Ten Reasons Why Your YouTube Channel Is NOT Growing…
I might hurt a few feelings with this one, but I’ll try to be as gentle as possible. After all, I’m slowly learning YouTube isn’t for the faint-hearted.
So… In 6+ months of being on YouTube I gained over 7K subscribers. To be honest, I was not expecting my YouTube channel to grow this quickly because everyone else said it was so difficult. I started my YouTube channel in mid-June and my goal was to monetize my account by the end of 2020. I was able to monetize in September (less than 3 months after starting the channel). Was it easy - not really, but it definitely wasn’t hard.
Now for those of you that don’t know what monetizing is - in order to make any money off of your YouTube channel (with ads) you need to have 4000 watch time hours and 1000 subscribers within a 12 month period. Right now, this is the only money I’m making on YouTube (through ads). At some point, I will begin to pitch brands in hopes of securing sponsored videos. So what worked? How did I do it? And more importantly, why is YOUR channel not growing?
First… there will never be a perfect time to start a youtube channel.
I started in the thick of the pandemic, with my cell phone, my bedroom window (for light) and a head wrap on my head (because the salon’s were closed). Don’t believe me - here’s my first video: a Target Haul. If you clicked on this blog post and haven’t at least started a YouTube channel - I’m rolling my eyes at you because you’re procrastinating.
Second, Take the Time To Build Up Your Channel. This means you need a channel banner that’s sized properly. I know, I know… but you don’t know how to create a banner, it’s so difficult, blah blah… guess what? I am not computer savvy either, but I used Canva and figured it out. Create a banner for your page, share your posting schedule, and fill in your about me section. This is super important because I shouldn’t have to look through your videos to find out what type of channel you have - if your channel is about fashion, travel, home decor, skincare, beauty, whatever - I should see that information in your bio.
Third, stick to your posting schedule. Listen, I’m still trying to find the best days for me. I thought Sunday and Wednesday were, but I posted a video Thursday evening that did well, so it might be Thursday (and I’ll make an announcement when that happens). If I’m a subscriber, I need to know when to look for new videos from you. I shouldn’t have to keep checking. It’s like a television show - if Power airs on Sundays, we look for it on Sundays. If it just randomly popped up on Wednesday night - it would throw us off. And if one particular Sunday, it didn’t air with no explanation, you’d be bothered by that. If you want your subscribers to show up for you, show up for them.
Fourth, fill out your description box. Why do we leave this section empty?? When I’m watching a video, the minute I see something I like, I head right to the description box for a link. If it’s blank, I’m automatically frustrated because now I have to comment and hope I get a response. Don’t know what to put here?? Talk about the video, leave your contact information, other ways to connect with you (Instagram, Tik Tok, etc), your measurements (if it’s a fashion video) and LINKS… Wooh chile, I posted a video with no links and someone chewed me in the comments. Always try to share where you got your pieces from, tell folks if it’s old and no longer available and try and link similar pieces when you can. This takes time! Sometimes the description box feels like writing a blog post - but, hey… do you want to grow or do you want to grow?
your YouTube channel is not growing because your videos are all over the place.
You ever walk into a restaurant and they sell EVERYTHING… I mean Chinese food, Caribbean food, Spanish food, cell phone chargers, a salon in the back, and a few racks of clothes for sale too! Pick a niche and doggone it, please stick to it. If I pulled up to the Toyota dealer, I want a Toyota (not a Honda, Jeep Cherokee, BMW, or a Lexus). Some of y’all just throw up whatever you want to throw up and that’s not really how YouTube works. If your channel is fashion, travel & beauty, speak on that. Your niche is your main character, and we all know how we feel when we sit down to watch our favorite show and the main character doesn’t have enough air time. If you want to add something else in the mix- start off by easing your audience into it towards the end of one of your videos. For example, my channel isn’t really about home decor, BUT I started re-decorating my apartment and wanted to talk about it. So I added an apartment tour to the end of a fashion haul video to see how my audience responded. Since they responded well, I decided to start off with a 10 minute home decor VLOG to see how it’s received. Every video won’t do well, but it’s important to still show up and keep going.
Sixth, Presentation Matters: Your Thumbnail and Title need to be ON POINT. You can’t skim on this part (again, use CANVA) because your title and thumbnail is the cover page of the book, the billboard for the movie - it matters A LOT. Some of us don’t want to see a movie because the title and cover don’t look interesting. You have to put just as much (if not more) effort into the thumbnail photo and title as the video - it’s equally important. As for the title - it should be catchy and eye-stopping. Your goal is for your video to stand out in order for more people to click on it.
