I uploaded my first video on YouTube 2,265 days ago, which translates to 6.2 years ago. And in case you are wondering about the work and time commitment that goes into having a YouTube channel, I thought it might be interesting for you to see The Budget Equestrians YouTube channel year end review.
Every year about this time, YouTube sends creators a generic overview of their channel. It’s kind of fun to look at it and see what I have been able to do with my channel for the past year. And this past year has been a bit of a challenge for many of us. For myself personally, I took a bit of a break when COVID first came on to the scene. I just couldn’t find my motivation, or drive to get new videos out.
I think I ended up taking a little over 3 weeks off from video production. And I’m ok with that. But as the year progressed, I got back on the horse so to speak, and started making videos again. And in case you are wondering what it looks like on the back end of having a YouTube channel that doesn’t find instant success, but rather is a slow uphill journey, you might find this information helpful.
2020 Year In Review
When I look back over the past year, I am happy with the progress my channel is making on YouTube. But it isn’t as exciting as the few channels we all here about, and aspire to be like. If you aspire to have a successful channel you are probably lured by the possibility of becoming an overnight success. And possibly have visions of your channel blowing up. But for most of us, it doesn’t happen that way.
Most creators give up long before they see the success they dream about. Or the get excited, upload a handful of videos and then give up when they see how much work really goes in to having a channel. It isn’t for the faint of heart. And it isn’t easy.
Making Videos in 2020
But the more videos you make, the better you will be. The more you take the feedback, and practice the craft of video production, the better you will become. And the more you dive into the analytics behind your video and make alterations, the better your videos will get.
Now I’m not showing you this information from my own channel to gloat, or to say look at me! Rather, I am sharing this with you to show you the amount of work that goes into a channel. An active channel that is plugging along the path of trying to reach 100,000 subscribers. Because ultimately, that is my end goal. I want to reach that milestone.
So if we look at the image above, I uploaded 742 minutes of videos to YouTube. That equals about 12 1/2 hours of video content. And for ever minute of video content that I uploaded, I spent about an hour filming and editing said videos. So 742 minutes is at least 800 hours of filming and editing. I am getting better at managing my video making time. But still, that’s a lot. I wish I could say that I rode my horse for 800 hours in the past year!
Growing Subscribers
Like I said earlier, my ultimate goal is to reach 100,000 subscribers with my channel. I know, that is a lofty goal. But it’s one I have wanted to reach ever since I started my channel a little over 6 years ago.
But if you stop uploading people will stop finding you. In 2020 I gained 6,758 subscribers. And that’s a lot! But it’s not enough to get me to 100,00 subscribers fast.
So if I want to get to 100,000, I really need to up my game. Not only do I need to consistently upload videos, but they need to be clickable videos. Meaning, I have to capture people’s attention enough for them to click on my video, watch it, and then subscribe to my channel and watch a few more videos.
This is where we get into the nitty gritty of what it takes to have a growing channel on YouTube. You need to have great thumbnails that are clickable, a title that causes curiosity, and a video that delivers. I do have a laundry list of videos that I am hoping will do just that for 2021. But I have to check all of these boxes in order to make it happen. And so do you, if you want your channel to grow. It’s also helpful to have some goals to get your channel to where you want it to be.
The Budget Equestrian YouTube Channel Year End Review
So looking at my subscriber growth for the past year of 6758, for the upcoming year I want to double that. Just over 13,000 NEW subscribers. Which means I need to gain around 1200 subscribers a month. I think this is achievable with some hard work on my part. Just because you make the videos doesn’t mean people are going to watch them right? Right! I have to do some research to find out what people are searching for, and create more videos like that.
I do have a plan for then end of next year. Starting in October, and moving through December. And this is a good time to plan for the upcoming year. You have to have a plan. Well, I have to have a plan, that’s just how my brain works.
And planning the end of the year first works for me. The end of the year is typically when you make more money on Adsense through YouTube too. So piling up the most videos in the last quarter of the year is a sound decision. That is IF you can get people to watch your videos! For me, October is going to be working on pushing out my No Stirrups November Challenge that I am going to have. November is going to be a daily video with ideas for completing the no stirrups challenge. And December is going to be the Effol Equestrian Advent Calendar again because that thing was AWESOME!!!!!!! And even though each of those videos only got around 200 views, by uploading daily I increased my weekly views from 1000 on a good week to around 1750. So my views just about doubled. Something to think about if you are considering ways to make your own channel grow.
Avoiding The Comments
Now this may not be the best plan, but I avoid reading the comments left on my videos. The good AND the bad. And there is a reason for this.
When I look through the comments that are left, I inevitably always find the negative ones. One that sticks out for me the most is when someone wrote: “Your video’s are awful. My friends and I meet at my house every week so we can cringe at how awful your videos are.”
Seriously? Who leaves a comment like that on a video? I guess I should be happy, they are watching my videos every week, which means I am getting watch time from them. But when I see comments like this, it hurts. And at the same time, reading the really nice comments justifies that I do make good videos. But for me, both type of comments aren’t really helpful. So even though every YouTube guru will tell you to read and respond to all of your comments, I disagree.
The Budget Equestrian YouTube Channel Year End Review
Sometimes I even think about doing what Fallon Taylor has done and remove the ability for people to comment. That way I don’t see any feedback. The comment section under videos is a cesspool (disgusting or corrupt place) where trolls go to leave their vile thoughts. I am curious though if any of these people would say these words out loud and in front of the creator that they feel the need to type under the video. My guess is no. Which is why I choose to no longer reply or even read the comments. I will let people continue to vent their frustrations under my videos, but I won’t acknowledge them.
If you have a channel, I will leave it up to you. But I have found that reading and responding to comments doesn’t help or hurt my channel. So for me, I choose no.
If You Really Want To Grow Your YouTube Channel
With all of the research I have done over the past 6 years, I think I have finally discovered the secret to making a YouTube channel be successful, and it isn’t going to be some earth shattering secret. And it’s also something I am not willing to do.
If you want your YouTube channel to grow fast, and gain thousands of subscribers, you need to create drama. Remember what I said earlier about the comment section being a cesspool of disgusting and mean things? For me, I have found the creators that seem to blow up on YouTube have created some sort of drama. People LOVE to gossip. People LOVE to hate it seems. So if you only are concerned with growing your channel and making money, create a channel that has drama.
There is one equestrian YouTuber that I can think of that has done this, and her channel grew from about 15,000 subscribers to over 140,000. And all she does is spew hate. She makes fun of other people, she gives her personal opinion of how they are doing things wrong. She has created a channel of hate and bullying. And every video gets thousands and thousands of views because of it. People love drama. People love to gossip. And people love to hate.
The Budget Equestrian YouTube Channel Year End Review
For myself, I choose not to go down that path. Sure I have seen some things that I don’t agree with. And when I first started my channel, I did make a video that caused drama, just to see what would happen. And I didn’t like the way it made me feel. Sure I could go down that path, but I won’t. I may not get thousands of views on my videos, but I am happy with my integrity. And I won’t let vanity get the better of me. But if you are only concerned with growth, and the money, the secret to making that happen is to give people what they want and create drama. That’s the secret. Really, it is.
Bring On 2021!
All right, I have reviewed a little bit of my channel for you here, along with giving you some pearls of wisdom after having a YouTube channel for 6 plus years. And this upcoming year, I really hope to be able to have some serious growth to my channel. Will it happen? I don’t know. But I am going to give a lot more thoughtful attention to my channel to see what I can make it do.
Effol Advent Calendar Unboxing Videos
Leave a Reply