Why I quit a YouTube channel with 370k subscribers
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Ed from Film Booth discusses why he decided to leave his successful YouTube channel with 370,000 subscribers to pursue a more specialized approach. He highlights the rapid growth and changes on YouTube, emphasizing the need for creators to adapt and focus on niche audiences to make a significant impact. Ed explores the challenges faced by different types of channels and argues for the benefits of becoming a specialist to differentiate oneself and provide more targeted, valuable content. He also announces his new channel, Creator Booth, aimed at entrepreneurs and business owners.
Takeaways
- 😲 Every minute, 79 years of video is streamed on YouTube, almost double that of Netflix.
- 📈 The number of YouTube channels has exploded from 23 million in 2018 to 114 million.
- ❓ Creators should ask themselves if they're keeping up with YouTube's rapid changes and adapting their strategies accordingly.
- 📉 Focusing only on mass-appeal content means unique, critical problems for niche audiences often go unaddressed.
- 🧩 Different types of YouTube channels (gamers, tech, entrepreneurs, etc.) face unique challenges that require tailored strategies.
- 🎯 Targeting the crossover zone for mass appeal can lead to content that isn't specific enough to truly help niche audiences.
- 😕 Examples in videos that are too broad can confuse viewers whose situations are very different, leading to misinterpretation and ineffective action.
- 🔍 There's a significant opportunity for creators to specialize in solving specific, big problems for specific groups of people.
- 💡 Specializing can help creators differentiate themselves, build a more dedicated community, and grow more sustainably.
- 🚀 Transitioning to a specialist approach can be more impactful and generate more dedicated support, even with fewer views.
Q & A
What prompted Ed to quit his YouTube channel with 370,000 subscribers?
-Ed decided to quit his channel because he believes there is a better way to make a bigger impact on the world by becoming a specialist in a specific niche rather than catering to a broad audience.
How has the number of YouTube channels changed since 2018?
-The number of YouTube channels has increased dramatically from 23 million to 114 million since 2018.
What is the 'crossover zone' according to Ed, and why is it problematic?
-The 'crossover zone' is the area where content appeals to the most people in a niche, aiming for big views. It is problematic because it neglects the unique, critical problems of specific viewer segments, leading to less impactful content.
Why does Ed believe becoming a specialist can be more beneficial?
-Ed believes becoming a specialist can be more beneficial because it allows creators to address the specific, critical problems of a defined group, leading to more dedicated followers and potentially faster growth despite a smaller initial audience.
What are some challenges faced by different types of YouTube channels?
-Challenges include dealing with trends and monetization for gamers, slow news periods and sponsor relationships for tech channels, niche volatility and copyright issues for faceless automation channels, and building credibility and converting views to leads for entrepreneurs.
What did Ed mean by 'pivoting' and how does it relate to his new strategy?
-Pivoting refers to changing focus to specialize in a specific niche rather than a broad audience. Ed plans to pivot by focusing on creating content for entrepreneurs and business owners, which he believes he can help most effectively.
Why does Ed criticize the approach of making content that only targets the 'crossover zone'?
-Ed criticizes this approach because it forces creators to produce generic content that doesn't address the unique needs of different viewer segments, leading to less meaningful and impactful videos.
How did the channel mentioned in the script grow from 0 to 300,000 subscribers in a year?
-The channel grew by specializing in using flow state to become a high-performing individual, targeting a specific niche within the self-help category, which helped them stand out and attract a dedicated audience.
What is Ed's new channel, and what will it focus on?
-Ed's new channel is called Creator Booth. It will focus on teaching entrepreneurs and business owners how to write and produce content, grow their YouTube channels, build email lists, create products and services, and turn their channels into businesses.
What advice does Ed offer to other YouTube creators based on his experience?
-Ed advises other creators to consider specializing in a specific niche to address the critical needs of a defined audience, which can lead to more dedicated followers, faster growth, and greater impact, rather than trying to appeal to a broad, general audience.
Outlines
📈 The Rapid Growth of YouTube
YouTube has seen an explosive growth, streaming 79 years of video content every minute, which is double that of Netflix. Since 2018, the number of YouTube channels has increased from 23 to 114 million. This rapid growth poses a significant challenge for creators, prompting them to question if their strategies are up-to-date. In this video, Ed, the creator of the Film Booth channel with 370,000 subscribers, shares why he quit his channel. He discusses how creators need to adapt to the changing platform, leveraging new strategies to achieve their goals. He also teases a strategy that grew a channel from 0 to 300,000 subscribers in 12 months.
