I looked at over 50 new YouTube channels to see how many videos they needed before they started to get views.
And there are a few things I noticed they were doing to exponentially fast-forward their growth.
The best part?
It’s really not that difficult.
But here’s the kicker.
Don’t think you’ll grow on YouTube without putting in some effort.
This article will not only address the number of videos needed to start getting views but will also showcase real-life examples of channels that skyrocketed by doing something achievable for everyone, including you.
That said, let’s dive right into it.
Also Read: No Impressions On Your YouTube Videos? [Read This To Understand]
What Does Fast Mean?
I want to start by saying that you shouldn’t expect to go viral from your first upload.
Sure, that’s not impossible, but this article is not about that.
Instead, we’ll be focusing on a number of things you need to keep in mind to grow your brand new channel 10x faster than most people.
The channels I looked at didn’t go viral from their first video.
In fact, they too didn’t get too many views for their first 3 to 4 videos.
But 87% of them started to get real traction in the form of over 100,000 views on their fifth upload.
I just wanted to put that out there before we look at the actual channels.
And one more thing.
Anyone out there trying to sell you on the idea that there’s a formula for creating viral videos on your first upload is full of BS.
There’s no such thing.
And I will NEVER sell you a course. Everything I share here is based on experience, educated opinions, and data-driven conclusions.
And it’s all FREE.
Channels That Grew SUPER Fast
As I previously said, I looked at over 50 YouTube channels that grew very fast.
I wanted to see what they all had in common.
After all, if they were able to grow their channels fast and if they had something in common, there must be more to it than just ‘luck’.
It turns out there is.
In fact, there are 3 things these channels did that allowed them to grow fast on YouTube.
And you don’t need super expensive gear or an entire production team.
Heck, you don’t even have to upload weekly.
You can upload one video a month and still grow faster than everybody else.
That said, let’s first look at a few examples, and then we’ll address the things that helped these channels grow super fast.
1. William Lee
This is a channel I stumbled upon only a few days ago.
I was doing some research on how accurate Social Blade is.
And I wanted to compare the real earnings from channels that disclosed their earnings with data from Social Blade.
But then I saw this guy.
And in that video that I watched, he mentioned how he didn’t get any views worth writing home about for his first 8 uploads.
He then went on to say how his channel suddenly exploded from his ninth upload.
This is his 9th video, and that video brought him over 20K subscribers in just one month after being uploaded.
Now, what was so special about that video that made it blow up?
After all, there are hundreds of videos that talk about selling on Etsy.
Well, here’s the kicker.
William not only tried to sell on Etsy, but he actually took a whole different approach than all the other creators out there.
And the thing is, making money online is a HIGH RPM niche.
And so, everyone wants to talk about that.
They don’t really care about helping you.
Well…at least most of them don’t.
They just wanna make a video about making money online because it makes them money.
But William didn’t recommend selling on Etsy.
But he did it in a very special way.
After testing Etsy for 2 months, William did a lot of research.
He looked at the numbers, researched the business model in detail, made a note of how much time trying to sell on Etsy takes, and also looked at how many people actually end up selling on Etsy.
He was honest.
He didn’t just make another video saying how he made $20,000 his first month on Etsy.
He said the opposite.
Now, I’m not saying you should go out of your way to prove all those scammers wrong.
What I’m saying is that showing real results to people, and explaining to them in a very simple way how a business model works, along with being honest and open about it, goes a long way.
And people appreciate that.
Look at the comments he received on that video.
People were praising him for being so open about the hidden seller fees, sales tax obligations, VAT requirements, and resale certs.
No matter what you say, this guy did his homework.
He was willing to put in the effort to actually test something out and despite his failure as a seller on Etsy, he was actually able to provide people with helpful, data-driven information.
You’ll soon see how most channels we’re going to address today have one thing in common that helped them grow 10x faster than any other channel out there.
2. Raw & Real Still17
The second video we’ll be looking at today is from a channel called Raw & Real Still17.
Now, this guy got demonetized a while ago.
Very likely because he was swearing a lot in his videos.
Anyway.
This guy experienced massive growth as well.
And it all came with one video.
And by the way: it was his third video.
He had a similar approach to that of William’s.
You see.
Selling AI stuff on the internet is a HUGE deal right now.
But not for those that are actually putting in the work and trying to sell stuff.
But for those TEACHING YOU HOW TO DO IT.
Yeah, you heard that right.
