Dan got his start on YouTube in August of 2011, recording gameplay videos as a fun hobby while attending school for video production. Joining the vidIQ team in 2020 allowed Dan to combine his hobby and professional talents to now help others grow their own YouTube channels.

Dan Carson

Close-up of a smiling man with beard in a home office with computer screens in background


Want to grow your YouTube channel quickly? The first step is paying attention to your audience. On YouTube, each viewer has a desire to be entertained, informed, or challenged. Figuring out which topics will satisfy those desires, within your niche, is the key to discovering your “growth factor.” And that could be almost anything these days. You could make videos about raising chickens or building Lego towers at the top of a mountain. If your content is specific enough, 

7 Beliefs You Need to Have to Grow a YouTube Channel

Once you’ve found your niche and a specific audience, move on to the next step. Build an active community that engages with you and attracts more subscribers.

, we chat with British creator David, who runs a channel called 

. As a UK citizen, he reacts to American culture. Foreign candy, the weather, and even the U.S. military are hot topics on his channel.

David’s channel has more than 50,000 subscribers. He has hundreds of comments on each video, which is more than most creators receive.

Want to build a community that’s equally engaged? Do these five things. 

What kind of videos are you making right now? Are they tutorials, reactions, reviews, or something else?

No matter what they are, just know that your video format can lose popularity over time. That’s why David decided to give vlogging a try, in addition to reaction videos.

“A lot of these guys are really interested in me and what I’m doing,” David says. “Even down to the cat. They 

Vlogging brings you and your audience closer together. Viewers get to peel back the curtain and learn more about you, and you get to discover what they love about your channel. This bond helps you grow faster, especially if people are addicted to your personality.

Our opinion on vlogging? Post them once you’ve built a cult following. It’ll be easier for people to transition once they know who you are and why they should watch.

2. Create Deeper Connections With Channel Memberships

Have you noticed any creators offering Channel Memberships? These paid subscriptions give viewers access to your exclusive content. You can unlock this feature by:

Being accepted into the YouTube Partner Program

Additionally, Channel Memberships must be available in your location and your channel must be in good standing.

The wonderful thing about Channel Memberships is how much you get to bond with subscribers. It’s a tiered service, with each level offering more value. On the cheaper end ($2.99/month), David offers loyalty badges and custom emojis to use in live chats. On the pricier side ($24.99/month), viewers get every perk in the lower tiers plus the opportunity to collaborate with him virtually.

Make More Money on YouTube With Channel Memberships

“With each tier you get more perks, up to getting a free merch item or free T-shirt of your choice,” David says.

So how will a Channel Membership grow your channel? Well, take a scroll down David’s comment section. There are several people with member badges, and that creates curiosity. New viewers may think, 

“Where do they get those badges from?”

Who is this creator with a comment section full of colorful, badge-having viewers? Is there something different about his channel?”

A lot of your success on YouTube is harnessing curiosity. The more you entice people to click a thumbnail, watch a video, and subscribe – or in this case, become a member – the better your chances of growing your channel. Plus, Channel Memberships are exclusive. That creates major FOMO.

When you want more YouTube views, sometimes the solution is simple. Just ask viewers what they want to see.

You can do this easily with the YouTube Community tab. Like Channel Memberships, you need 1,000 subscribers to unlock it. But once you have access, you get to engage with your community using text posts, GIFs, polls, and more. It’s an extra way to gain exposure and discover what viewers like at the same time.

YouTube Community Tab - The Underrated Growth Tool You NEED to Use

“Pay attention to your community,” David says. “What do they want? What do they like seeing? What do they like about you? It’s just a great gauge. Hitting 1,000 subscribers and having that Community tab has been wonderful.”


When posting on the Community tab, always remember to...

 (both subscribers and non-subscribers can see the posts).

4. Niche Down and Make Specific, Targeted Videos

As we mentioned before, you need a niche to grow on YouTube. But don’t make it too broad! That’s a mistake many creators make before tightening the focus of their channel.

