Anyone else get discouraged?

[NoDragonsPlz]

It's normal for me to feel disappointed over my YouTube stats, so yes, I do often get discouraged.

One thing I'd like to add to this discussion is that, while PictureFit is probably right on many counts, simply understanding how SEO works is far from all that's needed if the other common problems don't apply. I tag my own videos with almost every keyword I can think of that is even slightly relevant to my videos, and even those are lucky to get a mere 250 views each in their lifetime. This also means that being different is not a good thing when it comes to being creative: rather, most success on YouTube seems to be tied to presenting the same kind of content, no matter how differently you may present it.

In addition, probably the most important thing for success (which is not exclusive to YouTube, mind you) is knowing people who are already successful. Simply creating content will get you nowhere: it largely depends on if a celebrity is willing to recognize your efforts.

True! I've had some nice run ins with some people more successful than me and I got a few subs from that!

 

[PyroGirl]

TOO MUCH FOCUS ON SUBSCRIBERS AND VIEWS. This is where so many falter on their way to becoming successful on YouTube. Heck, it's the reason why many people fail in real life overall. When you start putting so much focus on the end result, you're only setting yourself up to become disappointed. Why stress over things that you cannot control? Put your efforts AND your thought process only on things you can control.

You're so right. One expression that might be appropriate here is "a watched kettle never boils". It's much better to use your energy to develop new ideas and try and continuously improve quality and technique, SEO etc than to worry about numbers especially in the beginning when numbers can be very discouraging.

I really liked your post PictureFIT. Great advice. I have other channels that are in various stages of growth and have been making videos for 2 years with mixed success so I know what can happen if you obsess about your stats and battle with discouragement.

Most channels that become successful do so only after quite a long period of evolution (sometimes years) and gradual improvement so it should be seen as training for a marathon rather than a sprint. One way to encourage yourself is to look at the earliest videos on successful channels (sort oldest to newest in their videos page) and see how bad they often are (if they haven't deleted them). You will be able to appreciate their dedication as they gradually improved their equipment, techniques, confidence and quality over time. Usually you will see that they had a gateway video at some point which helped their channel take off, but until that point it was simply a matter of continually trying to improve and they likely faced the same battles we all do when starting out. The difference is they stuck it out and took the trouble to learn and improve and not let discouragement take they down.

OP, I encourage you to do this. Look at the earliest videos on your favourite popular channels and you will see that they usually had quite a struggle in the beginning. Endurance and a desire to improve over time is key to success on YouTube.

 

[RiffRaff]

I think people that are suggesting that you keep creating more videos and not to worry about it is telling a great advice. However, simply cranking out more videos isn't necessarily going to get you anywhere. After all, wouldn't you say that this whole time you've been cranking out videos and not seeing any results is what got you discouraged in the first place?

In my short time on this forum, I've noticed that this topic is very common. Along with that, I've noticed a certain trend when it comes to people that create these threads:

1. Mediocre content. They think their content is good but it actually isn't. It's important to be your biggest fan as well as your biggest critic. After all, you're the one that wants yourself to succeed the most, wouldn't you agree? And this ties into the second point.

2. Their latest video is no different in quality than their first video. There might be a point where one of your video catches traction and brings in a lot of subscribers, but to expect that creating similar content to your "viral" video will bring you even more success is going to lead to disappointment. If all of your videos are pretty much the same quality with very little difference in content, you'll stay exactly where you're expected to stay. And this applies to all types of channels, content, products, and businesses. Even the successful ones. Heck, I would say that improving quality is utmost important in the greatest brands around the world. No one cares if you just release the same stuff all the time. People get bored. You need to continuously improve your content. Apple wouldn't be successful if all they did was sell the first iPhone up to this day.

3. Lack of SEO knowledge. So many want to become successful, but never want to put in the work in doing all the other stuff in order to become successful. Understand your content, your audience, and your search keywords. How can you expect people to find you if you make your videos so hard to find in the first place?

4. TOO MUCH FOCUS ON SUBSCRIBERS AND VIEWS. This is where so many falter on their way to becoming successful on YouTube. Heck, it's the reason why many people fail in real life overall. When you start putting so much focus on the end result, you're only setting yourself up to become disappointed. Why stress over things that you cannot control? Put your efforts AND your thought process only on things you can control. That means don't even look at the subscriber count nor the view count. Don't even CARE about it. Care about providing content. Care about making your content better. Care about making your content valuable.

I'm not saying that these points apply to you, but I highly suggest that you take time reconsidering your approach to your channel if you're continuously discouraged by subscribers and views.

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