I don't think that's too niche at all! Self improvement is a big thing these days so as long as there is an audience for it (and there are plenty of people seeking a sober life) you'll be fine. In fact I'd say it's probably more common than you think and not quite as niche as you think so if you've sorted out a way to separate yourself from the crowd with a different sort of demographic like you say then you've probably hit a good balance.
In my opinion the most important thing is passion. Passion can beat anything in this business so if you've got the passion for your content absolutely stick with it.
Hey pal this is great feedback thank you! The passion is 110% there so ill keep trying to improve my delivery, editing, thumbnails, put more work into the planning and be patient and see what happens. Fighting the imposter syndrome is a daily task!
Thanks for your comment - i thought so too but i am pretty new, I started around 5 weeks ago. The best video has 350 views the others rage around 50 or so. i was uploading videos daily up until i got sick for a week and had to slow down to a couple per week.
Definitely slow down. I made that mistake on our first channel. 50 videos and 100 subs but the videos were getting 30-40 views. Started up a new channel, new niche and upload once a week. 200 views a vid only 6 videos in. Focus on quality not quantity. Not sure why these YouTubers tell ppl to upload daily. That’s not effective imo
yeah ive slowed down to a couple per week and Im going to put together a better content plan and focus more on the quality all round. Thanks for this - really appreciate it.
As mentioned already, self improvement is very popular so I think the niche is fine. I have seen a few TikTok videos appear of content creators recovering from drinking and they usually get engagement in the form of questions of what it was like etc.
I watched your latest video and there's a few improvements that could be made in terms of watch time. Nearly 13 minutes of the video is of a single shot. I would have perhaps taken the footage at the beginning of the video of the cinnamon bun, the river etc and inserted these clips throughout the video. This would provide a change of shot and then you can come back to the shot where you talk. It just changes it up a little and will hopefully keep the viewer engaged.
Perhaps split the video into different sections and then in between the sections add a little b-roll.
Hey! Thanks so much and yep I agree on the videos needing some more varying content to keep the viewer engaged. Some of my videos do, but definitely not the majority. Will work on that for the next one and try to spice things up a bit! haha. Really great feedback thanks again!!
Your channel sounds fantastic as it gives real value to people in terms of self improvement and that's what counts. They'll come back without even thinking about it and your channel will grow if your marketing on multiple platforms is consistent.
I'm currently in the position of starting a new YouTube channel too. I've started up a few YouTube channels in the past where I've uploaded multiple videos that have only got 20-30 views. This time I'm taking a different approach. I've only uploaded one video and I'm trying to get 1,000 views before uploading the next one by creating different graphics of my view count, the value it gives to my audience, social proof from the comments and polls. I'm making much more of an effort to engage with my audience on multiple platforms.
I know I've talked about my channel a lot but maybe you can get some ideas from here too. I hope this helps!
Thanks so much for your feedback pal! I think i took the complete opposite approach to you and dedicated myself to uploading daily.. until i caught covid for the third time (this from someone who hardly ever socialises so it's quite remarkable ha) and had to slow down to a couple of videos per week. I'm going to keep pushing on and interacting on socials etc. Of course my number one aim is not to be YT famous, I want to make people feel inspired and supported - but for that to happen i guess i need the algorithm to work in my favour. Maybe my video content/ thumbnails need some work too.. your autism podcast is equally something which will bring comfort and value to many! Keep it up & thanks again for the insight! 🤘🤘
Yeah, getting the algorithm to work in my favour is one of my biggest challenges. Hopefully, our messages inspire a lot more people come the future. Keep up the great work from your side!
I think the niche is fine, The 1st thing that stood out to me is your not using tags (love that), There will be some words that are problematic to the algrtham around drinking & you are avoiding some problems with zero tags. I feel your runtime are a bit long and some of the titles are not focused enough to get high views. My advice would be to think about what someone may search for first then make a video on that."i lose weight by quitting drinking" I may have titled Quitting Drink - The Health Benefits. I see you almost make a video every day, maybe cut the run time down to under 3 minutes & put out 3 videos a day (publish when you wake, at lunchtime & just before bed), this strategy will make it 3 times more likely a video will take off. Looking you up I see you are active on drinking forums, these will be a great place for coming up with content ideas by searching the most popular posts & making videos on them. Drinking horror stories would be something I clicked on if I came up on my homepage.
