Hey guys, it’s Greg with Apple Explained.
And in this video I want to share how this channel grew to 100,000 subscribers, a milestone
I honestly never thought the channel would achieve when I started it in 2008.
Now this topic was the third place winner of last week’s voting poll, and if you didn’t
get to vote, make sure you’re subscribed.
That way the voting polls will show up right in your mobile activity feed and you can let
me know which video you’d like to see next.
So I get emails and comments on a regular basis from viewers asking for help with their
channel or to promote their videos.
And to be honest, I’m not a search engine optimization specialist or an expert on the
YouTube algorithm, so I don’t have much useful advice to give, especially since what
works for my channel may not work for someone else’s.
But if you are trying to build a channel of your own, I thought it might be helpful to
share the story behind this channel, Apple Explained, so you can get a peek behind the
curtain of what it’s like to grow a YouTube channel from the creators perspective.
Now the development of this channel is very closely tied to my own personal life, so I
need to give you some background on myself to explain how the channel was able to be
created.
So growing up I always loved technology but I fell in love with Apple in particular when
I was around 10, because that’s when I saw the most beautiful computer I had ever seen
in my life: the iMac G4.
And my obsession with Apple only grew from there.
I would cut out Apple ads from magazines and tape them to my wall, I’d collect Apple
product boxes and arranging them in my bedroom, but perhaps my favorite thing to do was recreating
my favorite Apple keynotes and presenting them in front of my family as if I was Steve
Jobs.
Now that sounds kind've silly, but making those presentations using Apple’s slideshow
software called Keynote, allowed me to develop the skills I’d need to create YouTube videos
later on.
So as you can see from my channel’s about tab, I created this account in 2008 when I
was 15 years old.
Although I didn’t join YouTube to build a popular channel or even become a YouTuber,
I just enjoyed watching and commenting on videos like everyone else.
The only reason why I posted a video in the first place was because I wanted to watch
a certain type of video about Apple but couldn’t find anyone making it.
So I decided to make it myself.
Now, during all of 2008 I only posted one video, it did pretty well and got me a few
subscribers.
But I was more interested in the comments people were leaving.
Because hearing from other fans who loved Apple just as much as I did was such a satisfying
feeling, and it still is.
I didn’t make a second video until 2009, which was my first History of video, and it
got way more views than I ever expected.
The fact that I was reaching hundreds of thousands of Apple fans through a YouTube video was
completely mind-blowing to me.
And you might assume that this excited me so much that I began uploading videos regularly,
but that wasn’t the case.
For me, making YouTube videos was just a fun hobby, and I thought nothing more of it.
So from 2009 to 2014 I only uploaded two more videos.
And they also did pretty well, doubling the view count of my channel to about 400,000.
And keep in mind that monetization was not enabled on any of my videos at this point.
And I’m honestly not sure if it was because my channel wasn’t eligible yet, or just
because I didn’t know it was possible.
So another two years past and I decided to start working on my fifth video, History of
the iPhone.
I had a clear idea of how I wanted it to look, and I took my time to find each image, photoshop,
and create each icon in Illustrator to make the video look as professional as possible.
Because I really believe in Steve Job’s philosophy that you should create things you
want yourself.
If I made I video I didn’t enjoy watching, why would anyone else enjoy it?
And I can’t explain how much of a difference that made in the success of the History of
the iPhone video.
Because one year after it was uploaded, it started getting really popular.
In fact, the video received over half a million views in just 30 days.
And my channel grew from 150 subscribers to 8,000 in just 60 days.
And this is when I realized I might be able to grow my tiny channel to a respectable size
someday.
Because based on my calculations at the time, the channel would likely reach 100,000 subs
within five years.
But my calculations were off, because it actually happened in just 18 months.
So let me explain how that happened.
Once I decided to take deliberate steps toward growing my channel, I quickly found out what
helped contribute to my channel’s growth and what did not.
And if you’ve been following my channel closely, you might remember several videos
I made in mid 2017 where I was actually on camera talking about various Apple topics.
And those videos in general didn’t get many views and therefore didn’t earn the channel
many subscribers.
I also made a style of video where I’d comment on a current Apple topic, like their television
ads, and give my opinion on whether they were good or bad.
But those videos didn’t resonate too much either.
So I returned to making my usual Keynote slideshow videos where I showed every model of a certain
Apple product, and got a new video idea.
What if instead of showing photos of, say, every iMac model, I actually narrated a mini-documentary
about the iMac.
Where I’d tell the story of why it was developed, who helped create it, and the effect it had
on the tech industry.
And that video concept is probably the biggest reason why this channel has experienced so
much growth.
Because I could make those videos much quicker than my usual slideshows, so I began posting
twice a week and eventually three times a week, which I think really boosted my channel’s
favorability in the YouTube algorithm.
And because the length of these mini-documentaries were quite a bit longer than my usual videos,
my channel’s average monthly watch time almost quadrupled.
And that led to YouTube recommending my videos even more.
Now at this point, some of you might be thinking, okay all I have to do is post more videos
and my channel will start growing.
But that isn’t necessarily true.
Because remember, in mid 2017 I was posting more often than I ever had and my channel’s
growth actually slowed down during that time.
Because even though I was posting more videos, they weren’t actually performing well with
viewers.
And to be honest, the videos weren’t great.
So I am a huge believer that you should only upload more often if the videos you’re making
are actually entertaining to people.
So since the beginning of this year I’ve pretty much stuck to the same schedule and
same video content.
And that dedication to making sure each video is high quality and is uploaded on schedule
has really helped increase my channel’s rate of growth.
And because of that steady growth, the channel surpassed 100,000 subscribers a few weeks
ago on September 19th.
And if you’re looking at the subscriber count now, you’re probably wondering what
the heck happened in the last three weeks, because as of today, the channel actually
has about 140,000 subs.
So how did Apple Explained manage to gain 40,000 subscribers in three weeks?
Well when the new iPhones were introduced last month I made an updated History of the
iPhone video which included the new iPhone XS, XS max, and XR.
It was actually an unscheduled video that I decided to make at the last minute so I
was up pretty late finishing it.
But I’m glad I did, because one week after it was uploaded, it started going viral just
like my first History of iPhone video back in 2017.
And that huge boost in views resulted in a huge boost in subscribers, which is why the
channel achieved an additional 40,000 subscribers in the last few weeks.
So the last 18 months have been a wild ride.
And I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Looking back at how far this channel has come really makes me appreciate the people who
made it all possible.
And that of course, is my viewers.
You guys help shape the content I create and have stuck by my side through it all.
And I cannot thank you enough.
If you told 15-year-old me that by 25 I’d be running a YouTube channel with 100,000
subscribers, I don’t think I’d even be able to comprehend how that would be possible.
And if you’re that 15 year old trying to build a channel, the only advice I can give
is to make high-quality content that you would enjoy genuinely watching that can’t be found
anywhere else.
So that is how this channel grew to 100,000 subs, and if you want to vote for the next
video topic, don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.