How I’d Get 1000 YouTube Subscribers if I Had to Start Again

Summary

This video script reveals a strategy for rapidly growing a YouTube channel to 1,000 subscribers in under 60 days. It emphasizes the importance of identifying high-demand niches, understanding audience preferences, and creating compelling video packaging. The script also discusses leveraging the YouTube algorithm through audience retention techniques like the three-act structure and doubling down on successful video formats. It provides actionable tips, such as using Google Trends and VidIQ for niche research and keyword analysis, and encourages creators to focus on delivering content that resonates with their audience.

Takeaways

• 😀 Building a YouTube channel to 1,000 subscribers typically takes 12-18 months, but some channels achieve this in under 60 days with a strategic approach.
• 🏆 Successful channels often launch in high-demand niches, leveraging the popularity of current trends to increase the chances of their videos going viral early on.
• 🔍 Utilizing tools like Google Trends and vidIQ can help identify high-potential niches and understand audience preferences, which is crucial for channel growth.
• 📈 Focusing on a specific topic within a niche that the audience is passionate about can lead to repeated views and a stronger community around that content.
• 🎨 The importance of packaging, including thumbnails and titles, in capturing viewer attention and enticing them to click on videos cannot be overstated.
• 📹 Employing the three-act structure in video content can significantly improve audience retention by creating a narrative arc that keeps viewers engaged throughout the video.
• 🔑 Finding and doubling down on a 'golden video format' that consistently performs well on a channel is a key strategy for rapid growth in subscribers.
• 🤖 Understanding the YouTube algorithm is less about tricking it and more about creating content that genuinely resonates with viewers' interests.
• 📚 Investing time in audience research to create an 'audience avatar' can help tailor content that better satisfies viewer desires and needs.
• 🔄 Successful channels often continue to create similar videos to ones that have gone viral, capitalizing on the successful format to grow their audience further.
• 🌟 The video script emphasizes the importance of focus, discipline, and patience in growing a YouTube channel, suggesting that consistent effort is as vital as any strategy.

Q & A

Why is reaching the first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube considered challenging?

Reaching the first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube is challenging because it typically takes a channel 12 to 18 months on average to achieve this milestone, indicating a gradual growth process that requires consistent effort and strategy.

What is the 'secret little trick' mentioned in the script for getting views before posting the first video?

The script does not explicitly reveal the 'secret little trick' in the provided excerpt. However, it suggests that understanding and leveraging high-demand niches can significantly contribute to early view generation.

Who is MKBHD, and how did he transform his YouTube channel?

MKBHD, or Marques Brownlee, is a well-known YouTuber and content creator who started his channel in 2008. He transformed his channel by focusing on tech product reviews, which led to a surge in views as mobile tech was becoming increasingly popular.

What role did the smartphone era play in MKBHD's channel growth?

The smartphone era played a significant role in MKBHD's channel growth as it was a period of high demand for mobile tech reviews, which aligned with the content he started focusing on, leading to increased viewership.

What is a high-demand niche, and how can it help in growing a YouTube channel quickly?

A high-demand niche is a topic area where there is a significant interest from the audience but relatively less content available. Launching a channel in such a niche can increase the chances of early videos going viral due to the high viewer interest and less competition.

How can Google Trends be utilized to identify high potential niches for a YouTube channel?

Google Trends can be used to access billions of data points, revealing search topics that are growing in demand. By analyzing search trends, one can identify niches that are gaining popularity and could be worth entering for a YouTube channel.

What is the purpose of the vidIQ browser extension for YouTube channel growth?

The vidIQ browser extension is a tool that adds useful features to the YouTube layout, such as identifying videos with high view counts relative to subscriber counts, indicating opportunities for content creation. It also includes a keyword research tool to find growing or trending search terms on YouTube.

What is an 'audience Avatar' profile, and how does it help in creating appealing video content?

An audience Avatar profile is a research document that compiles in-depth information about the audience's preferences, goals, desires, obstacles, and fears. This profile helps in understanding the audience better and creating videos that cater to their interests and needs, thus increasing the appeal and engagement of the content.

Why is it important to focus on a specific topic within a niche to grow a YouTube channel?

