When I was starting out and trying to figure out how to get people to subscribe to my channel I struggled a lot and it took me some time to learn how to actually do it.

I did my research and came up with ten principles that guide the way of any beginner that wants to make a career on the platform or find any type of success making awesome videos.

So, how do you get your first 100 subscribers on YouTube?

1. Content Comes First

Although this is a rule you should apply for your entire YouTube career at first it is incredibly relevant to stick to it and leverage it to the maximum possible standard.

Your content speaks for itself if you provide great value with it, make useful videos and help people out.

Whether you distract them from their daily grind with comedy or you want to compress quality information in a 5-minute video you have to always remember that Content is King.

Much more so if your camera or general settings are not that good at first, which often happens when starting a YouTube channel as a total newbie.

Focus on doing a thorough research, write a good script and divide it into small paragraphs that you can remember and rehearse before every take, keep it simple and don´t get too fancy when it´s time to edit.

Practice makes perfect!

Curious Fact! The most effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) technique to increase traffic, revenue, and engagement on an audience is content creation, by more than 400%! (source)

2. Personalize Your Brand

Whether is a personal brand or you want to focus attention on your company/business it doesn´t matter. If you are the one that is facing the camera that´s whom people will relate to.

Designing your brand is very much attached to you as a person, as an individual, as a human being.

Being yourself and trying to evoke absolute authenticity when pouring your content out online is a big part of differentiating yourself from the rest and making your enterprise more memorable and attractive for people to come back and/or subscribe.

Now, if you want to know how to actually design a brand with a beautiful look then keep reading, we´ll talk more about later.

With millions of subscribers around the globe, Tyler Oakley is a good example of proper branding, check out his channel design, the way he keeps consistency and how communicates with his audience.

Here are a few tips you should follow if you want to create a brand out from your content and delivery.

• Stay congruent – It is important that, at some level, people know what to expect from you, how you keep the same message, principles, and values throughout your entire channel, as with each and every video you make.
• Trust is the first asset – Always be respectful with your audience, they have enough trust in you that they´ve given you their time and attention, don´t ever take them for granted.
• It takes real work – Yes! You´ll have to put in the hours and effort if you want to really stand out, a usually underrated skill all of us have.
• Have a mission – Crafting a well-thought vision for yourself and a message you want to stand by with your channel makes everything clearer and helps others relate to you as a leader.

“No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

PRO TIP! Customize your about tab, that´s is the section where many people will click on to learn more about you and your channel. 

Take a look at how Tim Schmoyer, who is officially certified by YouTube in Audience Growth, presents his channel to the world.

3. It´s All About Consistency

Depending on who you ask “consistency” could mean multiple things. At least two of them are key to a channel´s success.

A consistent format is pretty important if you want to build up a brand and be identifiable. It also helps to keep working on the same skills but getting better at it with time.

It could also be related to having the same segments, the same person facing the camera, the opening sequence, even the same and consistent taglines.

Good examples you´ll find are Equals Three, Man vs. Pin, Good Mythical Morning, just to name a few.

On the other hand, you have to have a consistent schedule.

By doing that you´ll create a sense of expectation and anticipation in your audience by keeping, and even promoting with your videos, when do you post new content.

One great thing that could help with this is that you schedule a few videos for the next couple of weeks.

In fact, there´s a section in the creator´s studio workspace that lets you do exactly that!

You´ll find is far better to keep a simpler, not so demanding routine at first till you get the hang of it, there´s a lot you´ll have to learn in the process to make it easier for yourself to have a good weekly workflow.

A nice baseline you could start from is posting once a week, one good quality video that you could record and edit without much hurry.

You have to focus on delivering the best content possible but trying to keep a consistent posting at the same time so that your audience knows they can count on you providing them value on the long-term.

A key element if you want to build a relationship with them, which you want, trust me!

4. Invite them to Join You

At first, you´ll have to literally ask people to join your tribe and be the first to follow you in this journey. Make sure to be personal and deliver your best, always.

You have to engage with your audience if you want them to do something, like subscribing to your channel. Using a call to action can only come after you´ve provided value and made them feel comfortable with your performance.

Ask people to subscribe at the end of your video, or even throughout the video as well.

The Call to Action Power

CTAs can be really effective if you know what you´re doing.

When it comes to YouTube videos there are two main resources you should rely on. The Branded Watermark, which is on the right down corner of your video where people can subscribe to your channel without stopping the video.

The second thing you should use is your Channel Trailer.

