Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
Hundreds of hours of research and 73 pages of notes – that’s how much Aprilynne Alter needed to multiply her subscriber count 12 times in 30 days!
By the time you finish reading this post, you'll know how she did it, and more importantly, you'll get practical steps you can take to increase your subscribers and grow your channel on YouTube.
There is a lot of competition on YouTube. Is it worth it?
To put this in context, let's first look at some facts. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. It is also the leading streaming platform. Hundreds of millions of creators jump on the YouTube bandwagon every year – but only a small percentage succeed.
Is it worth investing time to become a better YouTube creator?
Absolutely – and the numbers back me up. YouTube has 4.95 billion monthly active users, Netflix has 40 million more than the others. And according to SocialBlade, there are over 61 million creators on YouTube. The platform has one of the best creative programs in the world and a growing collection of high-quality, free resources. If you invest the time and energy, I believe YouTube can open up incredible opportunities for you and your business.
As a YouTube creator, I always jump at the opportunity to learn from others in the space. In the past, on the Passive Income Podcast, we've learned from more well-known YouTube creators like MKBHD and Sean Cannell. But this time, I wanted to talk to an up-and-coming YouTube creator. We liked what Aprilynne was doing with her YouTube channel, so we invited her on the show.
Listen to Aprilynne on the Passive Income Podcast:
12-fold growth in YouTube subscribers in four weeks
Aprilynne increased the number of subscribers to her YouTube channel from 1,000 to over 12,000 in four consecutive weeks.
And yes, those are real numbers. As I write this post, I see that her channel has over 52,047 subscribers. But that's not why I'm sharing Aprilynne's lessons with you. For this reason, I think her approach is worth a closer look:
Like most internet-based platforms or social media, YouTube is evolving at a rapid pace, and that's why Aprilynne's insights are so relevant—because everything you're about to learn is based on what she's learned through real-world experience over the past six months.
Adding tens of thousands of new subscribers to a brand new YouTube channel isn't easy. Aprilynne also has no media or video background – in fact, she previously gave up a career in finance! Her first YouTube channel was also a challenge.
And she did it without creating too many videos – her channel has just 24 videos as I write this. It's obvious that Aprilynne's success is down to careful research – she studied the best YouTube creators. Look closer and you'll see the results of her study: four of the 24 videos have over 200,000 views. And one of the four videos has over 800,000 views!
So what did Aprilynne do differently with her second YouTube channel?
It all came together when I spoke to her on the podcast. So without further ado, let's look at Aprilynne's four-step process for increasing subscribers on YouTube. Implementing these four steps will definitely help you grow your YouTube channel fast, so get ready to take notes because this step is super doable!
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Aprilynne's four-step process to increase YouTube subscribers
What you're about to learn is easy to understand, but can be difficult to implement if you miss the details, so pay close attention. Here are Aprilynne's four steps:
- Start with the packaging
- Focus on the introduction
- Pay attention to your ENTIRE audience
- Plan ahead like a pro
These steps seem self-explanatory, but I still want to walk you through each one step by step.
1. Start with the packaging
“If you think about what makes a video successful, about 50 percent is the packaging,” says Aprilynne.
Packaging is about the three crucial elements of a YouTube video:
- idea
- title
- Thumbnail
Aprilynne realized that she spent 99 percent of her time creating the video and only one percent on the packaging. I like the word packaging because we experience it every time we buy physical products in a store –Packaging is what you see Before You experience a product.
The same is true for videos. People experience the three elements mentioned above before they watch the actual video. And if they don't click on your video, it might as well not exist at all.
Start with the idea – what do you want to tell your audience? How would you describe your video in one sentence?
Once you're done packing, you can move on to step two.
2. Focus on the introduction
Aprilynne talked about it on the show, but I learned everything else about this step from this video on her channel. Here are four concrete tips from Aprilynne on how to do it:
2.1. Focus on the first five seconds
The first five seconds play a huge role in the success of your video. That's because YouTube looks for a match between your packaging and what you're saying in the first five seconds. For example, if your video is about “how to create stunning thumbnails,” make that clear in the first five seconds.
Second, it also helps the viewer decide whether to continue watching. Promising “killer thumbnails” and talking about your new backyard vegetable garden in the first five seconds is not a good idea.
2.2. Keep the introduction short
The intro is the time you spend at the beginning of the video, including the first five seconds. Keep the intro to ten to about forty-five seconds—no more than a minute.
2.3. Perfect the setup
“Setup” refers to three essential elements: curiosity gap, context, and input bias. Here’s how to perfect your setup:
- Create a curiosity gap: Simply put, give your viewers enough to make them want more. This topic deserves its own post, but here's a great post from Descript.
- Establish context: Give your viewers context. If your title contains “killer thumbnails,” tell them if they’re thumbnails for YouTube videos or podcasts on Apple Podcasts.
- Input bias: This is based on human behavioral psychology. It refers to the idea that the more time, effort, and money you spend on something, the more you value it. In the context of this post, one way to do this is to let your viewers know how much effort you put into researching the things they're about to learn. If you want to dig deeper, check out this great HubSpot article on how MrBeast uses input bias in his videos.
2.4. Preload the stimulus
Change visuals quickly in the first twenty seconds. According to Aprilynne, MrBeast changes visuals at the beginning of his videos every 1.4 seconds. Mark Rober does it every 1.6 seconds.
3. Pay attention to your ENTIRE audience
This post is all about how to increase your YouTube subscribers. Everything I share in this article is based on what Aprilynne uses to create what she calls “banger videos.”
These videos help you reach new audiences without ignoring your target audience (including casual and regular viewers).
In other words, make your videos attractive to your subscribers, but don't ignore the people who haven't subscribed. Also make your videos so that they attract casual YouTube viewers who don't know who you are (yet).
4. Plan ahead like a pro
Most people write the script and then shoot. There are two problems with this.
First, it can put a lot of strain on the editing process. You may find during editing that you need product shots or a second camera angle.
Second, the jump from screenwriting to filming can limit your creativity. In other words, you may now stick to the script and ignore other perspectives.
That's why Aprilynne narrates her videos after writing the script. She sets everything up before the camera starts rolling and records every scene, every shot. Here's how she does it:
“I used to film everything and then edit it. Now I write a script, go through it line by line and annotate what I want on the screen. So I break it down into talking head footage, B-roll that I film, screen shares and visuals that I create. And so I plan all of that in advance. It makes filming a lot easier because I know what to do for my talking head part. [lines] I have to say into the camera what I can easily read – that's much easier.”
Dive deeper into the subject with YouTube
If you're looking to start a YouTube channel, my YouTube From Scratch course, which I created with my friend and videographer Caleb Wojcik, is the perfect place to start. Two of my YouTube channels have a combined total of over 200 million views and over a million subscribers. I've incorporated everything I learned while building those two channels into the course.
YouTube From Scratch – and our entire library of courses – are available exclusively in the All Access Pass and Pro communities. My team and I created them to help you find like-minded creators and keep you accountable on your entrepreneurial journey. It's the best way to grow online as an entrepreneur, so give it a try today!
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Create your very own Auto Publish News/Blog Site and Earn Passive Income in Just 4 Easy Steps
