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6 months in, my thoughts

Ocean Chan

I've Got It
Hey everyone,

Officially hit 6 months since i first started my channel and it has been an interesting journey

I created my channel to upload videos on my freedives around Sydney, it still is very much about that but also with a lot of commentary of my thoughts on diving.

Exactly on the 6 month milestone i ticked over to 600 subs.

This is how my journey went and here are some tips.

When i first started i uploaded once a week.
I promoted to family and friends on facebook and that was pretty much it.

Growth was fairly slow for the first two months. Each video averaged 100 views and i hit 100 subs after 2 months.

The upload schedule was killing me though. Its extremely difficult to film and edit dives every week, as I work full time and i need to have good weather and water conditions to do a dive.

The weekly uploads lasted for the first 10 weeks.

To all those starting out, looking back i dont regret doing it at all, because it allowed me to have a collection of videos quickly so my channel wasnt short of content.
After the first 10 weeks, i have switched to fortnightly uploads which is much better and gives me more time to plan out my videos and make the best quality content.

I soon started up an instagram account and a twitter account, as well as joining scuba diving/freediving forums.

As my videos are very visual and also about a specific topic, these platforms worked well and directed a lot of viewers to my channel.

After i hit 100 subs (everything they say is true), i started gaining subs quickly, and it has been over 100 subs a month since then.

My views are fairly average for each upload, 300-400 in the initial week, then slowly going up afterwards.
I still am not experienced enough to know how else to get my videos further out there, bit i am happy with the progress.

Interactions are always good and i found a good tip is to ask viewers questions in the video and in the description below.
Always reply promptly and thoughtfully.
Be genuine with your viewers and dont see them as numbers but as people with the same passions as you

So where to for me?
I will always be passionate for freediving, but looking back in the past 6 months there have been times were i have not wanted to do anything youtube related.
I would like to continue to find interesting sites and marine lift to film and make more videos.
I dont like to set number goals or deadlines as it will really take the fun out of the whole thing

Final word of advice for everyone, enjoy what you are actually filming or creating.
Dont make a video for the sake of it and dont sit around wondering why there are no views or subscribers. Focus on your editing skills, story plotting, videography skills, animation skills - whatever makes your videos more interesting!
 
Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm at the begining of this journey. The last paragraph was totally my thoughts. Good luck!
 
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