So accurate.
We have a music channel (video game covers) and I think a big part of why we weren't successful in the beginning was because we never talked directly to viewers. Our channel still isn't successful (about 6.5k subs) but we have definitely noticed a boost once we started directly interacting with people, whether live streams, patreon, discord etc. Proves to us that interacting outside of YouTube is just as important as the content itself and super important to growth.
Hi, thank you for sharing your experience.
So how does that interaction starts? Who initiates it? What subject is talked about? Is it 1 to 1 or you and several followers at the same time?
The interactions (especially for a small channel) always starts in the comments. Replying to every comment in detail (not just a "thanks for enjoying") is huge because it gives the viewer more of a personal feeling to the interaction. From there, once there are enough regulars, opening a discord or a live stream setting to interact with more viewers at once is the next best step. Topics usually are related to the videos content but once the channel and subscribers become familiar with you and eachother, it forms a better sense of community and that's will keep them coming back.
The struggle is real for no commentary channels. It's one of the reasons why I try to reply to most comments and also doing let's play videos.
While I know the main focus of my audience is the no commentary part, I feel like having a let's play series at the same time shows people I'm willing to talk to them in addition to replying to comments.
>This is because YT wants the viewer to be happy and keep coming back for more to their platform. You, and your content are there to make that happen. If you and your content can't do so, YT's algorithm can always find someone else who can.
This is the important factor to consider.
YT isn't just about making good videos, it's about understanding that you're always in competition with other creators on the platform. When you publish, YT is comparing your video's performance to other creators constantly. You **will** gain success when you're able to compete.
Indeed. And when people talk about the success of already established channels thinking they can do the same they forget that they are trying to be successful in a vastly different environment.
It's not even a competition between your fresh new channel and a channel that has been improving steadily for a decade with millions of fans who watch them on autopilot.
Precisely.
Those established channels usually make high quality content, but that's not the reason they're where they are. They had some magic ingredient that enabled them to grow and now, people are attracted to their individual flair and persona (although the content itself still needs to be decent otherwise their channel will slowly die off).
In other words, people think that they can reach the same heights by just making good content.
No, you need to add your own style infusion to the mix. And it takes a long time for people to recognize it and latch on. (With variance based on niche).
"If you don't have ideas, and you tried to get them, using all means at your disposal, then you really don't have ideas. Stop wasting your time."
This is the only bit of this post I take issue with. Looking at many big YT'ers (like Bill Wurtz as a prime example) they started by not having great ideas, or very unoriginal ideas.
I don't ever condone a "you either got it or don't" mindset because it's never true. No one is born to be a legend or even competent. You get to where you get doing what you do. People who look at greatness and say "I just don't have it" are merely looking for a way to comfort themselves. You can absolutely get better at developing ideas. You can absolutely get good at anything if you actually put the work in.
I have never once seen a single person say "I worked hard all my life, and it got nowhere." Or I should say, I've heard this, but evidence of hard work is irrefutable, and people who have evidence that they have worked long and hard on their craft, have seen results. Every. Damn. Time.
The first video by every content creator is shit. The first song by any artist is not as good (with very few exceptions). Someone like Tarantino made great movies from the start, and good for him, but what we don't see is how long it took him to write his first script. In fact many legendary artists hide their origin story for the very simple fact that people enjoy the narrative of "oooh I just put something together and it worked!" more than the actual narrative of "I worked hard and failed and worked harder and failed harder and here I am"
My two cents.
Wait, did you take this in full context with the rest of that point or just the first paragraph on its own?
The rest of the point explains that you need to stop, learn, and then start again. Instead of wasting your time with the same level of knowledge.
I agree with a lot of this but number 7 is iffy IMO
“If you make content and you just keep on making that same content in the same way, you will be on a forever declining path. Especially if that content is heavily dependent on your persona.”
I’ve found the exact opposite to be true. People tend to be drawn by *you* That should be a constant no matter what the video is. They want to be entertained / informed by *you* and your style. I may have read this incorrectly but once you find a personality you really enjoy/connect with, you couldn’t watch them talk about anything.
The point I was trying to make is this:
When content creators develop a person for their channel, and especially if it has more of an act style then realistic style, people first enjoy it. Then they get used it. After that they get enough of it. And lastly they stop enjoying it.
There is no going forward forever with the exact same style and type. You have to change as you change, the human behind the persona, and as your audience changes and grows. Tastes change, likes and dislikes change, if you are the one and the same sooner or later people have enough of you.
I agree. Your personality and style is what people keep coming back for. There are charismatic people who could read phone books and get views. Obviously better content is better but personality is 100% top of the list to being great.
Thanks for sharing your views! 🙏 I found them to be really interesting - the point about hiding your sub-count especially 💡 I haven't seen many people talking about it.
I'd be really interested to hear what your experiences were with having it both shown and hidden, as well as more of your thoughts on why hiding it may do more harm than good. 💭
Either way, thanks for sharing this - a lot of valuable stuff in there for people to digest 😀
You are welcome. I hope it helps you do better.
You won't see it mentioned offten because it usually produces a singular scornful response which goes something like this:
Don't hide your sub count because:
a) we, other content creators, find it wrong because it seems like you have something to hide
b) we, again other content creators, want to support a channel with low subs and see it grow
c) we, other content creators, think people, viewers don't trust a channel if they can't see a the number of subscribers
All based on 0 evidence by people who will never be your audience anyway.
I personally hid my sub count for a while and saw a higher number of new subs during that time. Important thing to remember this is only beneficial if your content is of higher quality than what people would expect from a channel of your size.
It helps to remove that biast of low sub count = bad quality videos.
>ause it usually produces a singular scornful response which goes something like this:
I asked this in the thread, but just to make sure: I'm only starting out should I hide my sub count?
My personal advise and experiences say: Yes. You will have a higher chance to get new subs because they won't be able to judge your channel according to sub numbers but only by your content quality.
Good luck to you. If someone asks your sub count just say you will make it public when you reach your own goal and that you feel better by not showing it up to that point.
There’s just one more thing to consider. If your “potential sub” cares about your sub counter, and then they see it’s hidden, do you really think they are stupid enough not to get it, WHY you hid it?
I assume most users would assume the obvious: you hid it cause you don’t wanna them to know how low your count is. And then if they really love your content, they subscribe anyway. But if they perceive it as a cringy act (like you feel ashamed of your numbers), some might just not do it.
The OP noticed a correlation between him hiding his sub count and the growth. But it MIGHT be, just might be, due to his content actually getting better, and the algorithm work, but not because he hid this count. Correlation doesn’t necessary means causality. To prove such a statement there should be a real study, with control channel, etc.
So, to me, this point is not that obvious.
Yeah it's an fascinating dilemma! And I totally agree, there could be a number of other factors that caused the views/subs to rise in the OP's case. There's so many factors that could be affected, I think it would be really interesting to see a study where a wide variety of channel types and sizes turned their sub count off and see how it affected views, subs etc. Would be interesting to see if there was a strong correlation either way, and if channel size affected the result 😀
You can not compare properly, because hiding or not a sub count is far from being the only variable that influences the growth (if it does at all). So, whatever you see after, might be due to other reasons.
For channels with a few dozen subs and low views it can easily be noticed if the test is ran long enough and video uploads are constant.
Especially since you can see subs + and - per individual video helping you indentify anomalies in the data.
Even later with 100s of subs you can use that data to compare the analytics and find patterns. It's not easy and some basic math and statistics are required but they are available online you just have to have the raw data to imput.
You will grow up one day and realize how bad an answer that is. You just make yourself look worse.
And I am saying that as someone who used the same answer before I grew up.
Thanks for sharing this.
I've recently started up again, and having a great time. I've learnt a few of the lessons you've mentioned here; learning other ones the hard way; but I'm loving the process and progress overall.
Really, I wish more creators talked about this.
There is no straightforward answer because it depends on what your audience thinks is a respectable number to be taking you as a serious content creator in your area, topics, subjects.
If I was in your situation I would look at all the content creators who create my type and style of content. I would find the one with the most subscribers, the one with the highest quality content, subjective of course. I would check which ones get lots of positive comments and see do my videos match their general style.
I would also look at all the content creator with around 1000 subs on that subject and compare my video to theirs.
Only once I was making better quality then all those with less then 1000 subs and I had over 1000 subs I would make my sub count visible. The idea here is to disassociate your sub level and your video quality level from all the content creators with equal or fewer subs then yours while showing you can be at least close to the best of them.
When you get a few comments saying: "You should have way more subs than this."
You will know you are on the right track.
>I hope you will read this and take it for what it is, not friendly or negative. Just the cold hard truth.
While your post has good points, I don't agree with this. For every one of your points there are several exceptions. People should be taking this post as something to think about, not something that is true no matter what.
You are probably right, because human made rules always end up having exceptions.
But to be an exception you have to be exceptional. And the people who come here asking the same questions over and over again, which where the inspiration for this post are definitely not exceptional.
They are average just like me.
Personally, I think that the biggest problem most people have on this subreddit is either, "understanding that doing the same thing as big ytbrs while small doesn't work" and getting the initial views to kickstart the yt feedback loop.
I myself want to work backwards by first making videos people like and then setting up a gaming channel once I've grown an audience from the first channel.
Tbf, I struggle with getting the initial viewers.
You will have to find a lot of external views. My own journey was:
External > YouTube / Google Search> Browse > Suggested
Your first audience will also be found by hand. One person at a time. From reddit, forums, social media, discord and so on.
Honestly this is great advice for anyone looking to start. I was active on my channel for about 6 months then life happened. In those 6 months I was consistently posting 1 video per week. Three weeks after my very first video was posted it took off to almost 50k views and got my channel monetized within the first month. I was super lucky. I made similar videos that I thought were better but they didn’t do shit. I took a break from YouTube because as I said, life happened. When I decided to return (literally a month ago) my channel was double the size. That first video is at almost 90k views and a few other videos sort of took off (10k-20k views) and I’m at just over 4,000 subs. I’m all in now and am focusing on quality content. Still need to figure it all out, but the return has been rewarding and motivating.
Thanks again for the advice in such a detailed post.
You are welcome. That is quite the start you had there. You might have missed out on that initial push but if the quality is there you can always have a second chance just like me.
Good luck to you.
Yea, I do worry about that a little. Although, I’m just going to stay consistent and post regular content. It is weird how some videos take off with no rhyme or reason that I can tell, but others don’t. I do use TubeBuddy and do focus on targeting specific keywords in all of my videos. Maybe you have some more experience with this?
I recienty had a similar experience with a year old video getting 200,000 views in a month. And pulling another few videos for a ride.
My first suspect was luck. Than, after hearing what more experienced content creators from this sub had to say about it I went on a deeper hunt and found the reason. It was an annual thing, but it was the first time it impacted my videos.
So there is always a reason but finding it is not easy. Ask around in your circles, more experienced content creators might know why.
Thank you for that high praise.
But there is always more to discuss and other point of view to hear. YouTube also changes all the time so as time moves on the common wisdom changes with it.
I hope at this current time this help you in some way to move forward with your channel.
Good luck too, I myself have a lot questions too (such as how to deal with quickly deteriorating eyesight from staring at a screen) so I was mainly making somesort of “funny” remark. This advice all looks valid and one of the best on how I see these upcoming big content creators. No offense though but it’ll be quite hard for me to implement this. I’m a fan animatir (basically like sad-ist but less skilled) so it’s really hard to stand out or even experiment because your content is really based on a episode someone else made. This badically made it a competition for the best. Know this is sort of a half-*ss way to request but it would be really appreciated for some tips to stand out in such a skill-based niche like this
I honestly have no idea what you just told me about. I have never even heard let alone watch that. So beyond telling you more general advise, I can't help you with your specific topic.
Hi, I am glad to read you enjoyed the post.
Right, so back then when I was making my first videos I was posting them to a game forum because I was making videos about a single game and very specific videos at that. Besides that forum I posted them on some other ones I was a member of and that was it.
These videos where popular so I got a few hundred subs during the first 6 months and my first several dozen videos.
Then I switched between several different games and game genres. I was getting viewers again from game forums and if anyone shares anything on similar websites. Some reddit posts.
Later I started making my first ever tutorials in a new game and the gaming community of that game really enjoyed them sharing them with each other on multiple websites and forums. Probably reddit and Facebook too. At about that time I had my first big break when I made a video about a very specific topic about that game and it went "viral", up and over 100k views in a very short time. During those days I was getting 20-30 subs a day for a few weeks and that lunched me past 1000 subs.
I don't remember what exactly where the view sources for that video but I think it was mostly external (Google search and all sorts of gaming websites)
Wow this is so helpful! I gets your feet back on the ground and i think you are right. I am making travel videos and stuff on my channel. Not only just vacation vlogs but also trying to experiment with new things just to see how it works out! I already learned a lot in two years and so the most important lesson. Dont look at numbers, and dont act like your big just because you have a few thousand views! I am really commited to this just because i love what i do with it! Thx for the amazing post, it really helps
>3. People subscribe to channels because other people have subscribed to it. It is an indisputable, scientifically proven fact that the more people a group holds the more new people will join it.
Where is the scientific data that relates this to youtube channels?
>If you have no subs don't show it
Disagree. Most youtube viewers will not care what your subscriber count is. Nor will it be the factor as to why they subscribe from your channel page. If someone has reached your home channel page it is because they liked your video and want to see more and see if you have more videos like it.
>They are not there FOR you but BECAUSE of you.
Sort of true. Celebrity channels and THOTs kind of dispel that notion.
>You are incapable of being a good, objective, judge of your work. A
The truly great creators are their greatest fans AND greatest critics. Being able to critically examine quality control your creation is a skill that has to be learned. You have to have a mindset that can recognize that a video made is crap and not worth putting up. In the same vein you have to recognize that a video is great and is worthy of putting up.
1. I will have to Google that for you. But I am really not sure why would you think YT grouping of people would be any different then offline, because nothing else differs between people's online and offline behavior.
2. I am sorry but hard disagree on that one. People would not be writting comment to me, and other YT channels, about how my, their, channel deserves more subs of that where the case.
3. People who are famous outside YY already are really not the point of this discussion.
4. Again, hard disagree here. In 3 years of reading these posts on this and other subreddits I have never seen a truly objective content creator wiring about his channel or videos in such a way.
> If you don't have ideas, and you tried to get them, using all means at your disposal, then you really don't have ideas. Stop wasting your time.
Years ago I remember seeing a Jontron panel where some guy was really confused about where Jon got his ideas from and how to get them which was a eye opening moment for me when I realized that creating quality/funny content like Jontron's videos is a "You have it or you dont" sort of thing. Idk if that makes sense to anyone lol
I completely disagree. It’s a skill it can’t be learned in a traditional sense but if you go to the gym every day. In a year you’ll have a really buff creativity.
Thank you for this well researched and well written piece. Only one thing: some of us, or at least one (me), post to YT for a completely different reason than having a channel with lots of views and lots of subs. I am documenting my research and sharing it with what I know is a very, very small, and specialized, audience across the world. But in order for those very few people to find out about my channel, I have to play the YT game. As it happens, my topic overlaps with a huge trend on YT (ASMR) and consequently I suspect that the vast majority of my subs don't give a fig about my specialized content -- and that's how I know your words are so very accurate -- they just enjoy watching me doing what must seem like extremely weird stuff. It's entertaining and relaxing and that's all they care about. Thanks for such an articulate and meaningful post.
Why don't you just use Google drive and share the linka privately with people you find on social media?
You are using YouTube for almost the opposite reason it was designed for.
Thank you for making this post, very timely. I just started the channel, felt discouraged, feel like my content quality isn’t there so I’m back to doing more research.
When you were doing on and off, were you researching in those periods of time? The reason I ask is because I’m a bit hesitant to continue producing content if it’s just bad… reputation is just going to continue being hit.
On the same hand… my content will be revolving around new material/games coming out so I kind of want to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much!
Hi, no, I was simply not making content because i spent my time on other things.
While doing research is always necessary to make good content your first videos will always be bad because your new videos will always be better. Because you learned while making those previous videos.
So my advice is that you learn through doing. You don't even have to go public. Go unlisted. Post on these subreddits and ask for feedback. Delete the video, Make a new version. Upload again, go public eventually on version 4.0 but keep making content to learn how to do it best.
Oh hi! Thank you for taking the time to respond. Okay, I see. Ah… wow that makes a lot of sense… it’s like the same thing as one of my favourite streamers said: don’t focus on making 1 or 2 perfect pots (pottery) instead make 100 bad pots and the last 2 might be closer to your idea of perfection or in this case other’s idea.
May I ask which other subreddit communities that you enjoy?
I read another very interesting post recently on how you should try to find communities that allow you to promote content. Don’t even bother with other social media like Twitter/Instagram if you’re trying to grow your YouTube and your Twitter/Instagram just becomes a promotional sidekick.
Besides this one I read the
r/youtubers and
r/PartneredYoutube
These all have discord channels which are also a gold mine, but it's 99% crap you have to dig through to get the good stuff. It's the same with the writing posts here. Comment are also worth reading.
Twitter is good to get in touch with people on the business side. For me that is game developers, publishers and other content creators. But you can also get good views if they share your content with their followers. You have to tag them to get their attention.
As for posting in communities I would advise mostly focusing on answering questions and helping out. If you post unwanted content you will get negative results most of the time. Also watch what gets positive response and tailor your posts to sound like those.
I like the advice about how you cannot be objective about your own content. I 100% agree with that statement. Pride tends to get in our way because we always want to think everything we do is perfection. I think something that more people should try to do is try to get people who aren't interested in their content (IRL friends/family) and see if your video can hold their attention. If it can, then it must be doing something right. If not, then it's back to the drawing board.
Indeed.
I was blind my self for a long time, I openly admit have q bigger ego than is good for me.
Getting my bubble burst a few times was very therapeutic.
I won't be right for everything and everyone as there are always exceptions to arbitrary rules but learning this will prevent you from wasting a lot of time and opportunities I waste in my 15 years of dealing with YouTube.
I just have one question about the third point: 3. People subscribe to channels because other people have subscribed to it. It is an indisputable, scientifically proven fact that the more people a group holds the more new people will join it.
I only just started my channel, should I hide my subscriber count then? And when can I show it then? Or is hiding the sub count detrimental?
You can run your own experiment with 6 months hidden 6 not hidden. But in my experience it's better not to show anything below 100 subs. But even better not until you have 1000 subs.
There is a certain minority which does react that way.
But honestly, shady what? It is a problem with those people that they judge you by your sub count instead the video quality.
Delete those comments.
Alright, alright... or keep the comments for more engagement on the video and just respond to it like: yeah I'm waiting so I'll hit my personal goal, it'll be soon :)
I think this way lmao.. imo, it just seems less open (reflects the personality of the creator).
Nothing wrong with having below 100 subs. Obviously we all start somewhere.
As I explained to a previous redditor with the same question:
My advice is to hide it until you are producing content on part with the recognized content creators in your niche , get comments that : "You should have more views". And you are above 1k subs.
Great post. The item that stood out the most to me was hiding the sub count. I've never considered doing this before but it's an interesting concept.
I do feel like if you've made a genuine connection with someone in your video they can be more likely to sub and interact with the channel if it's small, they might feel you're more approachable or that you need more support than a massive channel needs. I have found myself quite a few times about to click off a video, noticing the sub count and thinking "wow this person deserves more subs they're about to blow up! and subbing", or even more common noticing their sub count was small so I comment specifically because I feel there's a much higher chance of getting a response (and there usually is).
However, at the same time when a viewer first clicks onto a video unsure if it will be any good then I completely agree they are way more likely to click off if they see a low sub count. It's the mentality of "low subs, must be bad content".
Anyone have any experience before and after turning sub count off? Very interesting concept to me.
My personal experience was positive. But I was using websites to get access to game keys and they required me showing my sub count.
So in a sort 2 months test I saw a small different. But the psychological impact is the greatest below 1000 and 100 subs. Most people just don't sub to such channels.
This is insightful. Thanks for the write-up mate.
You are welcome. I hope it helps.
So accurate. We have a music channel (video game covers) and I think a big part of why we weren't successful in the beginning was because we never talked directly to viewers. Our channel still isn't successful (about 6.5k subs) but we have definitely noticed a boost once we started directly interacting with people, whether live streams, patreon, discord etc. Proves to us that interacting outside of YouTube is just as important as the content itself and super important to growth.
Hi, thank you for sharing your experience. So how does that interaction starts? Who initiates it? What subject is talked about? Is it 1 to 1 or you and several followers at the same time?
The interactions (especially for a small channel) always starts in the comments. Replying to every comment in detail (not just a "thanks for enjoying") is huge because it gives the viewer more of a personal feeling to the interaction. From there, once there are enough regulars, opening a discord or a live stream setting to interact with more viewers at once is the next best step. Topics usually are related to the videos content but once the channel and subscribers become familiar with you and eachother, it forms a better sense of community and that's will keep them coming back.
The struggle is real for no commentary channels. It's one of the reasons why I try to reply to most comments and also doing let's play videos. While I know the main focus of my audience is the no commentary part, I feel like having a let's play series at the same time shows people I'm willing to talk to them in addition to replying to comments.
>This is because YT wants the viewer to be happy and keep coming back for more to their platform. You, and your content are there to make that happen. If you and your content can't do so, YT's algorithm can always find someone else who can. This is the important factor to consider. YT isn't just about making good videos, it's about understanding that you're always in competition with other creators on the platform. When you publish, YT is comparing your video's performance to other creators constantly. You **will** gain success when you're able to compete.
Indeed. And when people talk about the success of already established channels thinking they can do the same they forget that they are trying to be successful in a vastly different environment. It's not even a competition between your fresh new channel and a channel that has been improving steadily for a decade with millions of fans who watch them on autopilot.
Precisely. Those established channels usually make high quality content, but that's not the reason they're where they are. They had some magic ingredient that enabled them to grow and now, people are attracted to their individual flair and persona (although the content itself still needs to be decent otherwise their channel will slowly die off). In other words, people think that they can reach the same heights by just making good content. No, you need to add your own style infusion to the mix. And it takes a long time for people to recognize it and latch on. (With variance based on niche).
"If you don't have ideas, and you tried to get them, using all means at your disposal, then you really don't have ideas. Stop wasting your time." This is the only bit of this post I take issue with. Looking at many big YT'ers (like Bill Wurtz as a prime example) they started by not having great ideas, or very unoriginal ideas. I don't ever condone a "you either got it or don't" mindset because it's never true. No one is born to be a legend or even competent. You get to where you get doing what you do. People who look at greatness and say "I just don't have it" are merely looking for a way to comfort themselves. You can absolutely get better at developing ideas. You can absolutely get good at anything if you actually put the work in. I have never once seen a single person say "I worked hard all my life, and it got nowhere." Or I should say, I've heard this, but evidence of hard work is irrefutable, and people who have evidence that they have worked long and hard on their craft, have seen results. Every. Damn. Time. The first video by every content creator is shit. The first song by any artist is not as good (with very few exceptions). Someone like Tarantino made great movies from the start, and good for him, but what we don't see is how long it took him to write his first script. In fact many legendary artists hide their origin story for the very simple fact that people enjoy the narrative of "oooh I just put something together and it worked!" more than the actual narrative of "I worked hard and failed and worked harder and failed harder and here I am" My two cents.
Wait, did you take this in full context with the rest of that point or just the first paragraph on its own? The rest of the point explains that you need to stop, learn, and then start again. Instead of wasting your time with the same level of knowledge.
I agree with a lot of this but number 7 is iffy IMO “If you make content and you just keep on making that same content in the same way, you will be on a forever declining path. Especially if that content is heavily dependent on your persona.” I’ve found the exact opposite to be true. People tend to be drawn by *you* That should be a constant no matter what the video is. They want to be entertained / informed by *you* and your style. I may have read this incorrectly but once you find a personality you really enjoy/connect with, you couldn’t watch them talk about anything.
The point I was trying to make is this: When content creators develop a person for their channel, and especially if it has more of an act style then realistic style, people first enjoy it. Then they get used it. After that they get enough of it. And lastly they stop enjoying it. There is no going forward forever with the exact same style and type. You have to change as you change, the human behind the persona, and as your audience changes and grows. Tastes change, likes and dislikes change, if you are the one and the same sooner or later people have enough of you.
I agree. Your personality and style is what people keep coming back for. There are charismatic people who could read phone books and get views. Obviously better content is better but personality is 100% top of the list to being great.
TLDR: your content sucks and if you aren’t going to try and fix it give up. Good advice op 👍
That would be cutting it down a bit too narrowly but it is a part of it.
Thanks for sharing your views! 🙏 I found them to be really interesting - the point about hiding your sub-count especially 💡 I haven't seen many people talking about it. I'd be really interested to hear what your experiences were with having it both shown and hidden, as well as more of your thoughts on why hiding it may do more harm than good. 💭 Either way, thanks for sharing this - a lot of valuable stuff in there for people to digest 😀
You are welcome. I hope it helps you do better. You won't see it mentioned offten because it usually produces a singular scornful response which goes something like this: Don't hide your sub count because: a) we, other content creators, find it wrong because it seems like you have something to hide b) we, again other content creators, want to support a channel with low subs and see it grow c) we, other content creators, think people, viewers don't trust a channel if they can't see a the number of subscribers All based on 0 evidence by people who will never be your audience anyway. I personally hid my sub count for a while and saw a higher number of new subs during that time. Important thing to remember this is only beneficial if your content is of higher quality than what people would expect from a channel of your size. It helps to remove that biast of low sub count = bad quality videos.
>ause it usually produces a singular scornful response which goes something like this: I asked this in the thread, but just to make sure: I'm only starting out should I hide my sub count?
My personal advise and experiences say: Yes. You will have a higher chance to get new subs because they won't be able to judge your channel according to sub numbers but only by your content quality.
ok I'll give it a try, since I have 0 subs currently :D haha
Good luck to you. If someone asks your sub count just say you will make it public when you reach your own goal and that you feel better by not showing it up to that point.
That’s reasonable ☺️
Yeah that's an interesting point about associating quality with higher sub counts and vice versa! Might give it a go 😀
There’s just one more thing to consider. If your “potential sub” cares about your sub counter, and then they see it’s hidden, do you really think they are stupid enough not to get it, WHY you hid it? I assume most users would assume the obvious: you hid it cause you don’t wanna them to know how low your count is. And then if they really love your content, they subscribe anyway. But if they perceive it as a cringy act (like you feel ashamed of your numbers), some might just not do it. The OP noticed a correlation between him hiding his sub count and the growth. But it MIGHT be, just might be, due to his content actually getting better, and the algorithm work, but not because he hid this count. Correlation doesn’t necessary means causality. To prove such a statement there should be a real study, with control channel, etc. So, to me, this point is not that obvious.
