I started uploading videos on Youtube in October 2010, and I'm writing this post in April 2026 (but posted it in May 2026), which means it has now been more than 15 years. And after creating contents on Youtube for 15 years, I am still not too far from where I started.
There was no MrBeast when I started making videos for Youtube. Forget about MrBeast, even Pewdiepie uploaded his first video a week after my first video. And there were hardly a handful of channels with a million subscribers. So, basically, competition was not an actual problem. And I could have grown my channel to one of the biggest Youtube channels in first 5 years. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. In last 15 years, I gained only 13000 subscribers with around 4 million total views on the channel. But why? Why did I not succeed even after making more than 600 videos?
Here are the reasons:
1. No Niche
When you upload your first video on Youtube, you might not be sure of what kind of content you want to keep creating. However, once you make 20 to 30 videos OR once you have 500 to 1000 subscribers, you should be clear about what type of content you want to go ahead with. Otherwise, you’ll keep uploading random videos which will slow down your growth.
And, that’s what happened to me. Since I had too many interests, I started uploading all types of videos - Singing videos, dance videos, acting videos, parody songs, tutorials and more. That wouldn’t be a bad thing if it was just for my first 20 videos. But I kept doing it for 15 years. And when you keep trying to make content for everyone, you end up reaching no one.
2. Focus on money
Making a good amount of money from Youtube takes a long time. And it takes even longer when you focus on money rather than focusing on making your content better.
When I found out that I could earn money by posting videos on Youtube, I kept making more and more videos. I even started getting good views, and I could notice that the videos were generating some revenue as well. But things turned worse when I found out about CPM or Cost per Mille. CPM is what advertisers are ready to pay per 1000 ad impressions. Back then, there was no RPM which is more accurate in terms of how much you are earning from a specific video. Anyways, once I knew about CPM, I started searching for the niches with best CPM. I saw that the CPM for content related to finance, technology and business was almost 10 to 15 times higher than the CPM for entertainment-based content. So, I started making informative and educational videos as well. It took even worse turn when I came to know that content watched in the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom generated way more revenue compared to those being watched in Asian countries. So, I shifted from making videos for local audience to making videos for global audience, especially English-speaking countries.
This forced me to make videos on subjects that I was not familiar with, which led to fewer videos, less consistency and worse, I wasn’t making videos on the topics that I was actually passionate about.
For sure, those videos generated higher revenue per view but the views were really low. And also, I ended up uploading less frequently, which led to low views, fewer subscribers and less revenue.
3. Low Quality Videos
Since I had no specific niche and since I was focusing on higher CPM rather than focusing on what I really was passionate about, the quality of my videos couldn’t get better with time. By quality, I don’t just mean the audio-visual quality. I was not seeing any improvement in overall quality of my content. I started with singing videos, and continued with some funny videos. And then came the parody songs. One of my parody songs even got more than 100 thousand views when I had just around a thousand subscribers. That should have triggered me to create similar content to get more views and gain more subscribers. However, even after getting my channel monetized, I didn’t focus on making those types of content. It was because the CPM for those types of content was so low, and I wanted to make more money from my videos. That shift of focus killed my creativity and eventually led to low quality content. I could see that the videos targeted to the global audience were not doing good and the quality of the content in those videos were not actually good enough to be liked by the global audience. And I started seeing my channel grow way slower thant I was expecting.
4. My Shyness
I started my Youtube channel uploading singing videos and funny videos where I showed my face. Though I have been a very shy person, I’m not completely camera-shy. I feel much comfortable facing a camera than facing real people. So, I was feeling good about recording videos and uploading them on Youtube. After a couple of years of making videos, my channel started gaining traction. At first, I was very happy about it. But then the shyness in me kicked in. Back then, getting more than 100k views on a video was not an ordinary thing. And after getting lots of views on my videos, to my surprise, some people started noticing me. But instead of feeling good, I felt awkward. I wanted to show my skills and talent on the internet. At the same time, I didn’t want to be famous.
So, I started focusing on faceless videos - especially, tutorial videos. And as I mentioned earlier, I wasn’t sticking to one niche. So, I was trying to make tutorials on every kind of software applications. That made me spend more time on learning a lot of different apps, which ultimately made me take a long time to post a single video. I was even offered some opportunities to show my face and share my thoughts. But I felt nervous and awkward. And I refused those offers.
I continued making videos on random topics and at random intervals. As a result, my channel kept slowing down.
5. Consistency
If I had said at the very beginning of the video that you need consistency to be a successful Youtuber, you wouldn’t take my words seriously. But now, I can tell you that consistency is what makes you successful.
I was not able to stick to a single niche. I was focusing on generating revenue rather than doing what I was good at. I was making low quality videos. And I was too shy to continue doing what I was able to do. This eventually led to inconsistency.
I have uploaded more than 600 videos on my Youtube channel so far. And that sounds a lot. But if you compare the number of videos with the number of years, it’s not a lot. If I had uploaded 2 videos a week consistently, I would have uploaded more than 1500 videos so far. And if I wasn’t too shy to vlog everyday, I would have more than 4000 videos on my channel by now. Or if I had stuck to a niche and focused on making quality content, I would have at least 15 to 20 videos with over a million views. And since I was not able to maintain consistency, I couldn’t make enough money to quit my job. So, I had to make Youtube just a part-time thing. Because of that, I couldn’t be a full-time youtuber even after 15 years.
So, if you are about to start a Youtube channel, don’t think about monetizing your channel right away. Give yourself a year to try different types of content, to figure out what type of content really makes you satisfied, to analyze what videos your viewers are really liking, and to decide what niche you really want to stick to. If you have too many interests, make content around one topic but try to incorporate all other interests and skills in that content. That way you’ll not regret in what you are doing. However, that takes a long time and a lot of effort.
If you are lucky or if you have some kind of unfair advantage, then your channel will blow up in a few months. Otherwise, running a successful Youtube channel is a long-term project. So, give all your efforts, be consistent and focus on the content itself rather than how much you can earn from your content. And, I’m saying this from 15 years of my experience.
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