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Abstract

is what I expected.However, the night before I published the XM3 review, I discovered that Sony had just released their successor — the equally frustratingly-named WH-1000XM4s.Damn. What rubbish timing.Or was it? You see, as soon as a successor product is launched, attention immediately turns to both that product and the one it’s replacing.In that case, perhaps this is awesome timing.It was. I published my XM3 review and something happened which I haven’t experienced with any other content platform on which I publish my work — Medium included.<h2 id="e81d">The numbers just kept going up</h2>I’ll admit it — I’m a bit of a statistics addict. Hands up if, as a Medium creator, you regularly head into your stats to see the latest engagement figures?Go on — admit it; you probably do it far too much. I know I do.The same goes with YouTube. I dread to think of how often I open the YT Studio app on my iPhone to see if I’ve gained any more views or subscribers.Regardless, I did the same thing as soon as the XM3 video went live. And the numbers kept rising. In fact, they increased every time I opened the app and refreshed. I’ve genuinely never experienced that before.For me, they were big numbers, too. My top performing video prior to this one had achieved 30 views. The XM3 review eclipsed that in minutes, and it kept going.94 views.…119 views.…187 views.…238 views.My subscribers didn’t rise at quite the same rate, but they did increase, and they were proper, organic subscribers rather than people I knew.Comments arrived, too. Again, from people I’d never heard of. And they were nice comments; one even tempted me to capitalise on the engagement I’d somehow captured.<h2 id="2235">‘You should do a comparison video’</h2>It was a simple suggestion and one I can’t believe I didn’t immediately come up with myself upon witnessing the massive rise in engagement on my channel.Why not shoot a comparison of the XM3s and XM4s, one comment said. You’ll get loads of views, it said.So, I did. I bought the new pair of headphones and wrote, shot, edited and published a first impressions and comparison video:

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            <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9">
            <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FEJG0NzhFbwI%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEJG0NzhFbwI&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FEJG0NzhFbwI%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="854">
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    </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="a50e">At the time of writing, that video has hit 337 views after less than 24 hours and has garnered several positive comments.</p><p id="e180">It’ll eclipse the previous video, I’m sure, and has already brought me another five subscribers.</p><h2 id="c71b">The misconception about YouTube</h2><p id="79e7">It hasn’t take me long to realise that YouTube isn’t about massive numbers when you first get started.</p><p id="bad9">If you create a channel and start aiming for 40–50K subscribers in your first year, you’ll be sorely disappointed.</p><p id="9b9e">During those early days, it feels like a mountain to climb. Which is understandable; picture 50,000 people in a field, all of whom have willingly clicked a button on your YouTube channel because the liked your content.</p><p id="584d">That’s mind-boggling, right? Why should we expect to receive that kind of love?</p><p id="797d">For me, 25 subscribers is amazing. Regardless of those I already know, there are people in that list who I’ve never met before and who have given me their time.</p><p id="ae46">The same goes for views. Although the hundreds I’m receiving for my headphone reviews are peanuts by YouTube’s standards, they mean an awful lot to me. Every number they increase by is a win.</p><p id="37ce">If you’re heading into the world of YouTube creation, just keep this in mind. It’s damn hard work. No, it <i>really</i> is; I’m not sure many people realise just how much work goes into producing these videos.</p><p id="b743">But I love that work. And that’s what makes every single digit in my analytics gold dust.</p><p id="7a9b">If you’ve watched or subscribed to my content on YouTube — thank you. And if you’re embarking on a similar journey to me, I wish you the very best of luck.</p><p id="bc30">Join my mailing list <a href="http://eepurl.com/g8J1nb">here</a>.</p></article></body>

I Got Lucky: My Story of YouTube Success

Image courtesy of Sudipta Mondal on Unsplash

Firstly, this isn’t click bait. But you’d be forgiven for assuming it is when I reveal the YouTube stats I’m particularly chuffed about this week.

Let’s break ’em down.

