The REAL TRUTH About How to Grow a YouTube Channel - This Took 8 Years!

so here we are just days away from hitting 2 million subscribers on the vid IQ YouTube channel and to be honest with you it all feels very surreal first of all let me get this out before I forget thank you thank you for supporting us on our journey to help you with your YouTube journey and our journey on this channel has been a long one over eight years now of struggles breakthroughs UPS Downs self-doubt But ultimately big victories and major Milestones but if you're watching this and you're feeling stuck with your own YouTube channel and

your YouTube journey I just want you to know that I truly do know exactly how you feel I was in the same position you are right now when you're watching Big channels get thousands maybe even millions of views every single video and you're thinking to yourself I'm putting all of this hard work in I'm grinding every single day and I barely get over a 100 views but here is the raw truth it's not easy for us them or you every Creator no matter their size has had this moment multiple times is it worth it and

if you're a regular here you know what I'm about to say in my slightly eccentric way yes it is worth it if you're watching this video no matter how long you've been on YouTube running a channel you're still holding on to that hope and drive that you're going to work this out and trust me when I say that persistence and patience truly is everything so today I'm here to give you the real story on how to grow a channel to 1 million 98284 subscribers I'll be sharing the struggles hard lessons and truth of this journey

whatever your current YouTube goal is if you're willing to stick it out there is a path forward and here's how it starts yes a pattern interrupt a scene change I'm going to go through all of my sets so at the end of the video do let me know which is your favorite in the comments below let's start with a reality check people don't know just how long it takes to grow a YouTube channel you can take a look at the big and popular creators today such as Ryan Tran Alex hosi and Marquez brownlees and not

realize that they've been at this for five 10 even 15 years you'll often discover these creators when they're at their best they've put in 10,000 hours of learning effort and execution so many creators are looking for that shortcut to success and they get disappointed and deflated after only a few months of creating content they think that the most successful creators have some big secrets and yeah they do they never stopped but at the same time there is no secret hack that these creators are using they didn't magically figure things overnight it took them years of

perseverance trial and error constant learning to get where they are and it's the same for us if you scroll all the way through the vid IQ channel to the very beginning or in fact for any of your favorite creators you'll see it for yourself the awkward body language the rough storytelling the ugly thumbnails basic editing you know a question we're often asked is should I delete my old videos because they're rubbish and my simple answer to that is no they're not going to impact how your channel performs today and they are a fantastic reminder of

where you were then to where you are now any Creator can go back and look at the videos I were making 6 months ago and think to themselves wow I've come such a long way and I'm such a better Creator you can do that right now on our Channel and the two things you'll quickly notice are I've grown a beard and I've lost my eyesight but we've come such a long way and yet we've still got so far to go and that is what I would call a YouTube right of passage that everybody needs to

go through there is a Monumental difference between the idea of being a YouTuber an influencer or whatever you want to call it and actually doing it for me it came down to this after starting a YouTube channel and working on it fulltime basically for six months making 50 videos I was still getting barely 100 views per video but but at that time it didn't matter because I loved falling in love with making videos the creativity behind it all as an introvert looking for a place to share my content creatively YouTube was the ideal distribution platform

in short it didn't really matter who was watching my videos or how many people were watching my videos I was addicted if after 6 months of been on YouTube someone asks you if you're going to make another video I hope your answer is going to be well of course I am it no longer becomes a question of if it's when I'm going to start my next video so give yourself permission and time to learn the YouTube skills and fall in love with the process this isn't a two or three Monon Journey hell it's not even

a two or threee Journey for some YouTube has already turned into a career that's lasted a generation so if you want this to become your full-time career then you've got to go at it fulltime for your to come giving up and getting frustrated after just a few months and blaming YouTube blaming the algorithm to be honest that's just an excuse wow I have not used this scene in a while so let's talk about competition is it fair to say that back in the day there were fewer creators which meant that you had more opportunity to

get discovered yeah you could argue that but you could also argue that back in the day there weren't as many people watching YouTube videos so comp competition has increased along with audience sizes but let's get one thing straight right here right now YouTube has never been easy even when there were fewer creators we were all still trying to figure everything out it's always been a grind trying to work out what content Works how to stand out and why one video gets 10 views whereas another video that you spent 10 minutes on gets 1,000 views YouTube

has always been a constant hustle in that respect the same Hustle that you're going through right now and you've also got to appreciate that a decade ago the industry was a lot more immature you are blessed with resources these days whether it's the ab thumbnail testing Tool YouTube shorts Community growth tools you have so many resources and opportunities at your disposal oh and I almost forgot to mention back when I started on YouTube even vid IQ wasn't around but if we do jump forward to today as our Channel approaches 2 million subscribers you would think

that we have it all figured out but the truth is we haven't come close to figuring out YouTube even though we are YouTube Educators the challenges simply change let me give you an example of a really big change that you have to contend with the shift from struggling to get discovered to trying to meet expectations your audience is always wanting more from you higher quality better ideas more consistent upload schedules and the pressure to deliver on that video after video is intense I'm going to be honest with you right now if you've been watching vid

