This is an obvious one, but make sure you enjoy it : you can usually tell because people who do enjoy spend a lot of time on content and produce high quality stuff which is more likely to be popular
Respond to ALL of your comments (Except spam comments just delete those). Show your viewers you care. Even if they just comment "lol" engage with them anyway.
Doing what you want doesn't get you where you want anymore.
Post things people will actually find while keeping yourself tied to the medium you want to play in.