Why Your YouTube Channel Stays Small (and How to Fix It)

I've got something for you today that might sound too simple to work. But stick with me, because what I'm about to share is the exact system I used to take a small dog rescue channel from zero to millions of views in just over a year.

And here's the part that'll surprise you: we didn't use any hacks. No shorts spam. No clickbait. Just a simple three-part framework that works every single time.

You know what kills me? Watching creators grind for months, uploading video after video, wondering why nothing's working. They're out there making content about whatever feels right in the moment, hoping something sticks.

That's not a strategy. That's throwing spaghetti at the wall. I was there as well early in my career. Don’t worry.

Small channels don't grow because they're making random videos instead of building a system.

When I started working with The Golden Kobe Family in October 2024, they had the passion and the proof that it could work in terms of growing viewership. JJ and Ella were rescuing anxious, forgotten dogs and rehabilitating them in their home. They had the content. They had the mission. But they didn't have the system. So we implemented it. We also refined several aspects of both the packaging and the storytelling.

Now? Hundreds of thousands of superfans. Millions of views every single month. Hundreds of thousands in revenue, with significant year-over-year growth. And it all came down to implementing three specific parts of a framework I've used for over a decade.

Before we get into the system, you need to understand something about JJ and Ella. They're not just making dog videos. They're living with rescue dogs 24/7 until those dogs get adopted. They're passionate about rehabilitation. They know more about anxious dog behavior than most trainers.

That's their unfair advantage.

And you have one too, even if you don't see it yet. Maybe you've spent 10,000 hours playing The Sims. Maybe you've been obsessed with a specific game, hobby, or skill that feels like wasted time. It's not. You know more about that thing than 99.9% of people in the world.

The first lesson isn't about tactics. It's about choosing something you're absolutely passionate about, because passion is the only thing that'll keep you going when growth is slow.

If you're not making videos about something you genuinely love, you'll quit before you make it. I've seen it happen hundreds of times.

Here's what most creators miss. Once you have 20 or 30 videos on your channel, patterns start emerging. Some videos get meaningful views compared to others. That's not random. That's a signal.

Think of yourself as a gold digger in a massive pit of sand. When you find that first tiny clump of gold, what do you do? You dig deeper in that exact spot.

Same with YouTube. When a video does 5x your average views, there's gold in them hills. You chase it.

For The Golden Kobe Family, we noticed a pattern in their top three videos. Same concept. Same thumbnail style. Same titling approach. Different stories, but predictable packaging.

This is the key: You want to be predictable in what you offer, but novel in the story you tell.

When viewers see your new upload, they should immediately recognize it as similar to that video they loved last time. But once they click, they get a completely fresh story. This makes it easier for viewers to come back, and easier for your channel to grow a returning audience.

I built a free framework called the Viral Video Decision Tree to help with this exact step. It's what I've used for 12 years to help creators increase their chances of going viral. No strings attached, just a tool that works.

When I started working with The Golden Kobe Family, they were struggling to convert viewers into subscribers. We quadrupled their subscription rate by changing one thing.

Now, you might be thinking subscriptions don't matter anymore. And you'd be partially right. The algorithm doesn't weight subscriptions as heavily as it did five years ago. But here's what still matters: a subscription is an endorsement.

When someone subscribes, they're telling YouTube, "I want more of this." That's a massive positive signal. It tells the algorithm to show your next video to that person, which builds a returning viewer base.

And when a growing number of people return to your videos, YouTube interprets that as a signal to show your content to more new viewers.

So how did we quadruple subscriptions? We stopped disrupting the video to ask for them. Instead, we embedded the ask into the content itself. Made it lighthearted. Made it a joke. Made it feel natural instead of forced.

The difference was immediate. When you make someone laugh while asking them to subscribe, they're way more likely to actually do it. Simple, yet effective.

This is what ties everything together. Before you commit to making any video, ask yourself three questions:

Does this video help my growth goals?

Does this video help my business goals?

Does this video help my financial goals?

If you can't answer yes to at least two of these, don't make the video. This filter ensures every piece of content you create tips the scale in your favor. Not once. Not occasionally. Every single time.

This isn't a one-time thing. This is a filter you use before committing to any new video. Over time, these small decisions compound into massive results.

Stop making random videos and start building evidence. Look at your last 20 videos. Which ones performed best? What do they have in common? Double down on that pattern.

Make your subscription ask feel natural. Embed it in the content. Make it lighthearted. Don't disrupt the flow of your video.

Use the longevity filter religiously. Before you film anything, ask those three questions. If the video doesn't serve your goals, don't make it.

Find your unfair advantage. What do you know more about than most people? What could you talk about for hours without getting bored? That's your content goldmine.

The Golden Kobe Family isn't a one-off success story. I've used this same system with multiple channels in the past few years. I’ll share more about them soon if you find this helpful.

The system works. But only if you actually implement it.

Your small channel doesn't have to stay small. You just need to stop treating YouTube like a lottery and start treating it like a system. Because that's exactly what it is.

See you next week,

Leroy