I started my channel back in December 2020. A lot of ups and downs as everyone here understands when you start out and get your feet wet. Since then, I was blessed to have some success along the way but there were a lot of lessons learned that I would like to share. After the first two months of starting my channel, I was stressed about not being able to achieve 4000 viewing hrs because, at the time, I only massed about 100hrs and 100 subs. But now, after 6 months, I have already cleared the 4000hrs of viewing and I am now just working towards the 1000 subs to achieve monetization status. The marker for 1000 subs with 4000hrs under 1 year is now my new goal as I see it being achievable.
With that said, my biggest joy throughout this process is not seeing higher number of views or subs. It is actually when I get comments from viewers who are truly watching my video because it was something that they searched for and they felt satisfied of what they got. Whether they end up subbing or not, is no longer my concern - I am just happy that they left an impression that will help me develop better content.
One of my biggest hurdles was trying to promote my channel without self promoting. I have been banned few times on Reddit and some FB groups because I didn't understand the rule and how much people hated self-promoters (especially youtubers). I used to be affected by the downvotes and negative comments however, I now welcome the interaction as long as it gives me some feedback on how to improve my content.
There were many days when I wanted to just quit and go about living my life. The pressure was getting to me at some points and I was just too fixated on keeping up with others. Competitiveness is a good thing but as long as you use it to better yourself and your product. If you only ask yourself "why not me" or "what is wrong with my content" and never go to the distance to improve your content, then you will keep digging yourself into a deeper hole of negative thoughts. What I like to do is make small adjustments as I keep uploading new content to "better" my videos and see how the audience reacts to it. This can be simple as adding sound effects to stuff that pops up on the video and changing up the frequency of my "call to action". Some changes are hits and some are not. The important part is that you keep changing until you get that momentum of viewers coming to see your videos organically.
Here is what I tell people who are looking for unsolicited advice:
Cheers!
With that said, my biggest joy throughout this process is not seeing higher number of views or subs. It is actually when I get comments from viewers who are truly watching my video because it was something that they searched for and they felt satisfied of what they got. Whether they end up subbing or not, is no longer my concern - I am just happy that they left an impression that will help me develop better content.
One of my biggest hurdles was trying to promote my channel without self promoting. I have been banned few times on Reddit and some FB groups because I didn't understand the rule and how much people hated self-promoters (especially youtubers). I used to be affected by the downvotes and negative comments however, I now welcome the interaction as long as it gives me some feedback on how to improve my content.
There were many days when I wanted to just quit and go about living my life. The pressure was getting to me at some points and I was just too fixated on keeping up with others. Competitiveness is a good thing but as long as you use it to better yourself and your product. If you only ask yourself "why not me" or "what is wrong with my content" and never go to the distance to improve your content, then you will keep digging yourself into a deeper hole of negative thoughts. What I like to do is make small adjustments as I keep uploading new content to "better" my videos and see how the audience reacts to it. This can be simple as adding sound effects to stuff that pops up on the video and changing up the frequency of my "call to action". Some changes are hits and some are not. The important part is that you keep changing until you get that momentum of viewers coming to see your videos organically.
Here is what I tell people who are looking for unsolicited advice:
- Learn how the SEO works - TubeBuddy Pro really made it easy for me to understand the rankings
- Stay within your theme but don't be afraid to try different topics to feel your audience out
- Continue to improve your editing by cutting out more non-sense and adding in more quality content about the subject in the title
- Don't forget that creating content for YT is a positive choice and not a burden (ie stay passionate)
- When your channel seem to get stagnant or you don't see much growth for a while, change it up and get creative
- Engage with all commenters positively so that they feel safe to comment again (as if you are running a business)
- Talk to similar niche content creators via public forums and share ideas.
- Treat yourself when you hit certain milestones
- Don't burn yourself out - give yourself health break
- Time = money
Cheers!
Last edited:
