I got you vidIQ for $1: vidiq.com/nateblack/ - use that to get more automated! "why is the whiteboard upside down?!" - because Pen & Gear haven't sponsored me yet, so if they want to THEN I'll turn the whiteboard right side up. haha! 😂

Many KZfaqrs are not successful because they do it for themselves, not for audience. This is the mother of all problems.

Just wanted to say thanks Nate! Your tips have helped me grow my channel from 0 to over 19,000 subs in just over two months, couldn't have done it without you!

“This is the first thing I want you to answer… What are you doing?” Well Nate, I’m actually on the toilet right now

"I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." - Kylo Ren

I have to say, Nate, I have been more excited about your content since you started this new channel. It feels a little more human and well-rounded. There's even more personality and storytelling coming through. Great job!

Intentionally is an important aspect to growth. Asking why you want growth is also a worthwhile question. When I began this journey - I just wanted to help people and share my passion for learning and technology. I’ve found that the videos that “do best” for me are those that just match this intent. Personally, for myself, I’d rather have a comment saying I helped someone more than any other metric. Oh - and thank you Nate - you’ve helped me many times over.

How I feel about a channel doing better than me many times depends on the quality of the channel. If they are doing good, creative and entertaining content I'm usually happy for them. And that kind of a channel inspires me to do better. If they are poor quality and not entertaining the usual reaction is WTF?!?! But I have also learned that many times it's not about the production quality on KZfaq. Your comment on looking at competition as collaboration is so spot on. Outside of KZfaq I have run a successful business for 20 years now. The one thing that grew my business more than anything else was when I started collaboration with my competitors. Thanks for another great video Nate!

Love this. A 5 day boot camp crammed into 12 minutes. In awe of the amount of golden nuggets you give away in your pieces, material that your collaborators try to stretch out for watch time.

Wow, this was just amazing. Thank you. I've been binging your videos all morning.

This channel is a true delight... you hv got some good solid content with an easy doable list! Just yesterday I rewrote two scripts to make them for the audience and not me....its funny we wanna go on and on to get our point through.... in another video u had mentioned that if I am taking 'x' time to explain a point then i should make it 1/4x....that was something that i needed to work on...amongst many other things! So thank you!!

I watch every video of yours Nate and your endings get me every single time! love your work man thank you

Hey Nate, this is probably the 3rd or 4th time I've watched this video, just gotta say I appreciate your perspective on competitors. That's the way I already feel about my peers in the CPA profession, but for some reason I lost sight of that when trying to build our YT channel. I love your videos, so helpful and packed with content. I jump to you straight in my feed when I see you publish something new.

I am extremely happy i found your channel! As someone starting out, this information is wonderful!

Just wanted to say thank you Nate! I binged your videos watching from Italy and you're helping me a lot grow my channel🌱 Ciaooo

These are great tips! Thanks for sharing!

As always, great value thanks Nate!! Your 12 minute video ended up a 45 minute video with the back and forth between your screen and my VidIQ dashboard :D Please never stop making how-to videos on KZfaq. The small channels really need you to figure our shit out because we are all over the place here🙈

Awwhh!💕”Collaborators” instead of “Competition”! I love your heart, Nate! 💛I’m new and I’m glad I found you!😊

Nate, you are always so helpful, clear and fun… that’s my favorite

From P24 old school days, Nate you are a legend! I am in a difficult crossroads with my channel, I don't even know what focus I want to have, it will end today

Some great gems in here Nate, thank you!

Just amazing! I love your videos Nate. This is my second attempt at KZfaq and I need as much help as i can get.

BOOM. Your correction of the word competitor hit the nail on the head. Linking arms is a great way to build each other up and grow an audience especially in the homesteading Niche.

It's actually crazy, because i have an instagram account, where literally everyone besides me in my niche is growing insanely, why I'm at the same growth for over 2 months. Even though it's not youtube, it's still crazy how much this video spoke to me

My niche is building the biggest Starship Enterprise ever built, as a physical model, it's been a passionate idea of mine since I was a kid. I genuinely love the ship and am genuinely fascinated by the idea of a crew of humans travelling into deep interstellar space on an advanced starship. I share my work and engage my audience/community. I don't get too hung up on analytics but I do give a LOT of attention to thumbnails and titles. I love it, and love showing and sharing my journey to build this ship with the Star Trek community!

This video was an eye opener! I took a look at my audience and found a flatline with my returning viewers! However, I have a lot of peaks with new viewers!! I have some work to do in that area.

💯 % You nailed it. Especially on the competitor

Another thought provoking video - Completely get what you’re saying about how to view competition. Have downloaded ClickUp and I’m trying to figure out the template. Will go back to see if you have a video about how to use it properly.😝 Thanks for offering tools!

First, thank you for the videos Nate!! great, helpful, encouraging content!! I dare to say this kinda describes my channel. I wanted to start a walking-tour-niche channel because I always loved long walks (hence the name), i quickly discovered that I enjoy way more making videos biking instead of walking. So now I feel like I stuck in-between niches lol.. but its cool. I have goals that align with how I want to grow this channel, right now I'm in Toronto but I'm planning to explore other places by foot, on a bike, or whatever. I use my skills and experiences to put everything together with ease. I am already going for walks and bike rides.. Check! in fact making these videos made me go for way more rides this winter than I normally would, so thats good too. Do I do it better than my "competitors"? Not sure if Better it the best way to describe, I do it differently I guess. And yeah it does make me feel happy, making a video riding a bike is one of my favorite activities these days. anyway enough about me, Thanks again!!

My man! This was so helpful. Thank you!

Great information, just as I expected. In my niche (and probably many other niches) there is also another important factor: Be an active part of the community! It's not only inside KZfaq. For Game Dev we have a lot of online communities and discord servers. Being an active member of them gives you a clear picture on what people need, and also makes you a famous person in your field. So I would suggest not only do your research inside KZfaq, but also be active out of KZfaq, where your potential viewers are active too.

As always, great job on this one, Nate! It's like you were reading my mind about what I was struggling with regarding my channel growth. And, like your other videos, I will definitely be watching this one again. The competitor to collaborator notion is great. This platform is big enough that there has to be room at the table for everyone.

Reviewed this a while back and I have been working on finding what I perceived to be our competition. Very helpful exercise to understand why our initial episodes might be doing so well as compared to similar small channels, who do not do nearly as well. I believe one of the voids we found to fill his high polish production and good storytelling. We know we need to get a lot better.

I can't wait to watch this! It's like you read my mind. I'm definitely feeling left behind lately, but not giving up!!

Hey Nate! It's your old roommate Brian! When I found you a while back on KZfaq, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Great stuff! Of all the KZfaq gurus, you're my go-to guy. Maybe I'm biased?

Another value-stuffed video, thanks Nate! I don't look at the top people in my niche as "competitors", but as bench marks. What do they do well that I want to emulate, and what can I improve on?

Awesome video Nate! This seriously hit home for me and I use the VidIQ for comparison to other channels in my niche but I hadnt deep dived into really taking advantage of all the functions like you had. The uncommon mindset really was useful in changing my perspective that we are all collaborators and not competitors.

I love how you brought out that we are all in this together & can work together to make KZfaq an awesome place to hang out.

I really liked your channel reviews and ROASTS! Would love to see more!

Thank you for the video! Very helpful!

Nate, your channel deserves so many subs and success... all this gurus are talking and saying nothing to inform.. your videos are super analytical!

Great advice succinctly given! You're the best Nate! I always feel inadequate when I see channels which are doing much better than mine.

OK, you got me. I came here from your other video.

thanks for this!!

Now I have homework. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Have a fantastic day. 👍

Used to make video's about streetphotography (gear), just like everyone else... Now I pivoted towards videos in which I talk to strangers, taking their portrait. Absolutely love creating this new content, it gives me so much meaning! However, KZfaq finds it hard to find a new audience. But I'll give it some time :) Thanks for all your helpful content Nate!

Wow. Nate you are so good at helping me boil things down and choose my next steps. Great job as always!

Feeling incredibly blessed by the overwhelming support I've received. May God's blessings and endless kindness be bestowed upon each one of you. Your love truly makes a difference. Thank you! 🙏💖

Thank you so much for your awesome Video and your kinde words 😇🙏. Iam new ON KZfaq and go bigger is realy hard for me. But your video helps to understand. Thank's and greetings 👋😎

Nate, I'd love to see you do a deep dive into what's working with community posts. I feel there's a lot of untapped potential there. Thanks. Love your work!

