Do I Have a Chance? YouTube Niche struggle

[RealDreams]

As Roberto Blake says (YT growth and knowledge professional) "The Race is saturated, but The Marathon never is."

Stay consistent, throw in some marketing and any niche can grow or even explode, even in the erotica/adult world fetishes are created from one person then grow to become a whole thing.

Hell true. It's all about time, for real.
And it's with everything, actually.

My Perspective:

YouTube - Content Creation - Creating Value ...all of it is like planting seeds.

Don't get caught in the short term because it's not a short term execution process
If you're looking to see anything in the short term - Stop now .

Cause and effect - you need to be able to create an equation of a cause (action) and a effect (reaction). Which can only be done over time, listening to feedback, multiple iterations, attempts, and pivots.

Process
Choose the specific seed
Plant them in fertile soil
Nurture them (Keep improving / Listen / Feedback)
A few will die - a few will grow and a few will bare fruit
Eventually over time after many iterations you will have many with fruit (this will be insight to what is working but only after many strong attempts )

Warning & Success Factor
Keep the seed (cause) and plant (effect) concept in mind at all times, it will help keep you grounded to understanding that if you keep watering and tending to it, IT WILL GROW. If you keep digging them up, the plant will never grow and it WONT work.

Keep planting - don't dig them up (Keep producing quality & value. Stay focused on the process of doing that , don't get tied up with the outcome (followers, money, whos going to watch)

Thanks a lot. I'll keep this in mind.

I've been watching some GaryV videos in the last days and they gave a completely different perspective on what I've been doing for so long.

I had this hate towards social media (and still have, honestly), but really, can you succeed today without promoting your services/products on social media? It's like avoiding your audience in the first place.

Social media are like ancient Greek's agoras. It's a place where people met and unfortunately, making money is all about communication. You can't sell something without communicating or connecting with people. This is an harsh truth I recently realised.

Not to consider the fact that you are either bitching about social media (like I am now) or you are out there using it as a medium to actually build an audience and in the long term, make money. F*ck me.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Nikhil09]

So I started a YouTube channel in my native language on self-improvement a few months ago. I knew even before starting that I would have been the first to do videos on this niche, since in my country the only videos that are popular are about Fortnite, Call of Duty and pranks.

After 2 videos (which took me 1 entire month to produce) I now have negative thoughts arising. "Why the F*ck did I choose to do this?", "Who's gonna watch my videos?", "How do I make this niche popular?".

I so far had no echo besides from a few irl friends. Some of them said "only a few would understand your content", in the sense that self-improvement in my country is not a thing at all. Others said "you have potential". The point is, I have no idea whether I should keep going.

The opportunity cost is real. I had to stop my web design journey to do this shit. I admit it was shiny object syndrome, but I feel like I want to keep going on this road until I have CLEAR feedback about what I'm doing. I literally spent 1 month editing 2 videos. 12 hours a day almost. I still like web design and think of going back to that as soon as I know this road isn't one I should be travelling, but as I said, it's too soon to call it a failure. I have experience with changing ideas frequently (shiny objects) and never sticking to one thing. Meditation is helping me with that.

The problem is, just because this niche is not popular in my country, does this mean I shouldn't do it? In terms of scale, the market is very, very small. Should I keep trying and stick to it until I have any kind of feedback from a great sample of people? I don't want to quit cause I'd feel like a retard. I've been literally swapping ideas every 2-3 months.

In terms of solving problem, I'm quite sure I'm solving problems. The issue? Most people don't realize they actually have these problems lol that's the tricky thing I'm facing.

I made a video on how social media damages your brain and all the consequences, and also a video on videogames and the exact process companies use to make you addicted. But again, I feel like most gamers don't give a shit about this. It simply does not register to them emotionally.

Thanks in advance.

I don't think you should quit just because you are not getting views. It takes time to build your audience. As you're in the initial stage you should focus on creating more and more videos in your nice and uploading them on a regular basis. You should create a calendar for it.

As your niche is not popular or have low completion, I think you should grab this opportunity and create quality content in order to get popular on YouTube. Have patience and don't give up! Keep pushing yourself everyday.

