Three Methods Matt Hamlin Used to Get Over 340,000 Subscribers on YouTube

Matt Hamlin is the creator of UpIsNotJump, a gaming channel that succeeds in an overcrowded YouTube area of interest. With 340,000+ followers, Matt is somebody who is aware of how one can get subscribers on YouTube. His success, nonetheless, didn’t occur in a single day. The channel’s viability is a direct results of three years of doubt, perseverance, and strategic decision-making.

Three years in the past, he was a “pencil pushing” workplace employee who felt stifled in his position. (Each figuratively and actually—he finally stop as a result of his supervisor wouldn’t let him use a desk fan!). It wasn’t actually concerning the fan, although. He hated that each choice on the workplace was topic to 1 query: What would individuals assume? Leaving was much less concerning the fan and extra about reclaiming his creativity.

However the second he left his snug, consistently-paying job, the stress was on. He moved dwelling, lived off financial savings, and kicked off an experiment he wanted to work: his very personal gaming YouTube channel.

Methods to Get Subscribers on YouTube

Between YouTube adverts and Patreon revenue, Matt Hamlin not wants an workplace job. As a substitute, he focuses on making movies for his viewers of 345,000 subscribers. On this article, he shares the strategies and methods he used to construct (and hold) an viewers that might help him financially.

1. Create One thing You Can Promote

Matt’s first 12 months of making movies was tough. He made a number of movies in highschool, however he didn’t actually know what he was doing. He spent hours creating one of the best content material he might, modeling it after what he noticed different creators doing.

However because it seems, modeling himself after different creators was precisely the flawed factor to do. Primarily based on different profitable creators, he thought he ought to make recreation commentaries and ‘Let’s Play’ fashion content material (during which avid gamers play by means of a recreation whereas commenting on the gameplay for viewers, typically in a humorous or informative method).

The outcome? His channel was nearly invisible to the general public. He couldn’t observe the success of different gaming video creators by imitating what they did after they grew to become profitable. Their affect and recognition meant their content material would appeal to all of the visitors for his or her area of interest. He needed to do one thing authentic earlier than he might ever consider gaining traction with commentaries (which, now that he has a subscriber base, he does efficiently).

In mid-2016, a 12 months into his YouTube undertaking, Matt switched focus. He began remaking film trailers and well-liked present scenes shot-for-shot from inside video games like Fallout Four and Skyrim utilizing mods and a bit creativity. The trailers have been rather more profitable than his commentaries. Why?

• Film trailer remakes have been present. Individuals have been excited a couple of new film popping out and needed extra content material to carry them over till the movie’s launch.
• Recreated trailers (with Matt’s personal particular twist, after all) have been distinctive. Just one or two creators have been doing them when Matt began.
• He made certain to spend extra effort and time on creating high quality trailers than anybody else.

Embedded content material: https://www.youtube.com/embed/EBnqrfMirnQ

The trailer Matt created for Captain America: Civil Warfare was a breakthrough in getting views.

It wasn’t simple. One trailer took Matt 50–60 hrs to create on common. That’s why different creators gave up. However as a result of he put a lot effort into a top quality providing that nobody else supplied, he was in a position to get traction with media and in social channels (extra on that in elements 2 and three under).

“It took three days to make the Captain America video. I didn’t cease working for 2 days. I stayed up all evening twice. I used to be determined as a result of I simply didn’t wish to return to my workplace the place I can’t have a fan,” Matt laughed.

The purpose of this part isn’t to say that it’s best to exit and shoot film trailers in video games. It’s to say: how will you separate your work from the group? What might you try this media channels may choose up, or that might pattern on socials?

Not the whole lot you create will likely be successful—it took a 12 months and a half earlier than Matt’s film trailer technique garnered sufficient subscribers for him to do opinions and commentaries once more. However as a result of the trailers have been present, distinctive, and top quality, they have been promotable. And profitable promotion meant that Matt’s channel grew.

2. Promote Your Work to Media in Your Area of interest

Matt’s rule of thumb for promotion was to spend a minimum of one, full day selling every video he created. “The period of time I’d spend selling a video was (within the early days) extra necessary than the time I spent on the video. As a result of if nobody watched it, I didn’t develop,” he recalled.

