When I launched my first YouTube channel in 2020, I didn't expect what would happen as my channel grew. What happened blew my mind, motivated me, and made me more determined to continue the growth journey.
So, what motivated me to continue the journey and helped me succeed?
When you search online, you will find some generic content about how to grow on YouTube. It's all about staying consistent to achieve results. Even successful YouTubers share their growth experience. However, no one tells you what motivated them and kept them going.
When I started my first YouTube channel, I didn't do it to earn money. I did it because I wanted to experiment with the algorithm and learn how to grow on YouTube organically. It was a case study to understand what can and can't work, use best practices, and create a tangible plan and strategy to grow on the platform, which I can use to help my clients. I did help a client in 2018 grow his YouTube channel, but I wanted to document the process and create a kind of manual anyone can use and easy steps to follow.
I started creating videos and posting one video every week. It was lengthy because I had to write the script, do a voice-over, clean the audio, edit the video, and optimize the videos. The process took about 6 to 8 hours. I was a full-time digital marketer working for an international company with a considerable workload. So, spending this time to create 15-minute YouTube videos was a privilege I couldn't afford. Yet I kept going, and for 8 weeks, I was posting regularly. Despite being consistent for 2 months, I have not seen any results. At this point, I started to doubt the process, and self-doubt began to kick in. In my head, I had these voices saying, your content isn't good enough. This channel is never going to grow… Then, suddenly, I woke up and checked my phone, and I was shocked by the number of notifications from YouTube Studio. With no prior notice, my content started getting recommended to the audience, and many were actually watching. I believe that day, 12 subscribed to my channel. I know it's not much, but finally, I could start seeing results.
The number of subscribers wasn't the motivating factor for me to continue the journey. It's actually the first comment I received. The comment was from a lovely lady, which I can tell by her username. She wrote: "I love your content. I can see this is a new channel, and I am sure it's going to be a successful one. Keep up the good work! Just one suggestion: In your next video, don't use background music."
Can you imagine and understand the impact of such a comment on a person who is doubting himself and questioning his knowledge and experience?
The kindness, support, and motivation received from a total stranger who discovered your channel by chance is indescribable. Her comment made my day, and she would comment every time I posted a new video. Not only that, obviously, when your channel starts to grow, you will start seeing comments from haters. Those comments were something like: "I don't like your content, I don't like your voice, This channel will never get 1000 subscribers no matter what you do." This lady was replying to them on my behalf. She wrote, "She is new; just give her a chance!"
Can you believe that?
This lady was one of the factors that kept me going. Three weeks later, my YouTube channel had 1000 subscribers and over 3000 watch hours, and I met the YouTube monetization criteria. So, I achieved my goal in 11 weeks.
I put in a lot of time and effort to achieve this result, but thanks to this lady, I got motivated and continued this journey. By the way, she wasn't the only one. I received many similar comments, but hers was the first, and thanks to her, I didn't give up and kept going.
The bottom line is that your YouTube growth journey is not about getting subscribers; it's about building a supporting community. A community that sees the value in your content and encourages you to keep moving forward. This is what your journey is about. And as much as they made an impact on you, you also can make an impact on their lives. How many people were able to change their lives thanks to a video that motivated them or helped them change their perspective, or even helped them learn a new skill to improve the quality of their life by being able to get a promotion or a new job?
Finally, on this journey, you will see supporters and haters. Trust the process, build a strong community, and don't listen to haters. Can you imagine how many content creators would have given up their dreams if they had heard from haters?