Focusing on a specific topic within a niche allows a channel to establish expertise and attract a dedicated audience interested in that particular subject. This targeted approach can lead to higher engagement and viewership, as the audience is more likely to repeatedly watch content that aligns with their interests.

What is the 'three-act structure' and how does it help in improving audience retention in videos?

The three-act structure is a narrative technique that divides a video into three main parts: the inciting incident (hook), the rising action (middle act), and the climax. This structure is designed to build tension, maintain audience interest, and provide a satisfying resolution, which can significantly improve audience retention.

What is the 'golden pin format' mentioned in the script, and how does it contribute to a channel's success?

The 'golden pin format' refers to a specific video topic and style that consistently outperforms other content on a channel. Identifying and doubling down on this successful format can lead to more views and subscribers, as it caters to the audience's preferences and capitalizes on what works well for the channel.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Rapid YouTube Growth Strategies

This paragraph discusses the challenges of gaining the first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube and introduces a strategy that helped five channels achieve this milestone in under 60 days. It emphasizes the importance of launching a channel in a high-demand niche to increase the chances of virality. The paragraph references MKBHD as an inspiration and uses Google Trends to identify growing topics. It also suggests tools like VidIQ for niche and keyword research to find untapped audience interests.

05:01

🔍 Harnessing Audience Interest for Growth

The second paragraph focuses on understanding audience preferences to create engaging content. It explains the importance of discovering what topics within a niche captivate viewers and how to leverage this knowledge to grow a channel quickly. The speaker shares personal experience with creating content on a specific tutorial that resonated with the audience. The paragraph also introduces the concept of building an 'audience avatar' to gather in-depth insights about the target audience and provides a free worksheet template for this purpose.

10:03

🎨 Crafting Compelling Video Packaging

This paragraph delves into the importance of video packaging, including thumbnails and titles, in capturing viewers' attention on YouTube. It uses the analogy of selling cereal to illustrate the need for standout packaging. The paragraph provides a case study of a channel that achieved high views with a simple yet effective thumbnail and a title that creates an information gap, prompting viewers to click and watch. The coherence between the title and thumbnail is highlighted as a key factor in successful video packaging.

15:03

📈 The Three-Act Structure for Audience Retention

The fourth paragraph introduces the three-act structure as a technique to improve audience retention. It breaks down the structure into an inciting incident, rising action, and climax, using a channel's popular video as an example. The paragraph explains how this storytelling method keeps viewers engaged throughout the video, leading to higher watch times. It emphasizes the importance of holding the climax until the end to ensure viewers watch the entire video, thus boosting overall channel performance.

Keywords

💡Subscribers

Subscribers are individuals who have chosen to follow a YouTube channel to receive notifications and updates on new content. In the context of the video, the focus is on the challenge of acquiring the first 1,000 subscribers, which is a milestone for many new YouTubers. The video mentions that it typically takes 12 to 18 months to reach this number, but some channels have achieved it in less than 60 days by following specific strategies.

💡Launch Strategy

A launch strategy in the video refers to a set of tactics employed to accelerate the growth of a YouTube channel, particularly in gaining subscribers. The script discusses how five channels managed to acquire their first 1,000 subscribers in under 60 days by adhering to such a strategy, emphasizing the importance of planning and execution in channel growth.

💡MKBHD

MKBHD, or Marques Brownlee, is a prominent YouTuber known for his tech product reviews. The video script uses him as an example of a creator who transformed his channel by focusing on content that was in high demand at the time, such as mobile tech reviews. His success illustrates the impact of aligning content with audience interests and market trends.

💡High Demand Niche

A high demand niche refers to a specific topic or category that currently has a large audience interest and relatively less content available. The video emphasizes the importance of identifying and creating content in such niches to increase the chances of videos going viral. For example, the script mentions 'Islands housing crisis' as a high demand niche due to its relevance and the public's search for information on the subject.

💡Google Trends

Google Trends is a tool that allows users to explore search trends and discover what topics are gaining or losing popularity over time. In the video, it is suggested as a method to identify high potential niches by analyzing search volume and demand for specific subjects, such as 'how to invest', which can inform content creation strategies.

💡View Ceiling

The view ceiling refers to the maximum number of views a video on a particular topic can achieve on YouTube. The script discusses checking the view ceiling to understand the potential reach of content within a niche. It is used to assess whether there is an audience large enough to make a video successful.