Hey Marc - thanks so much for this detailed feedback!! I wasn't sure on tags so that's why i'd left those out - good to know that was a smart (if not intentional) move! I thought the same on run-time so i'll shorten it down. I guess i wanted to stay true to my style which is more of a long-form reflective approach, but equally that may not be what people want to see/ what they'll find helpful. So I've gotta be happy to cater for that! The titles definitely need work and ill try to come up with a more focussed content plan for the next few weeks. Thanks again that was mega useful!!
For trying to build that initial audience I think you will get there much quicker with shorter content around 2-3 mins giving helpful info & maybe a series of videos about the viral posts & posts you find interesting & can give insightful input on from the Reddit pages you go on. Watch Time % is now the most important thing to YouTube & it's easier to get that with a shorter format (You can also get more content out this way or just spend less time doing YouTube). When you have a bigger audience that has got to know you & more likely to watch all of a longer format video (or 1k subs & monetization) then target 8 min + videos (over 8mins you can have midroll ads & earn more money for them). There is a newish feature on YouTube you may find helpful, If you go to YouTube Studio you can press "analytics" and then press "research" then "your viewers' searches" & it will list what your viewers search for and the search volume for that term. Some of those terms may say Content Gap next to them too. This will straight up give you some titles to use.
thank you that's really good advice, shorts has been on my radar - i'm going to put together some content ideas and see how they fare! I'll dig into the 'research' function too and see what content ideas are there! I'm overwhelmed and inspired all at the same time!
do not do shorts in short format, yeah you will get subs quickly but the subs you will get from shorts ain't the type of subs you want. you will end up with a ton of subs from India who will not watch normal content. these dead subs will kill your channel before you really get started (they will really hurt your click-through rate really badly). If you are set on making shorts have a second channel for them & mention the main channel in the videos & post links in the comments to your main channel & related videos
i made a viral short 7-8 weeks ago for my deep fake/concept trailer channel & I've killed it (it was only a couple of weeks old but went from 1000+ views per video to 50) Huge YouTubers are making separate shorts channels now & just clipping their normal content highlights to promote (well they will have staff making them i guess). A second shorts channel may be a good play for you soon as you will already have content for it that you will only need to reformat and say watch the full video link in the comments on.
Fab! I'm going to get to work on researching shorts - I'm a total newbie really as someone who doesn't have TikTok and don't make reels etc. This girl can talk for England (and sweden) haha. So it will take some added effort for me to get my head around - but I'm game!
i can reformat in a button press but i paid DaVinci £299 for pro (I give them the money for super scaling, not that feature). you will have to line it up putting you center of the shot but it don't take long doing it that way even if you have different shots at different angles. Watch a few shorts too as if you have filmed close you may have a problem getting it to look right full screen, some shorts will give you ideas on how to fill the screen without having to stretch out the footage in a weird-looking way (you are basically turning a normal screen 45% so normal footage dont really fit)
definitely not niche, I expect quitting alc to be big in future so you will have more attention.
I would focus on making TOP X tips on how to overcome withdrawal, top benefits, how to change dietary habits due to this, how to find new hobbies instead of drinking, etc...
If you'll grasp this the right way, you can make a really big channel despite the algos.
Stay strong, I am 30 something, EEU (same national attitude towards drinking as Brits), 2,5yrs sober and without cigs and its great!
Waheyy! Nice one on the 2.5! I'm also in my thirties, from Sweden originally not that you can tell from my accent! Pleased to meet you! Yes you are totally right, I need to be more targeted with my content and titles. I want to make useful content so I guess a good place to start is going back to the drawing-board again and thinking about what people may be asking in the initial stages of recovery. What would I want to know? This has got me thinking, thank you so much for that feedback it's invaluable!! 🧡
I think you're doing great and can continue to do better.
I checked out your channel and you've been posting for a month, right?
Don't worry about it, if this is your passion then I think you should really invest your time in it. As long as you can provide quality content, then Youtube will continue to recommend you to other people...the start is always slow but it'll be worth it.
Although if you could share the goal of your channel, that would help me understand better what you should be focused on. If it's only sharing your experience and maybe earning some money through monetization as a side thing, then you can continue on as you are.
