Request Help me figure out why I'm growing so slow

[Proud to be fruit]

I was unsure where to put this post because I'm not necessarily after a channel review per se, though I am technically asking for a review regarding my strategy to get views.

To sum up I feel like I'm doing everything by the book to grow, but still my videos are brutally beaten by channel owners who don't seem to lift a finger to get views. And I can't figure out what they are doing that I am not. I really believe in my content, I believe that I offer something that my community and society as a whole needs, and things they would find useful and entertaining. And I believe I offer all of that with high quality. So what is the problem? To find out, I thought that I should take my own advice and go to the Freedom Forums. Let me explain a little more about me, what I do to grow and why I'm so confused.

About me (www.youtube.com/proudtobefruit)
On my channel I aim to inspire LGBT+ people and allies with knowledge, arguments and interesting discussions. For two reasons: One, to give tools to answer homophobic arguments whatever they might be. Two, eliminate any trace of thoughts like “Maybe there’s something wrong with me”. Currently I have 162 subscribers gathered over a period of two years.

I’m trained in the art of performing, filming and editing. I know lots about how to provide quality content in theory. I’m even hosting a series about such things on Freedom Central. But I have one weakness, I can’t crack the code as to how to reach out. And if you can’t do that, then it doesn’t matter how good your content is.

What I do to reach out

Metadata

• Filling the tag section with relevant tags with the help of a tagfinder that also helps me pick out the most effective tags.
• Using keywords in the description that matches the tags.
• Explaning what I do and why they should subscribe.
• Calling to action in the description.

Community

• I have found my community on forums, reddit, twitter and discord servers with thousands of LGBT+ people. I’ve tried being active on these places just interacting with people in my community there. And I’m posting my videos on all of these places using relevant hashtags and @s. I’ve even written press releases to LGBT+ organisations and online magazines at times, though not as often.

In the video

• Calling to action
• Hooking the audience withing the first 7 seconds.

Analysis

• Analyzed my strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. To really figure out what I need to communicate when marketing myself.
  • People has said that my content is very interesting, think my comedy skits are fun, that I’m good at giving people the confidence they need to be who they are, and that I offer a new perspective.

What I don’t do to reach out

Collaborating

• Ok I’ve done one collaboration video. But other than that nothing. But the one I did, didn’t seem to get any more views than the rest.

In the video

• I used to tell the audience what to watch next at the end of my videos, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

Asking for shoutouts

• Fine again I have asked for some shoutouts and gotten some. But I could do a lot more to get them.

Why I’m confused
People say to upload often, really work on the tags and work on your thumbnails. But there are many videos and channels that don’t seems to do any of it but still succeeds. They use like 5 generic tags, or extremely seldom upload videos or has bad Gfx on their channel, but still get way more views than I’ve gotten during all of these 2 years combined. For example:

This channel (WhatTheBibleReallySays) has uploaded once a year so far. But has over 500 000 views on one video and around 6500 subs. This channel talks about the bible and homosexuality. I too talk about this subject, telling the story of how I went undercover to find for my own how gay people would actually be treated by priests.

This video (

) brings up causes of homosexuality, which I also do, the difference being that video got 5 million views. Plus it used very generic tags like gay, lesbian, choice, change, cure. In addition, 8 years ago this channel uploaded as much as I did first year, but not anymore. And this channel could really work on the thumbnails and overall graphics of the channel.

One might argue these videos got more views because they use fun animation, but here is an example of someone who does exactly what I do. Vlog about these things: (

). This person uses generic tags like: LGBT, gay and so on, but still gets way more views on one video that I have gotten on all of my videos in two years combined.

So it doesn’t seem like upload frequency, tags or thumbnails matter. Or it does matter only that it’s not what is keeping me down. I don’t see that these channels collaborated with anyone either. So what are they doing that I’m not? Or is it just luck?

The request
I need to figure out if I’m doing something wrong and in that case what. And I need your help to do so. Because I really believe that I have a message that is important for so many people.

 

[TwilightPrinze]

I was unsure where to put this post because I'm not necessarily after a channel review per se, though I am technically asking for a review regarding my strategy to get views.

To sum up I feel like I'm doing everything by the book to grow, but still my videos are brutally beaten by channel owners who don't seem to lift a finger to get views. And I can't figure out what they are doing that I am not. I really believe in my content, I believe that I offer something that my community and society as a whole needs, and things they would find useful and entertaining. And I believe I offer all of that with high quality. So what is the problem? To find out, I thought that I should take my own advice and go to the Freedom Forums. Let me explain a little more about me, what I do to grow and why I'm so confused.

