I grew the Think Media YouTube channel to 1.9 million subscribers.

When I think about the journey to a 7-figure following, I look at the secrets to YouTube growth that would have made me grow faster. Tips like how many videos to post before calling it quits, avoiding ‘selfish’ content at all costs, and strategically creating search-based content.

If I could do it all over again, I would incorporate these tips into my YouTube strategy from Day 1. And if I was starting over today, I wouldn’t be fearful that I couldn’t grow back my audience. Here’s why…

Right now is the best time to create content on YouTube. Since the lockdown in 2020, we’ve seen YouTube viewership is still skyrocketing. Consumption is up over 80%, according to Cisco (EIGHTY PERCENT!).

In 2019 there were about 15 billion minutes of YouTube videos watched. As you’re reading this article, that number is closer to 32 billion in some industries.

The time to be a creator is here.

But uploading your first YouTube video is, understandably, scary. The thought of seeing a meager 10 views and having your peers know you’re just starting out isn’t exactly thrilling. It’s the reason so many people decide to put off their YouTube dreams, despite watching their favorite creators every day and wishing they were in their shoes.

Your favorite creators started with one YouTube video and, most likely, 10 total views. But, they kept pushing through—knowing that if they found their rhythm, they could turn this into a career. And finding that rhythm comes down to avoiding these 5 mistakes that I learned the hard way on the road to 1.6 million followers.

It’s time to punch fear and perfectionism in the face, and press record (while growing your audience gracefully as you avoid these mistakes).

Mistake #1: Judging Your Performance BEFORE You Post Enough Videos

You need to post your first 35 videos. I know exactly what you’re thinking. It’s the same thing *I* would be thinking if somebody told me to post 35 videos when I was struggling with getting my first video into the world.

“35 Freaking videos. That’s kind of crazy.”

There’s a reason for this number. Before that 35th video, you’re going to be judging your results way too early. You’ll see your following growing by 10-20 followers a week and feel like you’re not making progress. And you’ll be tempted to quit.

This is one of the biggest mistakes new creators make. They post a few videos, don’t get the results you’re looking for, and decide YouTube isn’t for you.

That’s why you’ll hold yourself accountable for 35 videos. Those videos will trigger the algorithm to get things going or help you see where you can pivot to find success. With over 2,000 videos, I’ve had a couple of failed YouTube channels that led me straight to the successful ones. 

You win, you learn, and you have to fail forward—and actually want to play.

Mistake #2: Making ‘Selfish’ Content

YouTube follows the same rules of marketing. You have to answer the “Who?” and “What?” questions before you commit to posting. Without those answers, your channel won’t serve your audience. It’ll only serve you, and the topic that interests you that day.

Answer these 2 questions to avoid making selfish content:

1. Who are your videos serving?
2. What problem do you solve for them?

Creators that answer this question make service content. The ones who don’t, make selfish content and eventually quit YouTube.

When my co-author of YouTube Secrets Benji Travis and I, met with Gary Vaynerchuk, multiple New York Times bestselling author and one of the leading social media experts in the world, we asked him: “What advice would you give to new YouTube creators?”

Here’s what he said:

I think it’s about, are you putting out entertainment? Are you putting out education? Because 90% of people are putting out selfish content.

Ninety percent of people are putting out press releases. They want you to think something about them. They’re making it selfish for themselves. They wanted to go to Maui and surf, so that’s the content you’re getting.

But did that bring you any value? They want you to think they’re cool. 90% of the content right now are people acting like PR agents for themselves? I’m asking people to look like educators or entertainers.

Do you think about the audience first? Or don’t you?

The reason people aren’t getting to 1,000 subscribers is that they’re not thinking about their audience first. They’re thinking about what content *they want* to create and the benefits that could come from choosing that creator path. For example, if you’re thinking, “I want to be a travel vlogger,” have you considered how your content serves the audience you want to grow? Or are you more focused on a free fancy hotel stay with a giraffe eating breakfast with you?

That’s what Gary’s saying (and I’m echoing). And here’s another Gary tip—pick either entertainment or education content to create. Both types of content are exploding right now.

As I said, there’s never been a better time to create content.

