I feel like your channel is the only channel out there who knows what it's like to be a small channel in 2024. Your tips have helped me a lot in the past few months!
I agree with you, I have been watching Nate’s video well before I started my channel, although I’m still small it is very niche. It has been growing steadily in the past month. Nate’s channel has helped understanding how this whole things works and how to avoid pitfalls.
Something I’ve noticed (as a small creator) that’s way different than last year with making content is that a video needs to hit 100 views within a certain amount of time for it to be shown to more people.
That's interesting. I know last year on VIDIQ's coaching, they said they found timing of posting didn't really matter and that the 24 hour view and 7 day view ended up the same. However, I'm curious if we do need to ensure we post at a time we are most likely to get 100 views in a short time? I'm a very small channel (~540 subs)
@@theaustinstravel if you post consistently, UA-cam will tell you when people usually watch your content. When you know that, you can start posting videos at that time. I’d imagine posting at the same time helps with people knowing when you post so they can start expecting it at that time.
Out of all the channels I watch about growing on UA-cam, yours is absolutely the most helpful. You ask questions that really make me think about the content I'm making, and I really appreciate how genuine and real you are with the information you provide. A huge, HUGE thank you, for all your efforts! ☀
Nate, my channel recently picked up and I believe I know exactly why it happened. I was in an 'experiment' phase where I didn't really know who I was. I had a niche, but no sub-niche. Suddenly one of my videos picked up (20k views) so I decided to follow that video style and it has been going exceptionally well ever since. UA-cam has said to us in the past, "Replace the word 'Algorithm' with the word 'Audience'. So that is what I did. We need to let the audience guide us. Thank you for all of your advice, I watch every video.
Hi Nate! I wanna add up to your words and give some extra advice to *small channels* ! Guys, when you are about to kick off a brand new channel, consider which type of videos you are gonna publish: long videos or shorts. Cause these two types of videos have two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT types of viewers. Don't fall into this trap folks! P. S. Sometimes youtube just randomly puts a shadow ban on you, and if you feel that none of your recent videos are getting a decent amount of views, don't be afraid to setup a new channel, re-arrange your already existing videos and reupload them to the new channel. DON'T BE AFRAID STARTING OFF FROM "SCRATCH". When the horse dies, it's time to get off! KEEP IT UP!
Making my videos appealing with a good title and thumbnail has been my biggest weakness. And this is the 2nd video I've watched that brought this up. So inspired and am looking over what to do better.
I’ve found ChatGPT helpful. I ask it to give me the best title and video description with seo keywords for most views. Seems like it’s working better than my own titles and descriptions. I don’t think subscribers matter as much as watch time but I have received 131 subscribers in 28 days 👌🏻 Nate is the Best! and has really helped with his tips, keep listening to this Man!
i'm very stuck, though this video enlightened me to two things that would have made our most recent likely go beyond the 1,200 it got before flatlining. Our intro could have been much better. Still very much in algorithm jail though!
Thanks, Nate. I do love that your advice and tips are not just specifically applied to "new" creators, but also add as a good gut check for mid-big size creators. I've finally started hitting my stride and am growing faster than I ever imagined. Took me almost a whole year to get monetized and now, in the last few months I'm picking up 3.5k subs a month and150k+ monthly views! Thank you for all that you do!
Hi Nate. I think one important point might be that this operates on the premise that UA-cam is accurate in whom it shows impressions to. I’ve been trying to make videos for an audience that appreciates slow and contemplative topics about life and wellness but I’ve spent so much of my UA-cam journey in a desperate attempt to make quicker cuts, leaving no pauses in my speech and always showing some kind of b-roll to keep the audience’s interest. I thought this was necessary based on advice I was getting as well as UA-cam analytics I was seeing. But then, I took a closer look at the Suggested Videos section of the analytics and realized that UA-cam has been showing my thumbnails on completely unrelated videos designed for a much different audience with shorter attention spans. Now I’m looking back at all the times that I thought to myself, “Do my videos (and/or thumbnails/titles) suck that badly? This other guy has no editing, not much attention put into lighting or composition, and his talking points aren’t even terribly unique, and he’s getting thousands of views while I get less than 100. I feel like I’m at least as worthy of a view as him.” It’s been super demoralizing and now I’m wondering if UA-cam has been showing my videos to the wrong audience this whole time. I wish I could just tell UA-cam, “show my video to the exact same audience as this other creator because that’s the style and audience I’m going for.” Any tips on how I can help UA-cam show my video to a desired audience?
Oh wow I literally dropped my phone when I saw my channel on the screen!! Thank you so much for your great advice! What you pointed out is my exact struggle right now lol, my tutorial type of content is what seems to work and gets views as there is a demand for it but the vlog / story time content is what I truly enjoy as it allows me to be more creative. Finding a balance between the two is a nightmare. But you’re right, I think I’ll focus on tutorial content and once I have a bigger audience I can maybe branch out to the other type again. Thank you again for the advice, really appreciate it!! 🙏🏾
Hi Scoobz! Robin here. I'll have to check in to see how you got rid of the crickets. Here, on a dairy farm in Tasmania, I'm fighting off woodlice, & in Canberra, it was flying ants. yikes! I liked your thumbnails - do you do them yourself or give them to a graphic designer? What's working for you?
@@ScottandRobinTravel Hi Robin, I tried out a few things to catch the crickets but in the end I had to accept my new housemates lol In regards of the thumbnails I create them myself on canva. I spend around a hour or 2 creating multiple designs and then I choose the one that stands out the most. One thing I learned over the years is playing with the saturation on your thumbnail has a big impact and when you can, try to utilise blurs
Algorithm Jail is actually a thing. So glad you mention it. My channel is just shy of 50 videos in, and the views I get are still coming from so random other videos that I think UA-cam still hasnt figured out that I'm doing Personal Finance. I was wondering whether I confused the algorithm too much by posting a few videos on how I was doing UA-cam and analytics etc, which is not my niche.
