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YouTube Growth Strategy: How To Get Ahead Of 99% Of YouTubers (in 6-12 Months)

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Carla Marshall
May 21, 2024
How To Get Ahead Of 99% Of YouTubers (In 6-12 Months)

Do you want to get ahead of 99% of YouTubers in the next six to 12 months? Of course, you do! And we have the YouTube growth strategy to do it.

While the video was recorded last year, all the tips and tactics and just as relevant as ever. Read on for our ground-breaking action plan below:

So every video you post from this day forward has to have big YouTuber energy. We all see those channels that get comments like, “wow, I expected this channel to have more subscribers.” You want that channel to be yours. You want viewers to watch your channel and not even realize that your subscriber account might only be at a hundred, and that requires you to approach YouTube with a set of attitudes and actions that will put you in the top 1% of creators.

How to Get Ahead of Your YouTube Competitors

Let’s use Airrack as an example. In 2020, it was one of the fastest-growing YouTube channels and successfully obtained 1 million subscribers in under a year. This was not luck. From the very beginning, Eric had these three attitudes.

  • The content I post will be better than what already exists. 
  • High effort will be rewarded. 
  • I will be successful or die trying. 

And his actions matched those mindsets. Not only did he produce some of the best content on YouTube at the time, but he also created content that never even existed. This doesn’t mean that he used expensive gear or had a full production crew behind his videos. He just thought outside the box. Airrack put a tremendous amount of effort into all of his videos, from the scripting to the storytelling to the editing to engaging with this audience. 
He was relentless in his video release schedule and committed to posting once a week even if the video was not perfect, and he went 100% in on YouTube and held nothing back. His channel has now generated an incredible 1.7B views!

YouTube Growth Strategy: Start Small but Aim REALLY BIG

Having just 10 YouTube subscribers is so hard. But with a successful mindset and a killer urge to succeed, there’s no chance on earth that you won’t eventually achieve your goal – even if that’s just to hit the next subscriber target.

Most new channels simply are not approaching YouTube this way. Small growing channels increase their effort as their subscriber count increases. But fast-growing channels max out their effort as soon as they launch. They start with their biggest ideas. They collaborate early, they make noise they fake it until they become it.

Grow YOUR Way

Maybe you’re not natural on camera. Or you’re afraid to speak in public. Maybe you’re ashamed to reach out to brands and creators because you only have 30 subscribers. Or maybe you don’t even have a full grasp on what you want your channel to be about, and that’s okay. Being a creator comes with a skill and confidence that is not easily mastered, but when the camera’s rolling, it’s time to put the fear and nervousness aside and become the biggest version of yourself. 

It might feel unnatural at first – speaking to the camera like there are a million people watching, even if there’s nobody. Don’t act like you have 30 subscribers. Act like you have 3 million. 

One of the worst things you can do is let your inexperience and nervousness show up on camera. Carry yourself with the confidence of the creator that you want to become. Observe the masses and do the opposite. When everyone is copying MrBeast’s style, create your own style. When creators are stealing ideas, make something original. If everyone is playing it safe, get creative and take risks.

YouTube growth strategy requires you take risks

Your YouTube Channel is Not Going to Blow Up if You Stay Safe

To be in the 1% of creators, you have to think and act differently. Your channel is not going to blow up by doing the same thing as everybody else. This isn’t YouTube growth strategy isn’t about being yourself or finding your voice. This is about standing out from the pack and making it clear that you are in a different category of creators. 

Who created content like Michelle Khare before Michelle Khare? Or like Ryan Trehan before Ryan Trehan? 

Who created content like you, before you?

 Hopefully, your answer is nobody. This means that you have no competition. You are not just creating lower-quality versions of what’s already out there. You’re creating something completely new. This means you’re sitting in your own blue ocean. Meanwhile, everyone is fishing in a red ocean. There are millions of channels doing tech, fitness, gaming, beauty, and every topic under the sun. It’s not enough to be just as good or even better than the rest. You have to be different. Close the gap, and the only way to close that gap is by upgrading your skills. 

Watch YouTube tutorials on lighting, editing, and camera angles. Study your favorite creators and try to learn from their techniques. Invest in better gear when you can. Seek feedback from your audience and creators. And apply what you learn to improve your videos. 

You find that channels that plateau are not focused on closing the gap. They’re hyper-focused on posting content, not perfecting it. In six months to a year from now your channel could be in an entirely different spot. This feeling that you have right now that you’re gonna blow up that you’re going be the best creator in the world that you can make it, hold on to that feeling. But remember this, ideas are worthless. Execution is everything. 

If you really want this, start today, and don’t stop. Your YouTube growth strategy must be to post at least one video per week, learning and building momentum as you grow. Have big YouTuber energy and confidence. Start before you’re ready, stop competing, and start carving out your own lane. And most importantly, press record and hit publish.

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Carla Marshall

Carla Marshall is the Content Marketing Manager at TubeBuddy. She has 10+ years of experience in video marketing, social media management, content marketing, DRM, & SEO