💡VidIQ

VidIQ is a browser extension and online tool designed to enhance YouTube functionality, providing insights and analytics for video performance. The video mentions VidIQ for its ability to identify videos with high view counts relative to subscriber numbers, indicating successful content within a topic, and for its keyword research tool that helps in discovering trending search terms.

💡Three Act Structure

The three act structure is a narrative technique used in the video script to explain how to create engaging content that retains viewer interest. It involves an inciting incident, rising action, and climax, which together build tension and provide resolution. The script uses this structure as a method to increase watch time and viewer engagement.

💡Information Gap

An information gap in the context of the video refers to the curiosity or knowledge deficit that a viewer has, which a video title or thumbnail promises to fill. The script mentions that creating an information gap, such as teasing what's inside Barcelona's stadium upgrade, compels viewers to click and watch the video to get the answer.

💡Golden Vin Format

The golden Vin format refers to a specific type of video content or style that has proven to be particularly successful for a channel. The video script advises creators to identify and then consistently produce content in this format to capitalize on what the audience responds to, as evidenced by one channel's repeated success with stadium-related videos.

💡Audience Retention

Audience retention is a key metric on YouTube that measures how long viewers watch a video. The video script discusses the importance of structuring content to keep viewers engaged throughout the entire video to improve retention rates, which in turn can enhance the video's performance in YouTube's algorithm.

Highlights

Achieving the first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube is challenging and typically takes 12 to 18 months.

Five channels managed to reach 1,000 subscribers in under 60 days by following a strategic launch plan.

A secret trick to get views before posting the first video involves understanding past successful strategies.

MKBHD's focus shift to tech product reviews in the era of smartphone popularity dramatically increased his views.

Launching a channel in a high-demand niche increases the chance of virality for initial videos.

Using Google Trends to identify growing search topics is a key step in finding high potential niches.

Checking the view ceiling on YouTube helps determine if a niche is worth entering based on top-performing videos.

VidIQ's browser extension offers insights into videos with high view counts relative to subscriber counts.

VidIQ's keyword research tool helps identify trending search terms and niches on YouTube.

Understanding audience preferences is crucial for creating videos they want to watch repeatedly.

Building an audience avatar profile helps in-depth understand audience likes, goals, and obstacles.

The importance of packaging with thumbnails and titles to grab viewer attention on YouTube.

Using a three-act structure in videos to improve audience retention and watch time.