@@GladeSwope Just on a few videos but I think that actually did harm because I interfered with the impressions for them (maybe noob mistake here). What I've read later was that it's better to not touch a video and let YTB do its thing.
Boy, are you correct! On my other channel, I did a sewing repair video which involved using a zipper. YT paired that channel with all these suggested videos that are soft porn. I soon realized that these women were basically escorts using YT as a platform, whereas I was working hard to put out good video tutorials - I had nothing to do with them! I wondered how anyone could actually put that crap out on YT and do so well without being shut down, based on YT policies, and was pretty offended to keep getting matched with not just one but so many porn videos through the "suggested channels" you see in your stats. It has happened a second time, too. I wrote YT about this, and naturally, they didn't write back. But YT was so quick to give me a copyright warning on a song that I'd already been approved for. YT contacted me on that in less than an hour! Wish YT would stop treating new, hard working channels like dogs, and other channels that aren't working hard so well maybe due to laziness or a wish for profit, no matter if the content is offensive or gross (we've all seen those kinds).
Awesome Nate. I'll be returning to this video a lot for notes... I've got an educational channel for business succession planning, and because I'm still learning and in my first 10 videos, I feel the need to be way too thorough on my videos (my partner even expressed early on, she felt we might get in trouble for bad tax advice because I left half a sentence out). The end result is videos that are too long, and, admittedly, dull. I have got to figure out a middle ground that works for my channel. Your videos always keep me wanting more even though they tend to be similar length.
I looked at the video about the due diligence and I found it very informative, well planned, and not long, just the right amount of information! Hope you get more and more subs! Nate gives us the best advice!
are you in russia now? my customer told me last year, she said...."that Putin is worst than hitler", and she is living in chicago but from ukraine. The american news is lying to us terribly about what is going on there.😮❤😮
I feel so honered for getting mentioned! Thank you so much!!!!!!! I'll deffinitly take your recommendations to use as good as I can :) On my video you mentioned I actually forgot all the color corrections XD, which means also to light the footadge up. I never regretted a production mistake so much. But with over 50k views it's still my second best Video. The Problem with the length is, that I kind of stick to the tutorial-Vibe, partly because I still get a lot of questions about details I eddited out even from the 36 minutes-Version. I think I'll solve that problem in the future by answering those most often asked questions by publishing a text with the answheres, instead of trying to put everything in the Video from now on! :) I got a follow up question to the lenghth in general though: With the longer videos the Algorythm suddenly started to suggest my content more to the audiences watching from TV and PC-devices. Bevore that I got most of the traffic from mobile phones. If I look at the statistics I get the feeling that made the long videos blow up (Mobile phone views went from 350 to 1680, tv from 31 to 2230 and PC 418 to 2800). I'll deffinitly try to make them 25 minutes long max from now on, but wouldn't 17 minutes for example be a bit less appealing for the TV/PC audience, which also got a higher averadge watching time? In any case: big THANK YOU!!!!!!!! *sorry for the long Question, Nate ;)
Your comment warmed my heart as if it were for me🤣🤣 I’m a writer so I read and write a lot. I’m glad Nate’s videos help you too!! I’m trying to perfect my craft making music. It’s so much fun being on UA-cam! Best of luck!🎉😁😆
Hi Shieldery! Looking forward to watching some of your vids. Nate mentions the dimness on a section. What program are you using? I use Davinci Resolve, and I get help from these channels - Jay Lipman and Mralextech as they are absolute gurus on video editing. If this is your platform, go into the color tab, look to the left and find a little "A" which is a link for automatic color balance. It is so fast and works so well because it analyses your photo/video (so do this in the most important part of that track, as it is the best analysis). From there, try lifting the gamma, which works like turning on a light in the room. There's other tricks, too, & the best way to do it is to go through their tutorials as they are fantastic. I especially like Lipman for color rendering. If you are using a different video editor, perhaps applying the same ideas there will work, or others here might suggest what they do. This will help you so much in the future!
Thanks for sharing your statistics, it's very interesting. My longest video was 15mins so far. I don't know your goals but I think views from TV and PC are much better audiences bc they are more serious and mature, people watch from phones just for entertainment.
Hey Nate, loving your valuable content! I'm looking to book a 1:1 consultation appointment with you and can't progress into the next month on the calendar. It doesn't give me an option on multiple browsers, I'm not sure if it's based to open at the start of a month. Thanks man! Keep up the great work!
I have been binging your content. Best, actionable channel advice on UA-cam. Thanks! I cannot tell if I am in UA-cam Jail or if growing is just this slow and difficult. Either way, these tips are gold 👍
I started a channel about ten years ago. The channel was just going to be a conglomeration of family videos with no niche. It wasn’t meant to be anything but a way to share videos with family and friends. In 2008 one of the videos went viral and now has over 50 million views. As a result I started getting subscriptions by the thousands. Now, in 2025, I have 79k subscriptions to the channel. Recently, I decided to actually make intentional content and created three vlog/story style videos. The question I have is this: Am I working against the algorithm even with 79k followers? The three videos I just put up in the last week only gained 290 views. I see channels with way less subscribers get hundreds of views in a few hours. Question 2: Should I stay the course and let the algorithm catch up, or should I start another channel to gain that “small channel” advantage? Thank you for your valuable insights.
If only UA-cam had a direct competitor. I bet all our videos would suddenly start moving along nicely numbers wise. It was TikTok but they decided that they wanted to keep all the ad money to themselves and then they closed the algorithm & picked their favourites just like UA-cam does now. Keep up the good works Nate
Some creators are SO GOOD at making thumbnails & titles that I instantly click, - but in 95%(-ish) they do NOT deliver, - and sometimes the title are even a downright lie‼️ (Even the 'big ones' do that). 😢😡
@@knowitintobeing Yes, - I wish youtube would actually make it possible to 'Block' channels just like a blocking on other SoMe's. I also see Big Creators who post misogyne or political views that I don't wanna see. They are fillng up my feed without me clicking on it. That should be enough to make them see that it could be good idea for them too.