Nate love all your work, from Channel Makers to the great, well researched and informative content you're creating now. Would love you to roast, critique, or just advise my channel the next time you do a video of that nature.

It feels that way absolutely. Your video on content not landing within your audience circles has helped. Looking forward ro see what this is about

I'm always amazed how you're able to so clearly explain something that seems so complex. Thank you for another great video Nate!

Very well done! Thank you for sharing all these valuable tips and mindset shifts. 👍

This advice is great for the confident. For those that worry about their channel growth, seeing their competition growing much faster, this can be debilitating. It can also cause you to emulate what they are doing, which could take away the one thing that makes their channel unique. There is so much anxiety related to social media that I think this could just add more anxiety. But, as I said, the confident will gain much from this advice.

Thank you for this video. I always just try to improve my own content and not worry about "competitors" in that sense.

Tbh, it makes me sick to my stomach🤢 when I see someone way more successful than me, but putting in way less effort. PS. I think the biggest reason my videos suck is my microphone quality. Every time I think I’ve got it where it sounds good… I end up not liking it a week later😐🤷🏼‍♂️

I would love to hear your thoughts about my channel, I don’t really have a niche, but I have gathered a large following for what I do, how should I go about researching in my space of KZfaq?

I don’t look at other channels as competitors, instead they are motivators to help me improve my content at all times! I actually cheer for the success of other great channels on KZfaq…there’s room for us all 👍

Thanks for the advice! Keep working on your passion everyone!

I feel like I have hit a brick wall at this point...lol with little growth. I am concerned about it, but I have no plans to give up yet... I appreciate your videos, and they do motivate me to continue

This is a workshop, going to do all you mentioned and ready for growth.

new studio setup looks great Nate!

Really trying to apply all the things you teach as I try and grow my travel niche channel. It can be so disheartening when you feel like you are not growing. I wish I knew if it was me, my content or something I’ve missed in auditing channel.

Thank you for this breakdown Nate, this is SUPER helpful!

This is great 😊

I've never been the first to comment, how exciting - not being left behind this time!

Hello Mr Nate Sir, I have to say the best bit of this video is that you correctly used the word subconsciously rather than the word unconsciously that is far too often used by many other people. this is one of my pet peeves so thank you very much for not triggering me.

Thank you Johnathan this is really motivated me to do something. And by do something I signed up using your link and will do as you wisely advise. I am grateful for the help you provide. I respect you a lot. Russ

You’re literally the best KZfaq resource on the internet.

This video spoke to me as I don’t understand why some creators in my niche are doing better than others me. I want to follow the steps you lay out. However, I don’t really understand how to answer what my viewers are looking for or questions they have; other than the comments they leave to my videos. Can you elaborate on this step? Thanks.

Incredibly helpful, as always!! Thanks Nate!

Really great video, Nate! I see other creators in my art space and typically wish/hope I can get to their level one day. I find myself really happy most days that around 4K people enjoy what I do and am very grateful for them. I often forget though, that 4,000 people is still a lot of people and I'm proud to be where I am with that audience. Do I want further growth, of course! Am I still learning, of course! Do I have 'collab with more creators' on my 2024 goal board- I sure do! All this to say I think a lot of us just want to give a good experience to others who watch us, and with that the growth and audience will come. :) Boop!

The issue with my channel is that I understand my market, but my channel is a niche of a niche. Not only is it a specific card game, but I tackle the historical and Japanese side of things whereas all the big creators create more modern content and thus more useful to a wider audience within that niche.

Not going to lie that ending was "chefs kiss". Nate style as usual

I have taken a break from making any videos for the past month. I feel my number one barrier is knowing how to niche down. My channel is dedicated to horror, talking with authors, filmmakers and some review vids. A few vids take off, some flop, most somewhere in between. I fear if I niched to one focus, it would mean I would have much less content and would leave out content some viewers enjoy, and that I enjoy making. I would love a quick review, but I either come up short on live review shows and/or cannot afford a full session yet. Maybe I need multiple niched down channels? Colour me frustrated.

