Do I Have a Chance? YouTube Niche struggle

[abhishekk_33]

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 had a YouTube channel in past where I posted videos for 2 years...

Here is the most valuable lesson that i learned...
If you want to be a YouTuber....Take some time in taking this decision...
Because things may seem flexible in beginning..
but once you get decent subscriber base(thousands)...or even few hundred loyal subscribes...
Your channel will become a liability!..

You have to upload videos.....
Are you sick??
Experiencing Creator's block?
Busy?
Some other problem?

Guess what...No one gives a F*ck.... you've got to upload videos ... otherwise your DMs are going to be flooded...
People will lose interest...
Views per day will decrease..
And many things...
(specially it happens in category like yours)

(I stopped uploading after 2 years...it was painful)

 

[Kevin88660]

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.

Everything is difficult from 0-1.

I am creating on Medium and TikTok for one month.

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

What is the cost per 1000 views for your audience (self-help audience from your country)?

Why do you choose a smaller market (Non-English speaking audience) since you write perfectly in English?

Do you have a long term monetizing strategy other than youtube ads? Membership? Selling courses?

Who are your benchmark competitor in the space? How much do they make? What are their strength and weakness? What can you do better than them? Are these important qualities that others cannot replicate?

What is your outlook on the content creation industry? What is the “end game” in your niche 2-3 years later? 5 years later?

My view is don’t start shooting the video unless you have a rough idea of why you are doing something- a confirmation that this is worthy of your time. No need for complicated business report. Just ask yourself all those important business questions that you can answer to yourself in 300 words.

Imagine yourself as a big investor of “time” the most precious assets, and imagine the other Version of yourself of you pitching to yourself.

If you can convince yourself that it is worthy of your time, then you do not have to look back again even things get tough and you do not have new views for a week of hardwork.

 

[Fox]

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.

Do you want to post the videos?

Two videos is not a lot of content to see how this is going.

Many YT channels take dozens if not 100s of videos to get serious growth.

 

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[Kevin88660]

Thanks for your answer. Full of insights!


CPM is very, very low. Can't tell exactly but even for the most popular niche (gaming) it's around $1-2.


Why I chose to do it in my native language? I have no idea. I erroneously (or maybe not) assumed that the fact that nobody was doing it was actually a sign that maybe I should be the first.

I also have a weak accent and that would probably downgrade the quality of my videos should I do them in English, but I'd be curious to actually try and get real-feedback.

But looking back at the c.e.n.t.s model, I lack scale and need by targeting a non-English audience.
I just realized that by doing videos in English I have the whole world at my disposal.


I'm working on that. I thought about creating a sales funnel and using my videos as a lead-gen for my exclusive content, such as e-books, exclusive videos and maybe even courses.

Do you think I should worry about this yet since I have no audience? I was thinking that maybe I should create some videos first and focus on gaining an audience first, and think about sales funnel/monetizing later. Or maybe I should do both at the same time, actually.

I just don't want to waste my time creating a sales funnel when nobody is watching my videos and I don't know if there's a real need.


My competitors are dropshipping/fba gurus, literally. There's no such thing as real self-improvement besides that "easy-money" YouTube channels. I thought about exposing these gurus. Maybe that'll get me some recognition.


Honestly speaking, the end-goal might be making self-improvement popular in my country, which on one hand seems a great thing, but on the other hand I feel like I'm wasting my time trying to convince people to improve their lives. It's like I'm dealing with kids, literally. It's like creating a new market and changing people's mentality. Is this an opportunity or something that is time-wasting? I have no idea.


I agree, completely. That's why I'm currently following the mantra "fail fast, fail often".
I want to figure out ASAP whether this is something I should be doing, but how can I know? I guess I need to make a few other high quality videos and see what feedback I get from it. If I get no feedback, I'll go back to my coding journey (which I actually liked).

The reasons why I posted those questions is more of for you to decide if youtube is worth your long term investment. At the moment it might be uncertain to you but if you continue to do research and figure things out it you will probably find a good answer. Maybe you will find the right way to do youtube or another project that is better.