Such great tips! Im so glad i found your channel because it's already making a difference! Even with a broken foot, I've found a way to keep making quality Tai Chi content and keep taking it to the next level because of your videos! Thanks Nate!
First of all, thank you very much for your work, Nate. I send your videos to some of my UA-cam buddies, because they deliver value in a way I haven't found elsewhere yet. Kudos to you! With that said, what I really hate about "being a small channel" is that the algorithm often punishes you for breaking your upload streak even in the slightest way. Now, I am an adult and try to upload 1 long-from video a week with some shorts linking to that inbetween. So far, I worked very good and with my channel being 1.5 years old, I gathered around 1400 subs. Now because of private reasons, I had to take a 3 week break from youtube (but still being halfway active in the community tab) and now uploading new videos again... the algorithm is not even sending out notifications to viewers with activated bell :/ THAT sucks big times, when you work on the majority of elements that improve your final video product and the platform gives you a fat middlefinger.
I generally believe this however what I find weird is that I have observed a couple of channels who used to be EXTRAORDINARILY successful and then their views dropped like a ROCK within a week to a few months doing the same quality thumbnails and similar content. Why does that happen? Some of these channels went from 100-500k views per video to maybe 5k views per video. Unless the YT audience's culture changed radically I don't see how that can happen.
Thank you so much for your advice. I've been watching your videos for several months now and it really allowed me to understand what was wrong with my channel. I had been stuck for so long to such a slow growth. Now I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel that I have improved so much thanks to you. What you are explaining at the end of this video (about the vlogs + tutorials in the same channel being appealing to different audiences) makes me think I can't really have the "perfect" channel to develop fully in a large audience. I do different artistic techniques and my videos are definitely appealing to different people. Watercolor, soft pastels, gouache, oils... Most people chose their favourite and stick to it. As for me, I don't want to focus on a single technique, as I need diversity for... well, for staying passionnate and happy I guess. I'll just keep improving on what I can though. Thanks again 🙏 PS : Seeing you commenting on a Spanish channel, I thought I could mention that I would be more than happy to be roasted if you think it can help others - despite my videos being in French. All the best !
Hey Nate, I just wanted to thank you for building content appealing to smaller creators like us. This video was informative and helpful; I look forward to seeing more!
This is a great video! I've watched several of your videos, and I really appreciate your style of delivery. Most of the, "grow your channel" videos from other channels I've seen tend to annoy me more often than they inform me or entertain me. I like how your videos never feel like heavy sales pitches and they never make me feel discouraged during the early stages of my channel.
I don’t know what to call it but it’s something about how he changes camera view and shows the dry erase board that helps. Most other new grow you channel videos don’t have that quality in keeping your attention while educating.
Great video, Nate! Super fascinating how the 3 keys are exactly in line with what James Clear talks about in Atomic Habits for building better habits - make it "Obvious, Attractive, Easy, Satisfying"! It's like we are priming the viewers' habits by creating content in a way that is conducive to habit formation
Nate, thank you! You give excellent advice for all creators. You are sincere too. I try to apply all that you are gracious to share with us. I signed up on your newsletter. I also think your wife helps a lot behind the scenes and I appreciate you both. Russ🎥
I just really want to thank you for speaking very clear english sir, even when you speak a little fast, your words are still very clear.. other americans tend to sound like blibliblabla when they speak fast to a non American
Hi Nate!! When you used to be with that other uhm channel, you did an amazing job telling your audience to do 20 videos. Well we are at 28 videos and have grown from I believe around 15 to 20 subscribers to around 235. Not far from a million!! What great advice because coming from zero tech savvy background there is this huge underline huge learning curve. Just thank you and I look forward to your future amazing content 🙏.
Thanks for another clear video. Been following you for a while and picked up some tips. The channel is growing daily, but I feel it is a bit random if I get the big numbers or not from video to video.
I noticed it too & thought, that's a great strategy for doing the like & subscribe. Nate's got that part over in a second, so we won't scrub forward. Any of us could do something similar to this on our channels.
I’m not sure “just making it better” is what people were looking for here. Especially when you’ve already conceded that small channels can and often are simply ignored. I guess I was expecting something more concrete.
@@UncleJoeHikes thanks for the compliment:) being 40+ I found the main issue that I am not so sharp anymore and UA-cam is a lot of learning, mostly psychology bc I already know technology. Most people 50+ don't know much about how technology works and it's not easy to learn and takes time and I am glad I learned technology 15y ago.
These videos get and “auto-boop” - I like immediately :) You are indeed correct on your assessment - I’ve reached the point where the volume of videos I have allows me to see “patterns” - the elements you describe are key differentiators between those videos that perform well and those that… don’t
I've finally learned this, you can't just make a video, it needs to be as good or better than others..although I still see channels with average videos and tons of subs
I'm a Twitch streamer trying to figure out how to move content from there to UA-cam outside of highlights made shorts, and this was amazingly helpful! 👀 Thank you so much!
Every time I'm about to ready to throw in the towel, there comes Nate with another banger video. I've got a lot to reflect on to really try and pin-point where I'm going wrong/can improve. Dont be surprised if I make up 20% of the future views on this video
Thanks, I needed this today - My last few videos keep doing well-ish (2 or 3 out of 10) during the weekend and then seem to hit a wall on Mondays where YT stops giving impressions.
Nate your content is toooooooo sweeeet. thanks. subscribed to radical creators. now I just have to figure out how to apply all this information. interestingly enough, I'm taking a one week break from posting content so I can assess my channel make changes.
