mercmonster
Asia's Redheaded Step-Child
I haven't been YouTubing for very long, so I'm hardly an expert, but as I near the end of my 4th month on YouTube, there's definitely been quite a lot I've learned. And with quite a few people posting lately asking for "tips for growing" and whatnot, I thought that if anyone wanted to read, I'd share what I've learned! I should note that this is less of a guide (hence why I'm not posting it in the Guides sub-forum), but more of a helpful "story" to share.
Now the important thing you need to recognize here, right off the bat, is that by the "growing" in the title, I do not mean growing your subscriber count, views, or likes, etc. I mean growing as an actual YouTuber. And should you do that, your experience will be more all the more worthwhile. And hopefully, in turn, as you grow as a creator, your audience will grow too.
Now there are all the usual tips and tricks that have been covered by a bunch of guides here already, so I won't bore you by going over it again (majority of these guides are very helpful though - here and here are two good ones I read when I started off on the forum). I'm here to talk about the one thing that has helped me grow as a YouTuber: the community.
When I first started on YouTube, I knew it was going to be a lot of fun, I had all these exciting ideas for videos, questions I needed answered, and of course, plots for how I could grow my channel. Never once though, before I started, did I actually realize that when people spoke of a "YouTube community", that there really is one! Let alone that I'd be so deep in it! Yeah, I knew that obviously the "big" YouTubers have their large fanbases, which are communities of sorts, but I never sat down and thought about the fact that there was this vast community of just creators as well - with YTtalk being just one subsect of it. And therein lies a key way of growing on YouTube.
The ways in which this huge YouTubing community, a community each and every one of us is a part of, can help you grow are numerous. You can join forums like this one (although apart from /r/YouTubers, I haven't seen many other great YouTube communities, definitely none on the level of YTtalk, but still), and like many of us here have already done, make friends. I've met so many awesome people through this forum, literally too many for me to name and tag off the top of my head, but my experience getting to know each of them, watching their videos, having them watch mine, and just supporting each other has been fantastic. Other ways you can "grow"? You can check out other creators and learn how you can improve your content by seeing what they've done, in your opinion, "right" - as well as what you think they've done "wrong". You can network to be a part of collaborations. You can use your YouTubing friends as a sounding board for feedback on ideas, or maybe even to check out an unlisted video before you make it public to give their thoughts. Being a part of such a large, living, breathing community provides you with endless opportunity to connect, learn, and improve.
So my advice? Jump into the community. Don't just come on forums like this and drop a link to your channel telling people to check you out. Don't spam the same message on a ton of videos, telling people "So funny channel! Your great and have such good personality! Plz check out my channel and sub!". Actually get involved. Post here on YTtalk, get to know other users, make friends. Use social media! Twitter has been absolutely amazing in helping me meet other content creators and build relationships! If you're commenting on other YouTubers' videos, actually watch their content and give honest feedback - most of the time, it's appreciated! By posting videos on your channel, you're already putting yourself in the community, whether you like it or not, and so if you're jumping in, you may as well dive headfirst.
Well, that's it. Nothing ridiculously crazy, no magic formula or code that will instantly make you grow. Just simple advice from a new, baby YouTuber, worded much longer than it had to be. I know many of you are already knee-deep in the community, so I'm sorry if this advice is kind of pointless to you, but to those of you still looking for ways to improve and grow as a content creator, hopefully this helped! Either way, let me know what you guys think, and what your experiences with the community has been. Am I right about some things? Wrong about others? Anything you'd add? Either way, if you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read my late night rambling!
If you'd have told me that when I first started on YouTube, I'd have made this many friends in the community, each with such varied content, and from all walks of life, I probably... well, honestly, I would've still believed you... but I'd have been very surprised!
tl;dr
Now the important thing you need to recognize here, right off the bat, is that by the "growing" in the title, I do not mean growing your subscriber count, views, or likes, etc. I mean growing as an actual YouTuber. And should you do that, your experience will be more all the more worthwhile. And hopefully, in turn, as you grow as a creator, your audience will grow too.
Now there are all the usual tips and tricks that have been covered by a bunch of guides here already, so I won't bore you by going over it again (majority of these guides are very helpful though - here and here are two good ones I read when I started off on the forum). I'm here to talk about the one thing that has helped me grow as a YouTuber: the community.
When I first started on YouTube, I knew it was going to be a lot of fun, I had all these exciting ideas for videos, questions I needed answered, and of course, plots for how I could grow my channel. Never once though, before I started, did I actually realize that when people spoke of a "YouTube community", that there really is one! Let alone that I'd be so deep in it! Yeah, I knew that obviously the "big" YouTubers have their large fanbases, which are communities of sorts, but I never sat down and thought about the fact that there was this vast community of just creators as well - with YTtalk being just one subsect of it. And therein lies a key way of growing on YouTube.
The ways in which this huge YouTubing community, a community each and every one of us is a part of, can help you grow are numerous. You can join forums like this one (although apart from /r/YouTubers, I haven't seen many other great YouTube communities, definitely none on the level of YTtalk, but still), and like many of us here have already done, make friends. I've met so many awesome people through this forum, literally too many for me to name and tag off the top of my head, but my experience getting to know each of them, watching their videos, having them watch mine, and just supporting each other has been fantastic. Other ways you can "grow"? You can check out other creators and learn how you can improve your content by seeing what they've done, in your opinion, "right" - as well as what you think they've done "wrong". You can network to be a part of collaborations. You can use your YouTubing friends as a sounding board for feedback on ideas, or maybe even to check out an unlisted video before you make it public to give their thoughts. Being a part of such a large, living, breathing community provides you with endless opportunity to connect, learn, and improve.
So my advice? Jump into the community. Don't just come on forums like this and drop a link to your channel telling people to check you out. Don't spam the same message on a ton of videos, telling people "So funny channel! Your great and have such good personality! Plz check out my channel and sub!". Actually get involved. Post here on YTtalk, get to know other users, make friends. Use social media! Twitter has been absolutely amazing in helping me meet other content creators and build relationships! If you're commenting on other YouTubers' videos, actually watch their content and give honest feedback - most of the time, it's appreciated! By posting videos on your channel, you're already putting yourself in the community, whether you like it or not, and so if you're jumping in, you may as well dive headfirst.
Well, that's it. Nothing ridiculously crazy, no magic formula or code that will instantly make you grow. Just simple advice from a new, baby YouTuber, worded much longer than it had to be. I know many of you are already knee-deep in the community, so I'm sorry if this advice is kind of pointless to you, but to those of you still looking for ways to improve and grow as a content creator, hopefully this helped! Either way, let me know what you guys think, and what your experiences with the community has been. Am I right about some things? Wrong about others? Anything you'd add? Either way, if you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read my late night rambling!
If you'd have told me that when I first started on YouTube, I'd have made this many friends in the community, each with such varied content, and from all walks of life, I probably... well, honestly, I would've still believed you... but I'd have been very surprised!
tl;dr