These are the exact questions I researched before I decided whether I want to do content creation. And if I want to do, what platforms do I start with. Most of the questions are not original. I learnt while watching other YouTuber.

Choosing a “business lane“ is an important decision. Ideally I would say it is not a waste of time to spend 2-4 weeks just reading on the industry and get a feel and more understanding first before you decide to do it or not. Some might even say go find find at least 3-4 business ideas and research them all and eventually pick the best. Not a waste of time if you are gong to put your heart and soul for at least in the next 2-3 years without looking back.

The “Fail fast” approach is more of a tactical approach after you have decided what industry you are in. You can test what style of content are going to get you more views and more likes. If you just want to create a few high quality videos and test it is almost surely going to prove you that it will fail. Because when you have no followers the marginal impact of content is not going to create the magic at the start.

Market ceiling is an Important consideration. How much you can make if things do go well? If the ceiling is too low it is probably a not good investment of time. Example you rely on ads revenue only to a small audience who speak another language than English.

The reason why I ask you if you have a product to sell, I am not expecting you to have that ready. It is more in helping you to make a choice. Example If you are good in coding, you want to make videos on coding, which can next time service as sales funnel to sell coding courses. This is a better than talking about self help, which you do not even know what you can sell next time.

Looking at your competitor is the fastest way of figuring out The ceiling, how much they are already making now. And what they are missing and how you can add value, matching to your own skill and potential. The thought is “if these monkeys can talk about such craps and make 200k, I know I can just pick up the editorial skills(Missing skills I do not have currently), fill the value gap (things you have an edge), and make at least 150k??

I do not know what you mean by there is no self help. There is a lot of personal development themes on youtube. Waking up at 5am..motivational quotes and visualization.. all these.

 

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[sparechange]

Do you want to post the videos?

Two videos is not a lot of content to see how this is going.

Many YT channels take dozens if not 100s of videos to get serious growth.

There's a guy here in Vancouver that took about 8 years to get to 2.5M subs, the first year I believe he had under 50k subs and barely made traction, anyways after posting daily he became an ''overnight'' sucess. Youtube looks really easy and simple, but holy crap it's a grind

 

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[RealDreams]

I had a YouTube channel in past where I posted videos for 2 years...

Here is the most valuable lesson that i learned...
If you want to be a YouTuber....Take some time in taking this decision...
Because things may seem flexible in beginning..
but once you get decent subscriber base(thousands)...or even few hundred loyal subscribes...
Your channel will become a liability!..

You have to upload videos.....
Are you sick??
Experiencing Creator's block?
Busy?
Some other problem?

Guess what...No one gives a F*ck.... you've got to upload videos ... otherwise your DMs are going to be flooded...
People will lose interest...
Views per day will decrease..
And many things...
(specially it happens in category like yours)

(I stopped uploading after 2 years...it was painful)

It's not a struggle making videos when you have an audience.
It's a struggle when you have no audience at all.

 

[Kevin88660]

I'm not a fan of this strategy to be honest. It would hinder the quality of each video.
Wasn't quality > quantity the best strategy?
Or are there particular benefits to uploading videos often?

Because youtube algo rewards frequent publishing.

The algo will recommend your videos more if
1)You update frequently
2)There is keywords related to recent news
3) There are more people who like and leave comments.

Higher recommendation rate make lives a lot easier.

 

[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.

 

[RealDreams]

The reasons why I posted those questions is more of for you to decide if youtube is worth your long term investment. At the moment it might be uncertain to you but if you continue to do research and figure things out it you will probably find a good answer. Maybe you will find the right way to do youtube or another project that is better.

These are the exact questions I researched before I decided whether I want to do content creation. And if I want to do, what platforms do I start with. Most of the questions are not original. I learnt while watching other YouTuber.

Choosing a “business lane“ is an important decision. Ideally I would say it is not a waste of time to spend 2-4 weeks just reading on the industry and get a feel and more understanding first before you decide to do it or not. Some might even say go find find at least 3-4 business ideas and research them all and eventually pick the best. Not a waste of time if you are gong to put your heart and soul for at least in the next 2-3 years without looking back.

