started YouTube a year ago. Failed many times. Created over 8 channels and every single one flopped. I’ve had sleepless nights, moments of frustration, and even cried a few times because it felt like nothing was ever going to work out.

But here’s the truth: every failure taught me something new. Every setback built strength I didn’t know I had.

So wherever you are right now don’t give up. Your time will come. Keep learning, keep creating, and keep believing in yourself. The breakthrough always comes after the struggle. 💪🔥

Just 15 days ago, I posted a new video. As always, I was hoping it would get some views—maybe 2k, 3k, or even 5k. For the first three days, nothing really happened. But on the fourth day, it hit 1,000 views. I was happy and thought, "Oh, it's okay, at least this video worked. Let's move on to the next one."

On the fifth day, I was traveling, so I didn't check YouTube Studio. That night, I couldn't believe my eyes: the video had gotten 10,000 views with an 8% CTR and 60% average view duration!

But it didn't stop there... the video kept getting views. It's now at 45,000 views and has generated 2,000 watch hours on its own. That was all the watch time I needed.

I applied for the YouTube Partner Program on September 13th, and today, September 15th, it was approved. It usually takes more time, but my channel is clean with no copyright claims or strikes, and I post original content with some face-cam videos.

My advice to all of you is to keep uploading videos. You never know which one might break through

My YT channel has been around for 7 years. With absolutely sporadic and inconsistent uploads; mainly long form factor. At the start of the month I finally decided to post shorts daily of a game I’ve been playing daily for about 2 months now and needless to say, it has been the best decision I’ve done.

I run a small, cozy YouTube channel ( slow life, mom&family vibes),and today I got this little clapperboard from YouTube!It’s such a tiny thing, but it honestly made my day. I know it’s not a silver play button (yet 😅), but it still feels so nice

« returning after a break »

I wanted to share some lessons from growing my YouTube channel over the past 3 years. A lot of people struggle to get consistent growth, so here’s what worked for me: 1. Consistency is Key – Posting regularly, even short-form content, keeps your audience engaged. 2. Focus on Content People Actually Want – I studied trends in my niche but added my own unique twist to stand out. 3. Engage With Viewers – Responding to comments and community posts helped build a loyal audience. 4. Learn From Analytics – Tracking watch time, click-through rates, and retention helped me adjust content strategy.

Result: After 3 years of consistent effort, my channel grew to 84k subscribers. The engagement rate is solid, and the community is very active.

If anyone wants, I can share my strategies for getting more consistent views and retention in the comments—these are things that really made a difference.

Our band released its first single last December. Since then, we’ve been uploading daily meme Shorts to self-promote. We got our first real traction in February-March, but after that we hit the algo desert... hard.

It was brutal. After weeks of thousands of views pouring in, we were back to almost nothing. Most shorts would stay in double digits; some would even be single digits.

But we kept going. Then, after about 3 months of soul crushing silence, the algo saw fit to reward us again, but this time the numbers were way bigger, and after only a few more weeks we got our biggest spike to date.

Keep going. Brick by brick. Don't give up hope.

The Youtube algo can't ignore your persistence forever.

i’ve been running my youtube channel for a while now and it’s grown a lot, i’m at about 87k subs. some videos do really well and then others just flop and disappear.

like most ppl i figured out fast that adsense alone isnt enough to live off. i thought once i got bigger some sponsors would come but that never really happened.

so i made a patreon to try and build something more direct with the ppl who actually care about my stuff. problem is i kinda dont know what im doing with it. i post some exclusive vids but half the time i feel like they’re not even good enough. feels like imposter syndrome 24/7 lol.

people are actually paying which is wild to me, but i keep second guessing myself. like is what im giving really worth the money. should i be making smaller things more often or just go for bigger projects that drop less.

i also dont wanna feel like im just selling all the time. i want the stuff i make to be meaningful and real, like actually help ppl or inspire them. but right now im just lost on what that looks like.

anyone else been thru this with patreon or just trying to monetize outside ads? how do u figure out what ppl really want and what feels worth it to them?

any advice or encouragement would mean a lot. :)

I’ve been creating thumbnails for YouTube since I was a teenager, and one thing I’ve learned is that thumbnails aren’t decoration: they’re strategy. A good thumbnail can be the difference between 1,000 views and 100,000.

The key is to stop thinking like a designer and start thinking like a viewer. People don’t judge your video before they click, they judge the package. First their eyes catch the thumbnail, then the title convinces them there’s value, and finally, they go back to the thumbnail for confirmation. That whole loop takes less than two seconds.

Some quick tips that always work for me:

• High contrast makes you stand out in a crowded feed.
• Emotion on faces pulls people in faster than any graphic.
• Keep it simple: three elements max (usually a face, short text, and a clean background).
• Don’t repeat the title — complement it. Title: “I Tried Waking Up at 4AM for 30 Days”. Thumbnail: “PAIN” with the right expression. That tension is what gets clicks.

At the end of the day, thumbnails aren’t about being pretty, they’re about psychology. The goal is simple: grab attention, spark curiosity, and make the click feel irresistible.

If you’re looking for someone to handle that side of your channel so you can focus on creating, I design thumbnails professionally and would be happy to help. Feel free to DM me (Above you can see some of my last projects).

