 All right, folks, let's talk about YouTube strategies. How's it going, everyone? And welcome back to another exciting video. So I'm here in Yann's studio. Hey, come introduce yourself. Hello, guys. He's also Filipino, so... How are you? I need to cut that. Now I know that some of you watching my videos have or want to grow a YouTube channel but are feeling stuck or don't know how to convert those viewers into subscribers. The past two months have been insane because during that time period, I have gained over 20,000 subscribers and is still growing by 14,000 subscribers every month. Now the strategies that I'm about to present to you have worked for me to attract viewers and turn them into potential subscribers. So for those who are having a hard time growing their YouTube channel, I know how hard it is and hopefully with this video, I can help you optimize your YouTube video content. Now keep in mind that what worked for me is not guaranteed to work for you, so test out some of the methods and see how it affects your YouTube growth. Let me start by giving you a little background story of myself and why I started a YouTube channel in the first place. Many people start a YouTube channel for different reasons. I created my YouTube channel back in 2011 because I wanted to document my breakdown sessions to see how I progressed over the years. Eventually, I enjoyed the process of filming with a camera and wanted to learn more and become better at it. In 2019, after 10 years of breakdancing, I decided to leave it behind and focus my energy on creating filmmaking tutorials on YouTube because the initial goal for me was to become a better filmmaker and the best way to do that is to practice as much as possible, right? It wasn't easy at all because I was known as B-Boy Bennett. See the face, cowboy! And now I have become this YouTube person that creates filmmaking tutorials. Boy, my eyes are still interesting. It's kind of strange. It took me some time, but after doing YouTube for a year now, people started to recognize me more as a filmmaker. But hey, B-Boy for life, right? See the face, cowboy! I would say don't be afraid to start something new and do what you feel is right for you so that you won't have to regret it in the future. Uploading your first video can be very scary. I wanted my first video to be perfect, but the truth is obsessing over it hindered me even more to start. So eventually I just uploaded it and as you can see, I survived it. So just keep in mind that your first video will never be perfect and by consistently uploading videos, the quality of it will improve over time as you start learning. Starting a YouTube channel has been the best decision for me because during my journey, I have learned so much, not only the filmmaking, but also the business side of it and how YouTube works. My primary goal has also shifted where I now not only want to become a better filmmaker, but also teach and help other people become better at filmmaking. This has become more meaningful to me because I'm able to impact the lives of many people, helping them solve their problems. It feels good to give back and to do something I enjoy. I'm striving to do this full time so that I can create more valuable content for the viewers. Knowing why you want to start a YouTube channel and choosing something that you are passionate about is important because believe me, success doesn't happen overnight on YouTube. I've created over a hundred videos and that gave me a good idea of what people wanted to see on my YouTube channel. The how to shoot cinematic video with iPhone has gained almost 300,000 views and led me to creating more mobile filmmaking tutorial. I kept my upload schedule consistent where I uploaded a video every week which helped me raise my channel in the algorithm. Keeping that upload schedule was hard for me at the beginning because I worked part-time as a nurse too and didn't really have a system. As I made these videos, I kept refining my production workflow until it became a production machine. And a great tip is to have a studio setup where you can simply turn on the lights and press a few buttons to get started because there is a lot of work that comes into growing a YouTube channel. And if you can make your life easier, the better. So that is my little background story. I would now like to move on and share with you a couple of strategies that you can adapt to grow your YouTube channel fast in 2021. I have mentioned this before and this is probably the most important thing that you can do to growing your YouTube channel is by uploading videos consistently. The more you can upload with the same quality, the better because this will help your channel perform well in algorithm and increase your chances at getting regular viewers. If you don't upload consistently, you could lose subscribers and viewers. I stick with one video upload a week since the tutorials I create consume a lot of time and I still do work part-time as a freelance videographer and nurse. Find an upload schedule that works for you and avoid doing more than you can handle because this could lead to burnout. Seriously. Next is to promote your videos using end screens. A lot of my videos have end screens at the end where I redirect the viewers to watch related videos of mine. Usually if people watch my videos till the end, they want to see more and by recommending them similar videos, you can keep people longer on your channel which increases the watch time and YouTube favors that. End