Is Youtube too saturated to really be successful now?

babyteeth4 said:
It's an interesting question, but why do people constantly ask it? I get the feeling people just want a handy excuse. I'd rather focus on what I can control now. I'm not going to wonder about the "good ole days" when it was supposedly easier to make a name for yourself. Did authors ask this when the typewriter was invented, "Geez, now anyone can write, now there's too much competition"?
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I think some people want an excuse for their channel not doing better, but others might be just trying to ascertain the actual odds of succeeding with Youtube. People who want to be Youtube famous. Maybe those people are looking for an excuse too. An excuse to call it a day, quit Youtube at some point, and not feel like a failure. Still, others may be looking for an excuse to keep going; looking for a frame of reference when evaluating the growth of their channel over time. If they get confirmation that "yeah, Youtube is hard and only the very best truly "make it", it makes it easier for them to go on without losing morale. Makes it easier to justify that no one is watching their videos (I'm not talking about op or anyone particularly).

Definitely an interesting question though.
 
If your only intention of posting videos is to get rich quick, you will be quickly dissapointed. Learn to enjoy posting videos, and seek to improve them regardless of your view's. Even if it takes you 3 years to become a "hit" the work you put in will be worth it. Those videos that only had 20 views a year ago, will soon skyrocket. It's exponential growth.
 
Depends mostly on where you're looking at. YouTube is literally oversaturated with lets plays, Minecraft videos and other stuff like that, but for good content, you can still make something worth of attention.

You just need to make something original, attractive and worth watching instead of just sticking to the usual more recurrent stuff. For instance, Minecraft lets plays are so oversaturated it's hard to succeed there, specially when the game is already quite old. There's a new trend running about commentary videos with gameplays on the background of other videos (usually about cringe videos or something), but it's getting quite saturated with so many Leafy copycats lately.

If you can bring something new to the YouTube table, it's going to work.
 
babyteeth4 said:
I'm not going to wonder about the "good ole days" when it was supposedly easier to make a name for yourself. Did authors ask this when the typewriter was invented, "Geez, now anyone can write, now there's too much competition"?
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Isn't it simple math though? Would you rather compete against 25 thousand Youtube partners or tens of millions? When I started 3 of my channels the number of partners was around 25k if I remember correctly and I thank God I was around to start those channels at that time. Most of the others (along with several failed channels ) I started in 2011, still prior to them opening the floodgates. Suggested videos is, and has always been, the key to Youtube success (back then they were called related videos, of course). Back then you were competing with a tiny fraction of videos for those coveted suggested/related slots and now you're competing with millions of other videos.

It was easier back then. Is that helpful information? Not really. You have to deal in the now and adapt to the current landscape. But I'm not going to pretend that my channels' success has nothing to do with the fact that they were created when there was less competition. And 5 years from now when this same discussion happens they will talk about how it was easier in 2016 because there were 1/4 the number of videos to compete with.[DOUBLEPOST=1456478181,1456477204][/DOUBLEPOST]If we really wanted to get down to brass tacks (do people still say that or am I stuck in the 1890s?) we could deflate the hopes and dreams of almost everyone on this site by explaining the truth about Youtube success and why they aren't achieving it. And that truth is that their content simply isn't good enough. 99% of the people on these boards will never be able to make any meaningful amount of money from Youtube on a regular basis, much less actually make a viable living from it. We tend to baby the Youtubers here (I found this out early on when I asked for feedback about a video), we tell them half what they want to hear and only half of what we really need to say to them. It reminds me a little of a website called SingSnap where people sing karaoke, record it, and everyone heaps praise on them regardless of how it sounded. That's how I feel this place is, and maybe it's supposed to be that in some way, but it's counterproductive in many ways.

When I answer questions like the one posed by the OP I'm doing it strictly in a matter of fact, informational way. What OP's motives are are not relevant to me if he/she asks a specific question I think I have the answer to. So I put forth my opinion. Is the market saturated? Yes, I think it is. Is that an excuse to not be completely objective about your work? No. Is that an excuse for not being successful? Nope. The likely reason for your lack of success (anyone's) is lack of quality content. The content simply isn't good enough.
 
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Here is a method to objectively analyse the quality of your content:

There are thousands of new noob YouTube users (not creators) signing up to YouTube every day. At the time of signing up, they have no idea about who the "big" or "small" Youtubers are. They might have heard of a couple of names, but for the most part, they're coming on to youTube with an open mind and no preconceived ideas. They are simply looking to be entertained / learn something etc regardless of who the creator is.

YouTube creators need to ask themselves:

- "Would my content appeal to these new YouTube users?
-Is my content "competitive" compared to what else is available on YouTube in my genre? (ie in the top 5%) - This means, if you take a representative sample of 10,000 YouTube creators in your niche and ranked them in order of "quality", then would you be in the top 500?