Mistake #3: Choosing to Get Your YouTube Wisdom the Slow Way

Post your first video, today.

Stop reading this blog and go shoot a video on your phone and go post your first video (for real!). Once you’re posting, it’s time to ‘skill up’ in 2 ways:

#1: Identify the skills you need to learn (like video editing, designing thumbnails, and camera presence).

#2: Identify 5-10 successful channels in your niche and study what they’re doing and how you can add your own spin to it. (Don’t be scared of competition, this means you have a market!).

There are 2 ways to get wisdom. The slowest way is through your own mistakes. The fastest way to get wisdom is through others’ mistakes. That’s the beauty of buying a book, watching other creators’ YouTube channels (like mine), and learning from experts who can tell you exactly what to do.

You don’t have to be a YouTube expert to get started with your first video. But, you do need to have the basics down. Your videos should always be improving, especially as you learn more about:

• How to create eye-catching thumbnails
• How to name your videos catchy titles
• How channels in your niche are getting views
• How channels in your niche are editing their content

Your plan isn’t to copy what they’re doing. It’s to study what they’re doing and figure out how you can add your own spin to it. The spin that attracts the right audience for *you*.

Shorten your learning curve by getting your wisdom the fast way—learning through others’ mistakes.

Mistake #4: Not Creating Search-Based Content

Search-based content answers specific questions. It’s the content that meets a YouTube search of “how to train my dog to sit” or “how to take care of a fiddle leaf fig tree.” This is the content I focus my YouTube channels around, even though there’s some debate on it.

Creators wonder how much YouTube tags really impact their views and reach. A lot of people are asking if YouTube is even still a search engine. The answer is a loud, yes. YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world (Google is the first).

Sixty-five percent of people who use YouTube are using it to solve a problem. If people are going to YouTube to solve a problem, the best way to get discovered is to answer their question.

To be clear, this isn’t the only content you’ll ever make. You’re not stuck in “answering question” purgatory. But, you should start with search-based content to help your channel get views and subscribers. If people aren’t searching for your content, it’ll be really hard for it to get seen. The YouTube algorithm isn’t like TikTok—you’ll need to strategize getting views and a following on the platform.

That’s why answering the two questions above is so important. Every video idea should start with answering:

1. Who are your videos serving?
2. What problem do you solve for them?

Once you have subscribers, you can start to expand your content because they know you. They’re not just there to get a question answered. Subscribers are there to hang out with you.

• Are you crafting content that you’ve researched and that people are interested in?

• Are you crafting content that people are interested in watching?

Mistake #5: Avoiding Committment to the Long-Term Vision

If you want to ensure your YouTube channel never gets off the ground, maxing out at 50 views per video and 100 subscribers, here’s what you have to do. Dabble. 

The main reason people don’t reach 1,000 subscribers is that they’ve never actually made a real commitment to getting there. They dabble with YouTube. But like any marketing strategy, when you dabble—you get subpar results. And those subpar results trick you into thinking people don’t like your content or you’re not cut out for YouTube.

That’s not the case, at all.

Commitment is the foundation of all accomplishments. Commitment is the little choice we make every day that leads to the final results we’re looking for. And you’ll need to commit to growing on YouTube.

I can’t promise you an easy ride. Chances are, your YouTube growth will be hard and come with its fair of challenges. But, I can promise you that it’s worth it.

Commitment is showing up and making the hard decisions consistently. You don’t get bulging biceps by doing push-ups once. You don’t watch the fitness DVD one time and all of a sudden turn into chiseled Brad Pitt from Fight Club.

You do it through daily repetitious discipline. You keep showing up. You keep sweating. You keep doing the work. Wishing is not committing. It’s about making this a priority. 

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Failure is a stepping stone to success.

Become a YouTube Superstar (For Your Niche)

You don’t need a famous YouTuber friend to get your channel off the ground. You also don’t need years of marketing experience to get your first 1,000 followers. All you need is the motivation to hit publish on your first video—and these 5 mistakes written on a post-it note near your desk.

Refer back to these mistakes as your channel starts to grow, you record more videos, and especially when you’re thinking of quitting.

