All right, confession time. Last month, I spent 6 hours editing a 5-minute video that got 700 views, and I'm supposed to know what I'm doing on YouTube. So, if you're staring at your channel and wondering if anyone besides that pigeon that takes a dump on your windowsill every day cares about your digital existence, then congratulations.
You've made it as a small channel. And no, you are not alone. Actually, you're in the world's biggest secret club.
We are in a union, you and I. We are a legion. We are creators.
And yet, half the time, we don't have a clue what we're doing. So, let's talk about it. Here's how it usually goes.
And let me know if this reminds you of anyone. You have an idea, you film it, and you maybe remember to turn on your mic. Phew.
You spend half your waking life editing that video, but finally you do upload it to YouTube and then for the next three hours you refresh manically. Zero views, zero views, zero views. One view, you check who it is and it's your dog.
And this is where 90% of people quit. This is not because these people are bad at YouTube. It's because nobody's told them that this is what normal looks like on YouTube.
Every big channel you've admired has at some point sat in digital silence, too. Mr Beast took years before anybody noticed it. MKBHD film tech reviews on a potato of a camera.
And you know what I used to edit my first 500 videos? Windows Movie Maker 2. 3.
What a bloody good editor that was. So, if you're still here, still trying, still uploading, you're still doing better than most. This, after all, is what growth looks like.
It's just disguised as pain. And let's clear something up real quick. That pain is not through your channel being shadowbanned.
YouTube isn't secretly holding your channel hostage in a basement and a YouTube Karen didn't report your channel to get all of your videos blocked. What's actually happening is a lot less dramatic. YouTube and even more importantly, your ideal viewer simply doesn't know who you are yet.
It's like turning up at a Comic-Con in cosplay and expecting Marvel to just give you a movie deal on the spot. So instead of panicking about views, think like Sherlock Holmes. Each video you post, well, that's like another clue, another test, another breadcrumb for the algorithm to figure out.
Ah, so folks who binge productivity hacks at 2:00 a. m. in the morning really dig minimalism videos on this channel, too.
Noted. It's science. It's technology.
It's psychology all rolled into one, which makes YouTube sound like a moody teenager with a PhD and commitment issues. Look, this is a safe space, so let's be honest with each other. You've probably Googled, "How long does it take for my YouTube channel to take off more times than you've actually filmed videos, haven't you?
" Go on, admit it. The truth is, no one knows. And if you want the really annoying answer that we often give, it depends.
In fact, let me take this question and throw it back in your face and ask you, what do you define as your YouTube channel taking off? Here's what I do know. The only channels that don't grow are the ones that aren't uploading anymore.
Now, I'm not saying that you upload every single day like a caffeine addicted squirrel. I'm wondering if there are any caffeine addicted squirrel channels on [Music] YouTube. But what I am saying is that consistency matters a lot more than perfection.
For example, the video that you almost didn't upload because your microphone sounded a little off or the lighting was a bit wonky. That could be the one. And that's because YouTube is a momentum machine.
Yes, even if those video reps are awkward, quiet, a little cringeworthy, and they make you want to scream into a pillow. Let's talk some numbers. And I'm not talking about the numbers that make you cry.
It's the numbers that you barely even register. Let's say 50 people watched your video and you think to yourself, n that is the internet interpretation of it. But let's put this into a real life context.
Imagine you walk into a room and there are 50 people there sat down ready to listen to you for 8 10 minutes. That is not a failure. It is a teeny tiny TED talk.
We glorify the big numbers, but we never actually comprehend what the individual number actually means. Each single view is a lot more than that. It's a human being.
It's a potential fan, a loyal supporter, a possible collaborator, a subscriber who in six or seven months time may post in the comments first, but also I was here at 50 subs. That's real. That's community and that is growth.
But having said all of that, YouTube growth isn't like a Marvel movie. Well, let me just confirm that. No, no, it really isn't.
There's no montage, no epic training sequence where hair suddenly grows on your head and boom, monetized. Nah, YouTube's more like, yeah, the office. Awkward, slowpaced, full of people pretending to know what they're doing.
But everyone keeps showing up for the office, much like you need to do for your own YouTube office. And you'll keep trying and trying and trying until slowly but surely your channel becomes more than just a hobby. It becomes a voice.
It becomes a real passion and it becomes a massive opportunity to positively impact people's lives. For every awkward moment in front of a camera, every time you fail with another thumbnail AB test, every time you record a threeminut segment and forget to press record, which I have done on multiple occasions, that all stacks up for the reps. So to jump movie franchises for just one second, you're not Frodo after the rings being destroyed.
You're Frodo taking that long epic 12hour walk. I never did get on with Peter Jackson's movies, but if you want to keep on with YouTube, you've got to keep walking step by step. I think everybody who's on the YouTube journey goes through a point of self-realization where they stop asking themselves the question, "How do I get more views?
" Instead, they start to ask, "How do I get people to care? " Views will come and go, but trust that sticks. Throughout the years, I've said this line many times over, but I'm going to say it again.
Your job as a content creator isn't to try and figure out how to hack the YouTube algorithm. Your job is to show up. It's to be honest.
It's to be consistent. And it's to be just a little bit weird. Well, this isn't Marvel or Lord of the Rings, is it?
Be the channel that you want to find at 2:00 a. m. in the morning when you're doom scrolling.
The one that gets it. The one that says, "Hey, you're not crazy. You're just a creator in progress.
" So, yeah, you're not alone. You're just early. And that's not a bad thing.
After all, there is a legendary origin story, your story, waiting to happen. Keep filming. Keep uploading.
Keep falling forward. And when your channel does inevitably blow up, I hope you make an epic documentary about this part of your journey, preferably in black and white with slow piano music. So, presuming you're still here and you've not curled up into a ball constantly refreshing your analytics, drop a comment below and let us know where your sub count is right now and what's your goal for 2025.
I want to turn the comment section down here into a mini support group. No spam, no sub for sub, just creators showing up for each other. And hey, if you are ready for some more YouTube lessons, then check out this video over here.
It's not because I told you to, it's because you know I'm going to do something stupid in that one as well.