 

[TheGreek]

If people search for an evergreen topic like self-improvement in English, they will search for it in every other language. They also search for money, business, fitness, health, etc.

Before you decide if it works for you, make sure that you have published enough content out there. Four videos are not enough. Ten videos are not enough. Go for 50 videos and check the numbers when you reach there.

YouTube works with keywords as well. Find a free keyword tool in English and search for keywords in your niche. Then, translate them into your language and create videos for these topics. People from your country search these terms but if they have no available options, YouTube ranks videos in other languages.

I doubt that there are not other people that create self-improvement videos in your country... If this is the case, you have zero competition. It is a good thing.

Don't get business advice from your friends unless they have already built a business.

You mentioned that you like editing. So, even if your channel does not work, you will improve your skills. You can't lose!

 

[RealDreams]

So, this is the kind of "competitors" I'm finding in the Italian community: dropshipping 20 years old self-proclaimed millionaires. Looks like Tai Lopez. He starts with storytelling ("you know, I was poor, now after hard work I have a Lamborghini") and then proceeds to link his sales page for his dropshipping course

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2Ykm5FvlVI


What's your opinion? How BS could this be? It's funny cause there are like 20 gurus talking about the same shit and promoting "dropshipping secrets" for $2000 courses LOL.

I thought about making a video like James Jani did, but exposing Italian gurus. That should probably help me grow and establish some trust. I'm quite sure there are some people out there who bought these shitty courses and got 0 results. This would be the audience I could form.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RealDreams]

Uploaded the 4th video. I start regretting starting this channel for an Italian audience.
The market is non-existent and I feel like I'm talking to aliens.

Considering starting making videos in English, for 3 reasons:
1. The market is WAY bigger.
2. This could be a great opportunity to improve my English accent
3. I have great editing skills and I'm sure this is an USP

 

[Ethan S]

Are you doing anything to promote the videos other than posting it on YT?

 

[RealDreams]

Are you doing anything to promote the videos other than posting it on YT?

I'm actually not. I haven't found my target audience yet. On reddit there are not Italian subreddits apart from r/italy which is a complete mess. I have no idea how to find it, that's why an American/Worldwide audience would be so easy to reach in comparison...

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ethan S]

When I first started I actually found audiences I wanted to serve and made videos specifically for them vs making videos then trying to find the audience. I know that's not what other people would say and it certainly isn't going to lead to the hockeystick growth some others on the forum have found.

But if you can find 2-3 Facebook groups, ask them a question and then make videos that speak to their answers it can be helpful for initial growth. (Especially if you're going to go slow and steady).

Example: I joined personal development Facebook groups, asked them for their favourite books on X topic. Then I would make the videos, post a photo of the book and link my video in the comments. After that I would ask the same question but with a different topic and do the same thing, but if people recommended a book I already summarized I would link it.

I no longer do this because my channel has it's own following that is more active than most of the groups (around 6k on YouTube and 2.5k on email).

Not sure if this helps. But it's what I did to start growing. It takes work.

 

[RealDreams]

When I first started I actually found audiences I wanted to serve and made videos specifically for them vs making videos then trying to find the audience. I know that's not what other people would say and it certainly isn't going to lead to the hockeystick growth some others on the forum have found.

But if you can find 2-3 Facebook groups, ask them a question and then make videos that speak to their answers it can be helpful for initial growth. (Especially if you're going to go slow and steady).

Example: I joined personal development Facebook groups, asked them for their favourite books on X topic. Then I would make the videos, post a photo of the book and link my video in the comments. After that I would ask the same question but with a different topic and do the same thing, but if people recommended a book I already summarized I would link it.

I no longer do this because my channel has it's own following that is more active than most of the groups (around 6k on YouTube and 2.5k on email).

Not sure if this helps. But it's what I did to start growing. It takes work.

This sounds great! Damn, I deleted every social media a long time ago but it looks like I need them to do some market research and to reach my audience. I have a strong hate towards social media, but I guess it's because I used to use them as a consumer instead of a producer.

 

[Ethan S]

Yeah I totally agree and don't use social media as a consumer. Actually my whole profile on Facebook is a push to my YouTube channel. Basically my cover and feature photo link directly to my YouTube sub link. Then when I first started I added people who I had conversations with inside groups. Sometimes generating dozens of Subs a day who are actually targeted.

