That is a smart move indeedperhaps - but it's doing well so far
it's also why I have it linked in my sig, so it can be forever dredged up
Tips & Tricks Chronamut's tips for growing your channel
That is a smart move indeed
I thought as much - also the more you all comment the more opportunities I have to respond and keep the thread in visible view - win win
Ive seen TONNES of posts about this kind of thing but none of them made as much impact as this one ! Thanks for taking the time to write this , Do you mind if i copy the text and save it in my memo pad or something for later ( don't worry i won't steal and post it anywhere else)So you want tips to grow your channel eh? Well pull up a chair and pay attention!
Let's start first with the freedom forums - congratulations, you have taken the first step! Unfortunately, freedom is not a network you sign up to and they magically get you subscribers - no they provide you the TOOLS to. Tons and tons of people sign up everyday to here and it would just not be feasible for them to promote everyone.
So the first thing you're going to want to do of course is post in the introductions thread. This will get people aware that you exist, because if nobody exists, then nobody will know you are here to subscribe to you!
next you are going to want to click HERE to add your youtube subscribe button to your signature
then you are going to want to add links to your playlists in your signature - pictures, milestones, colours, etc. Anything to catch peoples eye - this is the one place you are allowed to shamelessly promote yourself. If you click your avatar at the top right of the forums you will see a place that says "signature" - click this and add it there.
-----
Now you think "ok I am set, let the subscribers flow in", right?
Wrong.
Nobody is going to subscribe to you if you are not an active member of the community, or if you appear you only care about people subscribing to you, and not that you care about THEM. It is give in take. Sub 4 sub isn't the best way to go as you are just blindly subscribing to people without showing you actually care about their content. Most who sub4sub never check out the pages of the people they subscribe to, and will eventually lose subscribers.
Now where are the best places in the forum to get people to notice you? I will tell you!
1) The introductions thread - yes the same place you made your debut is actually the highest place to get subscribers! Those who are brand new will be the most likely to subscribe to you - make sure you don't just give them a generic "welcome to the forums!" as these get monotonous - try to add some general advice that is good for anyone you post to. I have a general welcome, some general advice, and then underneath I will leave a personal message for that person to let them know I am aware of what they are trying to do
2) The milestones thread - the place where people congratulate people on their subscriber milestone - since everyone here is so focused on subscribers it is one of the most focused on places. Be sure to list your own goals as well in your comments, as that might even motivate them to help you out
3) general discussion - this should be pretty logical - just talk about everyday things - show people what kind of a person you are, your interests, etc.
4) tips and advice area - EVERYONE is looking for advice on how to gain subscribers - so you can get a lot of attention here - think of the flow of new people like a stream of potential subscribers, and you want to collect as much of the splashoff from it as you can.
5) Request offers - people are always looking for services - whether its intro/outros, forum signatures etc.
6) Creations - this one is the least effective - you are allowed to post your videos in here but everyone is so focused on helping themselves and not others that barely anyone ever views anyone elses page. Unfortunately the nature of this network itself makes people not care about others, and only care about promoting themselves. It's give and take.
-----
Now I know you will wail "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS - I HAVE THINGS TO DO!"
Tough. If you want fans you have to do the hard work to earn them.
And that involves being active in the forums. You can also be active in the chat at the bottom right of the page but be mindful that people there are not your slaves to subscribe to your channel, and thus no advertising or soliciting of your channel, talking about it, linking it, asking for subscribers, etc. is allowed. It is for general questions and just general chat. If you want people to subscribe to you, simply show what kind of a person you are - get involved!
-----
now where else is a good place to get subscribers outside of here and youtube?
Twitter: seriously, just search for "looking for youtubers" and you will find posts from people actually ASKING what youtube channels people recommend they follow - people want to follow people, they just don't know they exist?
Google+ - if you join communities here you might get some followres - there are even youtube communities for subscribers to follow you - but unfortunately if you spam your videos in a lot of them they will shut down your google+ - rather counterintuitive..
facebook - your bread and butter platform for promoting - there are a lot of facebook groups too that are more than willing to subscribe to you - so check them out!
Linkedin - this works if your videos are professional and educational.
reddit - reddit will get you a LOT of views if you play your cards right - but it can also get you a LOT of hate and dislikes - the reddit community is VERY critical. Also you can only have a 10% promotion ratio of your content on reddit - so if you post 1 video from your page - you will have to post 9 unrelated things not related to you to balance that ratio out, or your videos will simply stop showing up on reddit and you could be banned. Reddit is a community, not a place for you to simply dump your stuff.
homepage - what is this, why this is the website you base your operations out of. Every person should have one central place they direct everyone to to go.. everywhere else.
Mine is HERE - as you can see I have everything linked from my about page, and I advertise that webpage EVERYWHERE - from there they can then jump to any other page, and those pages they jump to, usually have links to every OTHER page - you daisychain all your sites together so they all point to each other. Good marketing, and trust me, it works. I see the results in my analytics.