The “Fail fast” approach is more of a tactical approach after you have decided what industry you are in. You can test what style of content are going to get you more views and more likes. If you just want to create a few high quality videos and test it is almost surely going to prove you that it will fail. Because when you have no followers the marginal impact of content is not going to create the magic at the start.

Market ceiling is an Important consideration. How much you can make if things do go well? If the ceiling is too low it is probably a not good investment of time. Example you rely on ads revenue only to a small audience who speak another language than English.

The reason why I ask you if you have a product to sell, I am not expecting you to have that ready. It is more in helping you to make a choice. Example If you are good in coding, you want to make videos on coding, which can next time service as sales funnel to sell coding courses. This is a better than talking about self help, which you do not even know what you can sell next time.

Looking at your competitor is the fastest way of figuring out The ceiling, how much they are already making now. And what they are missing and how you can add value, matching to your own skill and potential. The thought is “if these monkeys can talk about such craps and make 200k, I know I can just pick up the editorial skills(Missing skills I do not have currently), fill the value gap (things you have an edge), and make at least 150k??

I do not know what you mean by there is no self help. There is a lot of personal development themes on youtube. Waking up at 5am..motivational quotes and visualization.. all these.

This all makes sense.

The upper potential is decent but definitely not as high as if I had to target an English audience, probably. I have less competition but also a smaller market.

I might also do videos on coding, but by seeing the people who currently do that, they are getting very low traffic, too. As I said, in my country 95% of youtube traffic comes from entertainment, which is quite sad if I have to be honest. That's why when I said "there's no self-help", I referred to my country.

I thought of literally just making these kind of videos "I tried X and Y happened" or stuff like that to see what's the engagement rate from people in my country.

You nailed it with "would you do it for 3-4 years?". I probably wouldn't.
I started this project with a short-term focus. In the sense that, I have bigger plans for my future, and I don't want to get to start the big business I have in mind when I'll be 30, but much earlier, like at 25 at most.

Or I'll be on a road which is no different than the slowlane. And to start that big business I need funds, and that's once again the reason why I decided to pursue this youtube strategy.

I basically cut the big goal in small components and that's where I ended up. Pursuing "short-term" "businesses" to be able to pursue an actual business. I see everything as a steppingstone. But I understand this might hinder my mindset.

 

[Photool]

So I started a YouTube channel in my native language on self-improvement a few months ago.
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.

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)

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[RealDreams]

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.

 

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[RealDreams]

Do you want to post the videos?

Two videos is not a lot of content to see how this is going.

Many YT channels take dozens if not 100s of videos to get serious growth.

I actually like editing. But as we all know, when feedback is null the dopamine loop is non-existent. But you're right, 2 videos are nothing.

My only concern is that most people in my country wouldn't care about this kind of content, but I decided to keep going anyway and see the truth from statistical data (ctr/watch time/likes/dislikes) instead from my biases.

 

[Kevin88660]

I had a YouTube channel in past where I posted videos for 2 years...

Here is the most valuable lesson that i learned...
If you want to be a YouTuber....Take some time in taking this decision...
Because things may seem flexible in beginning..
but once you get decent subscriber base(thousands)...or even few hundred loyal subscribes...
Your channel will become a liability!..

You have to upload videos.....
Are you sick??
Experiencing Creator's block?
Busy?
Some other problem?

Guess what...No one gives a F*ck.... you've got to upload videos ... otherwise your DMs are going to be flooded...
People will lose interest...
Views per day will decrease..
And many things...
(specially it happens in category like yours)

(I stopped uploading after 2 years...it was painful)

Agree. Content creation requires maintenance cost that cannot be outsourced when you are the main brand.

 

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[Madame Peccato]

You're Italian right? Link your videos and I'll give you honest feedback about them.

If you don't want to share them here due to the language barrier send me the links via PM.

I think self-help as an industry has potential here in Italy too. I mean, why wouldn't it? We all know what are the strenghts of the industry (the promise of somewhat easy results).

