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Ways to succeed on Youtube

Anything considered a "hustle" and not necessarily a CENTS-based Fastlane

fastlanedoll

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I've found some samples of youtube channels that are successful, but yet rather unconventional.

This first one is just basically live streams of a girl studying for hours and hours on end.
She doesn't talk much, and she's been doing this for YEARS
Absolute genius way to build a channel airing something you do anyway:

The second one is Kelly Stamps. She's obviously got a personality, but her channel is different in the sense that she doesn't really have a 'theme'. She just posts videos seemingly as she sees fit. No fancy editing, just sometimes a talking head about updates about her life:

Oh yea, and that 'Kate Yup' channel, which just features a headless chick eating seafood and thrives on being peculiar.

Any other interesting ones anyone here has to share?
 
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RazorCut

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Study Vibes actually reminded me of Ruby Granger who showed up on my feed a few months back and intrigued me. She has almost half a million followers. She vlogs about her school and university studies (Including follow along study time) and whatever else fills her days. It’s a genuine video diary that probably helps a lot of pupils and students with all sorts of problems. From studying and dealing with bad grades, to deeper issues like self esteem, rejection and having no friends.

View: https://youtu.be/wIGK8MkckAs
 

fastlanedoll

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I think one thing people value above all else is AUTHENTICITY.
This applies to ANY niche you attempt to go into.

EDIT: This Ruby person actually comes across as the miss popular type as opposed to having no friends, lol.
 

RazorCut

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I think one thing people value above all else is AUTHENTICITY.
This applies to ANY niche you attempt to go into.

EDIT: This Ruby person actually comes across as the miss popular type as opposed to having no friends, lol.

I have only dipped into her channel but I guess her confidence has grown over the lifetime of her channel. I just checked and she has been posting for 6 years so from her very early teens. I think she probably only attained ‘popularity’ relatively recently.

Totally agree authenticity trumps everything.
 
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D

Deleted8v369

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I've found some samples of youtube channels that are successful, but yet rather unconventional.

This first one is just basically live streams of a girl studying for hours and hours on end.
She doesn't talk much, and she's been doing this for YEARS
Absolute genius way to build a channel airing something you do anyway:

The second one is Kelly Stamps. She's obviously got a personality, but her channel is different in the sense that she doesn't really have a 'theme'. She just posts videos seemingly as she sees fit. No fancy editing, just sometimes a talking head about updates about her life:

Oh yea, and that 'Kate Yup' channel, which just features a headless chick eating seafood and thrives on being peculiar.

Any other interesting ones anyone here has to share?
Pan Piano

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View: https://youtu.be/N-jSin_-rmE
 

Andy Black

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I wonder about those channels with millions of views on videos of Ronaldo, Tyson, Marvel movie scenes, and other entertaining themes.

Then there’s channels that have kids lullabies. Parents put them on to get their kids to sleep. Those videos can get millions of views because parents play them night after night. It’s interesting to wonder how those channels monetise.

Top 10 XYZ videos get a lot of views too.

I only have to watch my kids glued to YouTube: gamers, Mr Beast challenges, Super Cooper Sunday (a couple blogging life with their dogs), anything Fortnite, pewdie pie, dogs again, etc.


What intrigues me are the channels that curate content people like seeing. I can binge watch rugby or boxing videos that show “The Top 10 Jonah Lomu Tries”, anything about Vasyl Lomachenko, etc.

Firstly, if they can stay the right side of copyright laws, then they don’t need to do any video recording - they just splice videos together to create something else that people want to watch. I think it’s genius.

I imagine someone in their basement in a far flung country who doesn’t know rugby or even speak English creating a “Top 10 Side-Stepping Wingers” video that rugby die-heads watch, enjoy, and share.

I figure there must be video creation sweatshops hidden away where people pump out videos they know will generate high views, watch time, comments, shares, subscribes, and ultimately revenue.
 
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SchenkFinancial

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Top Youtubers understand how the Youtube algorithm works. They know what sort of content to make and what tactics to use to bring in millions of views.

YouTube uses the algorithm to help surface the videos that people will click on and watch because at the end of the day they want people to stay on their site.

A few years ago, the description and tags were very important but in 2020 they are pretty irrelevant. Viral videos often have titles under 50 characters, this means that when viewed on mobile on your recommended feed, none of it is cut off.