IQ for any length of time you will know that around about 2 years ago I went on a sabatical because for one reason I was moving continents but for a second reason I was just burnt out but since I've returned it feels like I'm just back on that hamster wheel trying to make video after video after video a lot of the times it's not just about creating content that you enjoy it's simply meain raining what you've built and trust me when I say that pressure can be exhausting and on top of trying to keep that

momentum rolling you know what else starts to Gar at you whether or not you're still relevant you know what I've just realized all of my favorite Star Trek series The Next Generation Deep Space 9 Voyager maybe they all lasted seven seasons seven years effectively vid IQ without any break is that the start of season 8 so how do I keep people coming back keeping them engaged preventing them from moving on to the next thing and this is all made more difficult by the constant evolution of the YouTube platform and this ever changing landscape and let's

get back to the idea of competition when I started making videos for vid IQ about YouTube education there were maybe half a dozen other people on the entire platform doing the same thing now there are hundreds maybe even thousands and they are damn good at it just to pluck a few random names out of the YouTube education space Ed Lawrence from Creator boo Marcus Jones April Lin alter I look at all of them in equal measure inspiration and envy because they are incredible at what they do and just platform wide there is a YouTube educator

for every type of Creator every type of Niche every type of channel the storytelling the production values of creativity it is all on the next level and small channels do have that somewhat unseen advantage of being able to be more Nimble to try new things and innovate without so much risk you know sometimes what I see on YouTube from a Channel with less than a thousand subscribers makes me feel like a YouTube dinosaur and when I feel like that I want to reinvent myself try new things innovate but in order to do that I need

to get off this hamster wheel of constantly creating content but if I do that that I'm not going to meet my audience's expectation which Demands a couple of videos a week about YouTube education you can see the Dilemma these new small emerging channels are redefining the YouTube education Niche but you could say that about any Niche on YouTube there are new channels starting today that are making content that Rivals big channels sometimes even surpasses them and that does make me wonder sometimes how I would do if I started all over again on YouTube and nobody

knew who I was to be honest it's a terrifying thought I'm not sure how I would pitch myself as something new and something refreshing that a brand new audience would care about and all of these thoughts and feelings lead to something that you probably won't believe but is true I to this day still have impostor syndrome half a time I'm thinking to myself if I can just stay one step ahead of my audience I'll be all right but the half of me is constantly worrying about giving the wrong advice and screwing up somebody's YouTube Journey

which is the last thing I want to do and that's the reality that we live in just because we are considered a big Channel doesn't mean that we are at the top of our gate you have to keep evolving adapting to your audience's needs and keeping up with the constant changes of the YouTube algorithm but you should know by now that is cause and effect the audience impacts the algorithm so here's the hard Truth The Grind doesn't stop it changes but it doesn't stop in the beginning you're fighting for any sort of traction and then

you're fighting to stay relevant to evolve to adapt and that's why it all goes back to falling in love with the process not just the results because that's one thing that's going to burn you out faster than anything else might sound a little better during this set because I can use my expensive microphone oh and thanks for the extra 600 subscribers since we started making this video but we are here to talk about those numbers and the constant Chase of them here's another reality we all face you're never really satisfied with where you are in

your YouTube Journey now that's not necessarily A Bad Thing to strive for progress but it's Relentless and it's just how we're wired as creators you hit a milestone and instead of taking a moment to enjoy it you immediately set your sights on the next goal when you're getting 100 views per video you're probably thinking to yourself man if I could just get 1,000 views on my next video it would make everything better and it does for about 24 hours suddenly you're asking yourself how do I get 10,000 views on my next video it's like the

goalpost keep moving and no matter what Milestone you reach you realize that the sense of satisfaction doesn't last long you're always looking for that next number that next achievement and do I need to say anything about the infamous one of 10 the number of times that line in the YouTube Studio has determined my mood for the entire day it's embarrassing to admit but when you publish around a hundred videos a year that's the emotional roller coaster you end up on we tried to joke about this number with memes but more and more I'm trying my

best not to pay attention to that figure as much as I used to because it's turned into a Superstition at this point I've convinced myself that it's bad luck to check on a newly published video Until It's been live for at least 30 minutes so I can check what number out of 10 it gets does anyone else do anything really weird like that anyway back to the numbers game I do know that it's even more stressful for smaller channels because there's literally money at stake 1,000 subscribers 4,000 hours of watch time equals monetization but those