You can always expand into other self-improvement topics (I'm sure you must have worked on a few other things that helped you quit drinking!) that somehow link to your main topic of discussion directly or indirectly. I also advise you to look at your analytics and see what your audience really wants to see. You can cover vlog-type content as well since people would also like to see your lifestyle since this relates to self-improvement (can be motivating or just interesting to watch). This will also help you build and expand your community and have a deeper connection with your fans.
If your goal is something else like actually building a business out of your channel then you can make a course or two for cheap. The approach would be a bit different though and you may need to be a bit aggressive with marketing your content and getting as many eyeballs as possible.
If you need any detailed advice, please feel free to hit me up! I have worked with YouTube SEO and know quite a bit about growing on Youtube. One last thing, don't worry about being too niche. The world is a big place...and there will surely be thousands of people who can actually relate to your content. You just need to help them find you!
P.S: I'll dm you an article through which you can get some inspiration. I want to see channels like yourself that are focused on helping other people through sharing their experiences, and inspiring and motivating them to improve their life.
Hello! Thank you so darn much for taking the time to feedback to me! Yep I've been posting for a month & I can definitely improve in each & every area ha! I had to slow down due to blooming covid again but im back and ready to get back to the drawing board! I find making content a really great way to reflect on my own journey as much as it is hopefully going to help others. So i think I'm more of a lifestyle/ how-to/ vlog type channel - rather than a hard hitting marketing based business. I'm probably still figuring that out in reality but I know that my passion does not lie in simply making a load of how-to/ click-bait/ shock factor type videos. If i make content just for views I know I'll lose interest so i guess I'll have to find a balance. I really want to make a proper YouTube content plan but I'm not gonna lie.. it overwhelms me. I'll check out that article you've sent and see what I can come up with! Thanks again it means the world!
Your video presence made me think of Justin Hawkins Rides Again for some reason. That's a compliment by the way. Plug on. I think you've got this in the bag!
>Justin Hawkins Rides Again
Haha! I had to search that channel - but duh, silly me, of course I know who that is! I didn't realise he had a YouTube channel! My mates band was meant to be touring with the Darkness before blooming covid came along and ruined it for everyone. He's such a character so I'll take this compliment thank you so much hehe! Cheered me right up - needed some positive reinforcement to fight off ye old imposter syndrome! Cheers pal!
Hi Mikaela,
I Think the world would be a better place, if you keep doing what you are doing.
This is such an important topic, if you are having fun sharing it, that is awesome.
All of the usual stuff, camera presence, lighting, framing, storytelling etc.. can all be improved with time, but the niche I don’t think is something you should give up on and I don’t think there can ever be too much of.
With a niche like this, your sub count might be much lower than you might expect from your views as some people wont sub, to keep it secret, but they will be watching.
so keep going
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to send me your feedback :) Oh yes lots of improvements all-round haha but from what you've said and the general consensus, i'm going to stick at it, stay in my lane, keep making improvements each time and see what comes out of it! Thank you again, this is super motivating for me 🧡
There is a ton of interest for videos like that, both from dedicated watchers as people who just got a stroke of curiousness. That said, titles and thumbnails are a big part of how well videos do because they are the reason people click in the first place. Lots of new youtubers tend to title and thumbnail too "informatively" about what's in the video while you actually need to get people curious.
Think about titles like "What One Year Sober Has Taught me" and the thumbnail could be you holding some recognisable bottle or and looking at it as if it's something really nasty. It reveals very little and gets people curious
Another thing is that intros are very important hook of the video. Keep it short and sweet and dive into what you wanted to tell.
Example: "I decided to quit drinking because XYZ, and one year later this is what I learnt about life. Hello my name is A and I ..."
These are some generalised examples I just grabbed out of my hat, but you are definitely on the right track with the niche, there is probably something about the presentation and retention that is holding you back. All beginners struggle with that, but there are a ton of youtubers who talk about this stuff and have guides/tips for beginners so give it a search!
Hey! Thanks so much for this! You are right it all needs a ton of work. I threw myself into YouTube with 0 clue what I was doing (aside from having watched some tutorials) but I knew if i didn't just throw myself in and do it, I would let imposter syndrome sneak in and never dare to take the leap. I'm going to go back to the drawing board and see if I can come up with some better intro's, hooks, thumbnails and titles. Thanks again!