This also leads to the titles being super pragmatic. Being straight to the point gets rewarded on YouTube, just as well as appealing thumbnails. The thumbnail can make the difference between 10k views and 200k views. Software programs like toolbuddy have a feature that can measure the click-through-rate for each thumbnail you have in mind.

If you can get over 4 minutes of watch time with a 50 % or above audience retention and a 10 % to 20 % click-through-rate, you have a really good chance of going viral.

The attention span of a YouTube viewer is pretty low, this is why top YouTubers are mindful of not leaving any dull moments in their videos. They carry people along for a reward at the end of the video.
 

fastlanedoll

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I wonder about those channels with millions of views on videos of Ronaldo, Tyson, Marvel movie scenes, and other entertaining themes.

Then there’s channels that have kids lullabies. Parents put them on to get their kids to sleep. Those videos can get millions of views because parents play them night after night. It’s interesting to wonder how those channels monetise.

Top 10 XYZ channels?

I only have to watch my kids glued to YouTube: gamers, Mr Beast challenges, Super Cooper Sunday (a couple blogging life with their dogs), anything Fortnite, pewdie pie, dogs again, etc.


What intrigues me are the channels that curate content people like seeing. I can binge watch rugby or boxing videos that show “The Top 10 Jonah Lomu Tries”, anything about Vasyl Lomachenko, etc.

Firstly, if they Cathay the right side of copyright laws, then they don’t need to do any video recording - they just splice videos together to create something else that people want to watch. I think it’s genius.

I imagine someone in their basement in a far flung country who doesn’t know rugby or even speak English creating a “Top 10 Side-Stepping Wingers” video that rugby die-heads watch, enjoy, and share.

I figure there must be video creation sweatshops hidden away where people pump out videos they know will generate high views, watch time, comments, shares, subscribed, and ultimately revenue.

Yea, I always wondered where the line is between 'fair use' and copyright violation..

And yes, the highest, highest views always go to those kids channels, e.g. toy reviews, vlogs of kids, rhymes, stories etc.

I thought about creating one, but just haven't really figured out how to compete with the already massive ones out there.
 

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I think it is interesting...for those of you that followed James Jami and his explosive YouTube growth on the thread in here how content and titles are vital. His "fake guru" titles etc blew up his channel and his subscribers. Then, he took almost 2 months to make his true passion project video (rise and fall and rise of gamer Tyler)
View: https://youtu.be/4bkk8oG9HRA
...and it has so far garnered only 90k views. Its his longest video. Ita well edited and well done. The story is interesting...but not so much to me (52 or old entrepreneur) and obviously his other followers. Not to mention a trickier video for his usual advertisers/monetized traffic. I will be curious to see what he does next.
 
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Andy Black

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I think it is interesting...for those of you that followed James Jami and his explosive YouTube growth on the thread in here how content and titles are vital. His "fake guru" titles etc blew up his channel and his subscribers. Then, he took almost 2 months to make his true passion project video (rise and fall and rise of gamer Tyler)
View: https://youtu.be/4bkk8oG9HRA
...and it has so far garnered only 90k views. Its his longest video. Ita well edited and well done. The story is interesting...but not so much to me (52 or old entrepreneur) and obviously his other followers. Not to mention a trickier video for his usual advertisers/monetized traffic. I will be curious to see what he does next.
In Jame’s progress thread I think he mentioned that particular video was a risk/experiment and maybe he wouldn’t have done it if he’s known how big his channel would have got just prior to creating that video. If the gamer has a big following himself then did it get some of his audience to come over and follow James?
 

fastlanedoll

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I think it has a lot to do with the fact that maybe Tyler1 just isn't super famous (honestly, I didn't know who he was until the video.. or maybe I just live under a rock, I dunno)?

I mean, if you look at the video of the title, people who don't know him simply won't click on it.
The 'rise & fall of _______ (someone you don't know)' doesn't bait someone to click as much as something like 'tyler1: from most hated to $1 million a year' <- that sounds cheesy, but you know what i mean. For someone to click on it without knowing who he is, the title needs to allude that the viewer has something to learn / gain from the video (with my sample title eluding that the viewer can also go from the pits to $1 mil a year)

EDIT: And of course, the people who do know him, already know his story, so don't feel compelled to click, either.

