How To Get Your First 1,000 Subscribers On YouTube

By Rhonda Bradley March 14, 2024

Getting your first 1,000 subscribers on YouTube comes with some candy (and really worthwhile) perks. From unlocking income sharing and promoting alternatives to exponentially accelerating channel development, the milestone is critical for any YouTuber.

Lower than 10% of YouTube channels attain the 1,000-subscriber mark, and those who do typically add movies for years earlier than reaching the milestone.

Nevertheless, many channels attain 1,000 genuine subscribers in months as a substitute of years. And it’s no coincidence that all of them use comparable strategies to get there.

On this information, we share tales, examples, and distinctive knowledgeable suggestions from individuals who have constructed profitable YouTube channels. We’ve additionally included a “Methods to get 1,000 YouTube Subscribers” guidelines to kickstart your development on the platform.

Whether or not you’re selling a enterprise you already personal or trying to earn earnings as a YouTube creator, this information will steer you towards YouTube success extra rapidly.

Why Getting 1,000 YouTube Subscribers Issues

Reaching the 1,000-subscriber objective is a significant milestone for anybody with a brand new YouTube channel. It could not sound like loads in comparison with different YouTubers you watch. However reaching that first 1,000 could be fairly powerful. 

Lower than 10% of YouTube channels have 1,000 followers or more.

Thankfully, YouTube relaxed a few of its Partner Program eligibility requirements in 2023. Now, even new channels can entry instruments and options that may assist them develop sooner.

For instance, Neighborhood posts had been as soon as restricted to channels with 1,000 subscribers, however at the moment are open to any measurement channel, no matter subscriber depend. Neighborhood posts assist you to interact with viewers exterior of video uploads (within the Neighborhood tab) utilizing polls, GIFs, quizzes, pictures, and extra. 

Whenever you attain 500 YouTube subscribers, you unlock options equivalent to:

• YouTube Accomplice Program (monetization choices)
• YouTube Merch Shelf (promote your merchandise)

Reaching 1,000 YouTube subscribers unlocks:

• Income sharing for advertisements
• Income sharing for YouTube Premium

Unofficially, reaching 1,000 subscribers additionally provides you credibility, paving the best way for model partnerships and accelerated channel development.

For instance, it took Reddit person bassedmike 3 ½ years to achieve 1,000 subscribers however solely a further six months so as to add 5,500 extra subscribers.

How lengthy does it take to get 1,000 subscribers on YouTube?

It’s 100% regular to take years for a channel to achieve the 1,000-subscriber milestone on YouTube. 

It doesn’t should take that lengthy, although. Some folks attain 1,000 subscribers a lot faster. 

By studying how YouTube works, you possibly can develop, optimize, and market your channel for sooner development.

If you happen to purpose to achieve 1,000 subscribers inside your first yr, the guidelines beneath will provide help to get there. 

In case your objective is a bit slower-paced, that’s okay, too. You may nonetheless use the recommendation to information your development. Many, if not most, profitable YouTubers spend years growing their channels.

For instance, it took Mr. Beast, the world’s #2 hottest YouTuber (with 237 million subscribers), a few years to get his first 1,000 subscribers.

Within the information beneath, we share knowledgeable recommendation from individuals who have been there. Some gained their first 1,000 subscribers in weeks, whereas others reached the milestone in a single yr or extra. If you happen to’re in search of a strategic strategy to construct a group on YouTube, the following pointers will provide help to get there.

9 Professional suggestions that will help you get your first 1,000 YouTube subscribers

I chatted with a number of YouTubers who’ve had success on the platform and likewise dug into the again tales of a few of YouTube’s most profitable creators. Listed here are a few of their most useful suggestions for reaching 1,000 subscribers on YouTube.

#1 – Select a distinct segment viewers and matter you’re enthusiastic about

Narrowing your audience will help you add YouTube subscribers extra rapidly. 