If you DM me I'll send you a link to mine and you can copy it (I will post it here if anyone is interested just don't want to look self promotional).

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Ethan S]

Just to prove this still works I went and tried this myself again. (Sorry to hijack the thread) but please steal this idea. Here is a photo of my analytics:

1. Featured (1 hour + video) on a channel with 200k + subs
2. Posted (and went viralish) in 8 Facebook groups
*Only one of these is repeatable without a ton of effort or luck.

 

[minivanman]

I have a question, if you make 4 videos in English and get the same amount of views that you have in your current videos, how will you feel then?

How about if you make 12 videos in English but only have 4 more views than you have with your current videos...... how will you feel then?

 

[Kid]

Do both langs.
In Italian you might become as first that talks real, and be ready for when society will start appreciating this info.
In English, well, you might do that to make ends meet.

You get two in price of one.
And research you do for vids is done only once.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[James Klymus]

I'll tell you my experience with youtube. I started a channel a few years ago, when drop shipping was really hot. I made videos on topics that I saw were getting a lot of views.

I ended up making a "viral" video (only had 50,000 views or so, but for make money online thats a pretty good number of views), And I was getting dozens of new subscribers per day, mostly coming from that video. I ended up around 1500 subs or so.

To get to that point of getting traction, I literally had only made a handful of videos, probably like 4 or 5.

So for those who say "make hundreds of videos and you'll gain traction" You're not wrong, But I think you need to look at whatever niche you're operating in, and look at what is getting the views currently. Make content that's similar, but with your own twist and style.

Since you're highly dependent on YouTube to send you views and recommend videos, you have to play the game. Use clickbait and enticing thumbnails to get the attention.

 

[RealDreams]

I have a question, if you make 4 videos in English and get the same amount of views that you have in your current videos, how will you feel then?

How about if you make 12 videos in English but only have 4 more views than you have with your current videos...... how will you feel then?

Fair question. I'd probably keep going cause I see more potential in the long-term for a worldwide audience. In Italy, there's surely might be potential progress in the very long-term, but the payoff wouldn't be that big. CPM is very low in Italy. But your question makes sense.

Do both langs.
In Italian you might become as first that talks real, and be ready for when society will start appreciating this info.
In English, well, you might do that to make ends meet.

You get two in price of one.
And research you do for vids is done only once.

This is exactly what I thought I should be doing. It's time-efficient and the marginal cost of doing them in both languages is very low. I mean, one small problem could be the editing.

Maybe speaking in English takes longer than speaking in Italian for certain phrases, and this would F*ck up the edit and I'd have to fix small parts where it doesn't sync with the video (I make documentary styled videos pretty much, so there are a lot of clips). But still, I feel like it's still worth the try.

I'll tell you my experience with youtube. I started a channel a few years ago, when drop shipping was really hot. I made videos on topics that I saw were getting a lot of views.

I ended up making a "viral" video (only had 50,000 views or so, but for make money online thats a pretty good number of views), And I was getting dozens of new subscribers per day, mostly coming from that video. I ended up around 1500 subs or so.

To get to that point of getting traction, I literally had only made a handful of videos, probably like 4 or 5.

So for those who say "make hundreds of videos and you'll gain traction" You're not wrong, But I think you need to look at whatever niche you're operating in, and look at what is getting the views currently. Make content that's similar, but with your own twist and style.

Since you're highly dependent on YouTube to send you views and recommend videos, you have to play the game. Use clickbait and enticing thumbnails to get the attention.

Absolutely. The reason I'm struggling I believe is because the algorithm doesn't know who to suggest my videos to, since there are no similar videos on YouTube in the Italian market. I have a 3-5% CTR and watch time is decent but I feel like the Italian culture goes against the genre of videos I'm creating.
The more videos in the same niche with the same tags/titles and the more the algorithm knows how to distribute these videos on the suggested section. At the end of the day, it's all about the amount of data fed to the algorithm.

 

[SchenkFinancial]

The difficulty in business is self-doubt because they can be valid that you are not doing something worthy of your effort.

Very important assessment.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.