Making a video that tells you step-by-step how to make money selling AI art can make you tens of thousands of dollars.
The problem?
Well, those people making those videos make their money from teaching, not from selling.
I wanted you to know this because that’s how the Raw & Real Still17 channel was able to get over 150,000 views and over 5,000 subs on his third video.
You see, this guy didn’t promise people they’ll make $20,000 a month from selling AI-generated pictures.
He actually did it!!!
He explained to people the exact process he followed to sell AI art online.
He started by saying that he created 5 different accounts on Adobe Stock.
He wanted five accounts because he would try different niches to see which one performed better.
Then he explained how he was able to generate his images for free with MidJourney [this was back when MidJourney was free].
Anyway, you got the point.
He explained the entire process, and at the end, he showed people the actual results.
He made a little over $100 in his first month selling AI art.
That’s not anywhere close to the $5,000 or the $10,000 or the $20,000 everyone else talked about.
Do you get my point?
Do you now understand why this channel grew so fast?
It was because he was genuine, honest, transparent, and showed people exactly how much he made from selling those AI-generated images.
He was able to put in the work and show real results.
Now, just so we’re clear, selling AI art is not impossible.
I can confirm it because I’m doing the same thing.
And it’s quite easy.
- I ask ChatGPT to generate 50 prompts for Leonardo.ai about Virtual Reality.
- I then download those images and upscale them for free using CapCap’s upscaling feature.
- Next, I copy those 50 prompts ChatGPT created for me into a new ChatGPT chat and ask the bot to give me tags for each prompt so I can add them on Adobe Stock when I upload the pictures.
- Finally, I upload the pictures to Adobe Stock, add the title for each image, copy those tags, and leave them there.
50 uploads and 2 months later, I made $267.23.
That’s not bad for 50 images and 4 hours of work.
But it’s not $20,000 per month, though.
Also Read: Should You Delete Underperforming Videos?
3. AIProfitMentor
The next one on the list is a faceless channel.
You see, this channel blew up from the first video.
Why?
Well, he created a video about a hot topic.
This was at a time when those nice-looking talking avatars were showing up on every single faceless YouTube channel.
And so, people were looking on how to create one for themselves.
But what did this guy do differently?
Well, you see.
He not only took a viral idea and made a video about it, but he made it clear and concise.
He wasn’t the first one to make this video, but while most videos out there were 12 to 15 minutes long, he made it 3 minutes long WITHOUT SKIPPING ANY STEPS.
In short, he showed people how to create a talking avatar and saved their time by making it clear, concise, and in less time than everybody else.
He then went ahead to create another viral video…on his THIRD upload.
What you should learn from this is that while longer videos may generate more revenue, extending the length solely for the purpose of maximizing earnings doesn’t fare well on YouTube.
In fact, I have another article where I explain how short 1 to 3 minute videos can still make you lots of money compared to longer videos if you know how to do it.
I’ll include a link to that article here if you’re interested in checking it out.
Conclusion
Now, I already told you that I looked at over 50 channels that were able to grow very quickly on YouTube.
I’m not going to address each one of them in this article because that would just take me too much time.
However, after putting together all the data I gathered in an Excel spreadsheet and analyzing it for more than 25 hours,
there are a couple of key takeaways that I want to leave with you here.
- On average, a brand new channel needs at least 12 uploads before it begins to gain traction and has at least one video that garners a decent number of views [over 20,000].
- Channels that fail to experience growth after 20 videos are likely doing something wrong.
- Blowing up with one video on YouTube is not an expectation you should have.
- Educational channels, regardless of their niche, show exponential growth when presenting a fresh perspective on a hot topic [similar to the channels we discussed in today’s list].
I believe those are the most important takeaways from my analysis.
You shouldn’t give up on YouTube if you haven’t experienced massive growth after 12 or 20 videos, but you should ask yourself what you can do better or differently than anyone else out there.
People starting channels in highly competitive niches really need to bring something new to the table.
And unless we’re discussing entertainment channels, your personality alone is not always sufficient.
You need to be open, transparent, genuine, and have a genuine desire to help people.
Here’s my perspective on this:
I imagine myself at the mall and I meet with one of my subscribers. How would I feel right there in that moment meeting that person knowing the type of content I create?
Am I going to feel ashamed?
Or am I going to feel proud of the message I’m trying to convey on my channel?
That’s one thing that helps me assess the quality of my work.
I hope it gives you some perspective.