YouTube Opinion "How Long Does It Take To Blow Up And Be Popular?"

[Beanie Draws]

Years....

The answer is time. It takes time. It takes YEARS.

Another post got me thinking about how long it actually takes for channels to "blow up". people are always looking for fame, but few bother to look into the backstory of many channels. Some of the BIGGEST channels on the internet, have literally been around for a decade. Many channels didn't see any kind of success for their first 3-5 years. MKBHD apparently took 7 years to reach fame. Mr Beast was already doing videos for years before he started launching into fame. Last year wasn't his first year of fame... he only really got "Famous" after he started doing "crazy" stunts to get on PewDiePie's radar, but he'd aready started his channel at like 13yo? and now he's 20/21?

JackSepticEye started when he was in school, so probably around 17/18/19 years old? He only really started to get into the spotlight when he turned 27, he's now 30!

So to put some perspective into things.. You gotta want to do this for the long haul. You're not going to get fame over night... you have to treat your channel like a tree. You plant the seeds now, but you won't see a large tree for many years on average.

Even Dee Nimmin and some other channels took 2 years to see their first 100k milestones. So that will give you a REAL answer as to how long it will take to "blow up" it takes time.

 

[kitchen c/o ammama]

Totally agree with you . I created my Channel last September. I thought by now this year , I will be monetized and famous; Collaborating with people, bla bla

But as time goes and as I look back to famous people initially videos and how long road it is , I am Changing the way I think.

Now, I am thinking if even I can hit 1k by this September. Honestly, I want to get monetized because I want to gift something my grandma with her money. Her cooking videos. Even if it is a tiny candy , it dose not matter to me , but it should be her YouTube money.

Anyway, I totally stand with you @Beanie Draws and this needs to be understood by everyone sooner or later.

Thank you for the mention.

 

[Jeff Goober]

Still waiting... I have 1 video that has over 100k views.. Was pretty nice but nobody was subscribing =( I have a few more videos that are doing decent but since YouTube changed it's terms I'm waiting for 4,000 watch time hours and I'm at 3,617 So I'm so close. I think in order to somewhat make it big fast is to talk about other popular YouTubers and do videos on it with that person in the thumbnail.. I am subscribed to someone who does this and hit it big with subscribers because that popular Youtuber seen the video and gave them a shoutout they got like 50k subs in like a few days

 

[DamoΓÇÖs Paintings]

IΓÇÖm only 5 ish months in, so IΓÇÖm in for a long wait, a long wait that IΓÇÖll just kind of ignore, as in just ride my channel as it is and continue to have fun with it and upload when I get a chance, while at the the same time focusing on the more important parts of my life, my little girl for example

 

[Ater]

I created my channel in 2012. Started uploading a few videos meant for others than just my friends in late 2015. Started to do things a bit more professional in 2018 (seo, thumbnails etc). I'm still miles away from blowing up, but at least had my first video reach 100k views this year and it looks like I might have another video reach that milestone later this year. I like statistics so I keep a spreadsheet with a lot of statistics for my channel and it's fun and motivating to compare stats from year to year and watch how the channel grows.

This post is another example that it's about hard work, dedication and a lot of patience:

YouTube Tips - Case Study | How to Get 100k Subscribers | Thundermist Lures Company

I use this as an example: Thundermist Lures has been making weekly fishing videos since 2007. They just hit 100,000 subscribers. The Numbers Do the math: 13 years. It took 13 years of producing one awesome fishing video per week. (fewer than that, but more on that later) 1 video per week * 52...

community.tubebuddy.com

 

[Kari B]

When I first started YouTube, I thought it would be a great way of making money doing something that looked fun and easy - ha, how naive and stupid I was, but I can see why people join up thinking they will be the next Mr Beast if they just film themselves giving away some money or helping out at the animal shelter.
I've learnt it's not easy, I won't get 1000 subscribers in a few months and all my video ideas won't be winners. But I feel so much more positive than a year ago - now I know why my channel isn't blowing up, I know what I have to do and I'm working on that, I know it doesn't matter if a video tanks or is a slow burner. I think you need a few knocks and setbacks when you're small because it gives you the stamina to grow and fight for what you want or to decide it's not for you before you've (hopefully) not spent thousands of pounds on equipment and such.
If I could go back and tell starting me what I know now a) I wouldn't believe me and b) I possibly would have given up before I started because it sounds like too much hard work for nothing. I honestly don't see myself ever reaching fame and fortune, but I will settle for enough money to pay for the holidays I vlog about, and I know that won't be tomorrow or next month, or maybe even next year and if I never blow up, I have some great family memories and I've learnt a new skill, so it's all good.

