Hello everyone it’s SpawnPoiint and welcome back to another video.
And this is my Silver Play Button which I recently received from YouTube for passing 100K Subscribers.
Now I wasn’t going to make a video about this, but after sharing a photo on Instagram
and the community tab here on YouTube, so many asked for an unboxing.
But I just wanted to say a massive thank you to every single one of you who’s taken the
time to watch, like, comment and subscribe to my channel over the last 18 months.
So I’ll do a quick unboxing, but I’ll also give some history about me and my channel,
some tips on growing your own channel, how to order a play button and the future plans
for my YouTube channels.
Let’s do it, let’s get this opened up and take a look.
So thanks to Rick for inspecting and packaging the award. Then we’ve got this letter from
YouTube’s CEO, basically congratulating me for passing 100K subs.
And here’s the award. It’s a lot lighter than I was expecting, but it feels nice. It’s
made from nickel and has a nice brushed metal look to it. Then in the middle it’s got
‘Presented to SpawnPoiint for passing 100,000 subscribers’.
This is awesome. I actually feel really proud of this. It feels more than just a social
media following count, it kind of feels like a real achievement.
Quickly looking around the award, there’s the little play icon mounted inside this polished
chrome or mirror like finish. You can see it’s raised slightly here. But this looks
really nice.
Around the back it’s got a felt backing with some mounting holes for hanging it, and
that’s pretty much it. It’s pretty clean looking and feels solid.
Now while I was waiting for this to arrive, I actually watched a video from What’s Inside,
they show you how these buttons are made and printed at YouTube, so if you’re interested
in that, check their video out.
So the final thing for me is to decide where I want to actually display this. It’s probably
going to go above my desk, either on the wall or on the shelf here.
What do you think? I’m actually going to be making some changes to my desk this month,
you might have noticed a few bits already. I’ll do a setup tour in a few weeks.
So you might be wondering when and why I created this channel. Well I created it in 2018, but
I didn’t actually upload my first video until October 2019, which was an unboxing
for the LIFX beam. Then I made two more videos in December 2019 about my car.
I didn’t have an aim or goal for the channel. Originally it was going to be a channel where
I’d stream or upload gameplay videos to. Then I thought I’d make it a Tesla channel,
and finally I settled on the idea of a tech channel. Somewhere I could just upload unboxings
and reviews of anything I buy and use. Plus I’d cover my Tesla journey hopefully helping
future UK Tesla owners along the way.
So I ended 2019 on 300 subs, to be honest I was amazed I’d got 300 subs already with
just a few videos. And that’s when I decided to set myself a goal. I wanted to hit 10k
subscribers by the end of 2020 AND I had to upload one video every week. I believed that
if I could make a habit out of creating videos, it would eventually be easier and come more
naturally to me.
And that’s what I did. Every week of 2020 I uploaded a video. These videos varied massively.
If you’ve been around for a while you could have seen anything from Tesla experience videos,
tech unboxings, my TV reviews or setup tour. Maybe even a desk setup video or my 1,000
mile road trip which I did in summer of 2020.
Let me know, if you can remember, which video you first watched of mine, I’m always interested
to know what your first experience was.
Coming up with the videos was half the battle, so I have a spreadsheet with ideas on, and
I mark them off as I go. I actually have an entire video which I did a few months ago
showing my entire creative process, from idea to scripting, recording and editing. And if
you didn’t know this already, I use an iPhone to record every video on the channel.
Go check that video out if you want to know everything I use and how I do it each week.
But anyway, I’d hit my 10k subscriber goal by June 2020, and at the end of 2020 ended
on 50k subs. My mind was blown, that so many people liked my videos enough to hit that
red button. I'm nobody.
Then at the end of 2020 I set myself a goal to double my subscriber count from 50K to
100K subs. I felt this was a stretch-goal at the time, but then by the end of April
2021 I’d hit the 100K goal, and here we are today unboxing the silver play button.
If you’ve made it this far in, there’s a good chance you’re a genuine supporter!
So I just want to say thank you, thanks for following along with my content each week.
Now if you’ve looking to start your own channel, let me give you some advice. I’m
not a guru and I’m not claiming to be. I also don’t think I’m a big channel, but
if I can help one person out with their channel, that’s awesome.
So firstly, create the content you WANT to create. What do you currently enjoy doing,
or what are you good at? Is it gaming? Cooking? Football? Anything you’re good at or have
a passion for there’s an audience for it. Turn that experience or passion into content.
Someone out there will watch it.
Secondly, don’t worry about “but it’s already been done” or “someone else is
doing it”, it doesn’t matter. My content isn’t original to YouTube. Someone else
has unboxed the tech I have, sometimes even years before me. Just be yourself and give
your own opinion and spin on it.
Next, don’t worry about equipment. If you have a phone, an iPad or a laptop, you can
create content. You don’t even need to show your face, you could be doing screen captures
or flat lay unboxings. You don’t need the newest camera or phone, just use what you
have to get started. Again the other video on my channel shows what I use each week.
And finally, build a community. This is tough, as it’s the whole chicken and the egg situation,
but you need to engage with your audience. If you comment right now, on this video, there’s
a 99% chance I’ll see it and I will reply to it within a day.
The mobile app is so easy to use and shows all comments across the channel. Oh, and if
you do get any hate messages, just click the ‘hide user from channel’ button and you
and everyone else will never see their comments again. I use this a lot. I used to give people
a few chances, but now commenters get one chance. Sounds harsh I know, but the chances
are if someone has the mindset of leaving negative or hate comments, they won’t suddenly
change their view of you as a creator. So block and move on.
And one more thing. Enjoy it, don’t get fixated on the views, subs or money. Focus
on the creative process. I know it’s easier said than done.
Well if you’ve made it this far, you might be wondering how you even get the Play button.
Firstly it’s free, you don’t need to pay for it. But YouTube don’t send it automatically,
you actually need to apply for it.
So once you hit the 100k mark, YouTube should reach out to you within 2-3 weeks to confirm
that you're eligible. You’ll get an email and a message inside the Studio area containing
a voucher code to redeem the award. Unfortunately they never contacted me so I jumped on their
live chat and asked for their help. This was how I got the voucher.
Then you just go to the provided URL, type in your voucher, your personal information
and what you want the award to say. I wanted my channel name on it, but you could put your
real name here.
Then about 10 days later it turned up. So in total it took about 5 weeks from passing
the 100K count to receiving the award.
So what does the future hold for SpawnPoiint? Well I’ve now got three channels. This is
my main one which I use for my tech content, unboxings, Tesla and setups. Then there’s
my SpawnPoiint Gaming channel where I regularly upload gameplay videos for either PlayStation
5 or Xbox Series X games. Then finally my SpawnPoiint Extra channel, this is where I
upload videos which are shorter and don’t really justify a dedicated video on my main
channel. I’m going to add things like TV Settings and how I edit in Final Cut Pro.
Kind of 2-3 minute videos.
Go subscribe if you’re interested in these channels.
But in terms of the future of the channel. I just want to keep creating weekly videos
about things I buy or like. I want to keep it honest and I want to answer your questions
along the way.
Well that’s it for today’s video. So whether you’re a supporter of the channel or you’re
interested in creating your own content, I hope that was useful.
Any questions just drop them in the comments, but otherwise let me know which video you
watched first on the channel. Thanks again everyone, next stop 1 million subs, let’s
put a goal on this for 2028, that’s 7 years away.
Don’t forget to hit that like button, subscribe to the channel and turn notifications on so
you don’t miss my next video.
You can also follow me over on Instagram and Twitter.
Until next time…