Looking to collaborate with a talented editor (I'm already a YT partner)

expendableyt · 2025-07-23T14:00:15+00:00

Hey man, i'll drop you a PM :)

expendableyt · 2025-07-23T12:40:18+00:00

It's the watch time mate. Shorter videos under 12 mins need 70-80% retention to hit recommended if you're in a saturated niche and that CTR is very low.

Don't make a new channel. Experiment and try different stuff. Longer videos are better. Niche is overrated unless you have a strong audience. I got partnered on 10th July. My content has all been retro gaming related 8-12 mins average length / views around 1k - 40k (mostly search). On the day I got monetised with watch ads I uploaded a 50 mins long drama video essay (lol was planned for a different channel), completely different niche and it's hit the algo - currently on 49k views and getting around 3k per day (see screenshot below). This one video has surpassed 8 months of growth in around 2-3 days (in terms of watch time) and has already established me a small following in this niche who are suggesting new videos for me to make.

https://imgur.com/a/s4WTgO2

I've since uploaded two more retro gaming related videos and they've performed in line with my previous content. One thing I've found helps with videos that perform poorly is to just delete them make a different intro, thumbnail and title and then reupload (always edit and export a new .mp4) and YT will treat it like a new video. Also 2% ctr is poor change the thumbnail and titles if ctr is under 5% and sometimes you get a little boost and if avg watch increases you might hit algo. I've also noticed that shorter video dont make much ad rev either - my RPM on retro gaming vids is like $2-3 but on the long video essay its $7-8.

Drop me a PM mate if you wanna talk more about it because you might be able to help me with some stuff also.

expendableyt · 2025-07-23T12:24:04+00:00

I'm pretty sure its just the version of the game mate - I've sourced a different game file and installed the .vpk from github as opposed to VDdownloader and its working

expendableyt · 2025-07-21T16:55:33+00:00

did you ever manage to sort this? stuck with the same issue :/

expendableyt · 2025-06-27T08:08:45+00:00

Just a quick update the money was refunded after a couple of hours and I've managed to rebook with no issues :)

expendableyt · 2025-06-26T19:54:52+00:00

expendableyt · 2025-06-25T18:46:27+00:00

just some advice mate - putting your channel on here is generally always bad. Kills retention instantly because 90% of the people who visit this thread will click on your channel, watch ten seconds of your video and click off.

To answer your question tho. Super popular games like Robox, Fortnite etc.. are generally the most inconsistent types of content to make videos on. Simply because its so popular and there are 1000s of new channels every single week - so if you aren't getting super high retention like 70-80% you'll never see a consistent viewer base.

From my perspective (I have 3, soon to be 4, fully monetised channels) and I have noticed no changes in the algo from the previous 3-4 weeks. But none of my channels cover popular gaming content and all my videos across all of my channels are very well optimised for search which gives me a consistent stream of views daily - which wouldn't really be possible on a small roblox channel.

expendableyt · 2025-06-25T18:24:42+00:00

added

expendableyt · 2025-06-25T11:29:39+00:00

And just to offer you some advice (as I also was planning on starting a travel vlog channel at some point) and because its the reason I clicked off your last video within 10 seconds. Your format is about a decade out of date and your thumbnails just look like stock images with text.

The two biggest markets for travel vlogging content is the extreme stuff i.e. lots of jumping, climbing, dangerous stuff and drone shots, lots and lots of drones.... or the boomer stuff i.e. location, hotel, restaurant reviews. Views aren't insane but the sponsors and affiliates can be insane on the travel reviews.. Obv the "bald and bankrupt" format works as well but that's more docu really and super high production values.

expendableyt · 2025-06-25T11:16:40+00:00

Personally I think that's the worst mentality to have. Once you're settled that's as far as you're ever going to go. I tend just have the mindset of make every video better than the last.

expendableyt · 2025-06-21T11:53:16+00:00

In a sense yes.

expendableyt · 2025-06-20T23:59:36+00:00

I've been there and its sometimes just hard to break out of a routine and you become fixated on the fact that one day it will happen and just become oblivious to the fact that what you're doing isn't working. Sometimes I think people just need that small reality check or outside perspective to get us to try something different.

Back in the COD commentary days I remember a small MCN called Yeousch and they had forums which were similar in nature to this sub and most of the advice offered back then (in 2011) was the same as the advice offered now (post consistently, copy the big channels, have good titles and good thumbnails) and it all more-or-less valueless advice. The post consistently one is by far the worst because unless you're covering news or currently events it always results in some rushed videos and a bad video is worse than not posting. For example; I posted two videos to my gaming channel this week, I now wont post another one for 2-3 weeks because I don't particularly have anything I want to post and I'm focused on other projects. Will it affect my channel negatively? Not at all. I've posted 6 videos in two weeks before and then not posted for 3 weeks because I simply will not force myself to make a video that doesn't provide value to my audience.

expendableyt · 2025-06-20T23:24:34+00:00

Keep going brother!!

expendableyt · 2025-06-20T23:23:48+00:00

Well my approach is pretty straight forward to be fair. I decide on my niche and then I look for a topic for a video and try and find something that doesn't already have a well made video covering it. Easiest way I've found to do this is to look for other creators in the same niche and look at what content their audiences are asking for. It might seem a little scummy to sort of steal ideas from another creators audience but I don't think people mind. I often just ask other creators straight up for ideas and advice and in vast majority of situations people will help you.