Transcripts

this is why the YouTube journey is

frustrating isn't it getting your first

1,000 subscribers is hard let's not

pretend it isn't on average it takes a

channel 12 to 18 months to get their

first 1,000 subscribers but I found five

channels that have done it in less than

60 days it's all because they followed a

simple launch strategy to FasTrack their

Channel growth and if I was starting a

brand new channel visaa tactics I would

be adopting and the best part is all of

these channels are still under 15,000

subscribers they are literally just a

few steps ahead of you right now so the

strategies they are following directly

relate to you the first reason these

channels are growing right out of V

YouTube game it's because they're using

a secret little trick to get views

before they post their first video but

in order to understand this secret

little trick we need to go back 15 years

in time to talk about one of my favorite

YouTubers and an inspiration to a

generation of content creators MKBHD fun

little fact about MKBHD he is the one

Creator on YouTube that no matter what

his video is about I will watch it if

you got a Creator you love just like

that let us know in the comments below

Marquez brownley made his first YouTube

video in 2008 and like many creators his

content was pretty random to begin with

first it was a couple of golf videos and

then hundreds and hundreds of random

videos about all sorts of computer

software but then he discovered

something that completely transformed

his channel and it wasn't anything to do

with clickbait thumbnails because you

could wouldn't make custom thumbnails

back then nor was it to do with fancy

editing or high production values

because believe it or not MKBHD videos

used to look like this what Marcus

discovered is that when he started

focusing on tech product reviews his

views exploded and this was because at

the time mobile tech was exploding in

popularity we're talking about the

beginning of a smartphone era Apple

iphon stuff like that and review content

in this Niche was in high demand and

that's exactly why channels like policy

are growing so fast by launching a

channel in a high demand Niche it

dramatically increases the chances of

their first videos going viral as

opposed to their hundredth videos for

example take a look at this Google

Trends graph what this shows is the

search volume for Islands housing crisis

and as you can see it's practically off

the charts due to Islands immigration

and housing issues now this is a

controversial and sensitive subjects but

it also presents an opportunity people

are angry they're frustrated they're

looking for answers so when policy

creates videos like this that promise

answers to those people who are angry

and frustrated they're going to react to

it and the video is going to explode so

if I was starting a brand new channel or

my channel just wasn't getting any views

I'd invest some research time into

finding those high potential niches to

find that hungry audience ready to

consume your videos where there isn't an

oversaturation of Supply which leads

naturally to the next obvious question

how do you find these high potential

niches well luckily for you I've got all

of the steps outlined here the first

easiest and most accessible step is to

start using Google Trends Google Trends

allows you to get access to billions of

data points to know exactly what search

topics are growing in demand for example

let's say you wanted to start a YouTube

channel around investing if we search

for something like how to invest you can

see that it's consistently growing in

demand this is a great first sign that

this Niche could be worth entering the

next step is to check out that nich's

view ceiling on YouTube and what we're

looking at here is the highest views on

the best performing videos in that topic

so if we search for how to invest on

YouTube we can see that the top videos

are getting millions of views but there

is a way to refine that search by

filtering the videos posted in the last

year and as you can see content is being

recycled and the views continue to be

very healthy so now that we know that

the topic is popular today what about

the opportunities within that topic

that's where vid IQ comes into play once

you download the browser extension it's

going to add some useful additions to

the YouTube layout for example when you

do a search you can see videos that have

higher views compared to the subscriber

count this is a proof you're often

looking for that small channels are

being discovered within a topic another

useful tool is this outlier number look

for videos with a number higher than two

as this represents a video that is

performing well above average for that

channel this is typically a great

opportunity for you to create a video on

the same topic but in your own voice and

it has the potential to gain lots of

views for your channel and if you want

to go super deep into research then try

out vid iq's keyword research tool with

this you can identify specific niches

and Search terms that are growing in

demand or trending on YouTube and one of

the things I love about the keyword

research tool is that you can get a lot

more granular than Google trends for

example unlike Google you're going to

get specific scores for each search term

so you know how it's performing on

YouTube compared to other similar terms

it's also the fastest way to get a grasp

of the turb terminology the overall

language the questions being asked

within the topic and you should be

injecting all of that vocabulary and

information back into your videos the

good news is you can get free access to

all of these tools using the link in the

description or clicking right here about

now but I'm sure you've already figured

this out by now finding a niche with

potential only really gets you to a

starting grid the channels we're looking

at did a lot more than this to hit that

fabled 1,000 subscribers in such a short

space of time and one of the biggest

Reas reasons why they have succeeded

where overs haven't is because they know

how

to charm the YouTube algorithm a lot of

small creators Get Fooled into a way of

thinking and that is to try and trick or

hack the YouTube algorithm but that

distracts the creators attention away

from something that is far far more

important the YouTube algorithm

everything is so optimized that it just

gives people what they want to give more

views on a video you shouldn't study the

