Transcription
You spend hours making a YouTube video and it hardly gets any views. You post another, same thing. Then you see other creators growing faster, posting less, and you can't help but compare and think, "Maybe YouTube isn't for me." If that's the case for you, then you're definitely not alone. If you had clicked on this video, take that as a sign to not give up. Tomorrow, August 18, is Never Give Up Day. And I'm paying tribute to this day with something that many people in this space struggle with, and that's growing a YouTube channel.
YouTube can be very frustrating. It can be very easy to obsess over views and subscribers, especially if you're a small channel. Many new channels quit within 6 to 12 months if they don't see growth. When you don't see results right away or you feel like people aren't really watching your videos, you start to think that what you do doesn't matter. But it really does.
Whenever you feel like quitting YouTube, remember why you started it in the first place. What value do you want to add to the world? Do you love creating videos and expressing yourself? Are you motivated by earning a new income stream? If the reason is still there and still strong enough, you have to be in it for the long haul. YouTube growth doesn't happen overnight. It could happen in months or even years. But that doesn't mean that you're not getting anything out of it in the meantime.
Let me share with you seven reasons why posting consistently on YouTube will transform your life even when you feel like no one's watching. One of these reasons completely changed the direction of my channel, but I'll get to that later on.
The first reason is that you become mentally resilient. The biggest challenge of YouTube is playing the mental game. YouTube does not give you instant gratification the way TikTok or Instagram does. Your videos will hardly get any views or engagement at the start, let alone subscribers, unless you're a celebrity or influencer to begin with. At first, no one will care about your videos. And honestly, why would they? They have their own lives to live enough to think about. The only time you'll get their attention is when you give them any form of value through your videos. Something that will resonate or make them learn something or feel something. And that's not easy to do, especially when you're starting out. You'll have to deal with trial and error, analysis paralysis, being unsure of your next move. But the important thing is to keep going. It took Mr. Beast, the world's most famous YouTuber, over 2 years and more than 100 uploads to reach his first 1,000 subscribers. He posted for years with hardly any traction. And looking at him now, his persistence definitely paid off. The most successful people are not necessarily the most talented, but they're probably the most passionate, driven, and resilient. It's really hard to sustain momentum when no one seems to care. But you need to remember that hard days make strong people.
Second, you improve your craft. Building a YouTube channel is linked to personal growth, self-improvement, and all that. Each video is a chance to get out of your comfort zone, learn something new within your niche, practice, and get better even by just 1%. You can watch hundreds of videos telling you how to succeed in YouTube, but you will really only learn when you post your own videos yourself. I've had my nutrition channel for a little over a year, and I learned how to be a little less awkward and more comfortable in front of the camera. I practiced editing videos and became more disciplined and structured with content creation. I also studied and learned more about nutrition and food culture. My older videos are very different from my newer ones. At least I hope they are. I still cringe at many of my videos and my current ones definitely still need some work, but that's a sign that there's progress being made and there's still room to improve.
Third, your digital portfolio grows. Maybe your last video only got 50 views, but you need to remember that each video is a stepping stone. As long as your video offers any kind of value within your niche, it shapes who you are as a creator and sets up your portfolio for your future audience. We are not always motivated to create videos. So remember that each upload that you do is a win. You showed up, you made progress, and you made another investment on your growing channel.
Fourth, you feed YouTube's algorithm. YouTube needs enough content to know who you are as a creator so that it could feed your channel to the right people. Uploading videos consistently will give YouTube more to work with. So, when the right people finally discover any of your videos, they click on your channel, see a whole library of videos that appeal to them, and keep watching. YouTube loves binge-watching behavior. The more people stay on the platform because of your videos, the more YouTube will recommend them to more people.
Fifth, you discover what your community needs. We don't have it all figured out from the start. When I started my channel, I knew that I wanted to focus on nutrition. I did a few nutrition education videos, food videos. None of them really stood out. Then I created a video about why some Filipinos struggled to eat healthy, not really expecting significant results from it, but it ended up outperforming my other videos at the time. It made me think that maybe people like watching videos about nutrition culture, maybe because there aren't many of them yet. So, I made another video on seven Filipino superfoods the world should know about, and that's my most viewed video as of today, and it brought in most of my current subscribers. It definitely wasn't in my head to make cultural nutrition videos when I had started out, but it just goes to show that you learn what your audience likes as you go along. That's how you know that you can add value and make the most of it when the opportunity arises.
Sixth, you make an impact. One of the reasons why people watch YouTube is to get value. Either they learn something or they get entertained. If your channel provides any of those, then it's worth pushing. And if even one person tells you that they learned so much from you or they felt motivated or inspired by your video, then it's already worth it because if one person is telling you that, then there are many more people who will feel the same way. It's just a matter of finding them.
And lastly, you get rewarded. Your YouTube videos are like little pieces of digital real estate. When your channel is monetized, all the efforts you made in previous videos will turn into passive income as long as people keep watching them. But you need to keep posting new videos so that you can grow your channel and reach more potential viewers. There might be that one video that you almost didn't create that can really push your channel upwards. Then suddenly all your previous videos, the ones that you felt weren't getting you anywhere, will start to make sense.
These YouTube growth lessons can also apply to basically anything in life. If you have a goal, embracing the steps to get there, especially the hard ones, can help you achieve it. Like showing up for workouts each week, even when you don't feel like it. Prioritizing your nutrition even when life gets busy. Pursuing wellness even with crazy mom life and work demands. Getting out of bed in the morning when it seems like the hardest thing in the world to do and you'd rather just scroll. And choosing to rest without guilt. You make these little decisions that shape your overall growth. Small changes done regularly become big results over time. Discipline is choosing what you want most over what you want now.
So, if you're thinking of giving up your YouTube channel because you're not seeing results, but you still want to thrive, don't give up. But instead, don't let it take over your whole life. Don't obsess too much over views and subscribers. If you focus on the process, the results will take care of themselves. Stay grounded in your purpose. Remember what value you want to give people. That's what matters most. Views fluctuate, but your purpose stays intact. And stay humble and open-minded to the idea that your videos can still improve. That's how you grow as a creator. I didn't quit, and you shouldn't either. I don't always get it right, but I still don't quit.
I currently have around 1,700 subscribers. It's still a very small channel, but at the same time, I'm blown away that 1,700 people have voluntarily subscribed. Each one counts, and I'm very thankful to have you here. And to those who haven't yet subscribed, if you like content about wellness, nutrition, and a lot of motivation, then you've come to the right place. Feel free to hit the subscribe button below and stay tuned for more videos. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.