Address your audience right from the start with a crafted message that grabs their attention and summarizes what your channel is all about.

Use the TOP Formula!

• Target Audience – As I´ve said, you want to address your people in the first 5 to 10 seconds. That´s how they will know the channel is for them.
• Origin Story – Stand out with your WHY message and explain briefly why you´ve decided to create a YouTube channel.
• Pitch to Subscribe – At this point of the trailer the person watching is really close to subscribing, they just need a little push. Don´t be afraid to ask people to subscribe to your channel.

In fact, YouTube actually recommends doing exactly that!

TIP! Asking family and friends to subscribe to your channel is key to make other people interest in joining them too. If others have subscribed it makes them easier to take action.  

5. ¡See What Sticks!

One of the main advantages of starting a YouTube Channel is that you can try many different ideas and video formats to see what works and what doesn´t.

You can take advantage of it and learn a ton by making a few mistakes here and there and adjusting accordingly until you find the right path for you and your brand.

There´s no pressure yet, and you have absolute freedom to let your creativity flow!

One important thing to keep in mind is that you need to track your progress and actually monitor what´s working. So, how do you do that?

YouTube Analytics

You should use the Analytics feature inside the creator´s platform to leverage your strategy and get the best results possible.

Make sure to check out what videos are performing best and see if you could make more of them, maybe a series of videos that address the same topic, diving deep in the same subject, maybe taking a different approach.

The goal is to maximize the exposure of your content in order to get more views and possibly more subscribers.

Another great strategy you can apply is creating playlists to make a series of videos. Most people don´t know that Playlists rank too in YouTube search results.

It is one more effective way to be discovered and also increase your watch time!

PRO TIP! You can also analyze which videos are getting more subscribers to your channel and use those as your trailer channel, in case you didn´t have one yet. 

6. Optimize Your Channel

There are a few common, and not so common, things you should improve the look and ranking of your channel so it can effectively attract new viewers and increase your chances of getting to your first subscribers fast.

The 15-Second Rule

According to statistics and different studies conducted by various entities related to the Marketing, and especially video, industry you have about 15-second, best case scenario, if not less to grab someone´s attention when they click your video.

So, make sure you optimize your very first seconds by showing a fast preview of your content and summarizing kinda fast what they´re going to find in your video if they keep watching.

Then, and only then, you can roll the intro in and start the actual video.

Art Banners & Logo

Consistency in colors and format when you create your channel it´s crucial so people can identify your videos and content everytime they use the platform.

You can make a logo easily in Canva, a great free tool that provides all of the necessary features to create a beautiful design. Don´t dwell on it, keep it simple, you can always change it later or hire a professional.

One thing where design and creativity kick in is with your thumbnails.

Now, if you are not a designer or have any particular skill related to design software, again, you can use Canva to make custom thumbnails specifically for YouTube.

Just make sure to keep a consistent design in all of them so that your audience can easily find your videos when they browse through the search results or featured videos.

Utilize End Screens

End Screens are those big, clickable buttons that appear at the very end of your videos and that elicit the viewer to take a certain action, watch another video or subscribe to the channel for example.

You´ll find they increase the percentage of subscriptions significantly because they use clickables call-to-action (CTA) that do not interrupt or appear in the middle of your video, as Annotations used to do.

You can make your logo appear at the very end of your video so that people can subscribe with a single click, and if they liked your content they probably will!

Improve Watch Time

One of the bigger factors that can make your videos rank better is the length.

You should make longer videos and deliver more content to beat your competition in the search results.

YouTube is very much interested in keeping the viewer on the platform for as long as possible, the more time they spend on the platform the more likely they´ll click on an Ad.

If you find it difficult at first or you think it might compromise the quality of your content/videos then keep it short and concise, it´s always better to focus on quality over quantity.

7. Make Searchable Videos

This means you have to create content that responds to the user query.

You need to match the title and content of your videos according to the viewer search intention. This is accomplished through proper keyword research.

When trying to come up with a list of ideas for your next videos you should make them specific enough to answer successfully the keyword you were aiming for.

In other words, you should do a thorough keyword research to find topics that you´re interested in and want to talk about. 

But, how do you do that?

Well, simple, you can use the YouTube Autocomplete function by typing your main keyword and then press the space bar to see what other queries the users usually type. Like this.

Then you start by doing some more research about those sub-topics or longer keywords to see what videos appear on the first page so you can analyze how to competition looks like for that specific search.

You can do this for as long as the autocomplete feature lets you, usually the longer the keyword the easier to rank.

