to upload videos?

Yes! Although you can watch and like videos and subscribe to channels on YouTube with a Google account, you need a YouTube channel to upload your own videos, comment on others’ videos, or make playlists.

What if I just want to make YouTube videos?

The world’s your oyster when it comes to your presence on YouTube. Some business owners upload videos randomly in hopes of them going viral while others leverage their YouTube channels to strengthen their brand and drive repeat viewers.

Humans are creatures of habit, and the concept of channels reinforces the habit of consuming video content.

For example, as a kid in the 90’s, my favorite show was ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” I can’t recall the exact day and time it aired, but every week, I knew when to plop down on the couch, so I could watch Will from Philadelphia navigate through the cosmopolitan life of Bel-Air like a fish out of water. If Fresh Prince hadn’t been on NBC, how would I have known where to watch it? Instead, I would have endlessly hit the channel up button until I happened to see the last five minutes of the episode.

Why is a YouTube channel good for my brand?

There are three main benefits in starting a YouTube channel:

1. YouTube channels build a community around your brand

When viewers repeatedly see your logo, your products and services, and your team on screen, it breeds familiarity with your brand. As a result, there’s a stronger sense of community, which helps to drive word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business. The larger the community, the more likely viewers will become customers.

2. YouTube channels allow you to educate customers

In marketing, it’s important to know your cost of acquiring new customers (also known as COA.) By creating a YouTube channel with videos that educate consumers on your products and services, you’re bolstering their trust in your brand and reducing the amount of time you will have to spend selling to them, thus reducing your COA.

3. Your YouTube channel feeds branded content directly to Google

Last, but certainly not least, we can’t forget that YouTube is owned by Google and acts as the second largest search engine in the world. When you upload videos by themselves, it’s like giving Google a gift straight out of the Amazon box. When you add your videos to a branded channel (following the best practices below) it’s like wrapping your gift in search engine optimized wrapping paper with a sparkly, custom-branded bow.

How to start a YouTube channel

If you’re still with me, then you’re probably wondering how to start a YouTube channel for your business. If you’re a visual learner, feel free to play, pause, and put into action this helpful video tutorial:

Otherwise, I’ve created a step-by-step walkthrough (and a free downloadable checklist) to help you start your YouTube channel.

Creating Your YouTube channel

You can get this done in three steps:

1. Sign into your Google account in order to create and/or manage your channels. If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one at http://www.google.com/accounts.
2. To create your channel, head to YouTube.com. You can either create a channel under your Personal Name (i.e. Bryan Caplan) or your brand name (i.e. Bigger Better Biz.) Choose whichever fits your marketing strategy best.
3. Bookmark this link to easily switch between channels and create new ones in a flash: https://www.youtube.com/channel_switcher

The three essentials of your YouTube channel

Once your channel is set up, you need to remember the three essentials:

Channel name

Your YouTube channel name should give the audience an idea of what your channel is about. Your channel name can be the name of your business, or it can play to a big picture topic. For instance, my business name is Bryan Caplan Marketing, but we opted for Bigger Better Biz as our channel name because it conveys our goal in helping viewers to grow a bigger, better small business.

The process of naming a channel on YouTube can be very similar in practice to how you would name a company, especially when it comes down to determining what the main focus of your channel will be. Good brands often devote substantial resources to brainstorming their brand names to give the audience a particular impression of their products and services. This rings true for a YouTube channel as well.

If you have an existing business or have spent the time to build a buyer persona, you have an idea of who your core audience will be and what they might expect from watching your videos.

Channel description

Does your channel description (also known as the “About” section) even help the YouTube algorithm? Heck yes, it does! The YouTube search crawler reads and indexes your channel’s description, video titles, video descriptions, video tags, and more to determine if your content is relevant to a viewer’s search.

Crawling your channel’s description helps YouTube comprehend what your channel is about. As a result, YouTube gives you priority by showing your video to the YouTube searchers using those particular terms mentioned in your description.

But make sure not to stuff keywords! Try writing a lucid and honest channel description that includes keywords but speaks to your viewers.

Write a unique value proposition for your viewers. Explain why people should watch your videos over someone else’s channel. Clearly explain the value your audience will get from watching your videos.

Channel email

When your channel exceeds 10,000 subscribers (which is very possible) you may find that companies and brand sponsors will reach out to you for sponsored content. You don’t want to miss such an opportunity to monetize your channel.