are huge numbers to set your sites on when you start at zero and as for YouTube shorts requirements I don't know how anybody has the emotional resilience to tackle a number such as 10 million views in 90 days I salute any Creator who's monetized their Channel through that method when this type of addiction to the numbers games starts to happen there's something you need to keep in mind this is really important but it's also really easy to forget now in this scene I'm probably supposed to get all deep and meaningful and philosophical but I can't

really do that when my t-shirt just says eat it is so easy to get caught up in The Daily Grind the numbers the pressure to grow that you forget the impact you have on the people who watch you you inspire inform entertain and sometimes without even knowing this you fundamentally change the state of mind or mood of a person they come away from your video feeling and thinking differently hopefully in a positive or constructive way this is just a sample of a comments from our community but they are telling us that we're doing something right

something meaningful something hopefully that's lifechanging YouTube grants you this awesome power and responsibility of influence and change so do remember even if you've only been creating for a few months you've likely already had this impact even if your audience doesn't always tell you but also take time to reflect on how YouTube has changed you in the 15 years I've been on YouTube I've now made nearly 3,000 videos and I've had my fair share of tough days on a platform you upload a video that doesn't perform well or you have creative block it makes you feel

as if you've built everything on shaky foundations but in those moments I try to remind myself of something really really important I started all of this because I love making videos and 15 years and 3,000 videos later I still do and I love helping other creators grow their channels that's what drove me to join vid IQ in the first place my goal has and always will be to help creators achieve the same dream I had to turn my passion into a career only to do it faster and better and we as a team can and

should be proud of the fact that almost 2 million people have been engaged enough with with our education to press the Subscribe button and we should be even prouder of the fact that we've had almost 200 million opportunities to do some good in the world of YouTube education and the comments that we showed you earlier prove that fact but now that you've remembered that there's also a harsh reality to contend with as your channel grows everything gets a lot more serious you lose a sense of Innocence especially when your YouTube channel becomes your main source

of income turning that passion into a career suddenly you're not just doing it for fun anymore it's about making a living and that's when the pressure can be truly overwhelming can YouTube sometimes feel like a job yeah it can but try to remember the job you were doing before YouTube I'm hoping that when you weigh up the pros and and cons YouTube still comes out on top this is a privilege I've worked hard for and it's something that I dreamed of being able to do and now I get to do it fulltime except for when

I really couldn't you see what I've done there same set just a different angle this might be hard to admit as a Creator especially if you've been doing absolutely everything on your own since the start but at some point you're going to need some help it is natural and perfectly understandable if you want to control absolutely everything on your channel since it feels like your baby but if you want to scale grow and avoid burnout then at some point you're going to have to relinquish some of that control I will be honest with you this

was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn in the beginning here at vid IQ for the first 3 or four years probably the first thousand videos I did everything from the ideas planning filming editing design uploading you name it I was in control of it and to start with that is totally normal you're wearing all of the hats when you do have a small Channel and if truth be told I didn't want to give up any of that control I loved being in charge of every single detail because I felt no one else

would understand the passion the goal the vision the way I did but what you eventually realize gradually over time is that you are your Your Own Worst Enemy because you can only do so much and quite frankly only know so much and when you attempt to grow and scale your channel there is often a bottleneck which is you the original Creator so I realized eventually that in order to keep growing I would have to become we and that meant building a team and that was actually one of the biggest unlocks for the channel when I

started to do less first it was Dan who's been with us for at least 1 million of those subscribers and then John but as well as a talent we have a gang of unsung heroes in the background the editors script writers thumbnail designers suddenly there was so many ideas so much incredible output it was a game changer trusting someone else with parts of your channel can feel very scary at first but once you do it and you find the right people you'll soon realize that it's the only way to keep improving and to stay consistent

Letting Go isn't easy but it's how you scale your channel without burning yourself out but having said all I've said over the last 20 minutes what's the biggest lesson I've learned after gaining 2 million subscribers well it's actually quite simple and it's the very first lesson I learned when I published my very first video on YouTube never give up you see the mission never ends our mission here at vid IQ is to empower creators with with the tools and the guidance to help them succeed on YouTube and as the platform continues to grow and Thrive

so does our mission as long as there are creators out there who still need help getting more views more subscribers monetizing their channels we'll be there to support them we'll be there to support you and is that mission worth all of the hard work the stress the pressures the deadlines the emotional roller coaster the 10 of 10 absolutely so whatever your mission on YouTube is start now continue it today and don't expect to finish it anytime soon and if you do need any help starting your YouTube Mission then this is where you start with the

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