How do you fix "I have built a store and stocked it full of automotive content but youtube only advertises it to people who are looking for nature shows" Only 20% of my "suggested to" videos are remotely close to an automotive audience. My stuff seems to only get recommended to non automotive people and then it does poorly in analytics. and the impressions stop. I have a lot to improve on as I am on this UA-cam journey but it's hard to know what to improve on if my content is never really shown to my ideal audience. Funny thing is that the 1 or 2 times my content was shown to very similar content the video did well, but UA-cam stopped showing it to that crowd on the next video in the series. instead showed it to a bunch of nature video's. Why? If my previous video had success with similar automotive content why not keep showing it to that kind of content? I just don't get it. Very frustrating.
What about a video that doesn't appeal to existing subscribers. Does that still have a chance with a new audience? Is it possible to cover multiple topics if they are kept broad enough in appeal?
Hi Nate, been watching your channel for as long as you've been on youtube, so, and I'm borrowing the "boop" word for my furniture repair channel, and he had to sneak the boop card in there, ha, that was hilarious!🎉❤😊
If you are still reviewing channels from the comments I’d be really happy for your feedback! Right now my subscriber conversion rate is good (a good percentage of people who watch my videos tend to subscribe) but I just can’t get those watch hours. I always watch your videos and you are the only UA-cam channel improvement genre channel that I watch because I dabbled in other content before and found that yours is just the best, the most clear, easiest to watch and most informative 😊
Nate, people here are commenting on your very creative way of dropping in the like suggestion. I've noticed that you have all sorts of creative ways of handling the please boop the like on your other videos, too. Maybe you could use this as another video idea since you do this very well - how to mention the CTA without losing video time?
The "boop the like button" bit, is cheesy but the light heartedness of it always makes me chuckle and double check to see if I did in fact boop the like button.
What vibe of thumbnails do you suggest for a channel performing music? It seems the screenshot of what is actually in the video is the norm, should it be more produced?
I don't always think UA-cam is that intuitive. I watch ONE cat video and suddenly my home feed is drowning in cat videos, when most of what I watch is vanlife and frugality day in the life videos. Sometimes I think it has a very kneejerk reaction to what you might have watched, or even accidentally clicked on and not watched.
pen+ GEAR🤔….I hope they did you well Nate. As usual the “polish”’you applied over the last week was well done. I’ve really appreciated the advice surrounding vid length and being as concise as possible in my own vids. Have a good week man👊.
I uploaded a piece of content three days ago that I was so proud of, but it didn’t perform the way I expected. Can anybody tell me what’s wrong with my latest piece of content?
Our channel is growing but latley our impressions have halfed. All kf a sudden overnight. Our videos fly in the first 30 minutes and then slows down. Our vlogs are stuck at around 4-5k views. It never seems to be pushed
Hey Nate! I have a question. As a new UA-camr is it ok to try out several subjects or will that hurt my views? Also, do certain niches require less advanced editing because I’m not good at editing and only use capcut
This is your official "get out of youtube jail free" card! 🎉😂
Here’s the group: radicalyt.com/howdy
Excited to see you there!
at last.... wondered what happened to this video :D
been waiting
Wow haha you have me laughing so hard at the $299 and the $749
This video was very good.
@@Theovates no same
Great video man, will definitely be joining the group! Thanks for the advice
I feel like your channel is the only channel out there who knows what it's like to be a small channel in 2024. Your tips have helped me a lot in the past few months!
Happy to help! Thank you 🙏
No cap, hes good
I agree!!
I agree with you, I have been watching Nate’s video well before I started my channel, although I’m still small it is very niche. It has been growing steadily in the past month. Nate’s channel has helped understanding how this whole things works and how to avoid pitfalls.
Something I’ve noticed (as a small creator) that’s way different than last year with making content is that a video needs to hit 100 views within a certain amount of time for it to be shown to more people.
That's interesting. I know last year on VIDIQ's coaching, they said they found timing of posting didn't really matter and that the 24 hour view and 7 day view ended up the same. However, I'm curious if we do need to ensure we post at a time we are most likely to get 100 views in a short time? I'm a very small channel (~540 subs)
Interesting perspective! That might be the case.
@@theaustinstravel if you post consistently, UA-cam will tell you when people usually watch your content. When you know that, you can start posting videos at that time. I’d imagine posting at the same time helps with people knowing when you post so they can start expecting it at that time.
Out of all the channels I watch about growing on UA-cam, yours is absolutely the most helpful. You ask questions that really make me think about the content I'm making, and I really appreciate how genuine and real you are with the information you provide. A huge, HUGE thank you, for all your efforts! ☀
Nate, my channel recently picked up and I believe I know exactly why it happened.
I was in an 'experiment' phase where I didn't really know who I was. I had a niche, but no sub-niche. Suddenly one of my videos picked up (20k views) so I decided to follow that video style and it has been going exceptionally well ever since.
UA-cam has said to us in the past, "Replace the word 'Algorithm' with the word 'Audience'. So that is what I did. We need to let the audience guide us.
Thank you for all of your advice, I watch every video.
Hi Nate! I wanna add up to your words and give some extra advice to *small channels* ! Guys, when you are about to kick off a brand new channel, consider which type of videos you are gonna publish: long videos or shorts. Cause these two types of videos have two COMPLETELY DIFFERENT types of viewers. Don't fall into this trap folks! P. S. Sometimes youtube just randomly puts a shadow ban on you, and if you feel that none of your recent videos are getting a decent amount of views, don't be afraid to setup a new channel, re-arrange your already existing videos and reupload them to the new channel. DON'T BE AFRAID STARTING OFF FROM "SCRATCH". When the horse dies, it's time to get off! KEEP IT UP!
Making my videos appealing with a good title and thumbnail has been my biggest weakness. And this is the 2nd video I've watched that brought this up. So inspired and am looking over what to do better.
I’ve found ChatGPT helpful. I ask it to give me the best title and video description with seo keywords for most views. Seems like it’s working better than my own titles and descriptions. I don’t think subscribers matter as much as watch time but I have received 131 subscribers in 28 days 👌🏻 Nate is the Best! and has really helped with his tips, keep listening to this Man!
