Common issues that keep you under 1,000 subscribers

Me too. I started first w/o having the real video first. Then learned of stuffs to make your channel more lively. I studied photoshop to do the branding. And when I have my brand even if my video is poor people starts subscribing. I made a banner and a logo and some said they subscribed because of my good profile. Another one is socializing too. Just asking them to just watch the videos first so that I can also collect views even if they are not subscribing.. I got 7 subscribers in just 10 days and more than a hundred views. It's just even an experimental account..
 
Well Tim, I got your book and I'm currently reading it (Free one, need more money to buy others).
In my opinion why I personally didn't ever got 1k subs is that I got bad schedule of content back in days, and now need a lot of time to create a good content. For instance: my first real channel was opened in 2007 just to subscribe and comment on few videos, and back in mid 2008 I posted first video. It took me almost 5 years to get 50 subs and 1k views on all of videos (about 25 vids before starting as real Content Creator with some kind of schedule).
After real start in early 2013 I would say that I got a bunch of small mistakes which always took me under 1k subs range (but from 100k views which I reached in mid 2014, and I'm now going to reach that view number with gaming channel which have almost 60 vids right now)... Some of them are Copyright Strikes, bad content (bad quality is better to say, sometimes used crappy phone camera to record vids at maxed resolution of 360p) and one of mistakes is creating new channels after a bunch of problems with it... Yup, that is one of biggest mistakes ever made... Always restarting from 0 after problems with MCN's (ForelaDigital is one which didn't wanted to release me in frist 30 days after wrong decision, blocked AdSense is second issue and final issue was 2 Copyright Strikes and mailing about 4 more Strikes for some videos which now I only keep on my private Google Drive).
So, now I'm trying to propperly brand me (as I have Official branding for at least 1 year now, before experimented with everything), communicate with audience (some of audience is still wathing my videos but they are not subscribers so I contact them via Yammer for college (friends and colegues from college) and directly by newsletter (need to gather their e-mails so I can build mailing list)) and of course - how to be really original author of content.
This is all for private channel, for my gaming/collab channel me and friend know tactics which are sharing all uploads via mine Twitter account, multiple uploads by week (or in 2 weeks when don't record anything or if recordings isn't for sharing it online) and finnaly, after 11 months of YouTube and promoting content via different social groups (G+, Facebook). We hope to reach 1k subs in next 4-5 months and also at least 100k views in next 2-3 months (second thing can get faster, need to record unique content which both didn't found on YouTube yet).
In conclusion: slow reach of goals is painful, but it is perfect for small channels...
 
Tim Schmoyer said:
Hey YTTalkers! I recently heard a small YouTube creator complaining about how YouTube needs to update their algorithm to favor small YouTubers and not just "the big guys." Other small creators chimed in and readily agreed, but I honestly have a different perspective on why small creators stay small and it has nothing to do with YouTube's algorithm.

I thought about this community today and thought I'd share my thoughts here in hopes of encouraging some of you. Hopefully this helps some of you break out from under the 1,000 subscriber barrier that seems so difficult to break sometimes.

First of all, let's talk about that good ol' YouTube algorithm. Is it really geared for the large creators?

For context, I'm a YouTube Certified Consultant and work with both my personal channels and client channels. I started my first channel in 2006 and grew my most recent personal channel from 0 to 10,000 subscribers in the first 12 months. It's now about 25 months old and has 54,000 subscribers and 2.8 million views. It's in a very narrow, small, specific niche, too, not something big and broad like gaming, vlogging, or beauty (ha! image me doing that!).

Most of the channels I work with as clients come to me with under 1,000 subscribers. After about a month or two of working through some common issues that keep creators stuck in that subscriber bracket, they start to exponentially grow. That proves to me that the problem is not algorithmic.

One client of mine came to me before he even started his channel. After 9 months, he's now making $30,000 per MONTH in Adsense revenue alone. I don't say that to point the finger at me -- I say that to say: You can do this! If this guy who didn't even have a YouTube channel can do it, so can you. The algorithm is not the problem.

I've worked with countless channels that have grown from 0 to hundreds of thousands of subscribers and a lot of money fairly quickly. In fact, I used to be co-workers with the guys behind the CinemaSins channel. They'll be the first to tell you that YouTube's algorithm doesn't squish the little guys on YouTube. They started with 0 views just like everyone else. You can do this!

So what are those common issues that cause creators to feel stuck at under 1,000 subscribers?

1. Poor branding.
This goes far beyond a simple forum post, but think much broader than logos, header images, and branded bumpers. Essentially it's answering the questions, "Who specifically is this content for?" and, "Why should that person care?" Why does your channel matter? What difference does it make in that person's life? What's their motivation for wanting to subscribe to your channel in the first place? How easily does your channel answer those subconscious questions for them? How well is that "branding" integrated into your content and channel?

2. Poor titles and thumbnails.
It doesn't matter how awesome your content is if the thumbnails and titles aren't engaging, enticing, and attract people to click. That doesn't mean you should be misleading and tease a story that really isn't in the video -- that will backfire every time -- but it means knowing what the true value of your video is for someone and then crafting a "billboard" for it (title and thumbnail) that accurately pitches its value.

3. Craft better videos.
And I don't mean just in terms of production value -- I mean in terms of actual content value. Most creators assume that their videos are awesome and that the only problem they have is exposure. The problem with that way of thinking is that it locks you into a mindset that doesn't change with YouTube and causes you to start blaming other things that you don't control. It's pretty self-defeating. If you've been creating videos for even 6 months, go back and look at some of your first videos. You thought they were awesome back then. Today you're probably embarrassed by them. And next year you'll look back on the videos you're creating right now and feel the same way. So use tools like "audience retention" in YouTube analytics to craft better videos. Drop the stuff that causes audience drop-off (like branded intros, for example) and learn to start the videos with better hooks, eliminate wasted time, stuff like that.

Hope that helps some of you get on the right track. Like I said, anyone can do this YouTube thing. I really believe that. The key is to work smart, not to just work hard.

I'd love to hear what tips and ideas you have for breaking past 1,000 subscribers! Let's all help each other out here.
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Awesome seeing you here iv'e always watched your videos and i'm well on my way to getting my first 100 subs , i am guilty of not applying everything you've thought me through your videos lol, imagine what will happen when i do ?, i think you're awesome teacher please continue doing what your doing i love your channel!.
 
hey I dont get enought views on my channel anyway is there anyway i can change that?
Please take a look at my channel it would mean sooo much, i do call of duty and gta 5 i also play a bit agar.io :tongue:
 
Zack Wellman said:
Absolutely right; I tend to communicate with people who "Like" or "Favorite" posts, and then go from there. I make sure my thumbnails stand out on all platforms, and I've got my own templates that I've adapted so they look good on all platforms with no core information being blocked or left out.

I suppose being my own Graphic Designer has it's perkes, and I've started developing templates and resources to try and help others.

But yeah, all good points.
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Hey man just went and checked out your thumbnails. Those are actually very well done :)

How do you make them/How long does it take you?
 
Finally read through the whole thing and I'm so happy I did. So much great stuff here :) I learnt so much and I'm going to read your free ebook too. Thank you so much Tim for giving us all these tips!
 
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