About me (www.youtube.com/proudtobefruit)
On my channel I aim to inspire LGBT+ people and allies with knowledge, arguments and interesting discussions. For two reasons: One, to give tools to answer homophobic arguments whatever they might be. Two, eliminate any trace of thoughts like “Maybe there’s something wrong with me”. Currently I have 162 subscribers gathered over a period of two years.

I’m trained in the art of performing, filming and editing. I know lots about how to provide quality content in theory. I’m even hosting a series about such things on Freedom Central. But I have one weakness, I can’t crack the code as to how to reach out. And if you can’t do that, then it doesn’t matter how good your content is.

What I do to reach out

Metadata

• Filling the tag section with relevant tags with the help of a tagfinder that also helps me pick out the most effective tags.
• Using keywords in the description that matches the tags.
• Explaning what I do and why they should subscribe.
• Calling to action in the description.

Community

• I have found my community on forums, reddit, twitter and discord servers with thousands of LGBT+ people. I’ve tried being active on these places just interacting with people in my community there. And I’m posting my videos on all of these places using relevant hashtags and @s. I’ve even written press releases to LGBT+ organisations and online magazines at times, though not as often.

In the video

• Calling to action
• Hooking the audience withing the first 7 seconds.

Analysis

• Analyzed my strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. To really figure out what I need to communicate when marketing myself.
  • People has said that my content is very interesting, think my comedy skits are fun, that I’m good at giving people the confidence they need to be who they are, and that I offer a new perspective.

What I don’t do to reach out

Collaborating

• Ok I’ve done one collaboration video. But other than that nothing. But the one I did, didn’t seem to get any more views than the rest.

In the video

• I used to tell the audience what to watch next at the end of my videos, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

Asking for shoutouts

• Fine again I have asked for some shoutouts and gotten some. But I could do a lot more to get them.

Why I’m confused
People say to upload often, really work on the tags and work on your thumbnails. But there are many videos and channels that don’t seems to do any of it but still succeeds. They use like 5 generic tags, or extremely seldom upload videos or has bad Gfx on their channel, but still get way more views than I’ve gotten during all of these 2 years combined. For example:

This channel (WhatTheBibleReallySays) has uploaded once a year so far. But has over 500 000 views on one video and around 6500 subs. This channel talks about the bible and homosexuality. I too talk about this subject, telling the story of how I went undercover to find for my own how gay people would actually be treated by priests.

This video (

) brings up causes of homosexuality, which I also do, the difference being that video got 5 million views. Plus it used very generic tags like gay, lesbian, choice, change, cure. In addition, 8 years ago this channel uploaded as much as I did first year, but not anymore. And this channel could really work on the thumbnails and overall graphics of the channel.

One might argue these videos got more views because they use fun animation, but here is an example of someone who does exactly what I do. Vlog about these things: (

). This person uses generic tags like: LGBT, gay and so on, but still gets way more views on one video that I have gotten on all of my videos in two years combined.

So it doesn’t seem like upload frequency, tags or thumbnails matter. Or it does matter only that it’s not what is keeping me down. I don’t see that these channels collaborated with anyone either. So what are they doing that I’m not? Or is it just luck?

The request
I need to figure out if I’m doing something wrong and in that case what. And I need your help to do so. Because I really believe that I have a message that is important for so many people.

Looking at your channel i see a great banner and well made thumbnails so that part sure is good.

Your home tab only contains Uploads and Playlists, try adding popular uploads and a set of custom Playlists to trigger the people to have a look.

Your about section contains info but seeing your channel there is so much more to tell, use it to explain in big lines who you are, what you do, what you want and why you are unique.

Your upload schedule has some gaps with the last upload being 2 weeks ago, mostly would recommend to upload 3 times a week on a set time to show your consistent.

With that being said about your channel we go on to promoting yourself, what is your target audience and what can social media do in that part? Communicate with those of similar interests and build a community.

Your analytics is a good way to see wich video's scored good and why, where does your audience come from, what do they like and what do they dislike. Knowledge is power

 

[Proud to be fruit]

Your upload schedule has some gaps with the last upload being 2 weeks ago, mostly would recommend to upload 3 times a week on a set time to show your consistent.

