Bootcamp Alum Ashley Klaty Shares Her Journey from Zero to 50k YouTube Subscribers: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 152
“You can always learn and benefit in some way from something.”
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What does it really look like to go from 0 to 50k subscribers in 4 years? Between competing against many top channels in a tough niche, finding ideas that convert into views and building loyal relationships with complete strangers, what does it take to carve out a name for yourself on YouTube? Beauty & lifestyle YouTuber and Bootcamp alum Ashley Klaty shares her journey growing her channel and her biggest takeaways from the Zero To Influence Bootcamp.
Ashley started on YouTube in 2014 just for fun. She wasn’t consistent, and she didn’t really have a clear goal. but in 2016 she fell in love with YouTube all over again and decided to get serious about it. She started with 2,000 subscribers and just 2 years later she is close to 50,000 subscribers. She didn’t do it by coincidence though.
“Typically, if there are around 10 videos on a product, I scratch it… at that point, it doesn’t stand a chance.”
How did Ashley do it? She learned all she could from the Zero To Influence Bootcamp course and community and used those insights to level up her channel. Ashley is a full-time photographer living in Kansas and she has the drive to inspire women to love themselves by freeing all the expectations placed upon them and to pursue a life full of happiness.
“I like to go off what my subscribers are telling me because if they’re excited it usually means other people are too.”
5 Key Interview Takeaways
- Consider increasing your post frequency. Ashley said that when she got serious about growing her channel, she pushed herself to release multiple episodes a week. Maintaining that higher frequency was one of the biggest shifts that led to her channel’s growth. It might be a stretch now but putting more great content in front of your audience can only be a good thing for you.
- Level up your thumbnail game. This is one piece of advice that has kept coming up these pasts few weeks, so it goes to show how key it is for your growth. Most times, the thumbnail is all someone will see to decide if they will watch your video or move on. Ashley wasn’t putting much effort on them in the beginning, and that kept her channel small. But when she unlocked the benefits of having fun text, expressive people and clean backgrounds in her thumbnails… BOOM!
- Keep your eye on the trends. You may not be in the beauty space like Ashley, but this advice is great no matter your niche. By Ashley getting in on trends the second they emerged, she was able to release content before bigger YouTubers. That put her in the first set of search results which then gave her a spike in views and subscribers each time. Keep your fingers on the pulse of your industry and be ready to pounce and share your perspective.
- Ask your core audience to give you recommendations. While you want to make content that speaks to you and inspires you, keeping your ears open to your market is crucial. Your market determines if your videos are objectively good, your growth and almost everything else. So, create some outlets for them to reach out to you. For Ashley it’s Instagram and Snapchat – yours might be something different. Whatever you choose, don’t neglect to keep a channel open between you and your audience.
- Your difference is your advantage. Brands are looking for unique perspectives because unique perspectives equal an untapped segment of the market. If you live in an unusual location or you’ve had interesting and unusual life experiences, those differences are valuable – both to your audience and to brands. Play on those differences as best and as often as you can in your videos. Be your full self and show the world your unique perspective.
Resources
The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 119: An Inside Look into How Youtuber Emzotic Grew from 1,000 Subscribers to 300k in Less Than 8 Months – Part 1
The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 120: An Inside Look into How Youtuber Emzotic Grew from 1,000 Subscribers to 300k in Less Than 8 Months – Part 2
Add your name to the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
My favorite free SEO tool for YouTube: TubeBuddy
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PR Guide: How to Get onto PR Lists and Get Lots of Free Product
Getting Started on YouTube: The #1 Downloaded Free Niche Discovery Workbook
Connect with Ashley
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Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