🧩 Diverse Challenges for Different YouTube Niches
YouTube creators face unique challenges depending on their niche. Ed explains the specific issues for various types of channels: gamers must adapt to trending games, tech channels face slow periods without news, and AI-driven faceless channels need to constantly find new niches. He highlights that addressing the general crossover zone in content often neglects these unique challenges, leading to inadequate support for viewers' specific needs. This one-size-fits-all approach can cause confusion and misinterpretation, making it harder for viewers to apply advice relevantly to their situations.
🔍 Targeting Specific Audiences Effectively
Ed discusses the difficulty of catering to a wide range of expertise levels within a niche. Videos targeting general problems in the crossover zone often fail to address the specific needs of beginners, intermediates, and professionals. This broad approach can lead to content that is either too shallow for experts or too complex for novices. He argues for the importance of specialization, using the example of a self-help channel that grew quickly by focusing on flow state for high performance. Specializing allows creators to build a more dedicated audience, even if it means fewer overall views.
🚀 The Benefits of Specialization
Specializing in a specific niche can significantly differentiate a channel from its competitors. Ed emphasizes that specialization helps creators become known for solving particular problems, leading to a more loyal audience. He explains his decision to leave Film Booth and start Creator Booth, which will focus on helping entrepreneurs build businesses through YouTube. Specializing allows him to provide more impactful advice and build a community of viewers who genuinely benefit from his expertise. He plans to shift his content style to offer deeper dives and more specific advice, aiming for quality over quantity.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡YouTube
💡Niche
💡Crossover Zone
💡Specialization
💡Content Strategy
💡Mass Market
💡Growth
💡Monetization
💡Impact
💡Competition
Highlights
Every minute, 79 years of video gets streamed on YouTube, almost double Netflix.
Since 2018, the number of YouTube channels has exploded from 23 million to 114 million.
Creators should ask themselves if they are adapting to the rapid changes on YouTube.
The video discusses why the creator quit a channel with 370,000 subscribers.
The creator believes there's a better way to make a bigger impact on the world.
YouTube's growth niche has various sub-niches with unique problems.
Targeting common problems in the 'crossover zone' can get more views but misses critical unique issues.
Using irrelevant examples can confuse viewers and cause misinterpretation of advice.
Different expertise levels within niches (beginners, intermediates, professionals) require tailored content.
The creator highlights the benefit of becoming a specialist in solving specific problems for a defined audience.
A specialist approach can lead to a more dedicated community and faster financial returns.
Being a specialist differentiates you and can lead to significant impact despite lower views.
The creator is pivoting to focus on entrepreneurs and business owners on a new channel, Creator Booth.
Creator Booth will provide targeted content for building email lists, products, and turning channels into businesses.
The creator aims to make a greater impact rather than chasing fame or high view counts.
Transcripts
do you want to know something crazy
every minute 79 years of video gets
streamed on YouTube now that's almost
double Netflix but not only that since
2018 the amount of channels has exploded
from 23 to 114 million now this has
caused pretty big problem and really I
think it means every Creator right now
should be asking themselves this
question if YouTube is changing this
fast am I actually keeping up with it
what that means is are you following
advice that's now potentially outdated
and holding you back or are you adapting
to take advantage of this new scale to
hit your own personal goals because I
think the rules have changed so in this
video I'm going to show you why I quit
my Channel with 370,000 subscribers
because I believe there's now a better
way to do things that will make a bigger
impact on the world I'm going to show
you the massive problem of YouTube
That's triggered this decision and I'm
going to help you work out if you should
pivot too using a strategy That Grew
this channel from 0 to 300,000
subscribers in 12 months before I unpack
the direction I'm going to be going in
for those of you who have been watching
me for years who actually might care but
first if you've not met me before who
the heck while I'm Ed and the channel
That I decided to leave behind right now
hit 370,000 subscribers generated tens
of millions of views it was called film
booth and over the years I became known
for quirky videos that show people how
to grow YouTube channels in kind of a
different way to the old search method
that everyone used to teach now this
channel started to pick up quite a lot
of traction and as a result I started to
work with lots of YouTube creators and
over the years I've helped to generate
them hundreds of millions of views and
tens of millions of dollars and that's
pretty much what I spend every second of
my day doing right now so now you know
who I am let me show you the list of
problems that have developed on YouTube
over the the coming years that cause me
to abandon that channel and it might
make you question your own strategy too
so film booth just like your channel has
a niche which in this case is growing
YouTube channels then inside that Niche
there's different viewers with different
types of problems each ring you can see
on the map on screen right now
represents one of them this ring is