Unfortunately I can impossibly be uploading 3 times a week. There's just so much work behind the videos. There are research papers to be read, manuscripts to write, manuscripts to rehearse, then record and edit. Twice a month is my max. Some videos even require reading over 200 pages of advanced research, so I'm lucky if I can get those specific videos out within two months. I'm just one man. And also, as mentioned earlier, none of the channels mentioned above upload that often and still get so many more views. Suggesting that upload frequency probably isn't the problem.

With that being said about your channel we go on to promoting yourself, what is your target audience and what can social media do in that part? Communicate with those of similar interests and build a community.

Target audience is LGBT+ people and allies. The ones who care about equal rights. The ones who want arguments or just need to prove to themselves that there is nothing wrong with them. I'm positioning myself slightly more to intellectual people, though I still try to make the videos as understandable as possible. I actually have found where a lot of these people are, and am currently interacting with them. For example discord and twitter. But it's not working. It's not enough just interacting. Or posting the videos there.

Your analytics is a good way to see wich video's scored good and why, where does your audience come from, what do they like and what do they dislike. Knowledge is power

Great, I hear people talk about the analytics often. But I 've never gotten the hang of how to use those statistics. If I find that most people are from USA, what advantage does that knowledge give me? If I find that most people watch through mobile, how do I use that knowledge? I am already optimizing my videos to fit both big and small screens. And what do I get out of knowing that most people watching are men? Sure in analytics, there is the curve showing when people drop of my videos, but there is no way to know why. Therefore I find it more useful to actually ask people what they think, which I am doing, so I'm getting that info, just not from analytics. So what exactly should I be looking for on these analytics and what do I do with the info? So far, unfortunately it's just not been useful to me, but hopefully because there's something I'm missing.

 

[TheGaminCentral]

Great, I hear people talk about the analytics often. But I 've never gotten the hang of how to use those statistics. If I find that most people are from USA, what advantage does that knowledge give me? If I find that most people watch through mobile, how do I use that knowledge? I am already optimizing my videos to fit both big and small screens. And what do I get out of knowing that most people watching are men? Sure in analytics, there is the curve showing when people drop of my videos, but there is no way to know why. Therefore I find it more useful to actually ask people what they think, which I am doing, so I'm getting that info, just not from analytics. So what exactly should I be looking for on these analytics and what do I do with the info? So far, unfortunately it's just not been useful to me, but hopefully because there's something I'm missing.

Well in analytics u have to see the watch time and the audience retention....I mean how long do people watch your videos for and when did they left and if they left at certain point of the video then find what possible reason that might have happened there because of which they left and improve on those....Like maybe instead of this I will something else from next on or something like that
U won't get a perfect answer of what is missing u just have to assume what u should do to make it better
That is why people say experiment with your channel and sometime it would be successful

I see why u say channels like those who have bad gfx or bad banners grow more....well they grow in a different way some people use shoutouts and join multiple of them just to receive shoutout from someone so that people subscribe to their channel which to be honest is ridiculous
Those people who hold shoutout competitions because u won't get anywhere from that

 

[Proud to be fruit]

I mean how long do people watch your videos for and when did they left and if they left at certain point of the video then find what possible reason that might have happened there because of which they left and improve on those

That's interesting. I looked at it and found that people skip when I say "Hi my friends call me Lime" and that they skipped when I started talking about another video. However, all these people already found and watched at least some of the video. What I'm worrying about is all of the people who didn't klick the video at all. One could argue that it's because the people who watched it didn't find it sharable. But I don't think that me referring to another video a short time makes people less likely to share it. So I'm not sure if the audience retention gives me that answer here.

On that note I remembered that I reuploaded a video, so I thought that I should compare the audience retention info for the first upload with the second upload of the same video. In one of them the views dropped when I started talking about research. My conclusion was then that maybe it was too advanced. But when I checked the other one, same video, just another upload, there the curve instead went up that exact same place and stayed up. This makes me feel a bit unsure regarding the reliability of those numbers. Despite this info I still felt that I could have been clearer, looking at it with new eyes after such a long time. So with or without this info I still feel I should redo these videos.

some people use shoutouts and join multiple of them just to receive shoutout from someone so that people subscribe to their channel which to be honest is ridiculous

Join multiple what? I'm thinking I should look for more shoutouts, but is that not a good idea?

 

[TheGaminCentral]

Join multiple what? I'm thinking I should look for more shoutouts, but is that not a good idea?