Create videos people want to see.
And once you see people love a certain type of video, create a few more in that same category. Not saying copy - but stay somewhat on trend. YouTube is a search engine and if no one is searching for Chicken Tacos - guess what, your video won’t be seen. Find clever ways to entice potential subscribers to click on your video. So instead of saying Chicken Tacos maybe something like How To Make Chicken Tacos In Under Ten Minutes | Full 600 Calorie Recipe. This way, when someone is searching for tacos, your video stands out. There are several ways I increase my visibility and audience on YouTube:
(1) VIDIQ: I learned about this early on from a good friend and it’s been helpful Did you know YouTube videos have tags and these tags increase your visibility through searches? VIDIQ is an add-on/extension that allows you to see the tags being used by some of your favorite and most popular youtubers. So before posting your video, find videos on the same category that have performed well. See what tags they use and then use a few of the same ones. Like I said, I’m a bit new, but research VIDIQ and USE IT!! You can add up to 500 words in the tags categories and I typically use all 500. PS. No one can see the tags unless they have the add-on so it doesn’t look like spam
(2) HASHTAGS: Also something I learned. So… I saw folks adding three hashtags in the description box and now I see why. You can click on those hashtags and see similar videos, so by using them you’re adding your video to that pool too!
(3) RESEARCH: Before creating a video, I do a search to see how previous videos have done with a similar title. This helps me to know if creating a video is worth it. If I want to do a Prada unboxing, I do a search to see what Prada unboxings have performed well. I see the length of the best performing videos, I check the comments to see the types of questions people are asking. Then I create a slightly shorter unboxing video, answer some of those unanswered questions asked in the videos I researched, with a great thumbnail, and I might have my video title say the year too. So, “Prada Re-Edition Full Unboxing and 2021 Review”. I do this because when I’m searching for a video, I go for the most recent and shortest videos! I don’t go to the long older ones!
(4) TELL THEM TO SUBSCRIBE: Listen, people aren’t thinking about subscribing to your channel when they’re glued into your video. So YOU have to remind them! Once right after you tell them about your channel and then again somewhere in the middle and again in the end. SAY IT, and have something POP-UP in the corner of the video reminding them to subscribe so they can see more videos from you! When I tell you, the reminder to subscribe in the middle and end of the video is CLUTCH.
Eighth, Talk to Viewers like Viewers. Sometimes I watch videos and see people talking slower which is so confusing. We can hear and understand, talk to your audience the same way you would talk to your friends.
Ninth, Be yourself! I think this is the main reason I grew so quickly… I talk to my audience like I would talk to my friends and this went over so well. I took notes of all the things I didn’t like about other channels and made sure to avoid ALL of them. Sometimes I even leave in my mistakes because it makes me more relatable. When hangers break, I leave it in and when I mispronounce things I leave it in too! We’re all HUMAN so don’t put too much effort into being perfect!
Lastly, create a (SHORT) quick opener for your channel and say it at the start of every video. Welcome back to my channel, for those of you that are new here, my name is Shannah. Subscribe to this channel for office and weekend fashion content two times a week. Today’s video is a Get Ready With Me Weekly Edition and let’s get into it… (simple right). Don’t go too long, don’t let the first words out of your mouth be to follow me on Instagram because a lot of YouTubers don’t really like Instagram and clicked on your video to see the video, not hear you talk about your Instagram.
BONUS: Lighting! It’s important to have decent lighting. As a new YouTuber I would NOT suggest spending money on lighting or a camera until you start making money on YouTube and feel like this is something you could commit to. I filmed in the daytime near a window on my cell phone until I started making money, and then I purchased a VLOG camera.
PS. Unless you’re doing makeup, a ring light by itself won’t cut it! I purchased one and it was useless because I was moving around and didn’t stay within the ring. I JUST bought some amazing LED Lights and Soft Boxes because I have to start filming at night due to my crazy schedule (so the window + the limited daylight in the winter won’t cut it).
I hope you found these tips helpful! I still have a lot to learn on YouTube, but I’ll continue to share my tips and tricks along the way!
xo, Shannah
GET THE LOOK
Dress: Alice & Olivia Lessie Ruffle Maxi Dress SOLD OUT| Coat: Helmut Lang Satin Coat | Hat: Flamekeepers Hat Club | Boots: Stuart Weitzman