Gamers and they're wanting to learn how
to grow a gaming channel now a unique
but potentially critical problem they
have to deal with is the ups and downs
of games trending what that means is a
new game can come out and explode they
can make videos about it and their
Channel explode too and then that game
becomes old and popularity vanishes and
that creators screwed so they have to
learn how to Pivot to find a new Niche
but also they should know how to plan
ahead to protect themselves from it
right as well as know how to monetize in
different ways so they can survive these
potentially life shattering situations
that one day might arise then there's
the tech channels so these guys are
really dependent on news in the months
where it's slow their views drop a lot
so if they want to survive they need to
learn how to deal with that they also
need to know well how do they work with
sponsors how to navigate the lines of
getting paid to review something that
they don't really think it's that great
and make a living so they don't go broke
then there's faceless automation
channels and with AI wow these things
are breeding like rabbits but they have
their own set of problems too for
example a niche can explode in
popularity and vanish so they always
need to be on the lookout for new niches
which they can monetize and replace that
lost income and they need to know a lot
about the legal side of youtubeers they
come up against quite a lot of copyright
issues and and then there's the
entrepreneurs and these guys just want
to build a following to grow a business
so they need to learn how to build
credibility fast using content how to
launch products how to write sales copy
how to build teams and how to turn views
into leads as well as how to build a
channel in a way that allows them to run
a business at the same time but that's
just the start because we also have
vloggers car channels makeup channels
entertainment channels lifestyle
channels people who sit on the floor at
the end of their bed talking to the
camera channels Educators short form
channels VR tubers live streamers
podcasts meditation channels rain noise
channels music channels and people who
haven't even started yet channels
I could go on forever but I would run
out of breath and die now you might be
thinking that's one heck of a messy
chart head on Earth are you trying to
show us let me just deify this massive
issue I have viewers have my Niche has
in abundance and maybe you do too so at
some point no matter which of these
Rings viewers are they all have the same
problem that overlaps which is this area
here I call it the crossover Zone what
that means is if you want to get big
views what do you do well you make
content that appeals to those problems
that way you can get the attention of
more people and longer watch time
because everyone is interested in them
and then you get more views can you see
the issue with this though firstly only
ever targeting this area means all of
these unique problems around here the
critical ones for millions of people
never get covered and due to YouTube's
unique video ranking system us creators
have nervous breakdowns when we see
anything below a two out of 10 so we all
live in fear of targeting problems
outside of this Zone and we go back to
making what will get us our next one out
of 10 instead what that means is
particularly in my Niche viewers will
never get the help they need in the
areas most critical for their own
success what they just get is stuff that
relates to the most people over and over
again but that's just the start the
second problem is another big one so
even when you talk about things that
relate to everyone in this area you need
to give them examples to help them
understand the more general information
right and what that means is on film
booth for example I might have used Mr
Beast to make a point about getting lots
of clicks because loads of people know
who he is but then you get comments like
this I don't know how this applies to a
knitting Channel now the thing is what
you will have said does apply it sits in
the crossover Zone it has to but it's
incredibly hard for viewers to apply
knowledge when all the examples you were
giving just feel so far removed from
their own situation I mean how could
someone relate Mr Beast knitting you
can't when examples don't relate to
viewers this can cause a lot of
confusion and people can misinterpret
your information and then they act on
what they thought it meant and then this
could mean your videos potenti cause
more harm than good and in film booths
niche in particular the YouTube growth
Niche it's a huge problem because I'm
constantly hearing from people saying I
did what I saw in this video and they
did the exact opposite of what they
should have done because the example
given to follow was not relevant to them
in the first place so it's not really
their fault now the irony of all of this
is the video you're watching right now
could actually cause the same problem
too so please keep that in mind whilst
you continue to watch which brings us to
the third big problem so each of these
Rings actually has has more Rings within
it it gets even Messier we have the
beginners we have the intermediates we
have the professionals what that means
is if you want to keep all of these
types of creators and all of these
expertise levels clicking and watching
to get big views you have to make videos
that Target common problems in the
crossover area we know that but then you
have to present that information in a
way that all of them can easily
understand but how do you keep a
beginner and a pro happy that are in two
totally different Rings well if you want
big views you can't go too deep because
the mass Market is beginners and they'll
leave because they don't understand and
they feel overwhelmed and that will mean
your video struggles and then you can't