See shoutout don't work really...and by joining multiple shoutouts meaning there are some livestreams of shoutouts too and people just want to get shouted out so that they could get subscribers
The way shoutout usually works is that the person who is holding this contest says that u have to follow these rules and if u keep on following them I will shout your channel out and then the rules also says that u have to subscribe to the last channel that was shouted out in order to win a shoutout for your channel
Now with that u just get subscribers for no reason and those subscribers won't be watching ur videos ever or maybe they do watch like 2-3 videos but that's it then they won't watch u and they will be ur unactive subscribers

See subscribers is not everything and yes sometimes analytics also doesn't help so don't just rely on those analytics
Even though someone follows analytics very much there is no guarantee that they will succeed in youtube
If u are getting low views than its fine for now u just have to keep on uploading and even after a lot of videos being uploaded u still don't see growth then change the way u make videos or just find something else to make videos for....experiment with ur channel man u don't know what will work
Don't compare your channel with those guys who get so many views with no effort of editing or whatever just be focused on your channel and have fun making those videos man....If u keep focusing on how is ur channel doing and why am I getting less views than you will only be just worrying about them instead of making videos and having fun

People usually say make good graphics or banners but those are just for making ur channel look good its not a necessity that if u don't do these ur channel won't grow...also people say tags are important well yes they are but right now the way everyone is uploading videos u actually can't find tags that will help u get more views basically when people make videos about how to make good tags u will see that they would be talking about making tags for a tutorial video or for how to videos which usually get better views just because of the title

So don't worry about how to make good tags or how to make better titles...just u have to know that make engaging titles and tags u don't have to always check how ur video is doing....U share wherever u can and make ur video with all the effort u can give and that's it

 

[Ashley SilverDust]

The request
I need to figure out if I’m doing something wrong and in that case what. And I need your help to do so. Because I really believe that I have a message that is important for so many people.

I've thought ever since I first saw your channel last year that you should have thousands of subs, so I'm a bit puzzled too to be honest. Let's really think about this though, and see if we can get somewhere.

1. Shares are a big factor in how people grow.

• Especially true for creators with a very specific genre, focused topic, and targeted audience.
• You need the viewers to feel compelled to share your content with others.
  • If someone's thinking, "Wow, I need to share this" by the end - you're going to get more views.

2. When viewers feel engaged and interested they're more likely to subscribe.

• Present your topics, make your points, but also sell yourself as a person that people want to know more about.
  • All the professionalism in the world won't get you fans unless people are interested in your personality.
    • Note: your personality is AWESOME so just let it shine!
• Create opportunity for emotional reactions and attachment.
  • I feel you've been open and have had people connect to you, but you need more of that happening!

 

[Proud to be fruit]

Don't compare your channel with those guys who get so many views with no effort of editing or whatever just be focused on your channel and have fun making those videos man

Maybe I shouldn't, I'm just thinking that maybe I'm missing something obvious and only think that they don't put any effort into it.

So don't worry about how to make good tags or how to make better titles...just u have to know that make engaging titles and tags u don't have to always check how ur video is doing....U share wherever u can and make ur video with all the effort u can give and that's it

Sometimes it feels like you can follow all the rules and not get aywhere and then someone uploads a video of a cat and get millions of views on the first try. Like it's really just about opportunity.

But yeah thank you for you tips. Apologies if I seem like I'm resisting some tips. I'm just trying to understand them.[DOUBLEPOST=1501457400][/DOUBLEPOST]

I feel you've been open and have had people connect to you, but you need more of that happening!

I did get a tip the other day about being more volnurable (Less perfect). That I'm sometimes like a news presenter with personality. That it's less likely someone will connect with someone like that and that I should be mor volnurable.

Maybe I just need to try the collaboration bit more...

 

[TheGaminCentral]

Sometimes it feels like you can follow all the rules and not get aywhere and then someone uploads a video of a cat and get millions of views on the first try. Like it's really just about opportunity.

There is a reason because of which people say don't worry about views because if u worry too much u actually try finding what's wrong and u go crazy because of it and u end if feeling very sad

 

[Proud to be fruit]

There is a reason because of which people say don't worry about views because if u worry too much u actually try finding what's wrong and u go crazy because of it and u end if feeling very sad

Yeah there is a lot of truth to that. Still, you should at least have a good strategy to use to reach out, which might need some changes, to increase the probability of views. As opposed to just stop trying to reach out thinking you will succeed.