• Which mistake have you accidentally started making?
• Do you need to post more videos before you quit (ahem, 35!)?
• Have you been taking YouTube seriously, or just dabbling?

YouTube wants you to create content. They make money when you post videos people want to watch. That’s part of what makes this such a great time to be a creator. YouTube is on your side, but you have to play by the demands of their users. For YouTube, that’s creating entertaining or educational content that answers questions your audience is curious about while nurturing a relationship with their (soon-to-be) favorite creator.

The real failure for YouTube creators is quitting, and I know you’re better than that.

Shift into the mindset that you can dominate YouTube for your niche—because you can.

Need More Guidance? Attend Sean’s Workshop!

Sean Cannell will be hosting a live workshop for DigitalMarketer Lab members in January 2022. If you’d like to attend the live session, you’ll need to be a member. As a member, you’ll also be eligible to win a free YouTube Creator Kit if you gain 1,000 subscribers during the workshop.

Sean Cannell

Sean Cannell is one of the most watched video content experts in the world and one of his channels was listed by Forbes as one of the “Top 20 Channels That Will Change Your Business.”
He is an international speaker, best-selling author of the book YouTube Secrets and his YouTube channel, Think Media, reaches over 21.5 million people a month. Sean has been hailed as one of the most successful online video experts – first building a multiple six-figure business through affiliate marketing and then going on to build a seven-figure media company focusing on online education that he still runs today.
Sean and his team are on a mission to help 10,000 people quit their day jobs to do what they love. He is passionate about giving tactical, practical advice to use video to spread your message. 
Sean is from Arlington, Washington and currently lives in Las Vegas, NV with his wife Sonja, son Sean Bradley, and their dog Sophie.

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Marketers love jargon.

And…we kind of have to.

Marketing gets really specific when it comes to promotions, campaigns, and funnels. We need to know how many active subscribers we have on a list, what a subscriber’s value is, and the difference between an open rate and a unique open rate.

The specificity of this jargon helps our teams understand exactly what’s going on under the hood of our email marketing strategies.

And it helps us get those conversions.

Here are the email terms every marketer needs to know so they can skyrocket their active subscribers, give back to their most valuable subscribers, understand how many times their emails are really being opened, and so much more.

A/B Split Test (noun) – Testing variables in your email against each other to see which performs better (for example, 2 subject lines, 2 preview texts, 2 call to actions) 

Active Subscriber (noun) – An email subscriber who opens emails from a sender

ALT Tags (noun) – text that describes an image to help the visually impaired understand the image and search engine crawlers to correctly index the image

Attachment (noun) – An image, PDF, or other type file added to an email that a user opens to view

Attachment Open Rate (noun) – The number of email recipients who opened the attachment in an email divided by the total number of recipients who opened the email (shown in a percentage)

Auto Follow up (noun) – An automated email sent to a user after they take a specific action (for example, after purchasing a product a user gets an automated follow up with their order confirmation and number)

Autoresponder (noun) – Emails that are automated to be sent out after users take specific actions (subscribing, clicking a link in an email, purchasing, etc.) that can range from one email to 2+

Behavioral Email (noun) – Emails sent to users depending on their history (for example, if they purchased a specific product, they visited a certain webpage, etc.) 

Blacklist (noun) – A list of email senders who’s emails do not reach inboxes because of a bad reputation as being spam or fraudulent

Bounce Rate (noun) – The number of emails that couldn’t be delivered to inboxes (see Soft Bounce Rate and Hard Bounce Rate)

Broadcast (noun) –  Email(s) sent out to your entire email list, not specific to segments

Call To Action (noun) – The action you’re requesting email recipients take (for example, click on a link, purchase a product, sign up for a tutorial, etc.)

