The Sad truth about my first 1,000 Subscribers

[KidsCorner]

Yep, this exact same thing happened to me and I got completely bummed out when I knew this wasn't working and it stressed me so much more than what it should. 293 subs at the moment, and all of them are probably dead ones, except perhaps 20 of them maybe - which is still a long stretch. But well, what can I say - lesson learned!

Maybe you didn't apply it correctly, did you keep viewing and commenting on their new uploads? Did you personalize the comments to what was actually in the video? Or did you sub/comment to people/videos outside your niche?
I have loads of them returning and the retention is okay as well. You do have to spend a massive amount of time on building the relationships though otherwise you have enormous amount of dead subs, no views and no watch time.
You have to understand that you all help each other, if you just come in for the quick sub you'll be disapointed with the result indeed.

 

[Klaustronix]

Maybe you didn't apply it correctly, did you keep viewing and commenting on their new uploads? Did you personalize the comments to what was actually in the video? Or did you sub/comment to people/videos outside your niche?
I have loads of them returning and the retention is okay as well. You do have to spend a massive amount of time on building the relationships though otherwise you have enormous amount of dead subs, no views and no watch time.
You have to understand that you all help each other, if you just come in for the quick sub you'll be disapointed with the result indeed.

Well it was a month ago that I had started but I soon got frustrated and took a much needed break to sort my mind and resolve out, but anyway, no, I particularly did subs4subs, well, though obviously, in videos that were actually telling people/giving tips for people to grow through subs4subs. For example, the video by Ziovo, I don't remember what it's called, but that video particularly said "Sub to 10 people from the comments, and leave a comment telling them you've subbed. This way your channel will get noticed and the ball rolling." So that's what I followed.

But anyhow, I've decided to do a complete refresh of my channel but I'm having a hard time figuring out which way I should turn -- since there are just SOOOO many gaming channels out there, and I don't know how I'm supposed to get proper exposure.

 

[KidsCorner]

Well it was a month ago that I had started but I soon got frustrated and took a much needed break to sort my mind and resolve out, but anyway, no, I particularly did subs4subs, well, though obviously, in videos that were actually telling people/giving tips for people to grow through subs4subs. For example, the video by Ziovo, I don't remember what it's called, but that video particularly said "Sub to 10 people from the comments, and leave a comment telling them you've subbed. This way your channel will get noticed and the ball rolling." So that's what I followed.

But anyhow, I've decided to do a complete refresh of my channel but I'm having a hard time figuring out which way I should turn -- since there are just SOOOO many gaming channels out there, and I don't know how I'm supposed to get proper exposure.

Yeah, you did it exactly the wrong way, nobody is interested in you there, they only come for the dirty sub with minimal effort.

Youtube is hard in general to get noticed (be prepared to invest a year of your time to get it started, but without views, watch time and subscribers it's going to be even harder and slower. Without networking and relying on the YT algorithm/engine only, it will take you ages. Why wait for the algorithm to do it for you and waste all this time of you making videos for no audience? To be succesfull on youtube you don't only need to master making yoru content, you also have to sell it yourself untill YT starts helping you. Some people have success with S4S (the proper way building relationships), some find a way to use reddit to good purpose and others already have a following on facebook or twitter they can tap into. If you need to build your social network up from the ground though, why not do it on Youtube?

 

[Klaustronix]

Yeah, you did it exactly the wrong way, nobody is interested in you there, they only come for the dirty sub with minimal effort.

Youtube is hard in general to get noticed (be prepared to invest a year of your time to get it started, but without views, watch time and subscribers it's going to be even harder and slower. Without networking and relying on the YT algorithm/engine only, it will take you ages. Why wait for the algorithm to do it for you and waste all this time of you making videos for no audience? To be succesfull on youtube you don't only need to master making yoru content, you also have to sell it yourself untill YT starts helping you. Some people have success with S4S (the proper way building relationships), some find a way to use reddit to good purpose and others already have a following on facebook or twitter they can tap into. If you need to build your social network up from the ground though, why not do it on Youtube?

True that, really good advice. But like, how DO you actually start building it up? I wish there was a proper guide around for that. Where to get started with selling your content and that. Then perhaps more people would follow those steps rather than go into S4S-ing the improper way.

 

[XXLRay]

The problem is that that's no easy way. You need to go to communities that are genuinely interested in your content and get involved there.

 

[TheKingCranee]

The problem is that that's no easy way. You need to go to communities that are genuinely interested in your content and get involved there.

Where are these active gaming communities you speak of. I can't find them. I know there's probably a ton but it's better if I get a little help on where

 

[XXLRay]

They are G+ communities, Facebook groups, Subreddits or forums but as I am not in your niche I can't name specific ones for your content.

 

[Klaustronix]

The problem is that that's no easy way. You need to go to communities that are genuinely interested in your content and get involved there.

I'm not talking about an easy way, but rather a PROPER way. Probably the biggest niche is gaming, and I really hope someone put out some communities, at least, as an example, as to where small YouTube channels like ours gets to have some exposure.

 

[XXLRay]

Start by typing the name of one of your games into the group search of one of the social media platforms above. Start with the biggest ones and check in which ones posted videos generally get a good feedback. Check under which conditions people post videos and in which cases they are well received.
Build up a reputation in the community by taking part in discussions and helping people out with problems and questions. Only then start dropping a link to your videos every now and then if it fits the conversation.

 

[TheKingCranee]

I'm not talking about an easy way, but rather a PROPER way. Probably the biggest niche is gaming, and I really hope someone put out some communities, at least, as an example, as to where small YouTube channels like ours gets to have some exposure.

That is why it's extremely hard to grow a gaming channel. Here's the thing. I love gaming and I wouldn't do youtube for anything else besides vlogging but that wouldn't be fun at the current state in my life due to the boringness of my life lol. Get a decent size on youtube and record how interesting things are (if they are) . I'm not one to look for a channel idea or to say hey what should i make a channel on, no. That's not a creator that's a wanter.