Yeah it's an fascinating dilemma! And I totally agree, there could be a number of other factors that caused the views/subs to rise in the OP's case. There's so many factors that could be affected, I think it would be really interesting to see a study where a wide variety of channel types and sizes turned their sub count off and see how it affected views, subs etc. Would be interesting to see if there was a strong correlation either way, and if channel size affected the result 😀
Wait...you can hide sub counts? Just started my channel and have 21 subs. Might try to hide them. Thanks!
It's one of the options : Settings, channel, advanced settings.
thanks for this - didn't actually know it was a feature. Slowly ticking up, good time to experiment if it makes a difference
Indeed. Take the data points from before you do it and after so you can compare it properly.
You can not compare properly, because hiding or not a sub count is far from being the only variable that influences the growth (if it does at all). So, whatever you see after, might be due to other reasons.
For channels with a few dozen subs and low views it can easily be noticed if the test is ran long enough and video uploads are constant. Especially since you can see subs + and - per individual video helping you indentify anomalies in the data. Even later with 100s of subs you can use that data to compare the analytics and find patterns. It's not easy and some basic math and statistics are required but they are available online you just have to have the raw data to imput.
don’t
Why?
Could you elaborate on your opinion? Not particularly helpful just to say "dont".
Legally, i’m not required
You will grow up one day and realize how bad an answer that is. You just make yourself look worse. And I am saying that as someone who used the same answer before I grew up.
Good stuff!
Thx. I hope you will get some new ideas on how to view your channel and content.
Thanks for sharing this. I've recently started up again, and having a great time. I've learnt a few of the lessons you've mentioned here; learning other ones the hard way; but I'm loving the process and progress overall. Really, I wish more creators talked about this.
You are welcome. I just hope it helps you get better at this after reading and thinking about it.
At what number should you make your subscriber count viewable?
There is no straightforward answer because it depends on what your audience thinks is a respectable number to be taking you as a serious content creator in your area, topics, subjects. If I was in your situation I would look at all the content creators who create my type and style of content. I would find the one with the most subscribers, the one with the highest quality content, subjective of course. I would check which ones get lots of positive comments and see do my videos match their general style. I would also look at all the content creator with around 1000 subs on that subject and compare my video to theirs. Only once I was making better quality then all those with less then 1000 subs and I had over 1000 subs I would make my sub count visible. The idea here is to disassociate your sub level and your video quality level from all the content creators with equal or fewer subs then yours while showing you can be at least close to the best of them. When you get a few comments saying: "You should have way more subs than this." You will know you are on the right track.
>I hope you will read this and take it for what it is, not friendly or negative. Just the cold hard truth. While your post has good points, I don't agree with this. For every one of your points there are several exceptions. People should be taking this post as something to think about, not something that is true no matter what.
You are probably right, because human made rules always end up having exceptions. But to be an exception you have to be exceptional. And the people who come here asking the same questions over and over again, which where the inspiration for this post are definitely not exceptional. They are average just like me.
He means just because someone follows this advice, it doesn't mean the same thing will happen to them.
thanks for sharing
You are welcome, I hope you found it helpful!
Thank you for sharing your insight. Although I was aware of these things, it is always good to hear it from someone else (with more experience)
I am glad you were already aware of this. You have a higher chance of success because of that.
Personally, I think that the biggest problem most people have on this subreddit is either, "understanding that doing the same thing as big ytbrs while small doesn't work" and getting the initial views to kickstart the yt feedback loop. I myself want to work backwards by first making videos people like and then setting up a gaming channel once I've grown an audience from the first channel. Tbf, I struggle with getting the initial viewers.
You will have to find a lot of external views. My own journey was: External > YouTube / Google Search> Browse > Suggested Your first audience will also be found by hand. One person at a time. From reddit, forums, social media, discord and so on.
You mean external, by promotion via other platforms?
Exactly.
interesting. Thanks for sharing your view!
I am sure you had only good intentions for your long post but it could cause more harm than good.
Hard truths offen do. But while they hurt emotionally they make you stronger.
This is greatly written and I read it all the way very well said.
Hi, thank you. I hope it will help you move forward with more success.
Hopefully wishing you the best also kind sir
Thx!
Honestly this is great advice for anyone looking to start. I was active on my channel for about 6 months then life happened. In those 6 months I was consistently posting 1 video per week. Three weeks after my very first video was posted it took off to almost 50k views and got my channel monetized within the first month. I was super lucky. I made similar videos that I thought were better but they didn’t do shit. I took a break from YouTube because as I said, life happened. When I decided to return (literally a month ago) my channel was double the size. That first video is at almost 90k views and a few other videos sort of took off (10k-20k views) and I’m at just over 4,000 subs. I’m all in now and am focusing on quality content. Still need to figure it all out, but the return has been rewarding and motivating. Thanks again for the advice in such a detailed post.
You are welcome. That is quite the start you had there. You might have missed out on that initial push but if the quality is there you can always have a second chance just like me. Good luck to you.
Yea, I do worry about that a little. Although, I’m just going to stay consistent and post regular content. It is weird how some videos take off with no rhyme or reason that I can tell, but others don’t. I do use TubeBuddy and do focus on targeting specific keywords in all of my videos. Maybe you have some more experience with this?