“I thought comedy, making people laugh, was a niche…. But there’s just so much to comedy,” David says. “There are so many different ways of making people laugh and feel good.”

That’s why David makes funny videos in a specific, targeted way. He does reaction videos to American food and customs, not general comedy. It also helps him bond with his audience over a shared interest.

3 Steps to Create Valuable, Highly-Watched Videos on YouTube

Are you having trouble finding your niche? David recommends making three or four videos to see which one performs the best. The best video topic is probably worth exploring on YouTube.

5. Don’t Fake Your Passion; Do What Makes You Happy on YouTube

One thing to realize with absolute clarity is that real humans are watching your videos. They want you to be your authentic self on camera because that creates a better experience for them.

Creators who bond with viewers and grow their channels year after year aren’t faking it. They don’t live a manufactured lifestyle, and they don’t become who they think subscribers want them to be. They share their passions on YouTube and attract like-minded people. If their passion is gardening, they won’t create a channel about real estate to fit in.

“People aren’t stupid,” David says. “They will soon see if you’re [faking]. With myself, what you see is what you get. Of course, I have my down days. Everyone does. But I’m not trying to put on an act.”

In a word, it’s all about originality. Just be yourself!

Growing a YouTube channel is about building a community. And before that, it’s about overcoming self-doubt so you can grow with confidence. Avoid these 

Man holding assorted candy bars with surprised expression next to Tube Talk logo

Are you curious? Authentic? An advocate for online bonding? When it comes to growing on YouTube, that's exactly what you need to build a large community of subscribers.

5 Ways to Grow Your YouTube Channel Faster 


Do you need better thumbnails for your YouTube videos? How about an email list that generates a second or third stream of income?

If you’re passionate about growing on YouTube, these challenges loom in the back of your mind. Fortunately, the solution is clear. It’s time to enlist the help of technology, which means finding the best digital tools for YouTube creators.

, we chat with Aurelius Tjin about which tools a creator needs to succeed on YouTube. From monetizing social media to managing video projects, he shares an app that can handle the task.

 with more than 56,000 subscribers, where he trains creators to be solid digital marketers. Here are six YouTube tools he recommends to level up your channel.

1. Canva: YouTube Channel Art, Thumbnail Maker, and Video Editor

Most people know Canva as a user-friendly tool for designing graphics. It does more than that, though. Canva has 

, which boasts thousands of video templates, as well as millions of stock videos, music tracks, and animations. And when you’re not editing a video, Cava has templates for every graphic you’d need on YouTube. That includes channel banners, video thumbnails, and profile icons.

Tjin creates nearly half of his thumbnails using Canva. He says the background remover is his favorite feature on the site.

“You just press one button and then it just removes the background [from an image],” Tjin says. “For thumbnails [showing myself], I remove the background, and then I place a different kind of background. It’s actually a Canva Pro option but worth every dollar, in my opinion.”

 Free, Pro, and Enterprise plans at $0, $9.99 per month, and $30 per month, respectively.

Do you have tons of videos to shoot but no way of organizing those projects? Give 

 a try. This all-in-one solution will help you plan and track your projects with robust documents, notes, and calendars. You can visualize an entire project from start to finish, which makes Notion a worthy tool for YouTube creators.

“The way I like to use it is by using a kanban system developed by Toyota,” Tjin says. “In terms of YouTube videos, you’ve got your ideas in one section. The next step would be to outline it or script it or maybe do some keyword research. Then you move it from scripting to recording. I like how you can set all this up in Notion.”

Tjin says Trello and Asana are also good project management apps. But Notion edges them out when it comes to creative flexibility. You can embed a table within 

 Personal, Pro, and Team plans at $0, $4 per month, and $8 per month, respectively. Contact Notion for a quote on Enterprise plans.

3. Things: Create To-Do Lists for YouTube Tasks

, a task manager for iOS users, is all about getting stuff done. It takes your digital lists and sorts them into daily tasks that are beautiful, yet easy to read.

feature. This is where you dump random to-do items to be organized later. The 

 feature lets you declare when you’ll start a task, as opposed to setting a firm deadline. Next, Things will organize the tasks and send notifications when something is approaching.