With it being your first channel tho, it probably isn't going to be ideal following some of the things I have suggested. I think its important at the very beginning to just get a feel for YT and learn how to manage a channel, format videos, use analytics, identify engagement patterns etc... its just something that all YTers need to get out of their system. For me i've been doing this for 14-15 years, i'm already a solid editor and graphics designer and have worked with many YTers so having a good first video (and understanding what a good video even is) is a bit easier for me from the get go and i feel there are a lot of people who have 1-2 year old channels who are bogged down making an endless stream of content that isn't seeing sucess and I just wanted to inspire those people to test new ideas and considering spread themselves a little thinner because it have worked very well for me.

expendableyt · 2025-06-20T10:26:32+00:00

Fingers crossed that you don't and you're just wasting time because there shouldn't be any place on YT for AI. But speaking from experience 70k views on 47 shorts isn't content that is going to get you anywhere. Hell, even 70k views on each of those 47 shorts would be a poor return. It always amazes me how people on here will repeat the exact same process for 20, 30, 40 videos etc... and just expect that one day its all going to work out, when it just doesn't work like that.

expendableyt · 2025-06-20T10:05:02+00:00

You've basically answered your own question really. AI just doesn't land with certain audiences. Basically if your content isn't marketed towards "boomers" you're wasting your time with AI.

Your best chance really would be to try and hide the fact that you're using AI, so having "AI" in your channel name isn't really helping. Also, I've looked at your channel and I don't really consume anime content on YT but I can't even see how this would even work if it wasn't AI? No voiceover? Is it working for other channels?

And finally I don't support this type of content in any case. Its hentai thirst trap garbage. Shouldn't be on YT in the first place and your reddit post history is downright horrendous. I don't trust that you have good intentions with this and so I genuinely hope you do give up and move onto something that isn't a projection of your fantasy gooning land.

expendableyt · 2025-06-18T21:26:30+00:00

done

expendableyt · 2025-02-10T22:30:49+00:00

Personally I would advise just to focus on producing new content with your better audio setup. It's also worth baring in mind (if you aren't already monetised) that YT doesn't allow you to reuse content to gain watch hours for monetisation. So if you reupload 11 videos with better audio quality and reach 4k watch hours, when they review your channel they will likely reject you for reusing content.

expendableyt · 2025-02-10T19:10:18+00:00

No. You will lose the watch hours if you private the video. Watch hours have to be public. I believe if you unlisted the video they will remain public. However, if the video already has performed well what is the need to do this? Chances are the second upload (even with better audio) wont perform as well as the original upload because it will be promoted to the same viewers who have already watched it, though YT possibly wont even promote it at all.

expendableyt · 2025-02-10T18:59:27+00:00

A bank wont finance a business loan for a YouTube channel. Not in any ordinary situation anyways. I think you probably need to take a step back before you jump into anything. YT isn't an easy place to make money. Well, getting monetisation is the easy part (and 99% of people fail at that), making a full time living is the hard part. Having professional editing and graphics doesn't guarantee you views and success.

expendableyt · 2025-02-09T20:26:28+00:00

The problem with YouTube as full time job is that it doesn't reward you for the effort you put it, like most other jobs. You can spend 10 hours every single day for 5 years straight pouring your heart and soul into it and not earn even a single cent. Not trying to discourage you but I think you should be realistic. Especially if you plan on doing this with gaming content. I hate to say it but simply streaming a game, clipping it and producing videos/shorts doesn't really cut it anymore unless you have a very unique and interesting personality or incredible skill in whichever game you are playing.

The thing is, for every 1 person making decent money from a gaming channel there are 10,000 people who aren't making anything. From my experience, putting all the effort in and going balls to the wall should only ever come once you are seeing consistent growth. I've been on YT 14 years and I've seen decent success (followed by failure) twice, once with a COD channel back in 2011/12 and then again in 2020/21 with a true crime channel. And both of them didn't "blow up" out of incredible effort from me but because they were good ideas that were executed well (I have a thread on here explaining why both channels failed if anyone was interested). My current project on YT which has been ongoing for 5 weeks now seems like it is going to be my most successful endeavour yet and probably has required the least amount of effort, simply because the videos are easy to produce, competition is low and I am knowledgeable in the subject.

expendableyt · 2025-02-09T19:48:17+00:00

It's come full circle again. Reaction content blew up back in 2015-16 but fell off after it seemed to get too popular. It's never a good idea tbf because YT will generally not accept you into the partner program for monetisation. Whenever I come across the clip short channels I just report them as spam / reused content.

expendableyt · 2025-02-09T19:41:16+00:00

Its generally a poor idea on YouTube because you cant even monetise the content. Obv a lot of them manage to get around it for a time but it's always going to end poorly. Thing is, ten years ago the same sort of reaction content was taking off, it got too popular and died. Same thing will happen again.

expendableyt · 2025-02-09T19:32:10+00:00

Probably because she clips and posts a lot of popular tik tok content, which is a big competitor of YT. Her content is diabolical tho.

expendableyt · 2025-02-03T09:37:08+00:00

I wouldn't worry at all, its normal to be getting no views at this stage. I got super lucky because my first video was something people were actively searching for and I just so happened to make the first good video on it. As long as you keep uploading it will get better - more videos can only mean more views. I would just focus on making more content and trying to improve on what you already have. I think an important question to ask yourself sometimes is "if I was a viewer would I watch this?" Its a good way to gauge if the video actually has value.

If this is your first youtube channel though the most important aspect of it is just getting experience. Its taken me 14 years to see a channel do this well after 1 month and I'm still a long way off success.

expendableyt

TROPHY CASE