Just recently, I got out of Algorithm jail and broke free.
How did you escape youtube jail?
Congrats to you cos men am stoked
I’m stuck on the jail currently…
@@jollyjames30 create viral videos
i'm very stuck, though this video enlightened me to two things that would have made our most recent likely go beyond the 1,200 it got before flatlining. Our intro could have been much better. Still very much in algorithm jail though!
Thanks, Nate. I do love that your advice and tips are not just specifically applied to "new" creators, but also add as a good gut check for mid-big size creators. I've finally started hitting my stride and am growing faster than I ever imagined. Took me almost a whole year to get monetized and now, in the last few months I'm picking up 3.5k subs a month and150k+ monthly views! Thank you for all that you do!
cool, and what is the name of your channel, thanks!
@@ronvalley1973 the one I’m using right now, Wrestling With Words :)
@@ronvalley1973 The same one that I commented with, Wrestling With Words :).
Hi Nate. I think one important point might be that this operates on the premise that UA-cam is accurate in whom it shows impressions to.
I’ve been trying to make videos for an audience that appreciates slow and contemplative topics about life and wellness but I’ve spent so much of my UA-cam journey in a desperate attempt to make quicker cuts, leaving no pauses in my speech and always showing some kind of b-roll to keep the audience’s interest. I thought this was necessary based on advice I was getting as well as UA-cam analytics I was seeing.
But then, I took a closer look at the Suggested Videos section of the analytics and realized that UA-cam has been showing my thumbnails on completely unrelated videos designed for a much different audience with shorter attention spans.
Now I’m looking back at all the times that I thought to myself, “Do my videos (and/or thumbnails/titles) suck that badly? This other guy has no editing, not much attention put into lighting or composition, and his talking points aren’t even terribly unique, and he’s getting thousands of views while I get less than 100. I feel like I’m at least as worthy of a view as him.”
It’s been super demoralizing and now I’m wondering if UA-cam has been showing my videos to the wrong audience this whole time.
I wish I could just tell UA-cam, “show my video to the exact same audience as this other creator because that’s the style and audience I’m going for.” Any tips on how I can help UA-cam show my video to a desired audience?
Oh wow I literally dropped my phone when I saw my channel on the screen!! Thank you so much for your great advice!
What you pointed out is my exact struggle right now lol, my tutorial type of content is what seems to work and gets views as there is a demand for it but the vlog / story time content is what I truly enjoy as it allows me to be more creative. Finding a balance between the two is a nightmare.
But you’re right, I think I’ll focus on tutorial content and once I have a bigger audience I can maybe branch out to the other type again.
Thank you again for the advice, really appreciate it!! 🙏🏾
Hi Scoobz! Robin here. I'll have to check in to see how you got rid of the crickets. Here, on a dairy farm in Tasmania, I'm fighting off woodlice, & in Canberra, it was flying ants. yikes! I liked your thumbnails - do you do them yourself or give them to a graphic designer? What's working for you?
@@ScottandRobinTravel Hi Robin, I tried out a few things to catch the crickets but in the end I had to accept my new housemates lol
In regards of the thumbnails I create them myself on canva. I spend around a hour or 2 creating multiple designs and then I choose the one that stands out the most. One thing I learned over the years is playing with the saturation on your thumbnail has a big impact and when you can, try to utilise blurs
This is youtubes problem it should know how to split your themes up. Imho
Algorithm Jail is actually a thing. So glad you mention it. My channel is just shy of 50 videos in, and the views I get are still coming from so random other videos that I think UA-cam still hasnt figured out that I'm doing Personal Finance. I was wondering whether I confused the algorithm too much by posting a few videos on how I was doing UA-cam and analytics etc, which is not my niche.
@@GladeSwope Just on a few videos but I think that actually did harm because I interfered with the impressions for them (maybe noob mistake here). What I've read later was that it's better to not touch a video and let YTB do its thing.
Boy, are you correct! On my other channel, I did a sewing repair video which involved using a zipper. YT paired that channel with all these suggested videos that are soft porn. I soon realized that these women were basically escorts using YT as a platform, whereas I was working hard to put out good video tutorials - I had nothing to do with them! I wondered how anyone could actually put that crap out on YT and do so well without being shut down, based on YT policies, and was pretty offended to keep getting matched with not just one but so many porn videos through the "suggested channels" you see in your stats. It has happened a second time, too. I wrote YT about this, and naturally, they didn't write back. But YT was so quick to give me a copyright warning on a song that I'd already been approved for. YT contacted me on that in less than an hour! Wish YT would stop treating new, hard working channels like dogs, and other channels that aren't working hard so well maybe due to laziness or a wish for profit, no matter if the content is offensive or gross (we've all seen those kinds).
Keep up the good work. The traffic will come. We subscribed.
Refreshed UA-cam and the video showed up 25 seconds after being published feels good.
Showed up where? 🤔
I checked out your channel, Dan, and subscribed! You have a wonderful take on travel!
Yes yes yes!!! I’ve been waiting. AND the topic is so important right now. I’ve been stuck for weeks. Can’t wait to watch ❤
The "Boop" thing gets me every time so I dropped a Like just because it made me laugh :D Really strong approach, keep it up.
Haha glad to hear it. Thanks!
I Boop it as soon as the video starts 😂😂
Yay.. no tease / unanswered question at the end. Thank You.
Hello Nate,
I'm in jail. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. This video breakdown was amazing. One day I will reach the finish line. Thanks.👏👍📝
Thank you for the great advice! I've spent about 2 hours watching your content this evening and have a lot of fresh ideas. Much appreciated!
Awesome Nate. I'll be returning to this video a lot for notes...