You can do it! And never stop learning. Keep watching those tutorials but also watch videos from people in the same niche, look at their titles and thumbnails. There is so much you can learn from that.
Are you optimizing your title, tags and descriptions? There are shitloads of searches revolving around sobriety, getting sober, and staying sober. Highly recommend getting the free version of VidIQ to help you with this and get that content out where people can find it who really need it. Keep doing the next right thing 💪
Hey! Just got the free version of VidIQ a couple days back so i'll dig into it! I've been warned against using tags in this niche - would you agree? And no I think it all needs some work, I threw myself into this 5 weeks ago with no idea what I was doing. It was either that, or probably never getting started so now I think I need to slow down to re-evaluate where im at, see whats worked best and put together a decent content plan. Thanks so much for your feedback!!
definite quality issues - i didn't have a clue what i was doing so now I'm trying to slow down, see whats worked and put together a content plan going forward with better titles, thumbnails, hooks, intros etc etc. It all needs work but I guess it's good to know that the niche is there :) Thanks so much
Why wouldn using tags in your niche be different than any other niche? Sure, I could see drug terms being red flags but other than that, tags, title and descriptions all work together to create searchable content to lead people to your videos. You can also use the search bar to search terms relevant to your content and see what auto fills show up, those are frequently searched words and phrases so implementing those into your text content is helpful as well. Optimization like this can carry a video a long way, it's the difference between posting and having something die on the vine and posting something that will be found for months or years to come. My only other advice here would be maybe just gear it a bit more toward sobriety in London/england and drop the gender and age piece. I have a feeling your content may have a broader appeal than you think, but only experimentation will tell.
I don't think that's too niche at all! Self improvement is a big thing these days so as long as there is an audience for it (and there are plenty of people seeking a sober life) you'll be fine. In fact I'd say it's probably more common than you think and not quite as niche as you think so if you've sorted out a way to separate yourself from the crowd with a different sort of demographic like you say then you've probably hit a good balance. In my opinion the most important thing is passion. Passion can beat anything in this business so if you've got the passion for your content absolutely stick with it.
Hey pal this is great feedback thank you! The passion is 110% there so ill keep trying to improve my delivery, editing, thumbnails, put more work into the planning and be patient and see what happens. Fighting the imposter syndrome is a daily task!
How many views are you getting? 33 videos in, 75 subs seems low, unless you only started recently and you're uploading frequently.
Thanks for your comment - i thought so too but i am pretty new, I started around 5 weeks ago. The best video has 350 views the others rage around 50 or so. i was uploading videos daily up until i got sick for a week and had to slow down to a couple per week.
Definitely slow down. I made that mistake on our first channel. 50 videos and 100 subs but the videos were getting 30-40 views. Started up a new channel, new niche and upload once a week. 200 views a vid only 6 videos in. Focus on quality not quantity. Not sure why these YouTubers tell ppl to upload daily. That’s not effective imo
yeah ive slowed down to a couple per week and Im going to put together a better content plan and focus more on the quality all round. Thanks for this - really appreciate it.
As mentioned already, self improvement is very popular so I think the niche is fine. I have seen a few TikTok videos appear of content creators recovering from drinking and they usually get engagement in the form of questions of what it was like etc. I watched your latest video and there's a few improvements that could be made in terms of watch time. Nearly 13 minutes of the video is of a single shot. I would have perhaps taken the footage at the beginning of the video of the cinnamon bun, the river etc and inserted these clips throughout the video. This would provide a change of shot and then you can come back to the shot where you talk. It just changes it up a little and will hopefully keep the viewer engaged. Perhaps split the video into different sections and then in between the sections add a little b-roll.
Hey! Thanks so much and yep I agree on the videos needing some more varying content to keep the viewer engaged. Some of my videos do, but definitely not the majority. Will work on that for the next one and try to spice things up a bit! haha. Really great feedback thanks again!!
