When I started doing YouTube I expected a slow but linear growth of my channel. My idea was to put out a lot of videos to build a big subscriber base. The more subscribers I’d have, the more they would help me to promote my videos.
Based on my observations of other people’s channels, I would probably need at least 200 videos to get to 60,000 views/month (with each video getting 300 views per month) and I was willing to put in that work. Fast forward a year later and my channel gets about 100,000 views/month. That is about 166% more than I was hoping for and 500% of what I’d had. Did it take me 200+ videos to get there? Not exactly. How many did it take? 6.
How come my estimate was off by so much?
Well, what I hadn’t put into my original calculations was the possibility that some of my videos could become hits that would attract a much bigger number of views.
These weren’t viral videos in the classic sense – there was not much social sharing involved and my subscribers didn’t play a big role in making them a hit. Instead, these videos got most of their traffic from YouTube features like the YouTube search engine or the recommendations on the YouTube homepage and in the sidebar.
In this article I want to share an alternative success strategy that will help you to get viewers even if you have no subscribers.
Creating Gateway Videos To Get YouTube Views
When it comes to views, many YouTubers rely on their subscriber base. Don’t get me wrong, subscribers are the best and building a subscriber base is really important. If you keep building a loyal and supportive fan base, eventually you’ll have the potential to generate more and more views until you’re able to reach thousands or in some cases even millions of people.
However, when you’re just starting out, you’re not in that position yet. Building your channel is really hard when you’re a small YouTuber, and even if you’re the most entertaining person in the world, you will have a hard time because nobody’s watching yet.
This is where it makes sense to adjust your strategy.