go to light because the intermediate
could get bored so what you have to do
is remove anything that overwhelms or
bores the mass Market in your Niche and
when you try to appeal to as many people
as possible this happens why is a
channel called a Diary of a CEO making a
video about why have gotten bigger well
you know why because it's Mass Market
crossover Zone content now the good news
is I've nearly stopped listing the
problems so let's just get this next one
out of the way problem number four is
that there are 114 million Channel on
YouTube now and guess what they all want
views of course they do and guess where
they all aim here so there's even more
competition for the crossover Zone in
most niches now and that's only going to
increase as the younger Generations are
all wanting to become creators that get
views okay so hopefully you can
understand the big problems YouTube
currently has now let's look at why
pivoting to become a specialist that
only focuses on one of these Rings
within your Niche can overcome all of
these issues and actually help more
people in a way that's more impactful
and this channel here used it to go from
zero to 300,000 subscribers in a year
because even though it sounds like
you're shrinking your audience it could
actually mean you get more views still
so let me explain so the self-help Niche
on YouTube is massive I would say
there's thousands of problem rings in it
there's relationships motivation General
happiness productivity and many many
many more there's also a gigantic amount
of creators trying to break into it
right now thing is they all do the same
thing make videos that focus on the
crossover zone so they cover really big
topics like how to get out of a rout how
to focus how to become driven how to be
happy what that means is they compete
against a massive amount of creators all
doing the same thing as well as some of
the most experienced YouTubers in the
game who have years of practice and are
teamworking with them meaning
competition for Impressions is insane
but this channel well they grew from 0
to 300,000 subscribers in a year with 25
videos because instead of aiming here
they aimed here and they set themselves
up as a specialist in using flow state
to become a high performing individual
which sounds kind of unusual right but
they're probably going to hit a million
subscribers in the next 18 months as a
result of this now I have to state to
ran he is an expert in the topic and
I've met him and I've worked with his
team and he's an absolute genius which
of course helps but despite that the
important thing to take notice of here
is they didn't stay into making money
videos or business growth or made videos
like how to be happy to chase more views
because that looks like the biggest
opportunity but also if you watch one of
their videos they're not written for the
mass Market either they intentionally
try to put off the wrong people with the
way they write their Scripts so that
they can make more of an impact with the
right ones also their videos are pretty
long sometimes so his channel is only
really for people who want to take high
performance more seriously what that
means is he tells stories that the
viewers he really wants to help relate
to and that delivers quality
life-changing information to a smaller
group of people and as a result they
leave comments like this so even though
he's one ring in the self-help Niche
that group of people and specific
problem are huge and because he's stuck
to focusing more on impact with the
right people than Mass views with the
general audience in the niche is paying
off only four videos from 25 in his
first year haven't hit 100,000 this is
almost unheard of in the education space
especially for a new channel and this is
why becoming a specialist in solving a
big problem for a specific group of
people is potentially a massive
opportunity for you right now because
YouTube has become so big these outer
rings are too and they could be a gold
mine for you because there's less
competition fighting for them but
actually what's so appealing about
specializing is this if you really want
to grow a following you have to find a
way way to differentiate to all of the
other people in your Niche it is
absolutely critical no matter which
strategy you take and that's very hard
because well how can you instantly come
across as different well one way to do
that is just to be a specialist that way
you can become associated with something
so people say oh it's the person who
gets married couples back together oh
that's the person who teaches people to
run the 100 meters 10 seconds faster oh
that's the person who helps people learn
Spanish in 30 days when you specialize
you differentiate and that is a
GameChanger the thing is pivoting to
only serve one of these rings in my
Niche is the right decision for me and
it's why I've decided just to leave film
Booth right now because that audience is
just too mixed I can't help Gamers and I
can't help business people and I can't
help vloggers at the same time in a way
that really impacts them so I have to
pick one of them to go all in on but
should you do the same well recently
Alex hosi came out and he said he's
going to do something very similar now
Alex he went really wide in the business
age always kind of surprised me that he
made videos about what he ate what he
was really doing was aiming here on the
chart trying to grow the biggest
audience possible so what that meant was
his thumbnail designs were for Mass
Market his editing was for Mass Market
the content depth Mass Market but now
he's come out and he said he's going
more specialist too so that he can drive
more value to a smaller group of people
which he knows will drop his views so if
one of the most successful Educators in
the world is doing this you should too
right well I actually have a problem
with what he's doing and with what I'm
