How to Survive Being a Small YouTube Channel (The Truth About Growth)
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every day thousands of small YouTube
creators give up most creators quit
before making it to video 20 because the
truth is YouTube takes time it needs
more data than you realize and in that
time it's easy to get discouraged to
compare yourself to others and to stress
about your circumstances I'm going to
explain the invisible growth phase that
happens before every Channel's break
through and how to survive it I've been
through this moment several times and it
never gets easy let's talk about why you
shouldn't quit I said this in a video a
while back and it's proven to be more
true than I ever realized you see
success on YouTube isn't immediate turns
out your content might have been great
all along and it simply takes YouTube
time to figure that out growing on
YouTube is like planting a tree you can
give it water give it sunlight tend to
it every day but you won't see the
fruits immediately think about what
happens when you plant a tree for months
sometimes years you see very little
visible growth the sapling looks fragile
you might wonder if it's growing at all
but beneath the surface something
important is happening it's developing a
root system building its foundation and
gathering strength this is exactly how
it works on YouTube you spend every day
thinking about your channel how to make
better content day in and day out but
the algorithm has to juggle hundreds of
thousands or even millions of different
channels it's trying to analyze your
video through its SEO and performance
with your community every once in a
while it'll show you to more people than
normal in a short burst to collect a
bigger data set but it takes time to
know what to do with that all the while
established creators have already gone
through this process they'll get
priority because their content has
already been considered
those videos with only 100 views they're
not failures they're your roots
spreading every video you make
strengthens that Foundation every person
who watches is like a bit of water
nourishing your channel every comment is
sunlight helping it grow you're building
something that takes time to mature and
the hard part is not being able to see
the fruits until later let me show you
something this video of mine took 100
days to reach 999 views and then
something amazing happened it found its
audience I hadn't made a 3D printing
video before this one and I haven't
haven't made one since and now it's my
fifth most viewed video on this channel
or look at this one it did well but then
after 6 months it blew up and got the
channel monetized overnight this isn't
uncommon this is the norm this is the
almighty algorithm at work one of the
biggest misconceptions about YouTube is
that the algorithm somehow punishes
small creators this isn't true the
algorithm has one job to match videos
with the viewers most likely to enjoy
them the problem is is that it's slow
and you can't see it working YouTube
doesn't care if if you have five
subscribers or 5 million what it cares
about is whether the people who watch
your videos engage with them do they
watch to the end do they like or comment
do they watch another one of your videos
afterwards when starting out YouTube is
essentially running experiments with
your content it shows your video to a
small sample of people and if they
engage it shows it to more if they don't
it stops and it can be hard to prove
that your stuff is worth watching if the
video itself doesn't have views the
thing to keep in mind is that this
process isn't hours or days it's weeks
to months you don't need everyone to
like your videos you just need the right
people to find them and if you want to
stay ahead on exactly how to help the
right viewers discover your content I
share tested and true tips and tactics
in My Weekly Newsletter the link is in
the description now let's talk about
consistency but not in the way you might
expect the most important form of
consistency isn't uploading on a perfect
schedule it's consistently showing up
for the Long Haul 90% of creators quit
within their first 20 videos they plant
the seed don't see immediate growth and
abandon the garden but here's what
happens when you stick with it one your
skills naturally improve with each video
two you build a small but loyal audience
three your library of content grows
increasing your discoverability and four
YouTube gathers more data about who
enjoys your content I'll let you in on a
little secret it's often video 20 30 or
even 50 that finally breaks through not
because it was dramatically better than
video 10 but because those previous
videos laid the ground workor so how do
you actually survive long enough to see
grow
here are four practical strategies first
redefine success early on views and
subscribers are the wrong metrics to
focus on instead you want to track
things like the skills you're developing
completion rates of your videos comments
and genuine connections and the
consistency of your output second you
want to find your creator Community
connect with other small channels in
your Niche comment on their videos join
Discord servers participate in
communities this provides support
collaboration opportunities and keeps
you motivated
third create with intention don't just
Chase Trends or copy what's popular ask
yourself what value am I providing that
no one else is even in crowded nichas
your unique perspective is your
advantage and fourth embrace the process
the creators who succeed aren't the most
talented or well-connected they're the
ones who didn't quit they're the ones
who fell in love with the process of
creation itself and not just the
results right now someone out there is
looking for exactly the content you
create and they just haven't found you
yet
your job isn't to blow up overnight is
to keep showing up keep improving keep
nurturing your channel until those
people find you remember the videos
you're making today are creating the
roots for your future success the growth
you can't see is still growth so the
next time you feel discouraged by low
views or slow subscriber growth remind
yourself every big successful Creator
started as a small unpolished channel
that needed time and consistent care if
you stop tending to yours you'll never
see a bloom keep creating your audience
is out they're waiting for you if you're
a small Creator watching this drop a
comment below sharing one thing you're
proud of creating regardless of how many
views it got let's celebrate the seeds
are planning together and if you haven't
started yet and if you're wondering if
you should take the plunge there's
literally no better time to become a
Creator just start start before you're
ready when I started YouTube I had to
learn all this the hard way and I'm glad
that I can share my experience with you
and help you to learn these lessons
quicker than I did I just made a video
going over the 28 things that I wish I
knew sooner and I think that you'll get
a lot of value out of it do me a favor
and watch it next