I've got an educational channel for business succession planning, and because I'm still learning and in my first 10 videos, I feel the need to be way too thorough on my videos (my partner even expressed early on, she felt we might get in trouble for bad tax advice because I left half a sentence out). The end result is videos that are too long, and, admittedly, dull. I have got to figure out a middle ground that works for my channel. Your videos always keep me wanting more even though they tend to be similar length.
I looked at the video about the due diligence and I found it very informative, well planned, and not long, just the right amount of information! Hope you get more and more subs! Nate gives us the best advice!
Nate, need your help to fight Putin! Need to start with the channel's audit! Where and when?
are you in russia now? my customer told me last year, she said...."that Putin is worst than hitler", and she is living in chicago but from ukraine. The american news is lying to us terribly about what is going on there.😮❤😮
@@ronvalley1973 I think you understood it right
I feel so honered for getting mentioned! Thank you so much!!!!!!!
I'll deffinitly take your recommendations to use as good as I can :)
On my video you mentioned I actually forgot all the color corrections XD, which means also to light the footadge up. I never regretted a production mistake so much. But with over 50k views it's still my second best Video.
The Problem with the length is, that I kind of stick to the tutorial-Vibe, partly because I still get a lot of questions about details I eddited out even from the 36 minutes-Version. I think I'll solve that problem in the future by answering those most often asked questions by publishing a text with the answheres, instead of trying to put everything in the Video from now on! :)
I got a follow up question to the lenghth in general though: With the longer videos the Algorythm suddenly started to suggest my content more to the audiences watching from TV and PC-devices. Bevore that I got most of the traffic from mobile phones. If I look at the statistics I get the feeling that made the long videos blow up (Mobile phone views went from 350 to 1680, tv from 31 to 2230 and PC 418 to 2800). I'll deffinitly try to make them 25 minutes long max from now on, but wouldn't 17 minutes for example be a bit less appealing for the TV/PC audience, which also got a higher averadge watching time?
In any case: big THANK YOU!!!!!!!!
*sorry for the long Question, Nate ;)
Your comment warmed my heart as if it were for me🤣🤣 I’m a writer so I read and write a lot. I’m glad Nate’s videos help you too!! I’m trying to perfect my craft making music. It’s so much fun being on UA-cam! Best of luck!🎉😁😆
Hi Shieldery! Looking forward to watching some of your vids. Nate mentions the dimness on a section. What program are you using? I use Davinci Resolve, and I get help from these channels - Jay Lipman and Mralextech as they are absolute gurus on video editing. If this is your platform, go into the color tab, look to the left and find a little "A" which is a link for automatic color balance. It is so fast and works so well because it analyses your photo/video (so do this in the most important part of that track, as it is the best analysis). From there, try lifting the gamma, which works like turning on a light in the room. There's other tricks, too, & the best way to do it is to go through their tutorials as they are fantastic. I especially like Lipman for color rendering. If you are using a different video editor, perhaps applying the same ideas there will work, or others here might suggest what they do. This will help you so much in the future!
@@ScottandRobinTravel thanks. usually I do all those things, but forgott it on this project. :(
Thanks for sharing your statistics, it's very interesting. My longest video was 15mins so far. I don't know your goals but I think views from TV and PC are much better audiences bc they are more serious and mature, people watch from phones just for entertainment.
Hey Nate, loving your valuable content! I'm looking to book a 1:1 consultation appointment with you and can't progress into the next month on the calendar. It doesn't give me an option on multiple browsers, I'm not sure if it's based to open at the start of a month. Thanks man! Keep up the great work!
Starting doing some of these a few weeks ago. NOW WE WAIT AND SEE!!!!
Hope it helps!
I have been binging your content. Best, actionable channel advice on UA-cam. Thanks! I cannot tell if I am in UA-cam Jail or if growing is just this slow and difficult. Either way, these tips are gold 👍
Glad it's helpful! You're on the right track.
hello from Gatlinburg tennessee....love this
I started a channel about ten years ago. The channel was just going to be a conglomeration of family videos with no niche. It wasn’t meant to be anything but a way to share videos with family and friends. In 2008 one of the videos went viral and now has over 50 million views. As a result I started getting subscriptions by the thousands. Now, in 2025, I have 79k subscriptions to the channel. Recently, I decided to actually make intentional content and created three vlog/story style videos. The question I have is this: Am I working against the algorithm even with 79k followers? The three videos I just put up in the last week only gained 290 views. I see channels with way less subscribers get hundreds of views in a few hours. Question 2: Should I stay the course and let the algorithm catch up, or should I start another channel to gain that “small channel” advantage? Thank you for your valuable insights.
I struggle with titles and sometimes I believe I am overthinking it. This video has good tips. Thank you!
I started to use chatgpt for it. It writes much better than me, lol
If only UA-cam had a direct competitor. I bet all our videos would suddenly start moving along nicely numbers wise. It was TikTok but they decided that they wanted to keep all the ad money to themselves and then they closed the algorithm & picked their favourites just like UA-cam does now. Keep up the good works Nate
Some creators are SO GOOD at making thumbnails & titles that I instantly click, - but in 95%(-ish) they do NOT deliver, - and sometimes the title are even a downright lie‼️ (Even the 'big ones' do that). 😢😡
This is a huge problem indeed, I actually hoped that UA-cam would abolish thumbnails, cause I assume they are totally aware of that
@@knowitintobeing Yes, - I wish youtube would actually make it possible to 'Block' channels just like a blocking on other SoMe's. I also see Big Creators who post misogyne or political views that I don't wanna see. They are fillng up my feed without me clicking on it. That should be enough to make them see that it could be good idea for them too.
Such great tips! Im so glad i found your channel because it's already making a difference! Even with a broken foot, I've found a way to keep making quality Tai Chi content and keep taking it to the next level because of your videos! Thanks Nate!
First of all, thank you very much for your work, Nate. I send your videos to some of my UA-cam buddies, because they deliver value in a way I haven't found elsewhere yet. Kudos to you!
