37,000 subscribers on YouTube: is it worth it?

I recently noticed that one of my YouTube channels has reached over 37,000 subscribers, and it made me think about whether having that number of subscribers is actually worthwhile. On the surface, 37,000 subscribers sounds impressive, and if someone had told me when I first started creating videos that I would eventually reach that figure, I would have been very pleased. However, after being involved in online business for many years, I have learned that the numbers we see on the screen don't always tell the full story.

I have never approached YouTube with the sole intention of accumulating as many subscribers as possible. My videos have generally been about sharing what I am learning, demonstrating things that have worked for me, talking about various online business tools and occasionally sharing things that haven't worked quite as expected. In many ways, my YouTube content has become a record of my online journey.

Sharing What You Learn

One thing I particularly like about creating videos is that you don't have to be the world's greatest expert on a subject before you can provide something useful. If I discover how to do something that I couldn't do yesterday, there is a reasonable chance that someone else is trying to solve exactly the same problem.

That experience can become a video, and the same principle applies to blogging. Perhaps you have discovered a useful tool, found a better way of carrying out a task or tried a traffic strategy that produced unexpected results. Instead of keeping that information to yourself, you can share what you learned and potentially save someone else a considerable amount of time.

Online business is continually changing, and I am continually learning. The things I am working on naturally provide ideas for videos and blog posts, particularly when I can share something from personal experience rather than simply repeating information found elsewhere.

37,000 Subscribers Didn't Arrive Overnight

It is easy to look at an established YouTube channel and assume that the owner achieved those numbers quickly. Of course, we all start in exactly the same place, with no subscribers, no views and no audience.

My 37,000 subscribers accumulated gradually over a considerable period of time. There was a point when I had my first subscriber, followed by 10, 100, 1,000 and eventually many thousands.

I think this is important for anyone starting an online business because comparison can become discouraging. Someone may have been blogging for three months and compare their traffic with a website that has existed for ten years. Likewise, a new YouTube creator might upload their first 20 videos and become disappointed because another channel in their niche has tens of thousands of subscribers.

What we don't normally see is the amount of work that went into reaching those numbers.

Subscriber Numbers Can Be Misleading

Although I am pleased to have reached 37,000 subscribers, I don't believe subscriber numbers are necessarily the best way to measure the success of a YouTube channel. A large subscriber count looks good, but the more important question is whether those subscribers are actually watching your content.

People subscribe for many different reasons. Someone might subscribe after watching one particular video and then never return. People's interests change, and some subscribers may simply stop watching that type of content. YouTube and other platforms are continually changing how they work, I do know for a fact that subscriber count isn't quite as big as it was a few years ago or even a year ago.

If I had the choice between 37,000 subscribers who rarely watched my videos and 5,000 subscribers who regularly watched, commented, visited my website and took action, I would much rather have the smaller but more engaged audience. From a business perspective, engagement and action are far more meaningful than an impressive number displayed on a channel.

My Recent Facebook Experiment

Over the past few weeks, I have been experimenting much more seriously with Facebook. As I have mentioned in some of my recent posts, Facebook isn't necessarily my favourite platform, but I don't believe personal preference should prevent us from paying attention to what the figures are telling us.

One of my recent videos received around 30 views on YouTube, while similar content uploaded directly to Facebook received around 800 views within roughly the same period. That's quite a significant difference, particularly when you consider that I have spent years building my presence on YouTube.

Does this mean I should abandon YouTube and concentrate entirely on Facebook? I don't believe so. It simply tells me that I need to keep testing and observing what happens rather than assuming something will work because it has worked in the past.

What Is The Purpose Of Creating Content?

Rather than concentrating entirely on subscribers or views, I think it is worth asking why we are creating content in the first place. In my case, videos allow me to share what I am learning, demonstrate how things work, help other people and build an online presence that can lead people back to my websites.

There is another benefit that is much harder to measure, and that is trust. When someone has watched several of your videos, they begin to understand how you think. They may have watched you explain something that worked well, but they may also have heard you talk openly about mistakes or things that didn't work as expected.

I believe genuine experience is particularly valuable today. There is an enormous amount of content being produced online, especially with the growth of artificial intelligence, but sharing personal experience gives us something that automatically generated content cannot easily reproduce.

Your Website Still Matters

Despite having over 37,000 subscribers on YouTube and recently seeing encouraging results from Facebook, I still believe strongly that our own website should remain at the centre of an online business. Social media platforms can be tremendously useful for reaching people, but ultimately we don't own YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social network.

Algorithms change, accounts can be restricted and platforms can alter their rules. I know people who have built substantial social media followings and then suddenly found themselves shut down. When your entire business depends on somebody else's platform, that creates a vulnerability that can easily be overlooked while everything is working normally.

For this reason, I prefer to use social media to reach people while continuing to build my websites and other assets that I have greater control over.

So, Are 37,000 Subscribers Worth It?

I would certainly say yes, but perhaps for different reasons than someone might initially expect. Naturally, I am grateful to everyone who has subscribed, and reaching 37,000 subscribers represents a considerable amount of time and effort. However, I don't believe the number itself is the most valuable part of the journey.

The real value comes from the videos I have created, the skills I have learned, the people I have hopefully helped and the experience I have gained along the way. YouTube has also given me another way of communicating with people who might never have discovered my websites.

If you are starting a YouTube channel and currently have 10, 50 or 100 subscribers, don't worry too much about somebody else having 37,000 or 370,000. Every established channel started at zero, and comparing the beginning of your journey with someone else's results after many years doesn't achieve very much.

I believe the better approach is to create genuinely useful content based on what you know, what you are learning and what you are experiencing. Keep producing content, learn from the results and don't become too obsessed with the headline numbers.

After all, 37,000 subscribers may look good on a YouTube channel, but what those subscribers actually do is considerably more important.

How about you? Do you use YouTube for your online business, and do you pay more attention to subscribers, views, traffic, engagement or actual conversions?

Thank you for reading.

Roy