That’s it! Now you can own the day. As productivity tools go, Things is the simplest one for YouTube creators.

 $9.99 for iPhone and iWatch, $19.99 for iPad, and $49.99 for Mac.

4. ConvertKit: Monetize Your YouTube Audience Via Email Marketing

Do you have an email list for your YouTube channel? If not, set one up with 

. It’s an awesome email marketing tool for beginners, and the first 1,000 subscribers to your newsletter won’t cost you anything on the free plan. Across the various plans, you can send email broadcasts, sell digital products, create funnels, check your analytics, and more.

Making Money on YouTube - 7 Tips to Start a Successful Business

Tjin says ConvertKit has clean, uncluttered designs. It’s also a good choice when you need a solution beyond email marketing.

“They’ve got landing pages you can set up with a few clicks of your mouse,” Tjin says. “So you don’t need to worry about all the CSS and HTML and integrating it with WordPress or whatever platform you’re using.

 Free, Creator, and Creator Pro plans starting at $0, $29 per month, and $59 per month, respectively.

5. Koji: Monetize Your YouTube Audience on Social Media

Here’s an overlooked YouTube tool creators 

 is a “link in bio” that supercharges your revenue. Koji’s tools will help you make money, engage with subscribers, and grow your community – all from just one bio link.

“I like that it integrates with the ability to sell digital products or services – or cameo shoutouts, if you want to do that,” Tjin says. “[There’s a] 'buy me a coffee' tip jar you can add to it, as opposed to using LinkTree, which purely acts as a page where you’ve got a list of links.”

 It’s free, but there are various transaction fees. Review them carefully!

6. vidIQ: Grow on the Go With YouTube Data and Channel Insights

Last on the list is our very own YouTube tool. When you 

, it integrates with YouTube to turn your channel into a number-driven universe. There are metrics showing video views per hour. A collection of graphs shows you the best time to publish videos. The SEO video score, which measures search optimization, will rate your video according to its title, description, and other metadata. And that’s less than 10% of what vidIQ offers.

Tjin uses vidIQ all the time. More than anything, he says the keyword research tool is a game-changer.

“You get actual numbers for how many people are searching for a term,” Tjin says. “That’s what stood out to me compared to a couple of the other keyword research tools.”

 Basic, Pro, Boost, and Boost+ plans starting at $0, $7.50 per month, $39 per month, and $415 per month, respectively. 

The best tools for YouTube creators make everything easier. If you want to simplify the journey even more, here are 

Smiling man with laptop standing next to Tube Talk logo on dark and white background.

Need some amazing YouTube tools in your life? Use these apps to make thumbnails, manage video projects, and get stuff done.

6 Digital Tools Every YouTube Creator Needs

Is YouTube a real job? Can you make videos every day and maintain the responsibilities of adulting, like paying for rent, water, and electricity?

Yes, you absolutely can. If you want it to be, YouTube can become your full-time job. Thousands of creators have done just that by starting, growing, and monetizing their channels.

How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel - A Beginner's Guide

, we chat with YouTube educator Ryan Walsh about when to go full-time on YouTube. On 

 of more than 20,000 subscribers, Walsh does more than show people how to grow on YouTube. He’s interested in coaching video superfans, people who want to make YouTube their one and only career.

Walsh is a full-time creator and has some opinions on who should attempt that journey. If you can identify with these six signs, you might be one of those daring, entrepreneurial creators.

1. You Have a Viable Plan to Make Money on YouTube

You need an income strategy to have a long YouTube career. In the beginning, your first income stream will probably come from advertising. When you reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time, you can apply to the 

, which lets creators place ads on their videos. This can generate a nice chunk of change, but don’t expect to keep all the money. YouTube takes 45%, and of course, you have to pay taxes.