With that said, what I really hate about "being a small channel" is that the algorithm often punishes you for breaking your upload streak even in the slightest way. Now, I am an adult and try to upload 1 long-from video a week with some shorts linking to that inbetween. So far, I worked very good and with my channel being 1.5 years old, I gathered around 1400 subs. Now because of private reasons, I had to take a 3 week break from youtube (but still being halfway active in the community tab) and now uploading new videos again... the algorithm is not even sending out notifications to viewers with activated bell :/ THAT sucks big times, when you work on the majority of elements that improve your final video product and the platform gives you a fat middlefinger.
I have INTENSE spreadsheets according to that Factor 3 tactic you mentioned!
Thanks for raising the idea of clarifying your core audience and choosing your intention. Extremely useful.
I generally believe this however what I find weird is that I have observed a couple of channels who used to be EXTRAORDINARILY successful and then their views dropped like a ROCK within a week to a few months doing the same quality thumbnails and similar content. Why does that happen? Some of these channels went from 100-500k views per video to maybe 5k views per video. Unless the YT audience's culture changed radically I don't see how that can happen.
Thank you Nate! I have a pet channel and do both educational and fun videos. Should I focus on just educational?
Thank you so much for your advice. I've been watching your videos for several months now and it really allowed me to understand what was wrong with my channel. I had been stuck for so long to such a slow growth.
Now I know I still have a lot to learn, but I feel that I have improved so much thanks to you.
What you are explaining at the end of this video (about the vlogs + tutorials in the same channel being appealing to different audiences) makes me think I can't really have the "perfect" channel to develop fully in a large audience. I do different artistic techniques and my videos are definitely appealing to different people. Watercolor, soft pastels, gouache, oils... Most people chose their favourite and stick to it. As for me, I don't want to focus on a single technique, as I need diversity for... well, for staying passionnate and happy I guess.
I'll just keep improving on what I can though. Thanks again 🙏
PS : Seeing you commenting on a Spanish channel, I thought I could mention that I would be more than happy to be roasted if you think it can help others - despite my videos being in French. All the best !
Hey Nate, I just wanted to thank you for building content appealing to smaller creators like us. This video was informative and helpful; I look forward to seeing more!
This is a great video! I've watched several of your videos, and I really appreciate your style of delivery. Most of the, "grow your channel" videos from other channels I've seen tend to annoy me more often than they inform me or entertain me. I like how your videos never feel like heavy sales pitches and they never make me feel discouraged during the early stages of my channel.
I don’t know what to call it but it’s something about how he changes camera view and shows the dry erase board that helps. Most other new grow you channel videos don’t have that quality in keeping your attention while educating.
Great video, Nate! Super fascinating how the 3 keys are exactly in line with what James Clear talks about in Atomic Habits for building better habits - make it "Obvious, Attractive, Easy, Satisfying"! It's like we are priming the viewers' habits by creating content in a way that is conducive to habit formation
Nate, thank you! You give excellent advice for all creators. You are sincere too. I try to apply all that you are gracious to share with us. I signed up on your newsletter. I also think your wife helps a lot behind the scenes and I appreciate you both. Russ🎥
I just really want to thank you for speaking very clear english sir, even when you speak a little fast, your words are still very clear.. other americans tend to sound like blibliblabla when they speak fast to a non American
Nate, if you had a podcast I would listen faithfully to every minute the same way I binge your videos!!!
Hi Nate!! When you used to be with that other uhm channel, you did an amazing job telling your audience to do 20 videos. Well we are at 28 videos and have grown from I believe around 15 to 20 subscribers to around 235. Not far from a million!! What great advice because coming from zero tech savvy background there is this huge underline huge learning curve. Just thank you and I look forward to your future amazing content 🙏.
These are really good advices. Growing my channel has been hard, but i feel proud of what i have acomplished. Thanks for the great advices.
Thanks for another clear video. Been following you for a while and picked up some tips. The channel is growing daily, but I feel it is a bit random if I get the big numbers or not from video to video.
You got my boop with the little joke hahaha great job, as always!
Nate! I need a roast or reverse roast, or an audit - whatever it takes! I need to get out of jail. Not growing and I don't understand why.
6:25 that zoom so that the "Boop the Like Button" card can be more visible. Hahaaa... Love it, Nate! Love the Boop Easter eggs.
I noticed it too & thought, that's a great strategy for doing the like & subscribe. Nate's got that part over in a second, so we won't scrub forward. Any of us could do something similar to this on our channels.
I’m not sure “just making it better” is what people were looking for here. Especially when you’ve already conceded that small channels can and often are simply ignored. I guess I was expecting something more concrete.
Me too, still we don't know what to do.... besides hiring someone to do everything including hiring an actor 😉 instead of me as a boring face
@@Find-Your-Wellness-With-MeYeah young and hot I am not!
@@UncleJoeHikes thanks for the compliment:) being 40+ I found the main issue that I am not so sharp anymore and UA-cam is a lot of learning, mostly psychology bc I already know technology. Most people 50+ don't know much about how technology works and it's not easy to learn and takes time and I am glad I learned technology 15y ago.
Bro I just love your content, it’s so easy to understand and the way you speak, it’s just awesome
In a big niche and much others probably better but just learning and trying to grow on things I can control ✊🏽
These videos get and “auto-boop” - I like immediately :)
You are indeed correct on your assessment - I’ve reached the point where the volume of videos I have allows me to see “patterns” - the elements you describe are key differentiators between those videos that perform well and those that… don’t
its nice to see someone able to explain these things so simply, now I just wish I knew how to use them.
Thank you so much 😊 🙏🏼
I’m a new content creator with a life changing message to share and this helps me get it out there.
Great - thank you Nate. A simple process even I can understand....I now need to just 'do it'!
