Is it Finally Too Late to Start a Successful YouTube Channel?

My own channel answered this question recently

A US survey recently found that 75% of kids aged 6 to 17 want to be a YouTuber when they grow up.

The days of wanting to be a fire fighter or an astronaut are over. I mean who wants to stand on a big dumb rock when you could be getting thousands of likes on that new Vlog you just posted because it was EPIC…

January was the first month my YouTube channel could cover my bills. January 31st was the last day at my office job.

Every year, millions of new videos get posted to YouTube, and along with that, millions of new accounts are created. It’s no secret that YouTube has given the newer generations a massive opportunity to become an instant celebrity and create an insane career around it. The only problem is, it is not that simple…

The biggest issues New Creators are facing currently, and how they must surpass them.

YouTubers got the money, they work whenever they want, they get free stuff, they’re famous, and they don’t even have a boss. It’s easy to see why so many people want be YouTubers, look at all the great things associated with the career. When you think about how many people want to be YouTubers, (like 75% of us) it’s actually a ton of people. Almost as if it’s a fantasy life that only people who get dealt the perfect cards and get super lucky can have.

Over Saturation

Depending on what type of content you upload, there will already be a certain number of other creators in that space. It’s hard to be the first for anything on YouTube nowadays. The truth is that there are over 500 hours of video uploaded onto the platform every single minute, and that number only increases with time.

There is no denying that saturation gets worse every day. Videos that are posted to YouTube don’t just disappear after a few years. This means that if you are going to make a video on a certain topic, you will have to compete with all the successful predecessors that were uploaded in the past. This is an issue that affects everyone everyday, and it’s also one of the many reasons that small creators are never able to breakout and get discovered. Their content just gets suppressed by everyone else, as there’s so much out there. It can be sad to hear for some creators that it could possibly be their niche holding them back due to the overbearing saturation.

Does this mean you should give up on making videos you’re passionate about and switch to a niche just for the clout or money you might get? No.

This is not just an article about why you might not make it, it is also about how you can increase your chances.

I started uploading to my YouTube Channel at the beginning of 2020. I did not go viral by any means, but I grew from 0 subscribers to 10k in 6 months.

I also have another YouTube channel with 20k subscribers in the gaming niche. Not only have I grown these 2 channels to a decent amount of success, but I’ve also picked up a ton of YouTube knowledge along the journey.

First off is debunking that myth of over saturation. Now, it’s not just a straight up myth, it definitely does exist. It can lead to new content being buried as mentioned. The only solution to this specific problem, is creating better content than the rest. Videos of high quality get better results and in turn appear higher on YouTube’s results pages.

This doesn’t mean you need a 4K camera or the best microphone. The content itself is what must be great. It’s up to you to figure out what aspect you can bring to the table to make it stand out.

Captain Sinbad is a well-known YouTuber with over 300k subscribers that started his channel off by telling stories in a Vlog-Style format.

Guess what? He did not see much growth as Vlogging was what everyone was doing.

Sinbad then found a way to tell those same stories while making them 100x more enjoyable and engaging for viewers to sit through. This was achieved by turning them into films.

Sinbad did exactly what creators everywhere should be attempting to do if they want to grow faster than others.

Escape from over-saturation by being different. What’s your special sauce?

Those who are already Successful Make it Look Easy

Something we may not even take into consideration when watching our favourite creators is “how quality is this content”.

I personally watch nearly every one of Graham Stephan’s videos because I’m a fan of his, but I don’t stop to ask my self how high end his content really is. Sometimes Graham just reacts to other videos. He makes being a famous YouTuber look quite easy and low effort by doing this.

In a weird way, watching large creators upload more minimal effort content can make our brains think it’s okay for us to do the same. This is something many, many beginner YouTubers struggle with unknowingly. They do what they see is working for others, even though they’re not them.

The only reason Graham can push out mediocre content here or there that still performs well is because he is already established. People get value from his videos no matter how high or low the production quality is. They are clicking for Graham, and they always receive that.

Yes, the content Graham uploads matters to a certain degree, but not nearly as much as it does for someone who is trying to grow their initial fan base.

This alone is one of the largest reasons many creators quit so early on in the life of their channel. They try to do what they see is working for other creators but then get discouraged when the same results don’t show up for them.

The odds are not in your Favour

In the grand scheme of things your channel is small, and most viewers watch big channels, not small channels like yours.

Every time you upload a video, there are 20 big YouTubers uploading at the same time, tough luck.

It kind of seems like the odds are against you at this point because they are…

But this has been the case and will always be the case.

Just like starting your own business you are most likely to fail, (like really likely) but that won’t stop those who truly want it.

The more time, thought, and hustle you put into it, the better chance you will have at success. Even though there are millions of videos out there, there are billions of eyes watching it.

The Best Time to Start a YouTube Channel

If we could go back to our younger self and say, “hey kid start a Channel, YouTube’s gonna be big one day” I think we’d all do it.

Ten or fifteen years ago it would have been easy to create better content than most folks, making it easier to stand out. We would probably be famous by now. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that unless you can time travel — and if you can do that please send me a message after reading this article.

Instead of looking back on this moment fifteen years from now and wishing you could again time travel, why not just start a channel today.

Next week there will be over 100 thousand new videos posted to YouTube, the sooner you start getting content out there the better.

The best time for you to start on YouTube is today.