Google AdSense 101 - How to Benefit from Ad Revenue on YouTube

. In fact, Walsh thinks creators shouldn’t even count it in their plan.

“AdSense, for most channels, is not a good idea,” Walsh says. “It’s really unpredictable. One month, you can make $2,000. The next month, you can make $500…. It’s a lot of stress because it’s all about the views at that point, and if you don’t get views, you’re not making that income anymore.”

Walsh plans to make money in three different ways: affiliate marketing, one-on-one coaching, and the occasional AdSense revenue.

Understanding your target audience is everything on YouTube. It’s more important than how many subscribers you have or many videos you post. In fact, we’d argue that subscribers don’t matter on YouTube anymore. As long as you 

, you have a shot at growing your channel into a thriving, full-time business. Add some awesome thumbnails, titles, descriptions, and 

13 Ways to Grow Your YouTube Channel Right Now!

YouTube will take care of the rest. Its video recommendation system is so sophisticated that viewers are always discovering new content. Just look at all the videos YouTube is recommending on our homepage:

“You don’t even have to be subscribed to a person,” Walsh says. “Their content is going to follow you, and that’s what really matters. The algorithm is smart enough to know what you’re watching.”

YouTube will find viewers for your videos.

 All you have to do is make videos for the right group of people within your niche.

3. You Don’t Ignore YouTube Analytics, Especially Audience Retention and Click-Through Rate

It’s so easy to overlook the boring stuff on YouTube. All those analytics about the health of your channel are great, but filming videos is more exciting, right?

We know, we know. But if you want to make money on YouTube full-time, you need to know which videos are bringing you the most clicks, revenue, and Watch Time.

Top 5 YouTube Metrics Every Creator Should Study

click-through rate and audience retention

 are metrics you simply can’t ignore. They represent the foundation of getting more views and keeping people entertained with each video.

Your click-through rate is the percentage of people who click your video after seeing its thumbnail. The CTR formula is 

number of clicks / number of impressions x 100 = CTR.

Getting a Good Click-Through Rate on YouTube - 6 Powerful Tips

Most of the time, a high CTR means you’re convincing people to watch your videos, which is half the battle on YouTube.

Audience retention captures how many viewers are still watching a video throughout its beginning, middle, and end. The beginning of a video is most important. Viewers tend to click away in the first 30 seconds, and your audience retention data will show you the exact percentage.

How to Increase Audience Retention on Every YouTube Video

4. You Understand That Your YouTube Channel Is a Business

Thousands of people join YouTube to have fun and share their passions online. It’s a hobby that fulfills a deep, creative desire to make content for other people. To create a full-time YouTube career, you need that same passion. However, what makes you different from the casual creator is how you act on that passion. Casual creators don’t need a detailed strategy. You do.

“You’re creating a brand,” Walsh says. “You’re creating a business, in a sense, and you need to treat it like that. Because if you don’t, you’re probably not going full time anytime soon.”

Creating an online business requires some legal know-how. As you grow your channel, avoid these 

 on YouTube. They’re super common and hard to recover from.

5. You Know How to Promote Your YouTube Channel

Every business needs to be promoted, and a YouTube channel is no different. Plenty of creators highlight their channel on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and other platforms. 

 is a good idea, but some creators move too fast. They don’t master the promotion tools within YouTube first, which is a huge mistake.

Once you gain more than 1,000 subscribers, YouTube gives you a Community Tab. It’s a mini social network for connecting with viewers and other creators. You can post GIFs, your latest videos, images, survey polls, and more.

“I think surveys are extremely underutilized for a lot of YouTubers,” Walsh says. “Most of the creators in this space that I subscribe to, they use [the Community Tab] a lot. And honestly, that’s a really good idea. You can get an idea of what your audience really wants to see. You can ask them different questions.”

If you’re already doing this, keep it up. You understand that YouTube is essentially giving you everything you need to grow a channel, right down to the promotion.