telling you to do and we can't really
ignore this because Alex's goal was to
generate as many eyeballs as possible to
cast a white net so he could filter out
people to invest it so he went wide and
made Mass Market business content edited
were faster paced to try and keep more
people entertained with less detailed
info then that worked and it meant he
got the fame to achieve his result so
you could argue that actually he got it
right to start and becoming more
specialist is a luxury he can now afford
because he's internet famous and he's
built his personal brand and I'm doing
the same thing on a smaller scale
broader to more specialist so the thing
that bugs me is if we both started off
as specialist would either of us got got
anywhere well I actually think it would
have been easier but with a slightly
different outcome so let me explain so
forget the subscriber count that would
probably be lower but what happens is
and I see this every day if you go to
town helping a specific group of people
solve a specific big problem you end up
with a way more dedicated community of
fans and those fans actually want to
support you and buy your products and
services that means the money comes in
way faster with way less views and
subscribers and then that money can be
used to help Outsource editing design or
other tasks that will grow your channel
but it also frees up your time to put
into making even better or even more
content when what happens is you create
a flywheel that speeds up results
everywhere when you stay more generalist
you're more likely to get no or very
slow traction because you compete
against the biggest creators and the
masses for Impressions which means you
differentiate less have less growth
leads motivation less income and you
have to use a lot more of your time
trying to go and it's ultimately why the
majority of people feel like they can't
get any kind of real payoff and that
it's all too much hard work and they
quit whereas a specialist Works smarter
not harder and wins quicker at the
sacrifice of Fame in the widest area of
their niche of course you can always go
wide later once you've learned YouTube
and made money and grown a following and
dominated your space but if you're like
kosi or me and you're taking the
opposite approach you might want to ask
yourself do I even need to bother so to
help you work out if you should become a
specialist and how this all works I'm
going to put on a free live workshop for
those of you who want to take this path
with me or even just consider it or just
come and laugh at me there's a sign up
link below I'll email out the details to
all of you you and if you're watching
this way in the future and you missed it
just fill that out and I'll send you the
recording but before you go and do that
you might want to wait just to see what
I'm going to specialize in because it's
only going to be useful to a smaller
amount of people so I'm going to leave
film boo on its own just where it is
seems a little bit crazy just leaving a
channel that's been so long to build
sitting there on its own but you know
what if I am going to show people how to
become a specialist I need a smaller
channel right it's like it's not fair
I'm cheating I know it doesn't quite
work like that but yeah film bre is
going to be I'm just going to leave film
Booth as it is I want I want to take
some I want to take some risks I want to
try something new and I don't really
want to pump loads of new videos on that
channel either to cover up all the old
content because I'm very proud of it and
and I know a lot of you guys really
enjoyed it too so I just want to keep
that there but from now on the channel
that you're watching right now which is
called Creator Booth is going to serve
people that I understand the best the
people I can help the best I know their
problems I had their problems I solved
their problems they're people I've been
working with for years I hang around
with them every day my entire network is
full of them I am them so it doesn't
make any sense not to go all in on them
so this channel is going to teach people
how to write and produce content in a
way that relates to them a lot so they
can understand it far better it is going
to cover growth tricks still but it's
also going to show them how to build
email lists and products and services
and turn their channel into a business
so if you are an entrepreneur or a
business owner that wants to make
products and services and build a
business and amazing lifestyle this
channel is for you uh I won't be
covering sponsorship I won't be covering
my ad Revenue I won't be covering
anything that applies to the
entertainment channels because it would
be a disservice because it's just not my
expertise and it would also mean it
would be a disservice the people I can
really help when my expertise have spent
years working on L so I'm going to
dramatically decrease My Views but
really I didn't get into this for fame I
got into it because I wanted to make
impact and this is the best way to do it
so the sty of video might change
slightly too I'm still going to do fun
storytelling stuff but there'll be more
deep Dives longer content more scaled
back content and stuff that goes into
more specific problems most people
probably won't be interested in but the
ones that do will hopefully have
life-changing experiences so everyone
else look thank you so much for the
years of support if you're watching this
it's been a fantastic ride and I really
do appreciate every single one of you
and if you would like to start learning
about how to grow business on YouTube
then check out these videos right here
and I'll see some of you guys on the
live workshop and by the way if you're
like his eye looks a bit weird I used an
oven for the first time in a year and
had an onion related Curry incident
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