This is no offense to James at all!! Editing on point, channel content on point. I think he will become bigger than Graham Stephan. Just giving my thoughts on why this particular video didn't do as well as his other videos.
 

LordGanon

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In Germany, we have a rather notorious YouTuber named "Drachenlord". Everything started with a few dancing videos and confessions about his love for Heavy Metal. People ridiculed him, and he made a video announcing his full address, threatening to beat up people.

Ever since then, his "fame" exploded. Hundreds of people gathered at his house. The police come almost every day. And he doesn't think about quitting. He makes very low quality Let's Play's and videos about his "haters". There are whole Discord servers dedicated to bullying him.

That guy - I kid you not - now has his own miniature for miniature train landscapes. Some people want to be famous for every price.


I generally don't get what it is with Let's Play's. Playing games is a surrogate activity in itself. But watching other people playing games is a surrogate activity of a surrogate activity.


Personally, I love the Exploring SCP series (600k subscribers). They had a solid fanbase of SCP fans from the beginning. Oh, I love SCP Foundation stuff.
 
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fastlanedoll

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Yea you just never know.. What people will watch.. Or do.
 
D

Deleted8v369

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Yea you just never know.. What people will watch.. Or do.

That reminds me of ARCHIELUXURY

He's a sort of guy who attracts trolls. He lost most of his YouTube income overnight when YouTube decided not to run paid adds on videos with bad language, then crawled his way back up again.

What really interested me is, though, I compared his channel to an educational channel, and discovered that while the educational channel had far more subscribers, it had far fewer views than Archie's.

I would guess number of views trumps number of subscribers, doesn't it?
 

fastlanedoll

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Yes, pay = watch time

Subscribers don't mean too much unless they're a REAL subscriber, meaning they consume most/all your videos, and you've already gotten over the 1k subscriber threshold.
 
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UGH - I'll never understand the appeal of the eating videos. I think I heard somewhere it's considered a compliment when you can be heard eating your food. I was raised not to smack or chew like a freaking cow. I should do a video about all dogs licking their balls because that's another thing I can't stand to hear. I'd probably make a killing. :playful:

I've been toying with the YT channel idea for a while, not necessarily trying to find some weird niche to go into but just how to make one that I can capitalize on.

One thing I've noticed about the popular vlog channels...almost all of them are super pretty and young people. Yeah, I'm dealing with confidence issues and on the one hand I'm like "whatever, I'll just do me and F*ck anyone who doesn't like it" but then I also want to be successful and looking good helps.

I'm an out of shape 54 year old lady with NO photogenic genes AT ALL. NOT kidding. LOL I've even considered doing simple workout videos for fat old ladies if I'd actually follow through and do them regularly. Maybe that'd get my a$$ in shape for once. :clench:

I've seen the channels with no faces. LOTS of them out there all the same so not sure if that's a viable option but have considered it.

Great thread, thanks for starting it.
 

fastlanedoll

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UGH - I'll never understand the appeal of the eating videos. I think I heard somewhere it's considered a compliment when you can be heard eating your food. I was raised not to smack or chew like a freaking cow. I should do a video about all dogs licking their balls because that's another thing I can't stand to hear. I'd probably make a killing. :playful:

I've been toying with the YT channel idea for a while, not necessarily trying to find some weird niche to go into but just how to make one that I can capitalize on.

One thing I've noticed about the popular vlog channels...almost all of them are super pretty and young people. Yeah, I'm dealing with confidence issues and on the one hand I'm like "whatever, I'll just do me and F*ck anyone who doesn't like it" but then I also want to be successful and looking good helps.

I'm an out of shape 54 year old lady with NO photogenic genes AT ALL. NOT kidding. LOL I've even considered doing simple workout videos for fat old ladies if I'd actually follow through and do them regularly. Maybe that'd get my a$$ in shape for once. :clench:

I've seen the channels with no faces. LOTS of them out there all the same so not sure if that's a viable option but have considered it.

Great thread, thanks for starting it.

Hmm.
What would you say you're good at?
Any special skills?
What have you spent most of your life doing?

I can -possibly- spin something for you.

I've heard of this 'gamer grandma' channel that is popular (I've never actually seen it), but it's basically a grandma playing video games. It wins due to its novelty. Don't need to be particularly attractive.