Subscribers: 25
Watch time (minutes): 2,000
Views: 518

No, I’m not exactly crushing it — but that’s not the point of this article.

For those who are unaware, I’ve spent the last few months gradually building my YouTube brand (I even tracked my progress via a diary). It’s been incredibly enjoyable and I’ve learned so much about the platform, its audience and the opportunities it affords creators.

This week, though, I got lucky — big time.

It all started with a headphone review

Last week, I ‘dropped’ (that’s what YouTubers say, right?) a long-term review of the Sony WH-1000XM3 wireless noise cancelling headphones:

Now, prior to this video, my diary series videos were getting anywhere between 3 and 20 views. I’m also pretty confident that 90% of my subscribers at that point were people I knew.

One of them was me.

That was never the point of those videos, though. They were designed to get me into the habit of publishing a video a week and help me refine the branding and editing process. It worked, but it didn’t draw a huge audience — which is what I expected.

However, the night before I published the XM3 review, I discovered that Sony had just released their successor — the equally frustratingly-named WH-1000XM4s.

Damn. What rubbish timing.

Or was it? You see, as soon as a successor product is launched, attention immediately turns to both that product and the one it’s replacing.

In that case, perhaps this is awesome timing.

It was. I published my XM3 review and something happened which I haven’t experienced with any other content platform on which I publish my work — Medium included.

The numbers just kept going up

I’ll admit it — I’m a bit of a statistics addict. Hands up if, as a Medium creator, you regularly head into your stats to see the latest engagement figures?

Go on — admit it; you probably do it far too much. I know I do.

The same goes with YouTube. I dread to think of how often I open the YT Studio app on my iPhone to see if I’ve gained any more views or subscribers.

Regardless, I did the same thing as soon as the XM3 video went live. And the numbers kept rising. In fact, they increased every time I opened the app and refreshed. I’ve genuinely never experienced that before.

For me, they were big numbers, too. My top performing video prior to this one had achieved 30 views. The XM3 review eclipsed that in minutes, and it kept going.

94 views.

…

119 views.

…

187 views.

…

238 views.

My subscribers didn’t rise at quite the same rate, but they did increase, and they were proper, organic subscribers rather than people I knew.

Comments arrived, too. Again, from people I’d never heard of. And they were nice comments; one even tempted me to capitalise on the engagement I’d somehow captured.

‘You should do a comparison video’

It was a simple suggestion and one I can’t believe I didn’t immediately come up with myself upon witnessing the massive rise in engagement on my channel.

Why not shoot a comparison of the XM3s and XM4s, one comment said. You’ll get loads of views, it said.

So, I did. I bought the new pair of headphones and wrote, shot, edited and published a first impressions and comparison video:

At the time of writing, that video has hit 337 views after less than 24 hours and has garnered several positive comments.

It’ll eclipse the previous video, I’m sure, and has already brought me another five subscribers.

The misconception about YouTube

It hasn’t take me long to realise that YouTube isn’t about massive numbers when you first get started.

If you create a channel and start aiming for 40–50K subscribers in your first year, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

During those early days, it feels like a mountain to climb. Which is understandable; picture 50,000 people in a field, all of whom have willingly clicked a button on your YouTube channel because the liked your content.

That’s mind-boggling, right? Why should we expect to receive that kind of love?

For me, 25 subscribers is amazing. Regardless of those I already know, there are people in that list who I’ve never met before and who have given me their time.

The same goes for views. Although the hundreds I’m receiving for my headphone reviews are peanuts by YouTube’s standards, they mean an awful lot to me. Every number they increase by is a win.

If you’re heading into the world of YouTube creation, just keep this in mind. It’s damn hard work. No, it really is; I’m not sure many people realise just how much work goes into producing these videos.

But I love that work. And that’s what makes every single digit in my analytics gold dust.

If you’ve watched or subscribed to my content on YouTube — thank you. And if you’re embarking on a similar journey to me, I wish you the very best of luck.

Join my mailing list here.