Finally Debunking The YouTube Subscriber Count. Myth Busted!!!

YouTube is something that people make a lot of assumptions around without any real experience or evidence it up.

Also I’m going to be painfully honest… small YouTubers complain way too much about “how hard it is” to build a following on YouTube.

You’ve probably heard this or might be guilty of saying the following yourself as a new/small YouTuber:

1. It’s impossible for small YouTubers to rank in search
2. YouTube doesn’t care about you if you have a small audience
3. If you don’t have a ton of views your videos won’t rank in search
4. Nobody cares about your content if you don’t have a bunch of subscribers
5. You can’t rank in a YouTube search if you don’t have subscribers

I was doing research for an upcoming video on some Fitness Smartwatches and other wearable tech and I stumbled on a video of mine from a few months back that was on the first page of a search I did.

YouTube Subscriber Count Myth Busted

What I noticed was interesting. A video I did 4 months ago was on the first page with only 5K views ranking above videos with 100K views.

The second thing I noticed was some of these videos with 50K-100K views were from YouTubers with less than 100 Subscribers.

Let me repeat that… less than 100 subscribers… and more than 50K views…

You could say that is a fluke… except as I went down the page I found this was actually a recurring theme…

So when people say that it is impossible, what they really mean is that they haven’t figured it out yet… which is usually the case with most things.

I’ve covered in many videos and articles things people can do to grow a channel, I’ve even covered mistakes people make in how they approach YouTube.

But overwhelmingly I’m realizing that most people just don’t understand how the platform works because they don’t understand human behavior and why someone should care about their content in the first place.

What Generates Real Views and Subscribers

The reality is that most people get into YouTube for the wrong reasons. They want attention, they want to be famous or they feel it is easy money.

The people watching and spending time on YouTube videos are not interested in making you famous. If your content is not a fun or informative experience for them, then you should be honest about the fact you haven’t earned their time. You haven’t earned the relationship.

How easy have you made your channel and content to understand?

What have you done to show them you will be there delivering quality content for them on a regular basis?

Who should subscribe to your channel and why?

If you can’t answer these questions, they shouldn’t be your subscriber. That may feel discouraging, but when you’re asking someone to spend time with you instead of spending time hanging with friends, going on dates, or playing with their kid, you can’t feel entitled to their time.

1. Build a library of quality content, 30–60 videos, don’t just churn out crap, make really good videos that provide something clear and easy to understand and enjoy. 100 crappy videos isn’t going to be enough, they a learning experience to make better videos, but not gain subscribers
2. Make your videos clear and what the value of them is clear. Make sure someone can easily answer “what do I get out of this video?”
3. Use YouTube SEO to help viewers find your content.

How I Got Started on YouTube

Prior to July 2013, I wasn’t doing YouTube consistently and had no following and no content strategy, which is where most people are at when they get started. The difference is that I had no expectations of being successful or getting subscribers.

Honestly I’m surprised sometimes that in that amount of time my channel has grown this much. I really just focused on making videos that would have been helpful to a younger me, since when YouTube came out it wasn’t what it is today and I was already an adult starting a career.

But in my case that is probably the reason that my channel has grown. I addressed content in a relateable way for people who have the same problems/issues/concerns or interest as me.

It just turns out, that happens to be quite a few people.

How To Grow On YouTube

1. Stop looking at your subscriber count and focus on improving each video
2. Make a list of videos that you would want to watch and get excited about
3. Think about your subscribers as a club, not every club is for everyone
4. Make content that your “club” will show up for and invite people to
5. Be consistent. I can’t stress this enough.
6. Watch This Video or Join My Free Email Course