- I've made 1500 YouTube videos on this channel
over the last seven years.
That's a lot of videos.
And so I know a lot of the things
that you should and shouldn't be doing
when you wanna grow a successful YouTube channel,
because I've actually done it.
I didn't do it all by making YouTube tips videos.
And I promise you that these five things are not gonna be,
make better titles and make better thumbnails
'cause I know you're tired of hearing it
but you probably should actually start doing it
for a change,
make better titles and make better thumbnails.
Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake
helping you create something awesome today.
Welcome back to the channel.
So I've got five things you're probably not doing
to grow on YouTube right now.
One of the things I see content creators overlook
when it comes to growing a successful YouTube channel
is they don't focus on becoming known for something.
There are so many creators
that blow up on YouTube specifically
because of one idea that finally lands and takes off.
And you have to do a lot of content sometimes
before that happens and it can take weeks, months, years
before you even get an inkling of that first great idea.
Animator Alex Clark was a small YouTube for a very long time
before he stumbled onto a story that he wanted to tell
in his animation series called, "Dating My Hot Babysitter."
And when he did this animation story time,
he had no idea that it would fundamentally
change his YouTube career forever.
In 2020, a gamer named Polan actually grew
from zero to almost a 100,000 subscribers
in less than a year,
by doing specific challenge videos
in the Minecraft community.
And with his style and approach to doing these videos
and focusing on becoming known
for competing in these Skeppy challenges,
he was able to explode the growth
of his YouTube channel.
Become known for something.
This is how people grow on YouTube.
And the thing is it's really hard to do
if you don't do this other thing
that we're gonna talk about.
Be consistent AF,
not even joking.
PewDiePie is the single largest solo creator
on YouTube today with over 100 million subscribers.
And I'm sure if you're watching this video
on how to grow on YouTube,
you have some idea who PewDiePie is,
but you probably don't know some of his origin story.
PewDiePie started out being known not for his humor,
his commentary, or his memes.
He started being known for gaming,
and the thing is, yes, he was early to YouTube gaming
and there wasn't anyone who was huge besides Smash
at the time.
But what happened for PewDiePie
in 2010 was he was doing daily content,
which I'm not telling you to do
but he was doing daily content and he was consistent.
He did literally three years in one genre of gaming,
the horror genre of gaming, playing games like Amnesia.
And this ultimately allowed him
not only to become known for something,
but it also meant that his audience was conditioned
around a certain type of content,
and they were always watching.
They were always getting exactly what they signed up for.
And PewDiePie rode this for three years,
all the way to 1 million subscribers on YouTube.
Now, I'm not promising you those same results,
but I am saying that being consistent matters.
PewDiePie was consistent almost to a fault,
making 1000 videos
around basically the same types of video games.
A lot of people can't do that.
A lot of people won't do that.
And so a lot of people don't get anywhere.
Consistency matters,
and so does investing back into your channel.
If you know who PewDiePie is
then you also probably know who Mr.Beast is.
Mr.Beast may not be the biggest YouTuber on this platform,
but he probably is the most popular YouTuber
on this platform right now.
Previously I did a video about the fact
that Mr.Beast, PewDiePie,
and one of my favorite creators MKBHD,
all did 100 crappy videos to get where they are.
But something that both MKBHD as a tech YouTuber,
and Mr.Beast with his extreme challenge videos have
in common is that they went to extremes
in investing back into their YouTube channels.
Being a tech content creator can get super expensive.
You have to review new products
but you also have to invest in really great camera gear
to get those wonderful product shots.
You have to really focus on audio
and lighting, and all of those things,
because if you're a tech YouTuber,
you're expected to understand the technical aspects
of making content.
And if you do content like Mr.Beast,
a lot of times to be able to do those extreme challenges
and to do those cash giveaways, and the game show prizes,
you have to spend a lot of money.
Mr.Beast has razor thin margins and takes a lot of risk
but he puts every single cent he possibly can
back into his content and back into the channel
and making the best video possible.
MKBHD invests in a different way.
He buys the best cameras and the best equipment possible,
even for making what looks like a simple video
on the surface, be the closest thing that a viewer has
to experiencing the product, hold it in their hand
and really feeling like they're there
in the studio with him.
And it also makes his content unique.
These are two of the most innovative creators
that are on the platform today,
and they all bring something new to the table
that defines their genre of YouTube.
Which kind of brings me to my next tip.