Your channel email is your gateway to networking with your audience and earning through potential brand deals. Make sure to include your email address, as it helps your audience, brands/sponsors approach you.

Other important YouTube channel elements

The following elements can be added under the “Customization” tab in the YouTube Studio. These items show on your YouTube Channel homepage and can play a major role in your ability to drive video views, gain subscribers, and get clicks to your website and social media profiles.

Channel logo

Your channel logo is important because it shows up next to each of your videos in YouTube search results. Your logo can be your actual business logo, a professional headshot, or a photo of your product.

Related: How to create a logo in 12 steps — a DIY guide

Video watermark

The video watermark is an image that shows up on the bottom right of your videos in an attempt to help you gain more subscribers. This can be any image you choose, but to increase your click-through rate, be sure to use an image that will catch viewers’ attention.

Website and social media links

You’re able to include links to your website and social media accounts — Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat — in your channel banner. This will help the YouTube audience to connect and engage with you around the web.

If your audience lands on your Instagram or Facebook page and loves it, then you just bagged one loyal follower. Hence, social widgets help boost your social media reach & engagement.

Channel art

Adding channel art to your profile hugely aids your channel branding because it sets an expectation for your viewers. The ideal size for a YouTube channel art image is 2560px by 1440px. The safe area that will display on all devices is the central area of 1546px by 423px. Keep any logos, text, or image focal points in this area.

Related: The ultimate guide to social media image sizes

Channel trailer

Imagine you run a YouTube channel that covers diverse topics (like vlogging or interviewing). When YouTube users come across your channel, the video trailer gives them a brief idea of what your channel is about and why they should watch your videos.

Be sure to instruct channel trailer viewers to watch your other videos and subscribe to the channel so they don’t miss any new videos you publish. This is a great way to build your subscriber count.

I used the Bigger Better Biz channel trailer to welcome new viewers while pointing out my video playlists and prompting them to subscribe to the channel.

In this article, I’ve taken you through the process of how to start a YouTube channel for your business. With nearly seven out of 10 consumers consulting YouTube to help them make purchasing decisions, there’s no better time than now to create your YouTube channel to promote your products and services.

Be sure to choose a channel name that either mirrors your business name or reflects the nature of your business. Also, put some time into your channel graphics including your logo and channel art, as they’ll help you to win new views.

Share your Youtube channel everywhere

Once you follow the best practices above to optimize your YouTube channel (and improve your chances of showing up in YouTube search results) be sure to share your channel around the web. Some of the best online places to share your channel include:

• On your website
• In your blog posts
• In your email marketing campaigns
• In social media posts
• On your Google Business profile

Hopefully, this guide can help you with how to start a YouTube channel of your own. Good luck and see you online!

Products mentioned

This content should not be construed as legal advice. Always consult an attorney or legal professional regarding your specific legal situation.

In a recent post, I shared all I’ve learned about purchasing multiple domain name variations. Copyright and trademarks have been on my mind a lot lately. This got me thinking about whether a brand or business should trademark a domain name.

Now, because I’m not a lawyer and don’t pretend to be one, I went in search of people much smarter than me who could answer my simple question. Should you trademark your domain name?

Below, I’m sharing what they told me to help you decide when to consider seeing a trademark attorney for yourself.

Marc P. Misthal, Principal, GRR

Marc P. Misthal is a trademark attorney with Gottlieb, Rackman & Reisman, P.C. in Manhattan, New York. He told me that in short, yes, business owners should trademark their website domain names. The longer answer is a little more complicated. Here’s what he had to say:

“In the U.S., trademark rights are acquired by using a mark, not by registering it. So applying a mark on a hangtag, label, packaging, sign, etc. would create rights in the mark—registration is not necessary.

“The question here seems to be whether a business owner should register their domain name as a trademark. If they are using it as a trademark then yes, they should. What does that mean? Simply using a domain name as part of a URL is not going to be enough to secure a trademark registration. The Trademark Office requires proof that a mark is in use before it will issue a registration, and it will not accept a screenshot showing a URL with the domain as proof of use. If the domain name is being used as the brand, then there will likely be additional use, such as prominent use on a website selling products or services, that the Trademark Office will accept. 

“Having a trademark registration is very valuable. A registration makes notice letters more impactful, and is helpful in taking action against infringing uses that appear on online platforms; many platforms will not take action to stop an infringement without proof of a trademark registration.”