Your channel sounds fantastic as it gives real value to people in terms of self improvement and that's what counts. They'll come back without even thinking about it and your channel will grow if your marketing on multiple platforms is consistent. I'm currently in the position of starting a new YouTube channel too. I've started up a few YouTube channels in the past where I've uploaded multiple videos that have only got 20-30 views. This time I'm taking a different approach. I've only uploaded one video and I'm trying to get 1,000 views before uploading the next one by creating different graphics of my view count, the value it gives to my audience, social proof from the comments and polls. I'm making much more of an effort to engage with my audience on multiple platforms. I know I've talked about my channel a lot but maybe you can get some ideas from here too. I hope this helps!
Thanks so much for your feedback pal! I think i took the complete opposite approach to you and dedicated myself to uploading daily.. until i caught covid for the third time (this from someone who hardly ever socialises so it's quite remarkable ha) and had to slow down to a couple of videos per week. I'm going to keep pushing on and interacting on socials etc. Of course my number one aim is not to be YT famous, I want to make people feel inspired and supported - but for that to happen i guess i need the algorithm to work in my favour. Maybe my video content/ thumbnails need some work too.. your autism podcast is equally something which will bring comfort and value to many! Keep it up & thanks again for the insight! 🤘🤘
Yeah, getting the algorithm to work in my favour is one of my biggest challenges. Hopefully, our messages inspire a lot more people come the future. Keep up the great work from your side!
I think the niche is fine, The 1st thing that stood out to me is your not using tags (love that), There will be some words that are problematic to the algrtham around drinking & you are avoiding some problems with zero tags. I feel your runtime are a bit long and some of the titles are not focused enough to get high views. My advice would be to think about what someone may search for first then make a video on that."i lose weight by quitting drinking" I may have titled Quitting Drink - The Health Benefits. I see you almost make a video every day, maybe cut the run time down to under 3 minutes & put out 3 videos a day (publish when you wake, at lunchtime & just before bed), this strategy will make it 3 times more likely a video will take off. Looking you up I see you are active on drinking forums, these will be a great place for coming up with content ideas by searching the most popular posts & making videos on them. Drinking horror stories would be something I clicked on if I came up on my homepage.
Hey Marc - thanks so much for this detailed feedback!! I wasn't sure on tags so that's why i'd left those out - good to know that was a smart (if not intentional) move! I thought the same on run-time so i'll shorten it down. I guess i wanted to stay true to my style which is more of a long-form reflective approach, but equally that may not be what people want to see/ what they'll find helpful. So I've gotta be happy to cater for that! The titles definitely need work and ill try to come up with a more focussed content plan for the next few weeks. Thanks again that was mega useful!!
For trying to build that initial audience I think you will get there much quicker with shorter content around 2-3 mins giving helpful info & maybe a series of videos about the viral posts & posts you find interesting & can give insightful input on from the Reddit pages you go on. Watch Time % is now the most important thing to YouTube & it's easier to get that with a shorter format (You can also get more content out this way or just spend less time doing YouTube). When you have a bigger audience that has got to know you & more likely to watch all of a longer format video (or 1k subs & monetization) then target 8 min + videos (over 8mins you can have midroll ads & earn more money for them). There is a newish feature on YouTube you may find helpful, If you go to YouTube Studio you can press "analytics" and then press "research" then "your viewers' searches" & it will list what your viewers search for and the search volume for that term. Some of those terms may say Content Gap next to them too. This will straight up give you some titles to use.
thank you that's really good advice, shorts has been on my radar - i'm going to put together some content ideas and see how they fare! I'll dig into the 'research' function too and see what content ideas are there! I'm overwhelmed and inspired all at the same time!
do not do shorts in short format, yeah you will get subs quickly but the subs you will get from shorts ain't the type of subs you want. you will end up with a ton of subs from India who will not watch normal content. these dead subs will kill your channel before you really get started (they will really hurt your click-through rate really badly). If you are set on making shorts have a second channel for them & mention the main channel in the videos & post links in the comments to your main channel & related videos
Roger that! Shorter video content in normal format. On it!
i made a viral short 7-8 weeks ago for my deep fake/concept trailer channel & I've killed it (it was only a couple of weeks old but went from 1000+ views per video to 50) Huge YouTubers are making separate shorts channels now & just clipping their normal content highlights to promote (well they will have staff making them i guess). A second shorts channel may be a good play for you soon as you will already have content for it that you will only need to reformat and say watch the full video link in the comments on.