What are you doing to define yourself in YouTube
and set yourself apart from other people,
but more importantly,
what are you adding to the genre of YouTube
and adding to the community that you're making content for?
You need to find some way to change the game
because otherwise you're making similar content.
You're a copycat channel.
You're another clone of somebody else.
What's the point in watching you
versus watching somebody else?
There's no real way to stand out,
if you aren't bringing something fresh
and innovative to the platform.
There's no reason to watch.
When you wanna change things up,
you gotta figure out an extreme that you can go to
or how to combine two different things in a unique way.
Casey Neistat is a primary example of this.
For five or so years, Casey Neistat grinded
from zero to 500,000 subscribers
which is about where I'm at,
and that is an amazing feat.
But he did as everybody's favorite filmmaker,
uploading every now and again on no kind of schedule.
But by deciding to be consistent and become a daily vlogger
but not losing the quality of filmmaking
and actually even wanting to step it up
and essentially do 24 hour film challenges every single day
for his content, you know, styled as a vlog.
He redefined an entire genre of YouTube
and changed the platform forever
and made the standard of quality
that viewers expect considerably higher.
He became everybody's favorite sitcom.
There are plenty of creators
who end up ultimately redefining the niche
or the genre that they play in when it comes to YouTube.
And the thing is, there's still plenty
of fresh opportunities to do that
in a lot of different spaces here.
What there is in the platform is no saturation
when it comes to high quality content.
There is no saturation
when it comes to high quality content.
There's rankly a lot of mediocre content on the platform,
and so if you want to blow up, I suggest that you step up.
You have to give people a compelling reason
to watch your videos from the very beginning
until the very end.
And that actually brings me to another point here.
This is number five, something you're probably not doing
to grow your YouTube channel
that would make all the difference in the world
is you're not designing your videos
for retention and watch time,
instead of just clicks.
Once you get someone to click on a video,
what is the incentive for them to stay
and watch it for as long as possible?
You have to be super intentional about this.
And one of the most important things
when it comes to retention rates and watch time,
something I'm planning on making a dedicated video to
in a few days, probably a good reason for you to subscribe
if you're into that,
is the fact that at the very beginning of the video,
having people not leave and abandon that video
in the first 10, 20, 30 seconds makes a huge difference
in how YouTube sees your video,
and the authority of your video,
and whether or not it is a quality viewing experience.
A lot of content creators will complain
that YouTube doesn't put them first.
And that's because YouTube puts the viewer first,
it puts the audience first.
You are a YouTube content creator if you're watching this,
but you're also a YouTube viewer,
you're part of the audience, part of my audience.
Hi.
And the thing is you probably don't have too many complaints
when it comes to how the platform works
from the standpoint of a viewer.
You might have some gripes as a creator
but you are probably more than satisfied as a viewer
with how the platform is serving you.
And what we as creators need to do
is we need to stop putting ourselves first
and expecting the platform to do that.
And remember that the viewer, the audience comes first
because they're the ones that really allow
for all of this to be possible.
And part of putting your viewers first is making sure
that they're getting what they signed up for,
what they clicked for, what they wanted.
It is supply and demand.
If you are not giving viewers what they want,
somebody else will.
And the way that you make great viewer experiences is
with investing back into making good quality content,
good video, good audio, good lighting,
good storytelling, good delivery,
and you know, a likable or relatable personality,
or at least be entertaining.
Or you can be like me and just, you know, be smart.
(Roberto chuckles)
You know, I don't think people watch me
for my entertainment value.
I think you guys watch me because, you know,
I'm a nerd, did all your homework for you.
But in all seriousness,
making sure that you're not only filming great videos
and telling great stories,
but editing in a way that fits the experience
that your target audience would really enjoy
and making it, you know, respect their time.
You know, you just have to make sure
that something looks good,
sounds good and is a good experience.
And that's what putting the viewer first looks like.
If you're doing these five things,
and you're patient, and you do them long enough,
and you do them well, no more mediocre content, okay?
If you do these things well and you do them long enough,
then it's usually a guarantee
that at some point your YouTube channel starts to grow
and be successful.
It happens faster for some people than others,
but that's just how everything else in life works too,
now isn't it?
Question of the day.
How are you gonna step up and put your viewers first?
Let me know in the comment section.
Also remember in the description
to check out the YouTube starter kit,
it has a bunch of resources that can help you.
YouTube tips playlist is right up here,
the description down below as well.
It's always you guys.
Thanks so much for watching and don't forget,
go out there and create something awesome today.
Take care.