Try to find some gaps where you can upload a video that answers a very specific question, what´s commonly known as a longtail keyword, and then go to work!

Create awesome content to rank first on the page and get some exposure quickly, that way you´ll not have to worry by the bigger brands on YouTube that often compete for the tougher queries.

8. Engage in the Comments

Did you know that replying to comments can help you to gain more subscribers?

In YouTube also recommends doing so in order to increase audience interaction and grow a loyal fanbase.

Most successful YouTubers have found that interacting with their audience on the comment section create more engagement with the viewer and that results on greater subscription rates.

Even if you just say “Thank You!” or use a thumbs up emoji it could make the difference between a common viewer and a new fan.

One great tip you should apply when you do this is trying to commit for the first 24 to 48 hours. 

It´s been said that those first hours are the ones that could define how many views your videos will get for the most part and the way the YouTube algorithm determines how popular your content is.

Therefore, social interaction signals like comments and likes can increase your video´s ranking power, which will result in more viewers, which could improve the number of potential subscriptions.

9. Leverage With Social Media

Finally, once you´ve created a good piece of content and you´re about to upload it and share it with the world you should STOP and think.

How could you get the most engagement possible in the first 24 hours after you´ve released a new YouTube video?

You have to share it with your peers on Social Media!

Some pro YouTubers have taken this pretty far by deploying a massive social media strategy across many different platforms and accumulating that way a greater number of followers.

So, when they upload a video and share it with those communities they tend to get a sure number of views right from the start and that helps them to fill in the comments and likes section to get more engagement.

Something that´s highly valuable for YouTube.

And you might ask, how does YouTube measure the engagement of your audience?

Well, simply by considering the number of likes, comments, and shares your content has. Especially in those early hours upon release.

That´s why investing your time on a Facebook Fan Page or maybe joining some Groups that are specifically related to your niche could really help to boost your ranking and take your subs number to the next level.

Here are some of the most engaging communities to rely on.

• Pinterest boards – Create a Pinterest account and start pinning immediately! Grow your account a bit and then join niche related pinboards where you can get some traffic from your pins to your channel.
• Facebook Groups – More than a fan page Facebook Groups can have really engaged people. Make sure to provide some value and contribute to the community in some way before you ask them to watch some of your videos.
• Twitter – Grow an account, there´s not much more to it really. People will engage with you if you help them with your content.
• Snapchat – A great opportunity you should explore. Also, you might want to check out Tumblr if you want to really get into social media.
• Instagram – One good way to use this platform and combine it with Instagram is by sharing exclusive content, like behind the scene footage for example. Then, make sure you mention the link in your bio from time to time. (That´s where you´ll put your channel´s link)
• Reddit Forums – A very engaged community. Make sure you respect the rules set on the forums and try to share useful tips and information before you post any link. Maybe mentioning your channels would work better, as it´s more subtle.
• Niche Related Forums – You can dive deep in the web and find many forums that are probably related to your niche.

10. Plan for the Long Term

You NEED to realize that it takes time to be found by people in the platform and get enough views to turn some of those into subscribers and finally get to the first hundred.

As with everything else in life, at first, it´s usually the hardest.

About 30% of videos on YouTube can´t get past the 1000 views, which represents how much people quit before making the very first breakthrough on the platform.

Most great YouTubers you´ve probably heard of have been doing this for years before even getting their first substantial paychecks.

You have to make a long-term plan regarding not only your content creation strategy or how you promote your videos but also having the proper mindset from the get-go.

Focus solely on providing great value, make awesome content, perform your very best, make it a priority in your schedule, and never stop learning.

¡Some Bonus Tips!

Now that you have a better idea on how you can create a successful and more engaging YouTube channel that people can subscribe to and find great content in, it´s time to wrap up with a few more tips you might want to use.

• Creators Academy – YouTube already gives a ton of great advice for you to succeed on the platform. If you do well they do too! Make sure to follow the steps and guidelines they share for new creators and take action.
• Study the Competition – Another very effective way to improve your channel and videos is to check out what other YouTubers within your same niche are doing. How do they address their audience? How do they film and what type of content they share? What could you do to further differentiate yourself from them? How could you provide more value?
• Google Trends – It is a great tool you can utilize to find new trends that are being searched for every day and from where you can capitalize in order to get discovered. If you´re just one of the few that are posting about a trending topic and you do it well enough you´ll get some level of exposure, for sure.

Hope these tips have helped you to realize what are the most important things you need to address from the start if you want to reach those first one-hundred subscribers as soon as possible.