Campaign (noun) – an email or series of emails sent to customers and prospects

Canadian Anti-Spam Law, CASL (noun) – A Canadian law created in 2014 to protect Canadians from spam emails

CAN SPAM (noun) – An American law created in 2003 to reduce spam from commercial emails

Cinemagraph (noun) – Videos that are a few seconds long and loop to create continuous movement, also known as a GIF

Click (noun)- The total number of times a link in an email was clicked (not shown as a percentage and does not include the unsubscribe button)

Click To Open Rate (noun) – The number of unique clicks divided by the number of unique opens (shown as a percentage)

Click Rate (noun) – The number of email recipients who clicked a link in an email divided by the total number of recipients (shown as a percentage)

Cold email (noun) – The email version of a cold call, an email sent to a recipient who you’ve never emailed or interacted with before 

Complain rate (noun) – The number of email recipients who marked an email as spam divided by the total number of email recipients (shown as a percentage)

Conversion Rate (noun) – The amount of email recipients who performed the call to action divided by the total number of recipients who opened the email (shown as a percentage)

Deliverability (adjective) – How well an email sender is able to deliver emails to recipients inboxes

Delivery rate (adjective) – The number of emails sent that reach recipients’ inboxes divided by the total number of email sent (shown as a percentage) 

Deploy (verb) – To send or make live an email or email campaign

Drip Marketing (noun) – Automated marketing that sends email subscribers a series of emails over a set amount of time

DomainKeys Identified Mail, DKIM (noun) – Email authentication that lets an email recipient see if the email sender they see on the email is confirmed as the real sender of the email to avoid spam and phishing emails

Double Opt-in (noun) – An email sent to a subscriber after they’ve filled out the opt-in form (first opt-in) that asks them to confirm they want to receive emails from this sender (second opt-in)

Dynamic Content (noun) –  Specific content in an email that changes depending on the recipient such as, location, new customer, previous customer, etc.

Email Domain (noun) – The website domain name that an email is sent from seen after the @ symbol in an email

Email Marketing (noun) – Using strategized emails to promote products, services, events, brands, etc. to select people who have opted-in to receive emails from a business

Email Service Provider, ESP (noun) – The email hosting platform with the subscriber list, flows, campaigns, etc. (ex. Mailchimp, Hubspot, Klaviyo) 

Email Templates (noun) – Predefined templates to use in emails, either provided by the ESP or made by your business

Email Queue (noun) – The number of people waiting to receive a live email (see Throttling)

Engage Tag (noun) – A tag that is added to the account of any person who has NOT opened an email in the past 90 days

Forwards (verb) – The number of times subscribers forwarded your email(s)

Footer (noun) – The bottom of an email that can contain a privacy policy, any necessary legal information (ex. for affiliate programs), the business’s address, the unsubscribe option, etc.

General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR (noun) – A European regulation in law created in 2016 for data protection and privacy of email recipients

GIF (noun) – Videos that are a few seconds long and loop to create continuous movement, also known as a cinemagraph

Gray email (noun) – Emails that an email recipient initially subscribed to, no longer opens, but also doesn’t mark as spam

Hard bounce (verb) – An email that bounces because the recipient email address no longer exists

Header (noun) – The content in an email at the very top, usually a company logo 

Honey Pot (noun) –  An email address used to trick spam senders into sending spam so they can be flagged and blacklisted 

Image blocking (verb) –  A setting to turn on or off images in received emails set by individual email recipients     

Inactive subscribers (adjective) – Subscribers that haven’t opened an email from a business in over a set amount of time chosen by the business, also known as unengaged

List (noun) – A group of contacts to who fulfill a specific criteria as it pertains to their lead status, purchase status, or member status

List broker (noun) – An email professional who connects businesses with large lists to email marketers who want to market to that list

List Churn (verb) – The number of email recipients who unsubscribed divided by the total number of email recipients (shown as a percentage), also known as Unsubscribe Rate

List Fatigue (adjective) – An email list with a declining engagement rate due to being sent too many promotional emails or too many emails in general

List Growth (adjective) – How many new subscribers have been added to a list in a chosen amount of time, with the consideration of list churn/unsubscribe rate

List Hygiene (noun) – Cleaning out an email list by removing recipients who have unsubscribed, inactive subscribers, and updating necessary list information

Marketing Automation (noun) – Automating email series and funnels to be sent to subscribers depending on their prior behavior

Mobile Open Rate (noun) – The number of email recipients who opened an email on mobile divided by the total number of email recipients (shown as a percentage)

