I got a great deal of quiet satisfaction this week from reaching my 2,000th subscriber to my YouTube channel.
I uploaded my first video in March 2011 and it took from then until the third quarter of 2018 to grow my subscriber base to 1,000.
But it only took a couple of months to add an extra 1,000, which bodes well for 2019 and beyond.
I also get a great kick from the fact that I did it without any ‘expert’ help.
No digital marketing guru, no video marketing expert, no expensive equipment, no cameraman, no editor, no studio time. (I have nothing against experts; but don’t tell me, show me.)
Just me and my mobile phone and a $20 webcam purchased on Amazon.
I made all the videos myself, made mistakes, made rubbish, researched answers to questions, improved a little, Googled some more to find more answers, sought out tips, techniques on YouTube, subscribed to good Youtubers, learned from them, learned from my mistakes, learned from trial and error.
And I have loved the journey, the journey of discovery, discovery about making videos, discovery about video marketing, discovery about marketing, discovery about myself, discovery about communication, discovery about hustling and rainmaking in a digital age.
And bit by bit, step by step, gradually the videos improved, and my subscriber growth has a little bit of momentum now which should help maintain my growth rate into the future.
All the videos have been made with my mobile phone or a cheap desktop webcam and a video editing software program called ‘Camtasia’, sometimes with slides from Google Slides or Powerpoint and sometimes with just me being a ‘talking head’.
The greatest thrill, however, is being able to grow my solicitor’s business and my personal brand with the help of YouTube.
And underlying this growth is four fundamental principles I firmly believe in to grow a small business nowadays:
- There are very few gatekeepers now-that is, I can pick myself and don’t need anyone else’s permission or approval to communicate with those I try to serve.
- An attitude of “Here-I made this, you might find it useful. It’s not for everyone, but I don’t try to serve everyone, but you might find utility in it.”
- Don’t like my video/blog post? That’s fine because I will make another one (video, blog post) tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the next day, maybe you’ll find one of those useful.
- Drip by drip, bit by bit, small step by small step.
You can check out my YouTube channel here, my employment law website here, my solicitor’s website here, my small business website here.
Drip by drip.