 

[DamoΓÇÖs Paintings]

@Kari B well said, and I never intend on becoming the next Mr Beast, in fact the channel size I have now is giving me sooo much comfort, especially with the responsibilities my lifestyle has at the moment, IΓÇÖd probably be able to handle something like 5k subs or there abouts, maybe more, but my fear is watching my channel ΓÇ£blow upΓÇ¥ and get to a size beyond what I could handle, but maybe later on things will be different and lifestyle changes may allow me to go bigger, of course not PewDiePie or Mr Beast levels, but as long as creating is fun and enjoyable for me and entertaining as well as useful for my viewers, thatΓÇÖs all I need from my channel

 

[Ater]

but my fear is watching my channel ΓÇ£blow upΓÇ¥ and get to a size beyond what I could handle

At that level it's probably time to start hiring people to help out with stuff. But I agree it would be much easier to cope with if it happens gradually over time rather then blowing up over night.

 

[Kari B]

@DamoΓÇÖs Paintings I agree, the most important thing is it's still fun and doesn't feel like a chore every time. Some of the big YouTubers I watch (with 6m+ subs) only post monthly now. I used to love seeing that notification pop up every week, but I guess it got too much.
I wouldn't want the responsibility of a huge channel unless it was my full-time job and maybe I could get some help. The pressure to be perfect at that level must be exhausting.

 

[Ater]

Another related question, "blowing up and be popular", how do you define it?

1m+ subs? 100k subs? Each video getting 1m+ views? Each video getting 100k+ views? Making millions of the channel? Being able to live of the channel?

In my mind for my channel something like 1m views/months would mean that it would become something more than just a normal hobby. About 3,5-4m views/month and I'm starting to get to the level where living off the channel is an option. But I'm not sure I would call just being able to live of the channel blowing up. At least in my head blowing up is something much larger, like the channels with 1m+ subscribers getting millions of views/video. But maybe that's just my mind effected by all huge channels out there.

 

[Fascinatinglola]

@DamoΓÇÖs Paintings I agree, the most important thing is it's still fun and doesn't feel like a chore every time. Some of the big YouTubers I watch (with 6m+ subs) only post monthly now. I used to love seeing that notification pop up every week, but I guess it got too much.
I wouldn't want the responsibility of a huge channel unless it was my full-time job and maybe I could get some help. The pressure to be perfect at that level must be exhausting.

To be honest, itΓÇÖs totally pressurizing

 

[JourneyVerse]

Yeah I agree , if you love doing it the views and subs will come, just be patient

 

[Ater]

It Depends on the Quality of your content and your video if your content is good your video will be popular and you will get more views on your videos

Not always true, there are a lot of creators out there with very high quality content who never get popular, they just drown in all the competition in a very crowded niche or produce content in a more or less dead niche. I'm still a small channel, but every now and then I see even smaller channels within my niche that have better quality content than I do but who get nowhere near my number of views. Some of them have been around for years without getting anywhere and it's also common to see does channels finally give up stop posting videos.

Now get me right, good videos is extremely important for success on YouTube but it's not a guarantee, a lot of factors are involved in if your channel get popular or not.

 

[Damon]

Yeah, there are those who will stick with it no matter what. Surprising how those who stick with it end up making it.

@Ater Exactly, better quality does not equal an automatic path to popularity. Think of the number of TV shows and movies that have hundreds of millions of dollars in production, just to flop once it premieres or heirs. That's with whole armies of pre-production, production and post-production crews making the highest quality possible. Yet, they still fail to achieve success many times.