 

[TheGaminCentral]

Yeah there is a lot of truth to that. Still, you should at least have a good strategy to use to reach out, which might need some changes, to increase the probability of views. As opposed to just stop trying to reach out thinking you will succeed.

Yea we should think about how to increase views or increase popularity but just don't go super deep and compare ur channels to the ones who get more views and such

 

[Mardy Rooster]

There is no fast way to grow. I was told all the time I had good content and no one was still subscribing. Now I have 400+ subs, I gain them at a faster pace. It's like people don't like to subscribe to small channels. I did enter a few shoutout series and I won. People say they are a waste of time but i disagree. You gain subs throughout the week and before the next shoutout episode you have to impress them, show them what you do. I read earlier You put a lot of work into each video and that is good! But you might be putting too much in. Try to put it down a little and upload twice a week. Talk about small topics and state your opinion. Also i found out Google + is a great way to advertise your channel. Search google + communities and find some that relate to you and your content. Socialize there and post videos, it will help you grow. That is my advice to you my friend. I hope it helps you out! Shoot me a message if i seemed unclear! I zone out while typing sometimes

 

[ZhoustFrags]

Have you tried collaborating with bigger channels which support what you do on your channel? Some people may just feel strongly motivated if you initiate contact to help raise awareness for the things you bring forth to the public! One way I would approach your situation if I wasn't so socially awkward is You could actually just bring people in to talk about these things from a local LGBT organization if you have those around you. Otherwise bringing someone in who thinks the opposite of you and having a debate could be a nice twist once in a while. Sometimes you just have to experiment with new things till it works and some niches are just simply harder to grow than others. If you really want to bring awareness about all these things you talk about to bring power to people to embrace their sexuality I'd recommend starting up a channel trailer, research other ads to see how they work, and start an ad campaign. In a lot of cases, I don't see much in investing into an ad for things like gaming channels but for you, I think it's more about reaching a larger audience you might not have had before and raised awareness to answers for certain heated questions in your niche.

For a cheap alternative, you could contact popular bloggers and have them "backlink" often used when making sites to help them rank more and get clicked on. So if someone is writing a blog on a popular site and wants to use some sources from you, they can link you with a hyperlink in the article. And the more blogs that you can get to talk about you, the better. And yes it's hard to show potential to popular blog post websites but it can be worth it in the long run.

Really it comes down to what you want with the channel. If you want faster growth, paid advertising can go a long way if done right! But if you want a more natural growth it comes with tons of experimenting to what the audience reacts and interacts with the most, sharing your content and ideas in the right niches, and getting people to share!

 

[Proud to be fruit]

But you might be putting too much in. Try to put it down a little and upload twice a week. Talk about small topics and state your opinion.

People don't need just another person's guesses or opinions. They want educated ideas. And that is what I offer, I can't abandon that. It's what makes me competitive. People love that I go in depth. But if the Youtube algorithm does not allow for what I do, then I find myself having to choose between what I do and Youtube.

I could however come up with a new series that takes less time and then do that in addition to the episodes I already do. However I can't just upload for the sake of uploading more often. So I need a great idea, and I haven't yet come up with one that fits. Something that I want to do is to get in contact with a psychologist and every week talk about a common LGBT problem, but Ihaven't yet found one.

It's though still very confusing hearing people suggesting to upload more often, when I've shown lots of examples of people who upload way less than I do and still get sooo many more views. It makes it hard to believing that upload frequency is the problem.

Also i found out Google + is a great way to advertise your channel. Search google + communities and find some that relate to you and your content. Socialize there and post videos, it will help you grow.

Maybe I should try google+ haven't really considered that.

You could actually just bring people in to talk about these things from a local LGBT organization if you have those around you

I should think of that more. I just need to put the idea first and then gather people I need for it, rather than making up a half assed idea just to involve people in the local area.

I'd recommend starting up a channel trailer, research other ads to see how they work, and start an ad campaign. In a lot of cases, I don't see much in investing into an ad for things like gaming channels but for you, I think it's more about reaching a larger audience you might not have had before and raised awareness to answers for certain heated questions in your niche.

Yeah if only one had money. I tried does that with a tweet. It cost me $55 to get one follower.

All in all, I'm starting to realize that there is no sure way to grow. It's all rather about opening as many doors as possible to increase the probability of people coming in.

 

[Mardy Rooster]

I know Facebook lets you promote a post it's only a few dollars. Have not tried it yet though