David Reischer, Esq., LegalAdvice.com

David Reischer is an attorney and CEO of LegalAdvice.com. He says that trademarks are imperative for businesses that want to protect their brand names. But you need to go beyond trying to trademark just the domain name. Here’s what he had to say:

“Domain trademarking a mark that consists of a domain name may be possible. It would be registered as a trademark or service mark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S.P.T.O). However, just like any other mark that comes before the U.S.P.T.O, the domain name may only be approved on the Principle Register if it functions to identify the particular source of goods or services offered. That is to say, the mark must be distinctive so as to be capable of distinguishing the applicant’s goods or services from others.

“The main benefit of acquiring trademark protection is for the legal benefit of stopping other third parties from infringing on the brand’s trademark. A business needs to trademark all corporate and product brands that are inherently distinctive to the identity of the business. Typically a business will trademark a corporate logo, product line identifiers, slogans, and any other attributes that are source identifiers of the business—including a domain name.”

Laura Winston, Principal, Offit Kurman

Laura Winston is a trademark attorney with more than 25 years of experience and a principal in the AmLaw 200 law firm Offit Kurman. Here’s what she had to say:

“Securing trademark rights and registering a trademark used on one’s website has always been important and highly recommended. As we move into the realm of the metaverse, NFTs, and other new digital assets, it will be even more important to secure brands that are used digitally. There are tips and tricks for claiming trademark rights and obtaining a trademark registration for a domain name. Most significantly, it needs to be used as a trademark on the website, not just as the URL that directs to the website.”

James Yang, OC Patent Lawyer

James Yang is a patent attorney and a partner with the firm of Klein, O’Neill & Singh LLP in Orange County, California. Here’s what he had to say:

“The name of the domain should be trademarked because that is typically their main brand. You don’t want others to take away your ability to use your own trademark. Also, before investing a lot of time and money into your main brand, you would want to get a trademark search done. The trademark search [sometimes] mitigates the need to rebrand after a product launch.”

Jeremy Peter Green Eche, JPG Legal

Jeremy Peter Green Eche is a trademark broker and attorney with JPG Legal. He says you only want to trademark your domain name if it matches your brand name. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’m a trademark attorney running a four-lawyer trademark-focused law firm based in Brooklyn, New York. I also run a trademark marketplace called Communer where people can buy and sell trademarks, often with domain names attached.

Business owners should always strive to own a federal trademark registration for their brand name. But they should only register their full domain name as a trademark if that’s the name they use in their branding.

For example, if somebody uses the domain name Google.com, they should only register Google.com as a trademark if they present themselves in their branding as Google.com. If it just says Google at the top of the website, then they should register Google as a trademark.

If their domain name is generic, e.g. Petfood.com, then they are not going to be able to register their name as a trademark without including the top-level domain. Generic terms ordinarily cannot be registered as trademarks. So in this example, the company absolutely should try to register Petfood.com as a trademark, and not just Pet Food or Petfood. Before a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2020 called *Bookings.com*, you could not even register a generic name with a .com top-level domain added, but now it’s actually allowed.”

Key takeaways

Many of the other attorneys I spoke with had the same general words of wisdom. Pretty much all agreed that trademarks are a good idea for brand preservation and protection. How you go about your trademark is where things get tricky.

Domain name trademarking requirements and who it will work for:

Based on my research and feedback from attorneys, to trademark a domain name, it needs to be your brand identifier. Otherwise, you will be better off trademarking your brand name, logo, and other elements of your brand identity.

Why does someone need to trademark a domain name?

If it is your brand identifier, trademarking it will protect your brand and prevent others from using your brand name. This can help potential customers avoid being confused about who they are working with/buying from.

What can happen if you don’t trademark?

The Reader’s Digest version is that if you don’t trademark, you might not be legally protected from someone else attempting to use your brand/company name. That’s not to say they would be able to use your name, but a lawsuit could prove quite costly.

Next steps to trademark your domain name

So, where do you go from here? Seek out legal counsel. Always consult an attorney to better understand your specific situation. Attorneys offer free consultations to at least help point you in the right direction. It’s no secret that working with a lawyer isn’t cheap. But the amount of money and headache it can save you, in the long run, might be worth it. After chatting with all these lawyers I know I’m in the market for a trademark attorney for a business idea I’ve been considering. Based on everything they shared with me, I think trademarks are a necessary business expense. If nothing else, it gives you peace of mind that your brand/company identity is better protected.

This content should not be construed as legal advice. Always consult an attorney or legal professional regarding your specific legal situation.