Walsh says the hardest thing about being a full-time creator is the pressure. It becomes a heavy burden if you’re not ready for the responsibility. There’s pressure to 

 to support yourself. There’s pressure to post videos consistently. Almost everything you can imagine in a normal job – predictable income, daily structure, sociable coworkers – is hard to replicate as a YouTube creator.

“You’re kind of on your own…. You have to be your own motivator to keep yourself going,” Walsh says. “There is a ton that is different. It’s not for a lot of people.”

If you’re an independent, self-motivated person, going full-time on YouTube may be a good idea. You get to call the shots and scale your business to unimaginable heights.

Want more tips to start a YouTube career? Here are 

Smiling young man in blue shirt with Tube Talk logo on dark and red background.

Are you ready to make YouTube your full-time job? Here are six signs to gauge how prepared you truly are.

6 Signs It's Time to Make YouTube Your Full-Time Job

Your YouTube channel can become a thriving, money-making business. Once you conquer the big monetization challenges – getting 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of Watch Time – the possibilities are endless. With consistent effort, you can do more than join the 

. There’s money to be made with affiliate marketing, brand deals, product sales, memberships, and more. Best of all, you don’t need millions of subscribers to make it happen. Tens of thousands will do the trick.

Starting a YouTube Career - 7 Steps to Monetize Your Passion

, about how to turn a YouTube channel into a thriving business. She has years of experience as a creator, but the business side of YouTube is her passion.

Want to take your channel from part-time project to business empire? Here’s what Ali recommends.

Most creators don’t become viral superstars overnight. Ninety-nine percent of people on YouTube are slow grinders. They spend years building an audience in the hope that someday, they’ll get thousands of views consistently.

With that in mind, it helps to set a realistic goal for your YouTube channel. Perhaps you want to get 500 subscribers in your first year. Or maybe 1,000. Those are goals anyone can reach with hard work and the right mindset.

Compare your journey to another creator’s

Quit because success isn’t happening fast enough

Give yourself time to develop on YouTube.

 Amazing things can happen when you embrace the uncertainty of growing a channel.

2. Choose a Niche (That Isn’t Too Saturated)

To be a successful, well-paid creator, you need a niche. Viewers want to know your expertise because they’re searching for specific content on YouTube. They’re interested in beauty, health, gaming, sports, and so many other categories. Knowing which one you belong to helps them find the right channel.

 as a new creator. Instead of posting random videos, focus on the same broad topic. We know that’s easier said than done. It's hard to ignore the popular creators getting millions of views on 

“All of these creators that can do whatever they want, they started with one single niche,” Ali says. “One single category…. None of these people were jumping from one type of content to another and people just stuck around.”

Finding a niche doesn’t have to be difficult. You can simply ask yourself…

How saturated is this category on YouTube?

How fast you succeed depends on your answer to the last question. You need two things – unique content and time – to break into a crowded category.

3. Make Videos About Trends and Evergreen Topics

You may be surprised to hear that new creators – the successful ones, at least – aren’t creating content people haven’t seen before.

In fact, they’re all using the same blueprint:

Researching popular topics within their niche

A video that stays popular year-round is called 

 Topics like “how to tie a necktie” or “how to change your engine oil” are great examples. People will search for those videos for years to come. If you want to make content that consistently earns revenue, evergreen is the way to go.

Why Evergreen Content Is the Key to More Views on YouTube

Remember how the multiplayer game Among Us took over the internet last year? Lots of creators grew their channels by playing that game and showing viewers how to win. Whenever you can, take advantage of meme-worthy moments to get discovered on YouTube.

“Eventually, hitting those trending topics, you 

 gain traction,” Ali says. “It’s just the way YouTube works.”

4. Track Your Performance, Identify Improvements, and Pivot

Have you been to the YouTube Studio lately? There’s so much data to sift through. You can see how many likes, views, subscribers, money, and 

 your content is bringing in. Then there’s the more advanced data, like 

, audience retention, traffic sources, and viewer demographics.

All of this data tells a story about how your videos are doing. Pay attention to the numbers so you can track your performance, get more views, and start making more money.