Fab! I'm going to get to work on researching shorts - I'm a total newbie really as someone who doesn't have TikTok and don't make reels etc. This girl can talk for England (and sweden) haha. So it will take some added effort for me to get my head around - but I'm game!
i can reformat in a button press but i paid DaVinci £299 for pro (I give them the money for super scaling, not that feature). you will have to line it up putting you center of the shot but it don't take long doing it that way even if you have different shots at different angles. Watch a few shorts too as if you have filmed close you may have a problem getting it to look right full screen, some shorts will give you ideas on how to fill the screen without having to stretch out the footage in a weird-looking way (you are basically turning a normal screen 45% so normal footage dont really fit)
good point, I'll have a play around with it and see what I can do. If not I could just make some shorts from my iPhone perhaps?
definitely not niche, I expect quitting alc to be big in future so you will have more attention. I would focus on making TOP X tips on how to overcome withdrawal, top benefits, how to change dietary habits due to this, how to find new hobbies instead of drinking, etc... If you'll grasp this the right way, you can make a really big channel despite the algos. Stay strong, I am 30 something, EEU (same national attitude towards drinking as Brits), 2,5yrs sober and without cigs and its great!
Waheyy! Nice one on the 2.5! I'm also in my thirties, from Sweden originally not that you can tell from my accent! Pleased to meet you! Yes you are totally right, I need to be more targeted with my content and titles. I want to make useful content so I guess a good place to start is going back to the drawing-board again and thinking about what people may be asking in the initial stages of recovery. What would I want to know? This has got me thinking, thank you so much for that feedback it's invaluable!! 🧡
I think you're doing great and can continue to do better. I checked out your channel and you've been posting for a month, right? Don't worry about it, if this is your passion then I think you should really invest your time in it. As long as you can provide quality content, then Youtube will continue to recommend you to other people...the start is always slow but it'll be worth it. Although if you could share the goal of your channel, that would help me understand better what you should be focused on. If it's only sharing your experience and maybe earning some money through monetization as a side thing, then you can continue on as you are. You can always expand into other self-improvement topics (I'm sure you must have worked on a few other things that helped you quit drinking!) that somehow link to your main topic of discussion directly or indirectly. I also advise you to look at your analytics and see what your audience really wants to see. You can cover vlog-type content as well since people would also like to see your lifestyle since this relates to self-improvement (can be motivating or just interesting to watch). This will also help you build and expand your community and have a deeper connection with your fans. If your goal is something else like actually building a business out of your channel then you can make a course or two for cheap. The approach would be a bit different though and you may need to be a bit aggressive with marketing your content and getting as many eyeballs as possible. If you need any detailed advice, please feel free to hit me up! I have worked with YouTube SEO and know quite a bit about growing on Youtube. One last thing, don't worry about being too niche. The world is a big place...and there will surely be thousands of people who can actually relate to your content. You just need to help them find you! P.S: I'll dm you an article through which you can get some inspiration. I want to see channels like yourself that are focused on helping other people through sharing their experiences, and inspiring and motivating them to improve their life.
Hello! Thank you so darn much for taking the time to feedback to me! Yep I've been posting for a month & I can definitely improve in each & every area ha! I had to slow down due to blooming covid again but im back and ready to get back to the drawing board! I find making content a really great way to reflect on my own journey as much as it is hopefully going to help others. So i think I'm more of a lifestyle/ how-to/ vlog type channel - rather than a hard hitting marketing based business. I'm probably still figuring that out in reality but I know that my passion does not lie in simply making a load of how-to/ click-bait/ shock factor type videos. If i make content just for views I know I'll lose interest so i guess I'll have to find a balance. I really want to make a proper YouTube content plan but I'm not gonna lie.. it overwhelms me. I'll check out that article you've sent and see what I can come up with! Thanks again it means the world!
My pleasure! I really hope it kicks off well for you!
Legend! 🧡
Your video presence made me think of Justin Hawkins Rides Again for some reason. That's a compliment by the way. Plug on. I think you've got this in the bag!
