5 Years Posting to YouTube | My Journey So Far

January 2018 is when I decided to start posting videos to my YouTube channel. Since then, I have posted 372 videos, and the first 150 averaged less than 50 views. I had a couple pop off, but didn't think much about them at that time (will circle back to this, because it’s important). 

It wasn't until September 2021 that my subscribers started coming in and as of today, we are at 3k (84.2% of YouTube channels have fewer than 1k subscribers BTW). 

So, am I telling you that I spent 3.5 years posting videos with little to no strategy and just hoping people would subscribe to my page?

Yes. And yeah, that was really dumb. I know...

So, let’s talk about what changed in 2021. 

At that time, I had just purchased a brand new car (2021 Tesla Model S) and there wasn’t much info online about that specific car. Tesla just refreshed the Model S for 2021 and there was a TON of excitement about the car. But The problem was, not many people had them.

I viewed this as an opportunity aka my “lightbulb moment”!

I had the car, I knew there wasn't much info out there, and knew other people were searching for the “2021 Tesla Model S”.

So, what did I do?

Nothing…

Jk, I made a damn video! And guess what, that mother f***** TOOK OFF! As of today, that video has racked up 393k views (and counting), thousands of comments, and initially pushed my page to 1k subscribers, which meant I could finally monetize my page.

Oh, the money I will make (~$50/month currently, I know, I’m killing it…)

I digress. 

That video was a catalyst for growth, but there was a major problem. 

I’m not a Tesla review guy, and THAT is why people were subscribing to my page. 

Shit.

So, back to the drawing board, only this time, I had 1k subscribers, was making some serious coin, and had some good data to look at. 

We knew that video took off for 3 reasons:

1. High quality and very informative (comments went wild for our style)
2. Early to the scene (not a lot of other videos at that point)
3. The title had all the right terms (Highly searchable)

Ok, now we are getting somewhere.

I took a look at some of our other videos that did well (1k views +) and looked for trends:

1. Key terms included “Investing”, “Touring DR Horton floorplan X”, “What Does”, and “How to”
2. Thumbnails were easy to read and explained what the video was about
3. The videos on average were 5 mins+

Ok, great intel!

Late 2022 was when I really wanted to make a splash in video. So, I hired a full-time videographer and we decided to commit to YouTube (in addition to FB, IG, and TikTok). We even came up with a catchy phrase for our channel, “Subscribe for *almost* weekly content”. (it’s a commitment that broadcasts our sarcasm and humor in 5 words.)

We took what we knew and applied it to our strategy, but went even deeper.

We decided to primarily focus on local topics e.g. new neighborhoods, new commercial developments, and things happening in the local area (new schools, Brightline, etc.). This is called "Micro Local" or "Local Expert".

And that is when our views & subscribers started increasing, AGAIN. Only this time, it was the RIGHT subscribers and YouTube was able to finally understand our type of content and target audience. 

By deploying this strategy, our page has seen:

• 160% more subscribers than we did in 2022 (+1,382)
• 71% more views than in 2022 (343,585 compared to 249,252 and most of those were from Tesla review btw) 
• $460 in revenue (which is ~$700 less than we did in 2022, but most of that rev came from the Tesla review video) #killingit

Not only did we start dialing in the type of content, but was also leveraged our other videos that we post to IG and started uploading them as YouTube “Shorts”. And I must say, DO NOT sleep on shorts! In 2023 alone, our shorts brought in 722 new subscribers (nearly 600 more than our shorts did in 2022 because we hardly focused on them).

When it comes to Shorts, think of them as your attractor content. Shorts, much like Reels, are a great tool for exposure and can be used to attract people to your page, which clearly works. 

Things you NEED TO KNOW:

1. YouTube is a search engine and the sooner you realize that, the sooner your content will perform. 
2. Your video title needs to be highly searchable and rich in SEO (tools like "Tube Buddy, a Game Changer for YouTubers" can help with this)
3. Content needs to be more educational than entertaining (80/20) - people go to YouTube to learn something. The good content creators add their own twist to their videos. So do that.
4. Stick to a consistent plan e.g. 1x/week, 1x/month, etc. - not only is this the most efficient & effective way to film, but also gives your audience an idea of what to expect
5. Don't sleep on shorts - these are a great way to attract new viewers to your page. 
6. Utilize YouTube's robust analytics on YouTube Studio (app)  

Also, be patient! This shit doesn't happen overnight, but hopefully, you don't have to wait 3.5 years.

What most of our content looks like now:

And don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for almost weekly videos ;)