Disclaimer: NOT saying you are a grandma. I was trying to make a point.
 

StarVoyager

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Hmm.
What would you say you're good at?
Any special skills?
What have you spent most of your life doing?

I can -possibly- spin something for you.

I've heard of this 'gamer grandma' channel that is popular (I've never actually seen it), but it's basically a grandma playing video games. It wins due to its novelty. Don't need to be particularly attractive.

Disclaimer: NOT saying you are a grandma. I was trying to make a point.

HAHA! I could be a grandma so no worries! Yeah, I know of her actually. Shirley Curry. Sweetest person.

I'm good at renovation but don't want to do that as a video series even though that would be very popular. I'm just tired of it. I'm one of those jack-of-all-trades, master of none type people. Huge DIYer with just about anything. I just replaced the thermostat in my van a few weeks back. This morning went into the attic to deal with some leaking issues. I've remodeled my entire kitchen, completely gutted and rebuilt the whole thing (back in 2007). I have chickens and cats, and a husband. I do graphic design, KDP, Merch by Amazon. I've got a few books published under a couple of pen names. BUT I don't feel like I have enough knowledge about any ONE thing to make it worth putting up a channel.

All of that keeps me from having any "special" skill.

The exception to that is making money online (my passion and what I'm always thinking about).

I think I just answered my own question. LOL I know there are already a ton of people doing it. But I think I have come up with an angle that isn't really out there that I've seen. This thread has been good at getting my mind working on it!
 
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fastlanedoll

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The exception to that is making money online (my passion and what I'm always thinking about).

This. My dear.
VERY lucrative. Muahaha.
I think sometimes just you talking is enough. I mean, your ideas could be the same as someone else's.
But they don't have the same 'persona' as you do.

It's not the same as writing on Medium, where words are the only differentiation.
Youtube is something really personal.

Btw, I'd LOVE to hear the best ways to make money online right now, hahaha.

EDIT: Since you say you're a jack of all trades, maybe you can do a 'how to' channel. Very searchable.
 
D

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I wonder about all the kids channels using Marvel. There are lots of crappy CG videos of Marvel characters driving cars. I saw another channel that was just a guy dressed like Spider-Man popping balloons. Aren't they supposed to buy the rights from Marvel to do that?
 

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Just like the "study vibes".... any of you guys know what mukbang is? Literally people eating in front of the screen. Started in (ofc) East Asian countries where people eat alone, it was like eating with company. Some talk small talk while they eat, some don't (there's preferences). Now it has evolved into all kinds of eating challenges, ASMR chewing (kill me) and even a dude that was super fit and healthy that turned into Snorlax for the sake of viewers and turned really dark really fast.

Anyway, eating. I'm not gonna lie I found a girl and for some reason I find it oddly satisfying watching her crunch on shrimp tempura. She's being doing if for years, but I just like to watch that video and that video alone. I guess that particular meal looks so good. Lol
 

minivanman

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Skin wins every time.

A female with very little clothes on could sit on a swing 24/7 and have millions of views.

Bob makes the same video and the 157 people that watch it tell him he is fat and ugly.
 
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GatsbyMag

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When it comes to YouTube, it's important to acknowledge that there is certainly a 'type' that does well e.g. young attractive women, fit guys, rich people

If you're a young attractive woman, women will watch you because they want to be as pretty as you or just feel like they relate to you (women are incredibly supportive) and lots of lonely men will tune in commenting on your videos, fantasizing about the life they'd have if they could wake up to you.

If you're a fit guy, all the men want to be as jacked as you. Some to have the muscle to defend themselves, others because they crave the looks and respect they get from women and men if they had extra muscle.

If you're rich, people want to live vicariously through you, so they'll follow you to see the cars, clothes and experiences you can afford, which they cannot.

These are only common examples that I'm sure you're all aware of. However, I highlight this to say that most people will watch personalities who have something which they lack or wish they could experience. Do you have a particular skill/talent/life that others would find alluring? If so, use that to your benefit.

I feel like everything else e.g. titles, thumbnails, tags, keywords etc. are all tactics which can only work if you have some substance for an audience to gravitate towards.

Keep in mind that this is not a formula that you need to succeed in youtube, it's just an angle you could take.

Also I've never had any major success on the platform, I've gotten a few viral videos but that's about it, so I could be entirely wrong.
 

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