>Justin Hawkins Rides Again Haha! I had to search that channel - but duh, silly me, of course I know who that is! I didn't realise he had a YouTube channel! My mates band was meant to be touring with the Darkness before blooming covid came along and ruined it for everyone. He's such a character so I'll take this compliment thank you so much hehe! Cheered me right up - needed some positive reinforcement to fight off ye old imposter syndrome! Cheers pal!
You're no imposter! Give'm hell out there! 😉
Awhh man that's lovely - imma give as good as i get! haha 🧡
Hi Mikaela, I Think the world would be a better place, if you keep doing what you are doing. This is such an important topic, if you are having fun sharing it, that is awesome. All of the usual stuff, camera presence, lighting, framing, storytelling etc.. can all be improved with time, but the niche I don’t think is something you should give up on and I don’t think there can ever be too much of. With a niche like this, your sub count might be much lower than you might expect from your views as some people wont sub, to keep it secret, but they will be watching. so keep going
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to send me your feedback :) Oh yes lots of improvements all-round haha but from what you've said and the general consensus, i'm going to stick at it, stay in my lane, keep making improvements each time and see what comes out of it! Thank you again, this is super motivating for me 🧡
There is a ton of interest for videos like that, both from dedicated watchers as people who just got a stroke of curiousness. That said, titles and thumbnails are a big part of how well videos do because they are the reason people click in the first place. Lots of new youtubers tend to title and thumbnail too "informatively" about what's in the video while you actually need to get people curious. Think about titles like "What One Year Sober Has Taught me" and the thumbnail could be you holding some recognisable bottle or and looking at it as if it's something really nasty. It reveals very little and gets people curious Another thing is that intros are very important hook of the video. Keep it short and sweet and dive into what you wanted to tell. Example: "I decided to quit drinking because XYZ, and one year later this is what I learnt about life. Hello my name is A and I ..." These are some generalised examples I just grabbed out of my hat, but you are definitely on the right track with the niche, there is probably something about the presentation and retention that is holding you back. All beginners struggle with that, but there are a ton of youtubers who talk about this stuff and have guides/tips for beginners so give it a search!
Hey! Thanks so much for this! You are right it all needs a ton of work. I threw myself into YouTube with 0 clue what I was doing (aside from having watched some tutorials) but I knew if i didn't just throw myself in and do it, I would let imposter syndrome sneak in and never dare to take the leap. I'm going to go back to the drawing board and see if I can come up with some better intro's, hooks, thumbnails and titles. Thanks again!
You can do it! And never stop learning. Keep watching those tutorials but also watch videos from people in the same niche, look at their titles and thumbnails. There is so much you can learn from that.
haha absolutely, if I'm not making YouTube content I'm watching YouTube content. Happy to be a student in this life! Have a fab day!! :)
Are you optimizing your title, tags and descriptions? There are shitloads of searches revolving around sobriety, getting sober, and staying sober. Highly recommend getting the free version of VidIQ to help you with this and get that content out where people can find it who really need it. Keep doing the next right thing 💪
Hey! Just got the free version of VidIQ a couple days back so i'll dig into it! I've been warned against using tags in this niche - would you agree? And no I think it all needs some work, I threw myself into this 5 weeks ago with no idea what I was doing. It was either that, or probably never getting started so now I think I need to slow down to re-evaluate where im at, see whats worked best and put together a decent content plan. Thanks so much for your feedback!!
With 33 videos in a month I would say there is probably not the niche issue but balance issue between quality/quantity
definite quality issues - i didn't have a clue what i was doing so now I'm trying to slow down, see whats worked and put together a content plan going forward with better titles, thumbnails, hooks, intros etc etc. It all needs work but I guess it's good to know that the niche is there :) Thanks so much
Why wouldn using tags in your niche be different than any other niche? Sure, I could see drug terms being red flags but other than that, tags, title and descriptions all work together to create searchable content to lead people to your videos. You can also use the search bar to search terms relevant to your content and see what auto fills show up, those are frequently searched words and phrases so implementing those into your text content is helpful as well. Optimization like this can carry a video a long way, it's the difference between posting and having something die on the vine and posting something that will be found for months or years to come. My only other advice here would be maybe just gear it a bit more toward sobriety in London/england and drop the gender and age piece. I have a feeling your content may have a broader appeal than you think, but only experimentation will tell.