What if your YouTube channel flatlined?

G’day warriors, ⚔️

After a hard needed two-week break - I’m back. And how!

Some crazy big things are happening currently, I can’t tell you everything yet, but what I can say is that Leander (also known as the creator behind Justicul and Ideation Class) and I are soon announcing our Accelerator called Ideation University.

An 8-week curriculum that will teach you everything you need to know to succeed on YouTube.

I am super f** excited to get this adventure started after only working with clients for years and getting some insane results along the way.

This doesn’t mean I stop working with clients though, so if my clients read this; do not worry. 👀

New, improved mini-course coming.

Lastly, a LOT of DMs over the past months and tweets were about how to improve retention/become a better scriptwriter.

So, I am releasing a mini-course on it soon. An affordable, 1 hour max. video course that will help you create better stories based on my years of experience.

If you have any specifics you would like me to cover in this mini-course, please do let me know! Keep an eye on my X profile for more news on this this week.

Now, let’s get into what you clicked for today. 🤝

My YouTube channel isn’t growing anymore, what now?

I get it. I’ve been there many times before. You have this amazing growth, and all of a sudden:

Silence.

You upload a video, and it’s a 10/10.

Can happen right? It doesn't phase you that much, and you just keep uploading.

But then.. it happens multiple times in a row.

What the heck is going on!?

This is when panic sets in, and you overthink everything.

But let me tell you, this is pretty normal and happens all the time.

I had it happen to me with my channels, I saw it happen with clients, and lastly with friends that run multiple channels.

So, the first thing to do:

Do not panic.

Let’s understand how YouTube channels tend to work.

Most people who think about success and growth, think of something like this:

But, in reality, success on a platform like YouTube, looks something more like this:

A YouTube channel goes through this thing called cycles.

These cycles happen because of a myriad of reasons, and I want to talk to you about the number one reason why channels flatline.

Viewer fatigue

Let’s say you have been uploading the same format concept for the past months. It grew your channel like CRAZY, but all of a sudden:

crickets.

Viewers stop watching your content.

I hate to give an example here because I feel like I am trashing someone, but for the sake of my example, I feel like I need to.

Let’s take Joshua Mayo, who was on top of the ‘‘make-money-online space’’ for quite some time. Let’s look at his peak:

And now, let’s look at the current state of his channel:

The decline in viewership is very obvious.

But, to someone like me who’s chronically on YouTube, the reason is also obvious…

He depleted his viewers.

Joshua spawned an army of minions when he was on top of the game, all making similar content to his, with similar thumbnails.

The viewer just got sick of the same old format being used over and over and over.

The trick was done. Viewers were tired.

So, how do you fix this issue?

You never rely on one format once you grow.

You see, the issue most creators face is that they make their whole success dependent on one single format. Like Joshua did.

He did not push through and introduce at least one other format to his channel that would garner a similar audience over time.

In the early growth stages of a channel, you want to rely on signals. A video did do amazing? Make a similar video.

Do that for a certain amount of time, but always keep a close eye on performance. The trick is to introduce a new succesful format once you see stability forming on your channel.

But to do that, you need to sprinkle in a similar yet different format every now and then to find the one that fits your audience.

You want to be ahead of the viewer, and not let them get fatigued because of a single format.

Let me visualize what I think a new channel should do in terms of finding different formats that work for a similar audience.

The red formats bombed in the sense of performance, the orange ones did okay, and the green ones grew the channel like crazy:

You see, I do not change the whole format itself and go from a make-money-online video to a lifestyle vlog, but I keep it within the same category, yet a somewhat different bucket. An example for Joshua could be this:

Format 1d:

6 Work From Home Side Hustles To Quit Your Job In 2024 ($500+ Per Day)

Format 1e:

The Most Profitable Investments I Made in 2023

They both are about money, only format 1e is a bit more about Joshua himself and his financial choices.

Initially, they might not perform similarly, but both format variations will start telling a story with time. Either to keep doing it or to ditch the idea.

In the graphic, we find a new winning format in the second experimental stage of the channel in ‘‘format 1f.’’

Of course, this looks different for every channel, but this does give you a sneak peek into what iterations you should be doing in the mid-term to ensure your channel doesn’t fall flat on its face for extended periods.

Your channel will have downturns. You will have bad streaks.

How long they last, depends on how good you are at the above.

Thanks for reading, now go ideate and conquer, ⚔️

Leroy

My favorite tools for winning on YouTube:

💡Ideation: 1of10.com

🖼️Thumbnail A/B testing: thumbnailtest.com

👁️See your packaging: thumbnailcheck.com

💰My FREE and PAID resources to 10X your Youtube Success!