For example, a publishing company asked me to ghostwrite a self-help book that they converted into an audiobook 4 months ago.

 

[Kevin88660]

This all makes sense.

The upper potential is decent but definitely not as high as if I had to target an English audience, probably. I have less competition but also a smaller market.

I might also do videos on coding, but by seeing the people who currently do that, they are getting very low traffic, too. As I said, in my country 95% of youtube traffic comes from entertainment, which is quite sad if I have to be honest. That's why when I said "there's no self-help", I referred to my country.

I thought of literally just making these kind of videos "I tried X and Y happened" or stuff like that to see what's the engagement rate from people in my country.

You nailed it with "would you do it for 3-4 years?". I probably wouldn't.
I started this project with a short-term focus. In the sense that, I have bigger plans for my future, and I don't want to get to start the big business I have in mind when I'll be 30, but much earlier, like at 25 at most.

Or I'll be on a road which is no different than the slowlane. And to start that big business I need funds, and that's once again the reason why I decided to pursue this youtube strategy.

I basically cut the big goal in small components and that's where I ended up. Pursuing "short-term" "businesses" to be able to pursue an actual business. I see everything as a steppingstone. But I understand this might hinder my mindset.

My opinion is they only serve as stepping stone is there are some forms of links. Like how your youtube fame could

If you need money for living expense A job is still the best way to go.

Accomplishing a small success in a small business can help in sourcing for funding for your bigger ideas. You can show investors that you have done something before and you know how to execute.

Good luck.

 

[Andy Black]

Some good advice and discussion in this thread already.


Thread added to this master list that might be useful:

• [Master List] YouTube Progress Threads

 

[RealDreams]

There's a guy here in Vancouver that took about 8 years to get to 2.5M subs, the first year I believe he had under 50k subs and barely made traction, anyways after posting daily he became an ''overnight'' sucess. Youtube looks really easy and simple, but holy crap it's a grind

Was randomly watching this video by Sam Ovens and it sums up what you just said:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDTSxcpz8mQ

 

[fastlanedoll]

In other words, Youtube is another full time job.
I really think what's reaaally interested about this job is:
1) There is no job description
2) What you receive is (generally) what you put in
3) Your earnings have the potential to be exponential, which doesn't occur in ANY real life jobs.
4) There is no set schedule

I guess it's just about overcoming that slow grind in the beginning and not give up due to slow growth.
And starting off with the right idea / direction for the channel in the first place.

 

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[ARMAT]

I don`t know where are you from, but if the competition is less in your niche you have a very high chance to succeed. Bcz business, finance, self-improvement topics are highly demanded in every capitalistic country, despite of the market size)) Good luck my friend. Keep it up and I am sure you will succeed.

 

[FBA-N-SEO]

I'm not sure what this is worth but I've worked w/ a lot of "industry influencers" in my line of work. I've often found it a really effective marketing strategy to focus on the small dogs first and then try to leverage them into larger people picking up my content. I guess that early part doesn't really matter but it has given me a unique perspective on the differences between successful YouTube channels and unsuccessful YouTube channels.

A trend I noticed with the successful YouTube channels was they spent about 50% of their time being involved with the community. A good example is Coup from Garrage Gym Reviews. The dude spends a ton of time on various subreddits, forums, etc., he then leveraged that into his successful YouTube channel. That is where he pulled his initial audience from.

I'd ask are there forums, subreddits, meetup groups, facebook groups, etc. dedicated to what you are doing that you can kind of hijack.

 

[FBA-N-SEO]

This makes sense. I noticed this, too. It's like creating a "cult", really. It's all about getting people to know and trust you, and only then offer your value proposition.

I think that's important -- but more so these guys help provide the initial views / subscriptions for your channel. That of course helps w/ the ranking. It also ensures you're creating content that resonates with people and giving you a method to more directly interact w/ your target audience.

 

[Prince33]

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.

 

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[FBA-N-SEO]

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

I rarely say quotes are awesome -- but that is an AWESOME quote.

 

[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]

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?