The best viewers isn’t already overloaded with rivals but is giant sufficient to justify posting content material.

For instance, Taxi driver Tom Hutley, who has greater than 91,000 subscribers, reached his first 1,000 inside six months of beginning his YouTube channel, Tom the Taxi Driver. 

Hutley’s distinctive commentary on taxi driving and the town of London is a success along with his subscribers, who eagerly interact within the feedback part of practically each video he posts.

Tuomas Kivioja’s YouTube channel, Internet Made Coder went from zero to 2,000 subscribers in two weeks.

In his video titled How I Got Monetized in 2 Weeks on YouTube, he explains that he struggled to get subscribers for a earlier channel however discovered from his errors. 

“I used to be making the very same mistake that actually everybody who begins YouTube makes at first — I used to be not specializing in a particular audience.”

Kivioja provides, “I wasn’t making movies I used to be completely enthusiastic about,” as he stresses the significance of creating movies on subjects you actually care about.

Creating movies for years to come back — and avoiding burnout —  can solely occur if you happen to love what you’re sharing. Narrowing your focus to a particular area of interest will provide help to to face out and gain more YouTube views and subscribers from day one.

#2 – Don’t skip on sound high quality

To create nice movies, start with the audio. This lesson resonates throughout practically each YouTube channel dialogue.

Poor sound high quality annoys viewers and sometimes causes them to rapidly “bounce” away out of your movies. 

The YouTube algorithm notices your excessive bounce charges, which ultimately reduces the visibility of your movies in its feeds. These fast bounces additionally dramatically scale back your probabilities of getting folks to faucet the “subscribe” button.

Whether or not you have to purchase new gear or cushion the room, delivering high-quality sound is well worth the effort. 

Questioning how one can get it proper? Head to YouTube and search for movies on how different YouTubers get skilled sound for his or her movies. 

Good sound high quality doesn’t imply it’s a must to break the financial institution. However it does take a little bit of understanding about what sort of mic to make use of and how one can arrange your studio.

Within the clip beneath, content material creator Ben Johnson offers some easy recommendations on getting knowledgeable sound to your movies. 

#3 – Optimize your channel and movies for YouTube search engine marketing

Software program engineer Alex Hyatt makes use of his YouTube channel to assist builders be taught new abilities. He at present has 19,500 YouTube subscribers however reached his first 1,000 in solely 5 months. 

In his weblog submit “1000 Subscribers in 5 Months: My Strategy,” Hyatt recommends that new YouTubers concentrate on getting site visitors from YouTube Search.

How does YouTube search engine marketing work?

YouTube search engine marketing (search engine marketing) refers to optimizing your channel and movies for its native search engines like google and yahoo. It includes including key phrases to your channel and movies in strategic methods.

“Getting subscribers on YouTube has been largely about search engine marketing.

Consider the questions your audience is asking after which make movies that particularly reply these questions. 

Most significantly, folks go to YouTube to get solutions and if you happen to can reply the questions to your viewers, your subscriber numbers will undergo the roof.”

Tim Stoddart
CEO, Stodzy,Inc.
Proprietor of Copyblogger and Sober Nation

Advertising and marketing knowledgeable and YouTuber Gillian Perkins explains how one can optimize a YouTube channel in her video “YouTube search engine marketing Fundamentals- Rank Your Movies #1 on YouTube (Quick!)”

#4 – Write efficient video titles

Your video titles are among the many first issues YouTube viewers see in your channel and within the search engine outcomes. Titles play a big half in gaining subscribers as a result of they will drive new viewers from outcomes and advice feeds to your channel.

A very good YouTube video title features a clear and correct description of the video, plus its key phrases. Google recommends limiting ALL CAPS and emojis in titles, utilizing them solely once they ship real worth.

Resist the urge to concentrate on catchy titles that gained’t drive site visitors to your channel. As an alternative, concentrate on searchable titles that assist your movies attain extra viewers.