algorithm you should just study what

people want to watch now if you've been

watching vid IQ for any length of time

you be saying yeah yeah we've heard all

of this before but there is a difference

between hearing this advice all of the

time and actually putting it into

practice because if you did you'd notice

that your channel is growing momentum

over time and for many channels in terms

of views and subscribers they just

Flatline for weeks months sometimes even

years so how do you create videos that

your audience truly wants to watch well

to explain how I've created a little

game isn't this fun so what I want you

to do is have a look at this Channel and

try and figure out why these four videos

performed so well now yet the thumbnails

look good and the titles are intriguing

but there's something very specific

about the topic of these videos what

this channel has discovered is that

Their audience is obsessed with

airplane engines and pretty much every

single time the channel makes a video

about that specific part of a topic the

videos perform well above average so if

you want to hit 1,000 subscribers fast

this is exactly what you need to be

doing choosing a specific topic within

your Niche topic that your audience is

obsessed with and we'll watch over and

over and over again even if you think

you're just repeating the same thing

over and over and over again now I have

a personal experience of this way back

in the day when I was also a tech

Channel I stumbled onto a topic of how

to record your iPhone screen which I

thought was good for a single video but

it turns out over the course of a couple

of years I made hundreds of videos on

that single specific tutorial and people

kept coming back to watch the content

over and over and over again now I'm not

saying for a second that you should

stick to that single YouTube topic for

the rest of your career but it is a

fantastic way to establish your channel

and learn how to build a community

around a specific thing one of the best

ways to discover these topics is to

build what's called an audience Avatar

profile this is a research document

where you gather in-depth information

about what your audience likes and

doesn't like their goals their desires

their obstacles their fears because once

you know all of this you can create

videos satisfy your audience way better

than your competition and to make things

easy for you I've actually created a

templated worksheet that you can

download under this video for free all

you need to do is go through and answer

each of the questions and you'll start

to uncover unique topics that you can

turn into videos that your audience just

can't resist as an example for one of

the questions you'll need to research

channels that are similar to yours and

note down the top performing videos but

you can also take this question one step

further and that is to identify any

repeating topics they cover in several

of their videos this alone is going to

give you a really deep insight into what

your audience loves to watch that's why

you're on YouTube right to find an

audience that shares your passion your

values your beliefs and impact them in a

positive way but that is just one of the

questions on the document consider that

your YouTube homework after you finish

watching this video because now we found

topics that are rising in demand and

you're getting a better understanding of

your audience but that doesn't

necessarily make people click on your

videos does it because now we need to

address the first thing that will

directly influence whether or not you

win clicks the packaging the thumbnail

the title and the truth is with so much

choice on YouTube it's hard to grab the

attention of a viewer who's constantly

swiping or scrolling unless somebody's

watching YouTube shorts at any given

time a viewer has potentially half a

dozen video choices in fact getting

people to click your videos is a bit

like trying to

sell cereal you see cereal is a tough

business you're competing with hundreds

of other companies on the supermarket

shelf and you can have the best tasting

cereal in the world but if you don't

know how to create packaging that grabs

attention no one's going to buy it

YouTube is the same way your packaging

never has the sole attention of the

viewer so it's really got to stand out

also helps if it's really tasty so what

you could probably do with is a helpful

packaging formula right and it just so

happens with got one and a small Channel

that's pretty much mastered this formula

is tell me expensive this video on their

channel has over 300,000 views and

currently the channel sits on around

about 3,000 subscribers that's a pretty

good return on investment isn't it one

of the reasons the videos are performing

so well is because they have really

tasty packaging so let's break down what

they've done the first thing is a

thumbnail as striking as it is it's

relatively basic with just three

elements there's a stadium the city

background and some text and because

it's simple and clear you know exactly

what the video is about and the reason

that's so important is because you can

expect the viewer to give your title and

thumbnail probably two seconds of

attention before they move on so

typically if a thumbnail has too many

elements you confuse and quickly lose

your audience before they've even given

you a chance now let's move on to that

title that does two things it makes a

big promise and it also teases

information that the audience cares

about it does this by promising to

reveal what's inside Barcelona's 1.5

billion Stadium upgrade and here's the

thing most football fans already know

that prior to any upgrade Barcelona

stadium is already one of the biggest in

Europe so what on Earth are they going

to do with that $1.5 billion and it's

this tease that creates something called

an information Gap to get an answer to

the question the title has created the

viewer obviously is going to have to

click finally both the title and the

thumbnail have a great deal of coherence

what that means is that the title and a

thumbnail complement each other so let's

recap where we're at thanks to you

identifying a niche of opportunity

you've got your viewer to the starting

grid and because of that wonderful

packaging the race has started but it's

a race to keep them interested because

this's a big problem that many videos

suffer from especially from small

creators who don't appreciate this and