 

[Tarot et Intuition]

Hi,

To grow your channel fast, my advice would be:

• think first a lot about your niche, your target, their habits, their needs... (because you can provide the best content for 3rd age people for example, but if they're never watching videos on YouTube, it will take a lot of time to grow....)
• upload a loooot of videos ! I'm pretty sure not everybody would agree on this point but, particularly if you're fresh new on YouTube, I would rather post 50 videos with medium image quality than 5 or 10 videos with astonishing quality. The more you upload, the more you are noticed, the more your videos are presented to potential subscribers, the more watch time hours you get, the more likes/comments you get, etc.
  Again, if you're fresh new, your organic potential growth on YouTube is limited, and your audience will not be so big... so I would advise anybody to focus on creating a lot of content to grow faster, rather than focusing on making great quality videos
• search for the right keywords beforehand and create content accordingly (much content around the same keywords is even better)
• be consistent and define goals for 2 months, 3 months or 6 months. Ex: I will upload 100 videos regularly for the next 6 months and then I'll see if I still give it a chance or not
• inform your audience precisely about your schedule. Ex: a new video every 2 days at 4pm
• try to stay in touch with your target audience (in your comments or in commenting on others' videos, on Instagram, etc.)
• (option) test new things: sometimes, some "new ideas" won't work at all for your audience but you should keep trying new things from time to time

Personnaly, I uploaded my first video on YouTube 2 months and a half ago (it will be 3 months in about 10 days).
I'm almost at 1k subscribers (for 88 videos) and already hit 4k watch time hours.
But it's a lot of work: especially since I decided to upload one video per day. Since then, I work on average, for YouTube only, one hour and a half per day, everyday.

 

[Gemini]

Well said!

 

[TubeBuddy]

Years....

The answer is time. It takes time. It takes YEARS.

Another post got me thinking about how long it actually takes for channels to "blow up". people are always looking for fame, but few bother to look into the backstory of many channels. Some of the BIGGEST channels on the internet, have literally been around for a decade. Many channels didn't see any kind of success for their first 3-5 years. MKBHD apparently took 7 years to reach fame. Mr Beast was already doing videos for years before he started launching into fame. Last year wasn't his first year of fame... he only really got "Famous" after he started doing "crazy" stunts to get on PewDiePie's radar, but he'd aready started his channel at like 13yo? and now he's 20/21?

JackSepticEye started when he was in school, so probably around 17/18/19 years old? He only really started to get into the spotlight when he turned 27, he's now 30!

So to put some perspective into things.. You gotta want to do this for the long haul. You're not going to get fame over night... you have to treat your channel like a tree. You plant the seeds now, but you won't see a large tree for many years on average.

Even Dee Nimmin and some other channels took 2 years to see their first 100k milestones. So that will give you a REAL answer as to how long it will take to "blow up" it takes time.

Took TubeBuddy 5+ years and A LOT OF RESEARCH AND EFFORT. When I started we were at 6,000 subs now we're at 422K and will be passing 500K by November. It took a lot of work, and more importantly targeted focused uploads to our ideal audience.

 

[Toyteller]

Totally agree with you . I created my Channel last September. I thought by now this year , I will be monetized and famous; Collaborating with people, bla bla

But as time goes and as I look back to famous people initially videos and how long road it is , I am Changing the way I think.

Now, I am thinking if even I can hit 1k by this September. Honestly, I want to get monetized because I want to gift something my grandma with her money. Her cooking videos. Even if it is a tiny candy , it dose not matter to me , but it should be her YouTube money.

Anyway, I totally stand with you @Beanie Draws and this needs to be understood by everyone sooner or later.

Thank you for the mention.

this is so cute, your Grandma is adorable ❤️ She’s what life is all about and she’s so happy. God bless her

 

[kitchen c/o ammama]

this is so cute, your Grandma is adorable ❤ She’s what life is all about and she’s so happy. God bless her

Thank you so much!!!!!!!

 

[zanderlex]

Don't forget that Jacksepticeye got a huge shoutout from pewdiepie, there's no saying what could have happened to his channel if he didn't go viral like that.

There are people who are associated with big Youtubers and it still takes them years to get big. Look at Markiplier's group, Lordminion777 hasn't hit 2 million subs yet and has been doing it for a decade. I know a gaming channel that has 11K subs despite having more than 200 videos over the course of 11 years.

Even if a channel is steadily growing, it can take 5 years or more to get to the point where they are moderatley sized, but even longer to be big, unless they do something viral.