Digital advertising knowledgeable and former Google worker Kevin Miller explains that titles are a set off for YouTube algorithms and a key consider driving new viewers.

“Although many will concentrate on their video thumbnail and manufacturing values to achieve YouTube subscribers, we targeting the significance of the title. 

A title is greater than only a strategy to inform your viewers of what your YouTube video entails, additionally it is the set off for the platform’s inner search engine marketing algorithms for it to be discovered.”

Kevin Miller
Co-Founder & CEO of GR0
2021 American Enterprise Awards”Entrepreneur of the 12 months”

#5 – Accomplice with influencers on YouTube and different platforms

Wish to instantly acquire publicity to people who find themselves more likely to subscribe to your channel? Partnering with influencers who share the same viewers could be one of many quickest methods to develop a social media following. 

You don’t want a giant model finances to associate with influencers.

If you happen to’re working with a small finances, take into account hiring micro-influencers or partnering with different small YouTube channel house owners for co-sponsored occasions, contests, takeovers, and promotions. 

For the most effective outcomes, collaborate with influencers who’ve extremely engaged audiences just like yours. 

Grooveshark and Harmonic Attain Advertising and marketing founder Sam Tarantino encourages rising your YouTube channel with cross-platform influencer collaborations. 

“By partnering with influencers and creators who share the same viewers, we had been capable of co-create content material that offered worth and piqued the curiosity of each subscriber bases. 

This mutual promotion accelerated subscriber development not simply by means of direct referrals but additionally by enhancing content material discoverability.”

Sam Tarantino
Founding father of Grooveshark and Harmonic Reach Marketing

#6 – Use different social media channels to check your content material

E-book writer Lauren Kay reached the 1,000-subscriber milestone on YouTube at lightning pace in only one month. Her expertise constructing audiences on different platforms, equivalent to TikTok and Instagram, gave her insights that helped pace her development on YouTube.

For example, one of her TikTok videos received 700,000 views, so she thought the topic might be a success on YouTube as well. She created another version of it for YouTube, and that video made it to the top 3 results on the platform, earning her 500-1,000 views each week.

“I started posting to my YouTube channel in November 2023 and hit 1,000 subscribers within a month.

My top tip for anyone starting out is to test out different hooks and kinds of content on TikTok and Instagram Reels. 

YouTube videos take a lot of effort; you don’t want to spend 10-20 hours making a video of an un-validated concept, only to see it get under 500 views.”

Lauren Kay
Author and founder of Lauren Kay Writes

Whenever you create a sense of group, persons are extra more likely to return to your channel and share it with their mates. Partaking with viewers within the feedback part of your movies is likely one of the finest methods to construct a real group.

Cleartail Advertising and marketing founder Magee Clegg explains that partaking with viewers goes a great distance towards reaching new folks and rising your subscriber depend.

“We actively work together with each remark, which helps to construct a group feeling and set up a direct dialogue with viewers.

Based mostly on one marketing campaign we managed, this strategy didn’t simply encourage present viewers to subscribe but additionally drew their networks into the dialog, thereby boosting our subscriber depend organically.”

– Magee Clegg, founder and CEO of Cleartail Marketing

#8 – Have interaction along with your subscribers in inventive methods

Take engagement to the following degree by in search of inventive methods to work together along with your YouTube subscribers.

Rongzhong Li, whose YouTube channel PetoiCamp has greater than 20,000 followers, recommends utilizing interactive parts to have interaction YouTube viewers.

“By incorporating parts like polls, quizzes, challenges, or interactive storytelling, I used to be capable of captivate my viewers and encourage energetic participation. 

This not solely saved viewers hooked and coming again for extra, but additionally helped to extend watch time, engagement, and in the end entice extra subscribers to my channel.”

Rongzhong Li
Founder/CEO of Petoi

Electronic mail advertising is one other nice strategy to preserve your subscribers engaged. 