as a result of this by the time your

video reaches the first corner of this

retention race viewers have already left

and so to study watch time I'm going to

take a look at another channel that hit

1,000 subscribers very quickly the

videos here use an important technique

that's at the core of audience retention

and it's also used by the biggest

creators on YouTube to increase their

watch time and it's called the three act

structure as you can see this is where

your video is broken up into three main

parts that are structured in a way that

grabs and holds people's attention so

let's take a look at this Channel's most

popular video to see how it works there

has to be an inciting incident and this

happens in the hook it sets up the rest

of a video and gives the viewer a reason

to carry on watching throughout it's

time for the main character and they get

energy

projectiles cool in this video it's

where he builds up to the points that

all heroes in anime shows have zero

powers and what this does is create a

sense of intrigue and tension and the

viewer needs to find out more time and

time again I've seen this exact same

Trope or pattern pop up within anime and

manga increasingly complex worlds and

Powers with main characters with

extremely basic or one no abilities the

second middle Act is the rising action

this is designed to build more and more

tension as the video progresses and this

is where the video delves deeper into

the topic it provides specific examples

that these characters have no powers

Yugi tadori the main character of the

series holds the curse technique of

nothing he's a pure hand-to hand Fighter

by showing clear examples the audience's

anticipation is rising because they're

really starting to wonder why this is

always the case in anime shows Ichigo is

a soul Reaper and a hollow and a Quincy

I know yeah he was a fullbringer for a

while despite having every single

important Gene in the verse his power

set remains incredibly basic it's a

critical step in holding the viewers

attention until we can reach the answer

to that big question and that is

achieved through the climax of the video

this is where the ultimate question to

why all of these anime characters have

no powers is revealed it relieves the

audience of their tension and if Done

Right leaves them satisfied finally it

might also serve as a reflection of the

character Shen stories are usually meant

to be uplifting even ones with darker

tones usually end on relatively

uplifting themes and messages by giving

the main character such a basic ability

you establish the underdog giving the

social message that regardless of what

we might start off with with enough hard

work effort and support from our friends

and family we might be able to achieve

and Conquer what we thought was

impossible such is the beauty of

Simplicity the Triumph of human spirit

and I'm kind of sorry I had to spoil

this video in order to demonstrate the

big thing here is that the climax was

held all the way until the end so the

audience had to watch the entire video

This is why if you can build an arc and

develop it throughout the entire

duration of a video it's going to

Skyrocket your watch time following all

of these techniques should definitely

get more people to click on your video

videos and then watch them for longer

but there is one last thing all of these

channels are doing to help them get to

1,000 subscribers so quickly for you to

do the same thing doesn't require

learning a new skill or working even

harder than you already are on your

YouTube channel what it requires is

focus discipline and patience it's

almost like a Jedi master type of thing

for YouTube to explain what this concept

is and how it works let's take a look at

this channel if we look at the oldest

videos posted on the channel we can see

that the second video they published got

over 200,000 views now what most

creators do at this point when they have

their viral moment and say wow this is

really cool let's just go make another

video they don't necessarily put any for

or time into why the video was

successful they just assume that the

YouTube algorithm has been turned on for

their Channel and a new video is bound

to get tons of views and when you have a

attitude you potentially thrown away

thousands of views and hundreds of

subscribers what successful creators do

and I know this sounds really simple but

they often double down on videos that

are proven to be successful on their

Channel now this is similar to finding

viral topics that we talked about

earlier in this video but now we're not

just looking at the video topic we're

looking at the Channel's golden Vin

format this is a topic and style of

video that when you publish always

outperforms everything else on the

channel and as you can see that's

exactly what happened to this channel

they continue to post very similar

videos to the one that went viral and

this format just continues to perform

they have almost identical titles and

thumbnails and the video cont content

format is almost the same in fact if we

take a look at this channel we can see

they use the exact same strategy they

found that videos about stadiums

continually perform so they repeated a

very similar video format and it

continued to go viral so what is the big

lesson here well it's kind of like this

one of your goals as a small channel

should be to find your golden Vin format

as fast as possible and so to begin with

you do have a certain amount of creative

freedom a license to test and experiment

all sorts of different types of videos

on different topics and formats but as

soon as you do find videos that are

outperforming your channel average

double down on that format now this

doesn't mean that every single video

going forward is on that one topic and

that one style of video but it should be

considered an essential video that you

add into your calendar say every third

video or every other video when videos

perform well on your channel your

audience is basically saying to you the

Creator I would like more of this and if

you want to grow your channel and build

a community you should be in service to

that audience and speaking of that

audience it does heavily impact how the

algorithm functions on YouTube and as

the watching habits of the audience

change so does the algorithm and it's

become pretty sophisticated in 2024 so

if you want a better understanding of

how the YouTube algorithm works these

days and this is the next video for you