Multivariate Testing (noun) – Testing more than one variable at a time (ex. subject line and call to action) as opposed to the same variables (ex. Subject line vs. subject line in an A/B test)

Newsletter (noun) – An email sent out on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. scheduled basis

Open Rate (noun) – The number of email recipients that opened an email divided by the total number of email recipients (shown as a percentage)

Opt-in Box (noun) – The form on a website where visitors fill in their email address to become subscribers

Opt-out (noun) – The option for subscribers to stop receiving emails from a recipient, usually shown at the bottom of emails as “opt-out” or “unsubscribe”

Personalized Email (noun) – An email that changes for each recipient based off of name, interests, locations, transaction history, etc.

Plain Text (adjective) – An email that doesn’t use a template and just written text with outbound links to a chosen webpage

Preview Text (noun) – The text of an email shown under the subject line that shows users what content is inside the email

Privacy Policy (noun) – The policy that tells website visitors and new email subscribers how their information is used

Promotional Email (noun) – Emails sent to advertise new content, products, services, collaborations, etc.

Reply Rate (noun) – The number of email recipients who replied to an email divided by the total number of email recipients (shown as a percentage)

Re-engage (verb) – Getting an inactive subscriber to become an active subscriber

Responsive design (adjective) – Email design that changes based on the device the email is opened on (mobile, desktop, tablet, etc.)

Revenue Per Email Sent (noun) – How much money you’ve made per email sent

Scraping (noun) – Used by spam bots to acquire new email addresses from websites, social profiles, etc.

Segmentation (noun) – A portion of an email list defined by a rule (or set of rules) narrowing down a subscriber base into higher-value groups called segments

Single Opt-in (noun) – As opposed to Double Opt-in, new subscribers only need to confirm they want to be added to a list one time when filling in the opt-in form

Soft Bounce (verb) – An email that bounces because the recipient email address has a full inbox, the server wasn’t working, or the email or it’s contents were too large

Spam Folder (noun) – The folder in a recipient’s inbox where emails believed to be spam from their email service provider automatically are sent to

Subject Line (noun) – The text of an email that users see underneath the name of the sender that tells them what content is in the email

Subscriber (noun) – A person who opts-in to be on an email list to receive emails from a business

Subscriber Value (adjective) – How much an individual subscriber is worth depending on how active they are, their buying behavior, if they’re referring new subscribers, etc.

Targeting (verb) – Segments of an email list that are targeted for a specific product, promotion, service, campaign, etc.

Thank You Page (noun) – The website page a new subscriber is brought to after they’ve opted-in to become a subscriber

Throttling (verb) –  Sending emails to a large list in batches to improve deliverability rate 

Transactional Email (noun) – Emails received by customers who just purchased a product, service, etc.

Triggered Emails (noun) – Emails sent to subscribers based off of specific action or behavior that are automated and scheduled out in a sequence

Total Open Rate – (noun) The number of email recipients who opened an email divided by the total number of recipients who received an email (shown in a percentage)

Unengaged (verb) – Subscribers that haven’t opened an email from a business in over a set amount of time chosen by the business, also known as inactive subscribers

Unique Clicks (noun) – The number of individual subscribers who clicked on links in your email, not counting the number of times subscribers click on links multiple times

Unique Open Rate (noun) – The number of individual email recipients who open an email divided by the total number of recipients, not counting the number of times recipients opened the email more than once

Unsubscribe Rate (noun) – The number of email recipients who unsubscribed divided by the total number of email recipients (shown as a percentage), also known as List Churn

Welcome Email (noun) – The first email a new subscriber receives after being added to a list (this is an automated email)

White List (verb) – When a recipient takes an email and puts it into their inbox from the spam folder or moves it to another folder, showing their email provider that they want these emails to go to their inbox

Feel like you could sit in on an email marketing meeting and know everything that’s going on? We’re certain you could.

As digital marketing experts, we understand there’s a lot of jargon in this industry, but it’s all for good reason.

These terms help us be hyper-specific in our strategies and get a really good look at what’s working and what’s not working. At the end of the day, that’s pretty much the name of the digital marketing game.

Want to learn about what’s working and not working in digital marketing right now?

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