Sending a weekly e mail e-newsletter lets you promote your YouTube channel on a wider scale. You should utilize your e mail e-newsletter to do issues equivalent to:

• Provide unique suggestions.
• Run contests and giveaways.
• Encourage readers to share your movies with mates.
• Ask what kind of YouTube content material they’d wish to see subsequent.
• Let subscribers learn about upcoming particular occasions.

To encourage e-newsletter subscriptions, take into account creating lead era content material and linking to its touchdown web page in your video descriptions.

And (trace trace), if you happen to’re in search of a trusted, easy-to-use e mail advertising platform that allows you to handle e mail advertising, touchdown pages, and lead gen content material from one place, consider giving AWeber a try!

#9 – Run cross-channel promotions

If you happen to’ve already constructed a following on different social media channels equivalent to Instagram, Fb, TikTok, or Pinterest, give your followers a cause to move to your YouTube channel.

For instance, you may embody extra in-depth content material on YouTube or run a particular giveaway contest out of your YouTube channel.

Marques Brownlee, who makes movies about expertise, has greater than 18 million followers on YouTube. He started importing movies to his channel at age of 15 in 2009, and it took him 5 years to achieve the 1,000-subscriber milestone.

Brownlee’s focus has always been his YouTube channel, but he’s taken advantage of other social platforms to promote it.

For example, when his channel was still young, Brownlee ran a live Q & A session on Reddit that attracted nearly 6,000 comments and more than 18,000 views.

Cross-channel promotions can go a long way toward reaching your first 1,000 YouTube subscribers more quickly. Creative ideas for special events, contests, and live broadcasts can be very effective in driving social media followers to your YouTube channel.

The “How to get 1,000 YouTube followers” checklist

The most successful YouTube creators recommend the following strategies to increase subscribers for your channel:

• Choose a niche you’re passionate about.
• Create valuable content that’s worth watching.
• Pay attention to the quality of your videos, especially the audio.
• Optimize your channel, videos, and titles for YouTube search engines.
• Cross-promote your channel on other social media platforms.
• Engage with people who comment on your YouTube videos.
• Look for creative ways to engage your community, such as email newsletters and cross-channel promotions.
• Collaborate with influencers to expand your audience quickly.
• Monitor your YouTube analytics to discover what type of content is most successful for your audience (and create more of it!).
• Use email marketing to promote your YouTube channel.

Bonus tip: Launch your channel with at the least 5 movies. 

Former YouTube worker MatPat, who has began a number of channels with thousands and thousands of subscribers, says that launching a channel with just one video (or none) is a mistake. 

With out a number of movies, you possibly can’t preserve folks in your channel very lengthy — which makes the YouTube algorithm suppose that your channel can’t retain viewers.

Reaching 1,000 subscribers on YouTube is a big milestone. Whether or not you’re trying to promote a enterprise or earn earnings as a YouTube creator, the strategy is similar: 

• Select a distinct segment matter. 
• Produce precious content material that issues to you. 
• Have interaction along with your viewers. 
• Promote your channel. 
• Enhance primarily based on suggestions.

By following the knowledgeable suggestions on this information, you possibly can start to construct a group of subscribers who assist your channel and model.

Constructing an engaged group on any social media channel takes time, effort, and well-thought technique.

Earlier than you spend money on constructing subscribers on a platform like YouTube, take into account the way you’ll guarantee entry to your viewers over the long run.

Social media algorithms can change with out warning. Accounts could be hacked. Insurance policies could be modified. And whereas it’s not more likely to have an effect on entry to your viewers, it’s at all times a risk.

Earlier than you start rising your subscriber checklist, take into account integrating e mail advertising into your social media technique. By driving viewers to a hyperlink that encourages them to sign up for your email list, you make sure that you’ll at all times have direct entry to your viewers past the confines of social media.

AWeber simplifies e mail advertising with a drag-and-drop interface, straightforward e mail automation options, {and professional} templates. Why not give it a strive? Sign up for a free AWeber account today.