If your content doesn't even appeal enough to brand new noob YouTubers who have no preconceived ideas, then your content definitely won't appeal enough to seasoned YouTube viewers who know who the best creators are.

If your content doesn't pass the noob YouTuber test, then it's going to be practically impossible for your channel to grow.

It's like a job interview where there are 100 applicants for 5 positions. It doesn't matter if you think you are "good" at computer programming. If there are 5 other people who are better than you, then you're not getting the job.

Conclusion: content is king


People are talking about "saturation" because the number of creators keeps increasing. But the number of YouTube "viewers" keeps increasing too.........
 
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projectorgaming said:
Learn to enjoy posting videos, and seek to improve them regardless of your view's.
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I think it's much more important, especially during the first couple months, to study the analytics on the few views you do get rather than dwell on the fact that you have only a relative few views. As far as 3 years? If you're running your channel very seriously for 3 years and aren't where you want to be with regards to views/day, then there might be an issue with your content.
 
WeiseGamer said:
Can try for Facebook's video stuff if you want to start somewhere new(ish if you dont count FB as being old since it's already existing).

I think that you can grow here if you want to, but you nee the right approach and right mindset. If there are 1000 pizzerias in your town, you probably shouldn't open one up, right?

Instead, you find that there's no pizzerias that serve all natural, gluten-free paleo stuff. Well, that's called a NICHE that can be filled in an otherwise saturated market.

If you have any business know-how, you can still grow. I've been inconsistent as all hell over the last 2 years, but I hit 100 subs in less than 45 days in gaming because of a niche. I've grown around 200 subs since January (I believe, may be a tad off) after 5 months or so of absence due to a niche, again within gaming as a whole.

Back to the pizzeria, lets say there are 10,000 pizzerias in your town instead. 1,000 are gluten-free paleo healthy pizza places. BUT, only 5 are full of gorgeous women who dress scandalously, BOOM, NICHE! People would shop there because of that (sorry ladies, I don't advocate this but it happens).

Now, lastly, keep in mind that is has to be something people still go after. Take that above example, 1,000 are gluten-free paleo healthy pizza places. BUT, only YOU have the scandalously dressed over-aged men. Again, no offense is meant toward anyone that wants to do this in their own life, but as a business, people probably won't shop there due to that. NICHE, but not a NICHE people want.
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LOVE your examples :p
 
Crown said:
Here is a method to objectively analyse the quality of your content:

There are thousands of new noob YouTube users (not creators) signing up to YouTube every day. At the time of signing up, they have no idea about who the "big" or "small" Youtubers are. They might have heard of a couple of names, but for the most part, they're coming on to youTube with an open mind and no preconceived ideas. They are simply looking to be entertained / learn something etc regardless of who the creator is.

YouTube creators need to ask themselves:

- "Would my content appeal to these new YouTube users?
-Is my content "competitive" compared to what else is available on YouTube in my genre? (ie in the top 5%) - This means, if you take a representative sample of 10,000 YouTube creators in your niche and ranked them in order of "quality", then would you be in the top 50?

If your content doesn't even appeal enough to brand new noob YouTubers who have no preconceived ideas, then your content definitely won't appeal enough to seasoned YouTube viewers who know who the best creators are.

If your content doesn't pass the noob YouTuber test, then it's going to be practically impossible for your channel to grow.

It's like a job interview where there are 100 applicants for 5 positions. It doesn't matter if you think you are "good" at computer programming, if there are 5 other people who are better, then you're not getting the job.

Conclusion: content is king


People are talking about "saturation" because the number of creators keeps increasing. But the number of YouTube "viewers" keeps increasing too.........
Click to expand...
You are a wise pooch.
 
Crown said:
Here is a method to objectively analyse the quality of your content:

There are thousands of new noob YouTube users (not creators) signing up to YouTube every day. At the time of signing up, they have no idea about who the "big" or "small" Youtubers are. They might have heard of a couple of names, but for the most part, they're coming on to youTube with an open mind and no preconceived ideas. They are simply looking to be entertained / learn something etc regardless of who the creator is.

YouTube creators need to ask themselves:

- "Would my content appeal to these new YouTube users?
-Is my content "competitive" compared to what else is available on YouTube in my genre? (ie in the top 5%) - This means, if you take a representative sample of 10,000 YouTube creators in your niche and ranked them in order of "quality", then would you be in the top 50?

If your content doesn't even appeal enough to brand new noob YouTubers who have no preconceived ideas, then your content definitely won't appeal enough to seasoned YouTube viewers who know who the best creators are.

If your content doesn't pass the noob YouTuber test, then it's going to be practically impossible for your channel to grow.

It's like a job interview where there are 100 applicants for 5 positions. It doesn't matter if you think you are "good" at computer programming. If there are 5 other people who are better than you, then you're not getting the job.

Conclusion: content is king


People are talking about "saturation" because the number of creators keeps increasing. But the number of YouTube "viewers" keeps increasing too.........
Click to expand...

Well said my friend.
 
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