It is a fact most YouTubers get big early on. DoItWithDan, 6Foot4Honda got big early on. Got plenty more where that came from too. So if you don't get big early, it is unlikely you'll get big later. They got big early because they have the personality, the X factor. if you don't get big early on you are missing that. So it is highly unlikely you will grow to the fabled 100K+ subscriber base. Which is pretty much right next to never. It is called being a realist. Keep dreaming. You're 3 months in. We'll have a conversation in 3-4 years. If you last that long. My prediction? You won't. You'll get so disenfranchised due to the lack of views and subscribers you'll quit. And then you'll think back at what you read and say: The guy was right. And if I wasn't right? Well, I'll take one for the team. I like my odds however.
Ah, of course. If you don't get big early, you are missing the "X factor", the "personality". Clearly nothing to do with Youtube's algorithm, nothing to do with how you SEO, nothing to do with what type of market you are targeting and when, nothing to do with capitalizing on trending markets, nothing to do with aiming for a gateway video. No, it is as simple as "if you have the X factor, you will explode in 6 months whether you are a gaming channel or a pancake cooking lessons' channel. You'll put a few dozen videos on a saturated market and somehow, Youtube will recommend your videos with 5-10 views, tweets will get wildly viral, somehow everyone will see your pre-100 sub channel and think "wow, I must subscribe!". No, it is not a fact, it's your own self-made up fact.
I won't last that long? It seems you have the wrong idea. Were you aiming for fame and money? Then I can tell why you failed. I'm quite happy breaking 1k subscribers within 3 months in a market that is beyond saturated. I'm quite happy that they aren't just numbers but active people that acknowledge my ideology that mine is not just a channel, but a community. What I do, I've been doing since I was 3 years old, only difference is I record and edit now. So really, if I don't get big, I did not lose anything, but I did gain a lot. I have my full time job which provides me the economic sustain I need, I'm not aiming to be famous, to make a living off Youtube. Most of the channels I watch started with nothing, or in college, with crappy videos just having a laugh.
You call it being a realist? Great. I call it being a pessimist.
And yes, I will keep dreaming, since it seems with just 3 months in, thanks to this and other smaller Youtuber communities, I got a pretty decent understanding of how Youtube seems to handle small channels. Whereas I enjoy and have fun doing what I do, I can guess that you didn't really enjoy making videos. You had other goals in mind, and that's something I thankfully won't go through.