How to Grow a YouTube Channel from Nothing

YouTube is the second largest website in the world. It’s now one of the most popular choices for creators and all types of people and businesses to grow their audience online.

Have you ever thought about starting a YouTube channel to share something you’re passionate about? Maybe you saw some funny prank videos and thought, I could do that!

Well the truth is, you can. Anyone can build a serious audience on YouTube with the right videos and the right approach. In this post I’m going to share the strategies we used to grow FilterGrade’s Youtube Channel from 0 to almost 20,000 subscribers and over 4,000,000 lifetime views.

Starting a New Channel

Starting out can be the hardest part. Without any viewers, subscribers, or people to give you feedback, it can be hard to get started. The blank slate is real and you have to move past that and focus on your vision.

What do you want to cover? What is your space? Who do you want to be on YouTube?

These are some questions you need to ask yourself when planning your channel. If you’re running a business, focus on what types of customers you want to attract through your videos. Get very specific and identify certain demographics, industries, and regions you want to target. For FilterGrade our main focus is on photographers and video creators. Our goal is to create educational tutorials, inspirational videos, and other content that inspires our audience.

For individuals, the goals and approach might be a bit different. Maybe you focus solely on funny videos, pranks, or giveaways.

Whatever you do, the most important part is our next point . . . .

Make 10x Content

Making incredible content is the single best way to stand out on YouTube, or any social network and website these days. But for YouTube it is especially imperative because your channel will grow and get recommended more if you have really amazing engagement.

So how do you make 10x content?

The best way is to identify the type of content you’re going to make, and then give it your all. Create new videos consistently for months and months and months. Into years and years. You have to be committed for the long haul to build a massive channel. It took Mr. Beast years to reach his first 1,000,000 subscribers. Now he averages over 1-2 million new subscribers every month! 

Here are some examples of channels with 10x content. Essentially, they’re making videos that are 10x better than anything else that’s similar. If you focus on making videos this high quality and entertaining, you’re sure to attract an audience.

• Colin and Samir
• Nate O’Brien
• William Verbeeck
• Vlog Creations

All of the channels linked above have completely different niches and audiences, but they do a fantastic job of making 10x content.

Colin and Samir share informative breakdowns of other YouTubers, so you can learn how they’re growing fast, making money, and more. Their case studies are really interesting and their dialog also makes the videos fun and entertaining.

Nate O’Brien shares money tips and advice for people looking to improve their finances. But he isn’t just like any other financial blogger/vlogger. He’s much more calm and shares extremely balanced advice. No fluff, scams or spammy ideas, just good and practical advice.

William Verbeeck is one of the most well-known film photographers on YouTube! He accomplished this by making cool videos and taking film photos with friends and around the country. He also has a knack for editing to keep his photo walks and tutorials entertaining and chill. 

Vlog Creations is one of the funniest pranksters on YouTube. His videos make millions laugh on a daily basis. Everyone needs to smile and laugh more, so his channel has A LOT of room to keep growing. But how does Ross, the creator of this channel, do it? He comes up with funny pranks that aren’t overdone and he does it with his friends. Sometimes the humor is more from his friend’s reactions than the prank itself. 

The point is, all of these creators have built a huge audience by being authentic and making incredible content for years. Be yourself and don’t just follow any and all trends you see.

Marketing and SEO Strategy

The last major tip to focus on when starting your channel from nothing is SEO. This stands for search engine optimizationand it plays a big role in how videos will do on YouTube. These are some things in your control to focus on:

• Video Title and Description
• Video Thumbnail
• Channel Information
• Length of Videos

To start, focus on creating a great title that can attract users with keywords. This might not work for all channels, especially more entertainment and jokes, but if you’re going for educational content, SEO is your best friend.

Research topics that your audience cares about, look at comments sections and Reddit threads, and then make content to answer their questions. Through the title, description, and tags you can make sure those users searching for the question you answered will find you.

Thumbnails are next on the list and are arguably the most important aspect. A great thumbnail can make or break your video because it will attract more click throughs. If the thumbnail is boring, hard to see, blurry, or a random still that doesn’t show anything from the video, you’ll get a lot less engagement. As a new YouTuber, this is one of your biggest ways to stand out. Take time to make great thumbnails that are appealing and show something interesting from the video. And if you don’t have the design skills to create attractive thumbnails yourself, you can hire someone on Fiverr to do it for you. 

For channel information, it’s quite simple. Just fill out everything so people know who you are, where they can find you, and more about what your channel is about. If someone lands on your channel and finds a blank “About” page, they might think you aren’t a serious creator or just post videos randomly. Channels that are fully filled out make it easier for someone to subscribe and understand who you are.

Last, but not least, think about the length of your videos. Even though watch time matters, it’s 100% recommended to make videos that fit your audience preferences. Now, a lot of YouTubers are blowing up by using Shorts videos. These are vertical videos from 5-60 seconds and they’re getting recommended more and more. At the same time, channels with longer videos tend to make more money from ad revenue, so it’s something to consider. 

I recommend utilizing both short and long videos to grow your channel. The long videos are better for monetization, but the short videos and other forms of content can attract a wider audience that subscribes for future videos.

Conclusion

Growing a YouTube channel is hard, but not impossible. If you have a passion and want to share it with the world through videos, start your channel today. There are billions of people out there looking for something new to watch. Will yours be the channel they choose?