I've finally learned this, you can't just make a video, it needs to be as good or better than others..although I still see channels with average videos and tons of subs
Pay attention to how many views, a lot of times subs don't watch their videos
Thank you Nate! For keeping my head in the game and not just going through the motions 🙏
I'm a Twitch streamer trying to figure out how to move content from there to UA-cam outside of highlights made shorts, and this was amazingly helpful! 👀 Thank you so much!
Nicely summarized, thanks ❤
Tha ks again for another great video. We appreciate you always giving us ideas and tips to improve! All our best.
Every time I'm about to ready to throw in the towel, there comes Nate with another banger video. I've got a lot to reflect on to really try and pin-point where I'm going wrong/can improve. Dont be surprised if I make up 20% of the future views on this video
Thanks, I needed this today - My last few videos keep doing well-ish (2 or 3 out of 10) during the weekend and then seem to hit a wall on Mondays where YT stops giving impressions.
Nate your content is toooooooo sweeeet. thanks. subscribed to radical creators. now I just have to figure out how to apply all this information. interestingly enough, I'm taking a one week break from posting content so I can assess my channel make changes.
Fantastic video. Nuts and bolts. Thanks, Nate. I'm binge watching your videos.
Great content and info as always!
How do you fix "I have built a store and stocked it full of automotive content but youtube only advertises it to people who are looking for nature shows" Only 20% of my "suggested to" videos are remotely close to an automotive audience. My stuff seems to only get recommended to non automotive people and then it does poorly in analytics. and the impressions stop. I have a lot to improve on as I am on this UA-cam journey but it's hard to know what to improve on if my content is never really shown to my ideal audience. Funny thing is that the 1 or 2 times my content was shown to very similar content the video did well, but UA-cam stopped showing it to that crowd on the next video in the series. instead showed it to a bunch of nature video's. Why? If my previous video had success with similar automotive content why not keep showing it to that kind of content? I just don't get it. Very frustrating.
What about a video that doesn't appeal to existing subscribers. Does that still have a chance with a new audience? Is it possible to cover multiple topics if they are kept broad enough in appeal?
Nate, please save us😅. Seriously, endless pieces of advice always with a different take from what everyone else is saying. Super thankful
The Algorithm Jail is a mysterious place. Just had my best retention by far and got an 8 out of 10!
Hi Nate, been watching your channel for as long as you've been on youtube, so, and I'm borrowing the "boop" word for my furniture repair channel, and he had to sneak the boop card in there, ha, that was hilarious!🎉❤😊
Thanks for the advice 😎
The UA-cam algorithm has only one goal, to gather audiences for commercials. That's it, nothing more.
Sad? but true 🤦
I just discovered your channel and i think you give really good advice❤
If you are still reviewing channels from the comments I’d be really happy for your feedback! Right now my subscriber conversion rate is good (a good percentage of people who watch my videos tend to subscribe) but I just can’t get those watch hours. I always watch your videos and you are the only UA-cam channel improvement genre channel that I watch because I dabbled in other content before and found that yours is just the best, the most clear, easiest to watch and most informative 😊
Nate, people here are commenting on your very creative way of dropping in the like suggestion. I've noticed that you have all sorts of creative ways of handling the please boop the like on your other videos, too. Maybe you could use this as another video idea since you do this very well - how to mention the CTA without losing video time?
Thanks Nate! My one-eyed rescue dog and I are more than agreeable to allow you to review our channel! Everyone wants out of Alcatraz! ☺
The "boop the like button" bit, is cheesy but the light heartedness of it always makes me chuckle and double check to see if I did in fact boop the like button.
to point #3. I feel like I am now intentionally broadening my audience, as it was TOO niched down. IDK
What vibe of thumbnails do you suggest for a channel performing music? It seems the screenshot of what is actually in the video is the norm, should it be more produced?
"...asked for a reverse roast." Love it! I hadn't thought of things that way, what are we doing right? Good point.
Nick. Errrr Nate. That one curl really wanted to boop today. Again, you're awesome.
I don't always think UA-cam is that intuitive. I watch ONE cat video and suddenly my home feed is drowning in cat videos, when most of what I watch is vanlife and frugality day in the life videos. Sometimes I think it has a very kneejerk reaction to what you might have watched, or even accidentally clicked on and not watched.
I can just say thanks alottt Nate❤
Thank you, Nate, for this very helpful guide! I will definitely take all of this advice into consideration going forward!
@thatnateblack - Nate, great teaching! I love that as you are teaching I notice how you are applying those same key points. 💥👏
pen+ GEAR🤔….I hope they did you well Nate.
As usual the “polish”’you applied over the last week was well done. I’ve really appreciated the advice surrounding vid length and being as concise as possible in my own vids. Have a good week man👊.
I uploaded a piece of content three days ago that I was so proud of, but it didn’t perform the way I expected. Can anybody tell me what’s wrong with my latest piece of content?
Thanks for your tips Nate, I try to do my best for apply them on my channel, sometimes it's hard ahah
Appreciated your definitions of BETTER and SATISFYING. So practical and helpful. Thank you!
All good stuff, thanks man!
Best content Strategist ever 🐐🔥
I really do believe my reaction channel is algorithm jail
Our channel is growing but latley our impressions have halfed. All kf a sudden overnight.
Our videos fly in the first 30 minutes and then slows down.
Our vlogs are stuck at around 4-5k views.
It never seems to be pushed
Excellent video! Even though we have to wait a while for these to come, they are brilliant nonetheless! 😊
Great watch man. Nice work and breakdown!
Hey Nate! I have a question. As a new UA-camr is it ok to try out several subjects or will that hurt my views? Also, do certain niches require less advanced editing because I’m not good at editing and only use capcut
I think you should try bc no one really knows the answer bc no one knows how UA-cam algo works
What a exilent video Nate, I don't think there is anyone else out here who explains things like You. Thankyou.
Thank you for your work!
love your content nate
Thank you for the advices, it’s really hard to do it right 😅