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How do you gain 100,000 subscribers on YouTube in a year or less?
If you ask Sarah Fay, who runs the Travels of Sarah Fay channel, it's all about learning. You have to figure out how YouTube works, test different content, and craft a schedule that feels consistent. She’s still finding her way as a travel vlogger, but Sarah Fay recently hit a goal every creator wants to reach: snagging 100,000 subscribers.
It all happened once she decided to get consistent on YouTube in January 2021. Now we're sharing her story so creators know it's possible to grow their channels authentically and quickly.
Here's a snapshot of Sarah Fay's tremendous growth on YouTube:
Looking at these stats from vidIQ, we can see that Travels of Sarah Fay gained 99% of its subscribers in the last six months. That’s an insane amount of growth.
But if you think travel vlogging is about seeing pretty places and watching the subscribers roll in, keep reading because there’s more to the story. Even if this awesome photo says otherwise…
By the time Sarah Fay went viral on YouTube, she had more than 40 videos on her channel. They were a mix of vlogs and travel guides, and many of them showed her adventures in Florida, Georgia, California, and the Virgin Islands. She even posted a few YouTube Shorts of those beautiful excursions.
Things got interesting when one of her Shorts went viral. In that video, Sarah Fay yawns, rolls out of bed, and gazes at the sunrise over California's Alabama Hills. The short video is called "Van Life Perks Waking Up Wherever You Want" and has 61 million views.
This simple yet aspirational video brought new viewers to the channel – lots of them. But it was Sarah Fay's collection of other videos that made people subscribe.
“People think I just posted that Short, got 60 million views, and that's why I have all these subscribers,” she says. “But I'm like, ‘I think it was all the work that went into it across platforms and the last few years of me posting consistently and learning how to do some keyword research or how to form [video] titles.’ ”
Another reason was Sarah Fay guiding short-form viewers to full-length videos on her channel. She did that by returning to popular Shorts and pasting links to longer videos, letting people know she had more content to enjoy.
Becoming a travel vlogger on YouTube isn’t easy. Imagine constantly paying for plane tickets, gasoline for your car, and expensive hotel rooms. And that’s just the beginning when you realize the time it takes to travel and have new experiences while vlogging.
When you get back to the hotel – which you’re hoping has strong WiFi – there’s still more work to do: editing, crafting thumbnails, and uploading content.
Sarah Fay approaches these challenges with an entrepreneur’s mindset. She treats her channel like a startup in growth mode, which helps her prioritize specific tasks and grow her subscribers.
Here's how to apply the startup mindset to any YouTube channel:
Bottom line: Be passionate about your YouTube niche, then find effective, low-cost ways to deliver the content people want. That’s how you gain subscribers on YouTube without sacrificing too many resources, including energy.
“Even if [you’re doing] it as a side hustle, you're going to spend hours on this, and you have to really love it,” Sarah Fay says. “Because I think a lot of people, they want to do it, and then they realize how much work it is, and they fold.”
Following trends on YouTube is never a bad idea, especially if they mirror your YouTube niche. But sometimes, being your authentic self is even better. It makes people connect with your content faster and eventually hit subscribe.
Sarah Fay balances the two – authenticity and trends – by focusing on her life’s journey.
“I try to do a mixture of what people want, but I’m also reminding myself that this is also my journey as well in terms of exploring the world and seeing different places,” she says.
Sarah Fay doesn’t post nightlife vlogs, even if those videos get tons of views. It’s just not her. She even turns off the camera when socializing with other travelers to avoid burnout. What she’d rather show is a place’s culture – its deep, exciting, or unknown history.
At the same time, Sarah Fay understands that viewers want to see popular places. So she works hard to uncover which destinations align with her desires and viewers’ interests.
“So, for instance, I posted a Community tab post to get an idea... I said, ‘Would you rather?’ and then I [shared] options of [places] I'm thinking about traveling to. I'm not saying that's what I'm going to do, but just to get an idea of where they would like to travel to see where I should pick next. I also use Pinterest Trends to see what's trending and search for travel destinations. Or Google Trends, because I think that does help.”
Creators can learn a lot from Sarah Fay's YouTube journey. She essentially grew her audience by:
And guess what? If she can do it, so can you!
All photos courtesy of Travels of Sarah Fay.
Lydia Sweatt is a writer, bookworm, and bass guitar enthusiast. When she goes outside, a bicycle goes with her.
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