The next time you make a video, set a reasonable goal for how you want it to perform. Then go into the YouTube Studio and see what actually happened. Most likely, there were both good areas and bad areas of your video’s performance. Take notes on both, then come up with ways to improve. Perhaps you can choose better topics, thumbnails, or video titles.

5. Connect With Viewers on a Personal Level

When thousands of people fall in love with your personality, they’ll connect with you on a deeper level. Your videos will get more likes and comments, and you may notice viewers bragging about you in the comment section of other channels. Across the web, your subscribers will become an army of dedicated supporters.

To create a strong, unwavering connection, do these four things:

Host live streams so you can chat both directly and indirectly with viewers.

Create an external community for your channel. Having a Discord community or Facebook group creates a sense of togetherness and exclusivity.

If you get a brand deal, make sure it aligns with your channel’s focus. Providing value to viewers should be your number one priority.

YouTube Community Tab - The Underrated Growth Tool You Need to Use

6. Start Your Business When The Money Is Flowing

Are you surprised to see this step so low on the list? Here’s our reasoning: It’s better to let positive results guide your efforts than to spend time doing something that doesn’t pan out. Lots of creators start a YouTube channel as a fun hobby, but creating a business is a major undertaking. If you do the five steps above and start making lots of money, that’s a clear sign to start an official business.

How to Make $200k a Month From YouTube AdSense

Plus, there are plenty of ways to earn money on and off of YouTube. We’ve shared some of these streams before:

Start a Patreon with paid, exclusive content.

To do these things effectively, you need to set up your business the right way. That means paying a few hundred dollars to file official paperwork with your state or country. You’ll also need to track your expenses so you have an overall budget. Free programs like 

 make it easy to see exactly what you’re spending so you can identify potential tax write-offs.

“You will not believe the amount of content creators with millions of followers and viewers who do not even do those things,” Ali says. “And then you start running into tax problems. It is actually insane how much of a problem that is.”

7. Hire Help to Expand Your YouTube Business and Make More Money

Some creators are hesitant to expand their team. They feel like they don’t need to, even when they have millions of subscribers. But most of the time, successful creators could use an extra editor or videographer to produce content that grows the business.

“Once you have the income to do so, I 100% think that every single content creator should at least have an assistant,” Ali says. “And then add to the team accordingly. It also helps you out on your taxes. It’s really great.”

Ali says when your team is properly managed, you won’t lose anything. You’ll gain the peace of mind that comes with having help, and most likely, the revenue that comes with teamwork.

Do you already have a business that needs a YouTube channel? Here are 

 to build an audience, get more leads, and increase your revenue.

Young woman with long hair next to colorful Tube Talk logo on dark background

Want to build a money-making empire for your YouTube channel? Here are seven tips to help you achieve that goal.

Making Money on YouTube: 7 Tips to Start a Successful Business

We know you’re focused on growing a regular YouTube channel, but what about a Shorts-only channel? So far, Shorts creators are attracting millions of subscribers. And, they’re going viral with less than 60 seconds of content.

How This YouTube Creator Got 1.5 Billion Views In Just 80 Days

Are you growing a YouTube Shorts Channel? Here are seven tips to help you out.

Dan Carson

Posts Written By Dan Carson

5 Ways to Grow Your YouTube Channel Faster

6 Digital Tools Every YouTube Creator Needs

6 Signs It's Time to Make YouTube Your Full-Time Job

Making Money on YouTube: 7 Tips to Start a Successful Business

How to Grow a YouTube Shorts Channel

5 Tips to Start a YouTube Channel for Your Business

Growing a YouTube Channel: 6 Ridiculous Myths That Ruin Your Chances

How to Get Millions of Subscribers on Multiple YouTube Channels

Starting a YouTube Career: 7 Steps to Monetize Your Passion

The Best YouTube Video Equipment to Upgrade Your Content

How to Promote Your YouTube Channel Across Social Media

5 Cheap Ways to Film YouTube Videos on Your Phone

How to Go Viral on YouTube With Billions of Global Views