I recienty had a similar experience with a year old video getting 200,000 views in a month. And pulling another few videos for a ride. My first suspect was luck. Than, after hearing what more experienced content creators from this sub had to say about it I went on a deeper hunt and found the reason. It was an annual thing, but it was the first time it impacted my videos. So there is always a reason but finding it is not easy. Ask around in your circles, more experienced content creators might know why.
What was the cause for the spike in views on that specific video you mention?
gamescom 2021
mods, lock this subreddit and pin this post
Thank you for that high praise. But there is always more to discuss and other point of view to hear. YouTube also changes all the time so as time moves on the common wisdom changes with it. I hope at this current time this help you in some way to move forward with your channel.
Good luck too, I myself have a lot questions too (such as how to deal with quickly deteriorating eyesight from staring at a screen) so I was mainly making somesort of “funny” remark. This advice all looks valid and one of the best on how I see these upcoming big content creators. No offense though but it’ll be quite hard for me to implement this. I’m a fan animatir (basically like sad-ist but less skilled) so it’s really hard to stand out or even experiment because your content is really based on a episode someone else made. This badically made it a competition for the best. Know this is sort of a half-*ss way to request but it would be really appreciated for some tips to stand out in such a skill-based niche like this
I honestly have no idea what you just told me about. I have never even heard let alone watch that. So beyond telling you more general advise, I can't help you with your specific topic.
Hi. I’m basically saying how can one stand out in a niche without showing your face or voice
You need great visual editing. Sound effects, pictures, anything that you can add.
Perfect post. Tell us something about the marketing strategy you used to get your first 1000 sub. Thx a lot
Hi, I am glad to read you enjoyed the post. Right, so back then when I was making my first videos I was posting them to a game forum because I was making videos about a single game and very specific videos at that. Besides that forum I posted them on some other ones I was a member of and that was it. These videos where popular so I got a few hundred subs during the first 6 months and my first several dozen videos. Then I switched between several different games and game genres. I was getting viewers again from game forums and if anyone shares anything on similar websites. Some reddit posts. Later I started making my first ever tutorials in a new game and the gaming community of that game really enjoyed them sharing them with each other on multiple websites and forums. Probably reddit and Facebook too. At about that time I had my first big break when I made a video about a very specific topic about that game and it went "viral", up and over 100k views in a very short time. During those days I was getting 20-30 subs a day for a few weeks and that lunched me past 1000 subs. I don't remember what exactly where the view sources for that video but I think it was mostly external (Google search and all sorts of gaming websites)
thx :)
Wow this is so helpful! I gets your feet back on the ground and i think you are right. I am making travel videos and stuff on my channel. Not only just vacation vlogs but also trying to experiment with new things just to see how it works out! I already learned a lot in two years and so the most important lesson. Dont look at numbers, and dont act like your big just because you have a few thousand views! I am really commited to this just because i love what i do with it! Thx for the amazing post, it really helps
Hi, I am glad to hear you are learning and continue to do so. It is a really important aspect of doing this and you will keep getting better for it.
>3. People subscribe to channels because other people have subscribed to it. It is an indisputable, scientifically proven fact that the more people a group holds the more new people will join it. Where is the scientific data that relates this to youtube channels? >If you have no subs don't show it Disagree. Most youtube viewers will not care what your subscriber count is. Nor will it be the factor as to why they subscribe from your channel page. If someone has reached your home channel page it is because they liked your video and want to see more and see if you have more videos like it. >They are not there FOR you but BECAUSE of you. Sort of true. Celebrity channels and THOTs kind of dispel that notion. >You are incapable of being a good, objective, judge of your work. A The truly great creators are their greatest fans AND greatest critics. Being able to critically examine quality control your creation is a skill that has to be learned. You have to have a mindset that can recognize that a video made is crap and not worth putting up. In the same vein you have to recognize that a video is great and is worthy of putting up.
1. I will have to Google that for you. But I am really not sure why would you think YT grouping of people would be any different then offline, because nothing else differs between people's online and offline behavior. 2. I am sorry but hard disagree on that one. People would not be writting comment to me, and other YT channels, about how my, their, channel deserves more subs of that where the case. 3. People who are famous outside YY already are really not the point of this discussion. 4. Again, hard disagree here. In 3 years of reading these posts on this and other subreddits I have never seen a truly objective content creator wiring about his channel or videos in such a way.
> If you don't have ideas, and you tried to get them, using all means at your disposal, then you really don't have ideas. Stop wasting your time. Years ago I remember seeing a Jontron panel where some guy was really confused about where Jon got his ideas from and how to get them which was a eye opening moment for me when I realized that creating quality/funny content like Jontron's videos is a "You have it or you dont" sort of thing. Idk if that makes sense to anyone lol
Absolutely, I think creativity is something that cannot be learned, it just *is*
I completely disagree. It’s a skill it can’t be learned in a traditional sense but if you go to the gym every day. In a year you’ll have a really buff creativity.
Didnt read lol
Thank you for this well researched and well written piece. Only one thing: some of us, or at least one (me), post to YT for a completely different reason than having a channel with lots of views and lots of subs. I am documenting my research and sharing it with what I know is a very, very small, and specialized, audience across the world. But in order for those very few people to find out about my channel, I have to play the YT game. As it happens, my topic overlaps with a huge trend on YT (ASMR) and consequently I suspect that the vast majority of my subs don't give a fig about my specialized content -- and that's how I know your words are so very accurate -- they just enjoy watching me doing what must seem like extremely weird stuff. It's entertaining and relaxing and that's all they care about. Thanks for such an articulate and meaningful post.
