Recently I decided to take a break from my YouTube Channel to work on some other projects. As I know I'm not the only aspiring YouTuber out there, I'd like to share my experiences with you.
Backstory
I started my YouTube channel Morgeh back in 2011 when Minecraft was really taking off.
Being a programmer, and (at the time) aspiring to be a full time game developer, I was inspired like many by the ever popular Yogscast to start creating my own Minecraft mods.
I made a couple of different mods and showcased them with WIP videos on my Channel.
Not long after that life got very busy with all the grown up things and I had little time for YouTube.
Skip ahead 6 years and things had settled down and I finally decided to dust of my channel and try again.
I watched a lot of videos and read a lot of articles about how to build up a YouTube channel. I tried joining communities like YTTalk which were really helpful and friendly but the mistake I made was not being able to maintain the level of interaction required to really benefit from those communities.
Much like Steemit, communities like YTTalk work best if you can be an active and productive member of the community, they are not a shortcut to instant subscribers.
The main thing I learned from the articles and videos was that YouTube rewards consistency.
Based on this I stuck to a strict two video a week schedule and kept the schedule specific to two game, Minecraft and Hearthstone.
The Outcome
Now I will admit that after only 4 months, perhaps It's too early to expect results, and I'm by no means giving up.
Over the past 4 months the number of views and the number of subscribers on my channel has been very consistent, albeit consistently low. I'm very grateful to the little community I have and the dedicated viewers who watch my videos regularly but it can be very hard to maintain a constant flow of content if it doesn't appear to be working or if you're not enjoying it any more.
And that's where I was, I wasn't enjoying it any more. So I decided to take a break to focus on other projects and to see if I could find my niche.
Overpopulation
Gaming on YouTube is a very large community with a very wide variety of content. With big channels like the Yogscast and Pewdiepie being so popular and everyone having access to games and recording software it seems like a no brainer.
This is where niche becomes important. I haven't found mine yet and as such my content isn't grabbing as much attention.
My advice
Don't give up, persevere and if you enjoy it keep doing it.
Going Viral is the holy grail of any YouTuber but it's not guaranteed. If you make content you enjoy making then that will come across and people will enjoy watching it. I wasn't enjoying it and I think that came across in my content.
Make time to interact with the community.
Whether it's a community like YTTalk or a community of your own fans, make time for them. This is I think the biggest mistake I have made this time round. I spent so much time on the content and not enough time on the community.