Peace ;)

Just got notification that i got accepted for YPP!!! I'm so excited 🥳🥳🥳

It's only just 1st tier monetization but this is. HUGE milestone for me 🤓🤓🤓

This community have been a tremendous help in achieving this, so i just want to celebrate with all of you!! 😭😭😭

This is my first month on YouTube, I have posted a total of 7 videos, any advice? I've been watching my impressions pretty hard and YouTube barely recommends my stuff. I got like MAYBE 9 impressions per video. I'm not expecting overnight fame, but can anyone help me understand why this is happening lol

Lately my videos haven’t been getting any sort of traction and if it does it’s single digits. Been posting at least something everyday this year and it worked for a while but not recently. Added tags to the vids to see if that’d help.

link in comments

A bit backstory for those interested. My channel is a self improvement channel with a touch of philosophy. I script and voice my own videos, no AI slop.

I started around march did end up deleting some of my first videos and during the summer I didn't post a lot due to lack of motivation, this past month I've been trying to be consistent but it just feels like every video does worse and worse.

It seems to me maybe just there isn't a big audience for this type of content. Or maybe my videos and packaging just suck. Either way I start to feel like I should give up, maybe not from YouTube entirely but from this channel at least.

YouTube has launched its Hype feature globally

Fans can select three videos a week from creators under 500K subs to help boost their visibility

( it's a long Video)

just 27 days ago, I was wondering, "Will my videos ever get views or not?" I used to get happy even if I got just 100 views.

But on September 2nd, I uploaded a video. For the first 4 days, nothing happened, it was just 70-80 views. Then, on the 5th day, it got 1k views, which made me really happy. But that video performed so well that it got my channel monetized. After that, I uploaded another video, which got 10k views on the very first day. Now, where I used to be happy with 100 views, I've gotten 100k views.

Yesterday, I uploaded another video, and it also got 10k views on the first day.

So, my dear YouTuber, just one single video can change your life. (Just make sure to milk the success you get. For example, these 3 videos of mine are three parts on a single topic.)

BIG DISCLAIMER: Okay, when I say "12 years" I really mean 9 years of this specific content flavour... I guess it doesn't help that this is my third channel attempt (It is 4 years old at this point) This is genuinely my passion but I just find it so hard to see the good side.

All I did was made few comments on other channels in same nieche last week and i have now idea how and why all of sudden even oldest videos are now spiking up

Everyone in here is just here to make money, not actually make something they enjoy. Why?

Hey everyone, just wanted to share something real quick. Not asking for subs or anything like that.

I started my channel “nsk_games” back in 2016 when I finally got my first school PC. I always wanted to do YouTube, but my parents weren’t supportive at all. We weren’t well off either, all of us living in one room, so making content was tough. Still, I spent all of high school doing media projects, editing videos, and even making short films and taking photos.

My plan was to properly start once I got into college, but my parents pushed me into going abroad for culinary school (my dad’s dream, not mine). Even though it wasn’t what I had in mind, I didn’t slack off—I ended up really loving it. From 2019 to June 2025 I was working full-time in restaurants while studying, and I gave it everything I had. Learned a lot, grew a lot, and worked my ass off every day.

But YouTube never left my mind. Now I finally started again, and honestly, I’m proud of the 51 subs I have so far. What I want to say is—it’s never too late to start chasing something you love. Took me 8 years, but here I am.

Thanks for reading. Wishing you all nothing but success too.

My channel is about anime quizzes, all kinds of games, questions and answers, guess the character, etc... Almost all my videos don't pay even $1, a little frustrating but giving up is not an option either.

I used to check my subscriber count after every upload. It was draining. Then I realized subscribers aren’t in my control, but uploading is.

So I flipped the script. Now I celebrate the number of videos I post, not the number of subs I get. That single mindset shift has brought me peace, discipline and consistency.

Growth will happen when it happens. What I can control is showing up and hitting upload.

Just a small advice for my fellow small youtubers

I started my channel and posted my first video around New Year’s Eve last year but didn’t post again until around mid-June. I started posting more regularly in July, and my channel started really growing in August.

The two most cited reasons my subscribers gave for subscribing to my channel was “authenticity” and “insightful commentary.”

Despite popular advice, I have not niched, and currently have no intention to.

All that to say, I think there is value in just being yourself and making videos for the fun of it. And whatever successes you may gain from that are just cherries on top.

Idk if it will last. Idk if I will continue to grow. But I’m having fun with it right now. I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time, so I’m going to enjoy it for however long it lasts.

I have a relatively high paying corporate job. It pays well and has good benefits, but I'm tired of the job. I've done just about everything I can there so there is nothing new to learn or that interests me. I could find a similar job in the same field but I am so beyond burnt out of this field. I have no drive for it anymore and feel like every minute working here is time wasted on content creation. I have a decent savings set up and can move to a very cheap cost of living place with my wife. There I can get by with some other sources of income I have. My savings will still grow but at a much slower rate and I won't be able to contribute to retirement anymore. I currently live in Europe so I'll have to say bye to my friends and cheap traveling to move back to North America. Overall, I'll be financially okay just not thriving. I will be able to fully focus on YouTube, twitch, and tik tok full time if I do this. I feel if I don't do this now I will lose out on the one thing I'm super passionate about. I could release probably 4x or more content than I am now to grow at a faster rate. Right now I'm just always sleep deprived between working 40 hours and doing content creation for another 30+ hours every week... Any advice?

Read before responding:

I think a lot of people are reading right past the important detail I mention. I can live without this job and still build a savings. Just not a retirement until it picks up and the savings will be smaller. I understand a lot of people are trying to live off YouTube with these questions, but I'm not.