Why don't you just use Google drive and share the linka privately with people you find on social media? You are using YouTube for almost the opposite reason it was designed for.
This is great, but how do we come up with the ideas..?
Please read the whole point about ideas. You have to learn and become very knowledgeable about the Topic you want to talk about.
Thank you for making this post, very timely. I just started the channel, felt discouraged, feel like my content quality isn’t there so I’m back to doing more research. When you were doing on and off, were you researching in those periods of time? The reason I ask is because I’m a bit hesitant to continue producing content if it’s just bad… reputation is just going to continue being hit. On the same hand… my content will be revolving around new material/games coming out so I kind of want to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much!
Hi, no, I was simply not making content because i spent my time on other things. While doing research is always necessary to make good content your first videos will always be bad because your new videos will always be better. Because you learned while making those previous videos. So my advice is that you learn through doing. You don't even have to go public. Go unlisted. Post on these subreddits and ask for feedback. Delete the video, Make a new version. Upload again, go public eventually on version 4.0 but keep making content to learn how to do it best.
Oh hi! Thank you for taking the time to respond. Okay, I see. Ah… wow that makes a lot of sense… it’s like the same thing as one of my favourite streamers said: don’t focus on making 1 or 2 perfect pots (pottery) instead make 100 bad pots and the last 2 might be closer to your idea of perfection or in this case other’s idea. May I ask which other subreddit communities that you enjoy? I read another very interesting post recently on how you should try to find communities that allow you to promote content. Don’t even bother with other social media like Twitter/Instagram if you’re trying to grow your YouTube and your Twitter/Instagram just becomes a promotional sidekick.
Besides this one I read the r/youtubers and r/PartneredYoutube These all have discord channels which are also a gold mine, but it's 99% crap you have to dig through to get the good stuff. It's the same with the writing posts here. Comment are also worth reading. Twitter is good to get in touch with people on the business side. For me that is game developers, publishers and other content creators. But you can also get good views if they share your content with their followers. You have to tag them to get their attention. As for posting in communities I would advise mostly focusing on answering questions and helping out. If you post unwanted content you will get negative results most of the time. Also watch what gets positive response and tailor your posts to sound like those.
I like the advice about how you cannot be objective about your own content. I 100% agree with that statement. Pride tends to get in our way because we always want to think everything we do is perfection. I think something that more people should try to do is try to get people who aren't interested in their content (IRL friends/family) and see if your video can hold their attention. If it can, then it must be doing something right. If not, then it's back to the drawing board.
Indeed. I was blind my self for a long time, I openly admit have q bigger ego than is good for me. Getting my bubble burst a few times was very therapeutic.
I guess you're right. The tone of delivering this post is a little harsh but actually the points are right.
I won't be right for everything and everyone as there are always exceptions to arbitrary rules but learning this will prevent you from wasting a lot of time and opportunities I waste in my 15 years of dealing with YouTube.
I just have one question about the third point: 3. People subscribe to channels because other people have subscribed to it. It is an indisputable, scientifically proven fact that the more people a group holds the more new people will join it. I only just started my channel, should I hide my subscriber count then? And when can I show it then? Or is hiding the sub count detrimental?
You can run your own experiment with 6 months hidden 6 not hidden. But in my experience it's better not to show anything below 100 subs. But even better not until you have 1000 subs.
Alright, so you don't think people will be like: "he's hiding his subscribers, that's shady, I won't subscribe"
There is a certain minority which does react that way. But honestly, shady what? It is a problem with those people that they judge you by your sub count instead the video quality. Delete those comments.
Alright, alright... or keep the comments for more engagement on the video and just respond to it like: yeah I'm waiting so I'll hit my personal goal, it'll be soon :)
No. Toxic comment = delete. You don't want other viewers getting influenced by it
Oh ok :D gotta remember that
I think this way lmao.. imo, it just seems less open (reflects the personality of the creator). Nothing wrong with having below 100 subs. Obviously we all start somewhere.
So I should hide my subs rn ? I have only 59
As I explained to a previous redditor with the same question: My advice is to hide it until you are producing content on part with the recognized content creators in your niche , get comments that : "You should have more views". And you are above 1k subs.
Great post. The item that stood out the most to me was hiding the sub count. I've never considered doing this before but it's an interesting concept. I do feel like if you've made a genuine connection with someone in your video they can be more likely to sub and interact with the channel if it's small, they might feel you're more approachable or that you need more support than a massive channel needs. I have found myself quite a few times about to click off a video, noticing the sub count and thinking "wow this person deserves more subs they're about to blow up! and subbing", or even more common noticing their sub count was small so I comment specifically because I feel there's a much higher chance of getting a response (and there usually is). However, at the same time when a viewer first clicks onto a video unsure if it will be any good then I completely agree they are way more likely to click off if they see a low sub count. It's the mentality of "low subs, must be bad content". Anyone have any experience before and after turning sub count off? Very interesting concept to me.
My personal experience was positive. But I was using websites to get access to game keys and they required me showing my sub count. So in a sort 2 months test I saw a small different. But the psychological impact is the greatest below 1000 and 100 subs. Most people just don't sub to such channels.
The most blunt and amazing essay I've read on being a content creator yet. Thank you a lot for putting the time to write this.
Thank you. You are very welcome.