Reflections on 1 Year of (Trying to) Become Successful on YouTube

chaserensberger.com

36 points by ChaseRensberger 3 months ago


keiferski - 3 months ago

I actually find it quite reassuring that YouTubers with an individual style and personality end up doing better than those trying to make generic me-too Mr. Beast style content. Looking at the OP’s channel, there is basically nothing about their videos which screams “unique individual”, which is probably why they are struggling. I have discovered dozens of creators that maybe don’t have the most optimized thumbnail, titles, or production values, but still manage to convey a unique personality that comes through in their videos.

As I said, this is actually pretty reassuring and is probably why YouTube, all things considered, is the most authentic social media platform nowadays.

I hope that wasn’t too harsh, and my advice to the creator is to think more about what your unique brand is, how you can convey it in a thumbnail or video title instantly, and just generally be more authentic and original in your videos.

laborcontract - 3 months ago

with all due respect i find the type of content you (and the myriad other people who post the exact same type of mr. beast-molded content) tiresome and repulsive.

Moreover, every single video is about “I”. An “I” video only works if people care about who “I” is, otherwise it’s just self centered, unhuman content creation.

Rastonbury - 3 months ago

Seems to be just counting on a lucky viral success as there is no theme/niche, I generally only sub where there's a track record of content that is both quality and multiple videos that interest me

ClosedPistachio - 3 months ago

Nitpick - the point of parentheses, as used in the article title, are to add optional extra context without being required to make the sentence complete. The sentence "Reflections on 1 year of become successful on YouTube" isn't complete. Either remove the parentheses (thus making those words part of the title), or consider a different sentence structure.

npinsker - 3 months ago

My favorite advice I've ever heard on creating engaging content is from Ludwig: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i9gkprYekI

Some aspects are obviously reflective of his style specifically but I resonated with his pushing of "stakes", i.e. consciously instigating a good payoff for the viewer with the title and thumbnail, and then delivering the payoff and more. I realized after watching this that I almost never watch videos without stakes. Just speaking personally, this might be the most impactful thing missing from the videos on your channel.

Your titles and premises are quite similar to Ryan Trahan's (https://www.youtube.com/@ryan/videos), but Ryan's consistently have stakes ("I tried every Airbnb Category" -- ooh, are there interesting categories I don't know about? "I Tried Every Drive-thru's Most Expensive Item" -- ooh, how expensive do they get?). In contrast, the titles here just strike me as more uninteresting ("I Let AI Control My Vacation" -- ok but I can do random things already without AI? "I Hiked a Mountain Blindfolded" -- ok but you're not actually in serious danger?) I'm not too surprised the GeoGuessr one performed well, since the stakes practically write themselves -- "ooh, can he figure out where he is? what if he gets dropped in the middle of nowhere?! how long will he have to walk?!".

Props to OP for their good-natured attitude and engagement. YT seems like such a tough business nowadays where it'll take years and a very thick skin to succeed. In contrast to some other commenters, I think some of the pieces that make a great channel are already there. Hope you accomplish your goals and I wish you well :)

omoikane - 3 months ago

I wonder if they have a specific goal in mind that they use to define success. Maybe it's a more general "we will know we are successful when we get there", or maybe it's a specific metric like the number of views. The latter feels like a real grind.

Related:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41549649 - How to succeed in MrBeast production (2024-09-15, 1352 comments)

tennisflyi - 3 months ago

Smaller YouTubers can do pretty well, i.e., a thousand devoted fans (and sponsors), and a year isn’t that long. Most of my follows are smaller YouTubers. Everyone wants to be the Musk of YT and not a “regular Joe” FIRE-guy. Both live pretty nice lives

I can drop a list after work

juancroldan - 3 months ago

It really surprises me how much competition YouTube videos have gotten over the years. Back in 2009, I recorded a video of burning a Coke can soaked in alcohol, and it got 20,000 views.