This video is sooooo valuable!! Thank you thank you! So, I actually have the problem of not having many direct competitors (not trying to sound cocky, my niche is just very... niche) and VID IQs competitor recommendations are all music channels rather than education channels like mine. There are a few people doing what I do, but none of them as consistently uploading or getting the same kind of current views, and when I added them to my competitors dashboard, I found that I'm seeing way more views and growth than them. But in wider YT perspective, I feel a little stagnant. I'm trying to broaden my topics, do more challenges and vlog style stuff, but they only do as well as my one-take, low edit tutorials despite being WAY more effort to make. Am I too niche to grow fast? What do you recommend?

But what if you have so little data that KZfaq tells you NONE of that? No offense but it doesnt seem to be helping at all when it displays nothing

Great video/information as usual! Thank you for your insight. Keep up the great work!

I'm not looking to be better than the "competition", even though yes, I am human, and do feel a little jealous. I just want to get better. Right now I still feel like I really don't know what the right road is to get there. I'm sort of taking a left here and a right there. Hopefully that makes sense. Another great and informative video by the way! Don't know how you do it.

ok I've not noticed this on any other channel and maybe its a new feature but did anyone else notice when Nate promoted "like the video" that the BUTTON ITSELF lit up and changed colors??! When the hell did THAT start? That's cool! it wasn't in the video, I had to go back and rewatch it to see if I saw it twice.

Great video again mate! We are a Podcast Channel primarily focused on Podcasts on burning topics but specifically those that help people self learn, develop and evolve. Our apprehension is we might be growing at a slower than usual pace due to selecting very different topics every time. Any recommendations based on your experience would be highly appreciated. TIA!

When I am comparing other channels, I also look at how old the the channel is and when their first video was published compared to mine so I can get a sense of how channel growth is over a larger time frame. Of course I want faster growth and I usually end up feeling good about how I'm doing. But I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I'm never fully satisfied with my vids 🙄🙄

Very helpful tips, thank you! I'm actually surprised we have as "many" subscribers as we have on our channel, considering we haven't really posted anything yet. Very exited for spring, and growing more! (pun intended)

Thanks for this. Would love to know your thoughts on how to do this for a smaller niche. I put three competitors up and it shows as basically not enough data, and the AI generated ones aren't people in my niche really at all. It's all weightloss and hardcore weight lifting, which isn't my channel. This is my struggle with AI in general with my niche, not enough info out there for it to be super helpful in my experience. Do you have a video on how to do this without a lot of data?

I have started a second channel, about "Dracula", because I want to publish the book Dracula myself as "The Dracula Papers", and when I did a bit of research in the book niche I was surprised to find that book review channels are really popular (not like mr Beast of course, but pretty popular) and they make very long form videos, one hour, two hour videos! Just talking head. I had no idea. This niche is never discussed on all the channels I follow.

Solid video! I really need to dive into the vidiq tools. This is my motivation. Cheers 🍻

Love the videos Nate they are super helpful in assisting my education! Keep it up! Curious, what Mic do you use?

Yea!!!! Great to see you!!!!

My views really fell off recently. I instinctively went to blame 'the algorithm' but that won't cut it this year. Need to take accountability and be more strategic with my content. This looks super helpful!

I was a little turned off by the use of “competitor” at first but then you address it. I’ve always seen it as other creators, not competition. A rising tide raises all ships. If they do better than me, they’re still being more of our audience in to the pond we’re both fishing in.

Starting to make sense now. It’s a journey and just trying our best.

Know. Thy. Audience. That’s the key.

I’m finally monetized 🎉 Thank you for your helpful tips! But what can I do to help videos that got 1-2k views the first week, but then died after that? Is there a good way to revive them?

All your videos are so interesting and inspiring. I started yt 2 months ago and I have learned so much from your videos. Thanks a lot! I nornslly get around 100views, but my last video is currently on 1,4K views!!!

I'm aiming for growth and I keep hitting set back

Hi Nate..how does this help me if I am in the entertainment/comedy sketch niche or if the content is not really searchable content, and we'd like to land more on our audience's browse page?

Good idea

Thanks for this. Learnt a lot from your channel already. 😊

I pray that people watching my niche (Law) aren't ONLY watching me. I hope people are watching lots of videos and getting as much education as they can. My peers aren't my competition, even if i use them as a growth comparison metric. I literally just finished leaving a comment on a "competitors" video answering another viewers question. Creators need to ask if they want to be a part of the KZfaq Community, or if they want to be on a KZfaq Island.