-----
So what else can you do?
a) find the biggest channels you can find, and start commenting on them - subscribing isn't even about how good you are - in the end everything is in how much EXPOSURE you get - how many people know you exist - so make yourself as visible as possible - and huge channels get LOTS of views!
b) upload a LOT of videos - like not a lot every day but at least every day, couple days, or a week at worst - people want to see you are consistent in uploading new content - it's not even about consistency of content itself - you can be all over the place - people just want to know you are ACTIVE.
c) while an intro imo is not as important, having a good outro is, as people literally need to be TOLD to subscribe to you - they are a bit like sheeple in that regard - they simply forget. I personally find intros annoying as I simply want to watch the video - so imo if you make an intro make it very very short - like a couple seconds at best. Something to punch their subconscious but not long enough where they groan "ugh how long is this introooo.."
d) thank your fans every now and then, or at least communicate with them - if you get comments RESPOND to them - this means the world to people as it makes them feel you care about them and that a larger than life person actually spent the time to engage with them - this will get you loyal followers. Also, show them you love them - the things fans want most is to know you acknowledge them - you are Senpai - and all they want is for Senpai to notice them so they feel part of your life.
e) be REAL - if you are super fake in your videos you will only get novelty subscribers and fair weather followers who only follow you for the spectacle and as soon as that "character" you play starts to wane they will unsubscribe from you - be genuine, and show people what talents you have
f) be unique - I am sure a lot of you have notice this network is like 99% gaming and "lets play" channels - when millions of those exist it doesn't bode well for your subscriber base - why subscribe to you if 50 other people are doing the same kinds of videos? At that point you really have to step up your game and either make your gameplays unique or branch out and do more than one thing - diversity in channels is getting more popular, and allows you to monetize your videos. Remember, if your letsplay contains audio from the game, you CANNOT monetize it - as the game owns that audio, NOT you.
g) know where the traffic of people are, where they go the most, and plant yourself there so that people see you - if people need help on a specific subject be there to answer their questions - kind of like this thread is helping you right now.
h) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE - seriously this is one of the most important. For example, let's say you are a big beefy hairy boy, and you make.. oh I dunno.. videos talking about merchandise. You might think oh who is gonna wanna look at me - I am big and hairy. Well, in the gay community, there is what is called the bear community, and they WORSHIP big hairy men, so, some people, like me, will follow someone based on sex appeal alone - so if you were to show a little skin, and advertise it the right places, you might suddenly get a LOT more attention - sex sells, as does catering to the right demographic! ( THIS guy gets it - check out his banner)
i) USE ANALYTICS! Ohh this is sooo important. Youtube analytics will show you what people like the most from you - what places you link your stuff to get you the most traffic, how many people a day subscribe to you and unsubscribe - and how much revenue you get - very vital - if you don't understand the health of your channel you can never work to fix it. Your growth will ebb and flow too, so don't feel discouraged.
j) SUBSCRIBE TO OTHER PEOPLE - this is the most important - and not so that they will subscribe to you, but because you LIKE what they output. If you want people to subscribe to you, you have to be interested in them first.
and that is the big thing here - if you want subscribers, you have to care about other people, which I am noticing a very severe lack of - those who complain the most are usually those who care the least about others, and seem to think this network will magically solve all their problems. It will not. It provides you tools to help you - royalty free music, sponsorships, free stuff, contests, a forum to increase your exposure on, a place to tell your youtube story, and a plethora of helpful videos from the network creator and staff - use them!
-----
and that's my advice to you all - hopefully it helps!
P.S. - one thing you can also do is link this thread in your signature like I did - it will prevent some of that whining on the forums of how to increase ones subscriber base, and it will really help me out in the process - why reinvent the wheel right? Direct newbies here!
-chronamut-
not at all, go ahead! The best way to help me would be to put the link to this thread in your signature - like I did
and thank you
awesome - thanks! I am going to ask for it to be added to the tips to grow your channel sticky too
awesome - thanks! I am going to ask for it to be added to the tips to grow your channel sticky too
No Problem and I will use these tips for mine youtube.
Everyone needs to listen to these tips! I'm just now reading this post for the first time but I've exercised most of these tips and I have over 9k subscribers! Everyone should carefully read and apply this!
Extremely informative. Thanks for this post! I'll be sure to come back to this frequently, to remember what to do and what not to do.
Thank you for taking the time to put this all together.
I am shifting some of my time to growing my channel and this really inspired me!
I am shifting some of my time to growing my channel and this really inspired me!
Wow, these are probably the best and most helpful tips I have read so far and I've read A LOT of tips, most of them basically just saying the same thing. I do some of these things but there are some I didn't even know about! So thank you for your help!
glad to see people are still reading this! I might do one on how to maintain your subscriber base too..
you should link it in your sig - that way you always know where it is, and you will be helping other newbies out as well!