screens tend to work best if it appears while you're talking, giving them information so that the viewers have a reason to stick around longer on your channel. Next is to do giveaways. When I reached 10,000 subscribers, I did my first giveaway where I hosted a contest in which participants were able to create a short video shot entirely on their smartphone and the winner would be featured on the channel and also win the giveaway prize. The great thing about giveaways is that people get excited because hey, they get to win free stuff which increases the engagement and you get to build a stronger relationship with the audience. And giveaways are also great to give back to your subscribers, adding more value to your channel. You don't necessarily have to spend your own money to buy the prize. You can also reach out to different companies like I did and ask them if they would like to sponsor the giveaway. It's a win-win situation for all. You get to feature the product, your viewers have the chance to win an awesome prize and because of the high engagement, YouTube starts recommending your videos, allowing more people to subscribe to your channel. If you're a small YouTuber with 500 subscribers, for example, you can still do small giveaways because the chances are even higher for the participant to win something compared to a bigger channel. And you can really be creative with the contest. For example, what I see a lot of YouTubers do is asking the audience to leave a comment on a certain topic and the best comment will win the giveaway. So test it out for yourself and see how well it does for your channel. Another thing that I do every day or every morning is answer comments. By answering comments from the viewers, you show them that you actually care and are important to them. You're showing them that you're taking the time to answer their questions. What you also should do is start a conversation. Don't just say thank you, ask them what they liked about your video and what you can improve. You don't have to do that with every comment but it's good to keep in mind because that triggers the algorithm telling YouTube that there is a lot of engagement going on which YouTube then starts to recommend your videos to potential subscribers. Now with 30,000 subscribers, I get a lot of comments every day and I try to answer all of them as good as I can because I know that people appreciate it and helps increase the overall engagement on my channel. The next thing to consider that is very important is using keywords on your titles. Before I start shooting a video, I first come up with a title that not only has good keywords but is also compelling and clear. The title should match closely to what the viewers is looking for. I like to use the word how to help the viewers get an idea of what to expect in the video. I also use TubeBuddy, link in the video description below which is a keyword finder tool that helps me find the right keywords for YouTube. The tools show me the keyword search volume and related keywords for helping me find better keywords. Next is to create interesting thumbnails. The first thing people see when searching for a video on YouTube is the tile and the thumbnail. I'm gonna create a thumbnail right now. That is the first impression the viewers will have of your video. If your thumbnail isn't convincing enough, they won't click on it. You want your thumbnail to be accurate and show what the video is about. When I create a thumbnail, I look at it and ask myself if I would be excited enough to click on that video. A great site to see how your video thumbnail would look like on YouTube is thumbsup.tv. I will leave a link in the video description below. Now, once I've created that thumbnail, I can just drag it in, even add a tile and see how it would look like on YouTube. I use this almost every time. Moving on to my last tip is not to focus too much on the numbers. The amount of subscribers don't determine your success on YouTube. The quality and value of your content is what drives your success on YouTube. If you create high-engaging content that people really enjoy to watch, believe me, people will automatically come to your channel and start subscribing. So if your videos aren't getting much views or subscribers, try analyzing your video and see where people drop off. Figure out how you can make your next video better. That is what I am constantly doing. It's okay to look at other channels to get inspiration and find ideas, but ultimately, you want to focus your energy on being consistent and doing the best you can to upload quality videos because in the end, every content creator has a different path. I believe that anybody can be successful on YouTube if they put in the hard work. Stay consistent and focus on improving their videos as they go. Let me know if this video was helpful by giving this video a thumbs up. Make sure to leave a comment. I would love to know your story of how it has been for you growing a YouTube channel. If you're new here, make sure to subscribe so that I can keep creating awesome videos for you guys. Make sure to follow me on Instagram at BenetGracer and if you want to see more related videos like this, here are two videos in which I reveal other strategies on how to grow a YouTube channel fast. Thank you so much for watching. Keep your heads up and I will see you in the next video. I'm here with Anna in Barcelona and she gives a shout out to... Nama Namskir. Oh, and now a kiss. Oh, I have girlfriend here.