It’s a big milestone for me, as I make very technical videos based around audio production. They’re not based in comedy (although maybe they should be, those kinds of videos get millions of views) – and up to this point, we’ve not paid for any kind of advertisement or promotion.

 
It may not sound like very many, but that’s 500 people who get a notification every time I release a new video, 500 unique viewers who’ve committed to having my face put in front of them once or twice a week to hear what I have to say, and it’s quite gratifying to think that someone out in the wide world is interested in my teachings.
There are a few ways to get people on Youtube to watch your videos, and here’s the way I’ve gone about it.

 
1. Content is king – post quality and post often
If you do have a hit video that gets thousands of views, great! But that doesn’t mean that the same number will watch anything else you make. Flash-in-the-pan content creators are now many, and you’ll go the same way if you expect one big video to set you up for life. People forget about you and move on to someone else, and the only way to combat that is to release content and get in front of people regularly, and keep yourself in their mind’s eye.

 
2. Don’t be a perfectionist
I know this seems to contradict the “post quality” point above, but it doesn’t have to. If your subject matter is worthy of talking about, get the best camera you can, set up properly, get the best sound kit you can work with, and when they’re set get rolling. Talk about what you have to, and only cut out real screw-ups. People like mistakes, as long as you acknowledge them – we’re all human, after all. So instead of making a perfect yet bland video, why not leave some of those stutters or bum notes in? Laugh about it and maybe people will laugh with you. Get them to sympathise with you as a person and they’re more likely to watch more of you in the future.

 
3. Plan ahead
If you’re going to put out a piece of content a week, or maybe two, how are you going to find the time to film all of this? What I do most of the time is write a big list of ideas on topics I want to talk about, pick a group of them that can be filmed in the same situation, and film them all together. This saves me a lot of time in setup and packdown, time in the edit (I’ve only got to process the sound and colour grading once for multiple videos) and means I can have some material ready to go. This way, I can upload on a Schedule, and if I go on holiday, or can’t make videos for some reason, there should be a week or two where I can relax and let the posts catch up with me.

 
4. Respond to comments
People are much more likely to subscribe if they see that you talk to your audience as a real person. Don’t engage trolls, but if anyone says anything nice about your video, say thanks! It means a lot to them as you took the time to talk to them personally – a little can go a long way in creating a real hardcore fanbase.

I’d better get back to making more videos, I’ve run out of scheduled content!

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