How To Win On YouTube

I have a new plan to maximise my chances of success on YouTube – I’m going to share it with you in this post. That’s me in the photo above. It’s the thumbnail on my channel introduction video.

Over the past 13 years, I’ve started 10–15 channels on YouTube; all but one have failed. The one success? A channel with 4.5K subs. Nothing spectacular, but something at least.

So, The New Plan

You might ask, why did those channels fail? And what made the other channel partly succeed?

The channels failed because of ignorance. In other words, a lack of understanding exactly how to use YouTube for growth. As such, my motivation declined through a lack of results and I abandoned each channel, every time.

The success? Well, that channel was built on a solid YouTube community and focused on a reasonable passion of mine. Both of these facts helped the channel grow and offered me a greater level of motivation to continue. I ended this channel simply because I had stopped doing what the channel centred around.

The Missing Link: Knowledge

But in all cases, something was missing. This was knowledge of how YouTube works. Naturally, I had already tried to understand SEO and the YouTube algorithm, but back then it was almost as if I was blind to learning what would truly work. In other words, it wasn’t my time to make it on YouTube.

13 years and 10+ opportunities to learn. Now I understand what it was all about. Each failure was a step toward my ultimate success. I haven’t made YouTube a success yet, but I know this time I will.

How do I have such confidence? From my failures. I’ve analysed my failures; I know what went wrong. Every poor title, every terrible thumbnail, every unappealing idea has given me the knowledge to succeed this time around. But this isn’t in isolation.

Using the Tools Properly

In the past, I’d used tools like VidIQ and TubeBuddy. Despite using them, I still didn’t grow! See how slow I am. This was 6–8 years ago too, and still I am here.

See, it’s not about the tools you have, it’s about knowing how to use them. All of my failures on YouTube have given me the knowledge (you could say wisdom) to know HOW to use VidIQ; to know how to do SEO properly (where previously I failed); to know how to attract viewers skillfully (where previously I failed).

This knowledge, unified with the intense passion I have for my new channel (it’s a Doctor Who themed channel — a show I’ve loved since 9 years old), and the strong social media community in this niche, means my likelihood of success is far greater than in the past.

House of Who: My Future Success Story

I’m not saying House of Who (my new channel) will be an incredible sensation that amasses millions of subscribers. But I can tell you this: If I use the tools correctly, if I lean into my passion, if I connect with the Doctor Who community, and if I stay consistent, I really do believe there’s no chance of failure. I’ve never had this feeling before.

It’s a real sense of being set on the right path. The interesting thing? Just before creating House of Who I faced the biggest feeling of lacking direction I have ever felt – it was terrifying. I didn’t know whether I’d ever make an online business work. But now I have a certainty large enough to instil great comfort in me. Truly, I have found my success story. I am excited to see where it takes me.

Adz