He believes most creators don’t emphasize promotion sufficient; even he didn’t understand its significance initially. “I believed if I made one thing good, everybody would watch it.And that’s true to a really small extent—should you make one thing superb, individuals may see it even should you don’t advertise. But it surely’s actually about promotion, particularly these days. Ten years in the past once I was making movies in highschool, I by no means promoted them in any respect, and they’d get extra views than the movies I used to be making ten years later and placing ten occasions extra effort into.”

Matt’s treatment? Attain out to journal or information firms in your area of interest with content material you assume will curiosity them (based mostly on what they’ve shared and reported on previously—do your analysis beforepitching editors and reporters). Since Matt was in gaming, he focused firms like Kotaku, Gamespot, and IGN.

Finally, it labored. For instance, a video that acquired featured on Kotaku garnered over a million views—a document for Matt on the time. The article was about his remake of some favourite Rick & Morty scenes.Right here’s the word-for-word pitch he despatched to the editor who shared his video:

“Hey (identify),

I completely love the web site, and all of your posts on Fallout 4!

I’m simply emailing a couple of video I believe you want to see. Rick and Morty is among the best exhibits on TV, so I’ve used Fallout 4’s character customisation instrument to remake all of the characters, then re-film the funniest scenes from the present as precisely as attainable.

You possibly can see it right here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6znkK4in3Wo

Thanks!

Matt Hamlin”

His pitch labored as a result of it was concise (lengthy pitches are likely to lose consideration), clear (it was simple to know what he did), and related (he selected a subject that ought to curiosity Kotaku’s readers). Plus, he threw in a bit flattery firstly simply in case it will assist.

3. Faucet the Superior Energy of GIFs (and Reddit)

Matt was extraordinarily motivated to make his channel work, and that resulted in some inventive advertising. He tried to make use of Reddit to share his movies at first and does NOT suggest the technique to beginner channel house owners.

“After I began, I didn’t know what I used to be doing and I used to be selling movies that weren’t excellent, so that they acquired a really dangerous response on Reddit. However as I began to enhance, individuals truly have been fairly blissful concerning the posts,” he shared.

Reddit is barely a great advertising channel should you’re creating high-quality work, then sharing it in a subreddit the place individuals discover worth in what you do. A few of his later work truly trended on the entrance web page of Reddit—however not earlier than his earlier work was eviscerated.

The most effective approach he discovered for sharing his work on Reddit was creating 10 second GIFs of the funniest elements of his movies. He’d put up them on Imgur and share them on Reddit and acquired many extra views (from each platforms) consequently.

For instance, when he made a video of Bob Ross in Fallout 4, the GIF he manufactured from it was seen over two million occasions on Imgur.

A GIF from Matt’s Bob Ross Fallout Four video.

GIF can act as a mini-trailer on your work. Matt recommends making the textual content actually ‘pop.’ In any other case, viewers gained’t perceive the purpose and your efforts will go to waste. It’s additionally necessary to decide on scenes that can entertain viewers or pique their curiosity—if the GIF isn’t fascinating and shareable, it gained’t drive visitors the way in which you want.

Matt’s Outcomes: Views, Subscribers, & Patrons

To place his promotion efforts into context, Matt shared the quarterly progress of his channel views and subscribers over time.

Matt’s channel progress in 2016 was sluggish however regular, experiencing a gradual enhance after he carried out film trailer remakes. It wasn’t till mid-2017 that his view depend crossed 2 million per quarter. That progress peaked in early 2018, which is when he resumed making commentaries and opinions of video games (versus making extra trailers).

If the trailers have been working, why would he cease making them? There are two important causes: first, he prefers making commentaries and opinions. He’s blissful to be utilizing his personal audio once more and relying extra on his personal creativity. Second, he realized that his movies have larger engagement (and extra patrons) now that he’s doing commentaries, partly as a result of it permits him to be extra interactive along with his viewers.

His favourite solution to measure engagement is by the ratio of ‘likes’ a video will get to the variety of views it gathers.A lot of his trailer movies could be within the 1%–2.5% likes vary. Considered one of his current commentary movies, then again, acquired ~25,000 likes over 500,000 views.That places it at 5% likes. It’s a 2x enchancment over his finest earlier movies. And, that enhance went hand-in-hand with elevated pledges on Patreon.

It took him over a 12 months of creating movies (and eight months of being on the platform) earlier than he acquired even one patron. Two years in, he was making $200-$300 on Patreon. Now, three years in, he’s making $1,500/mo on Patreon. That income—plus the (sadly not as massive as you may assume) advert income he will get from movies—is sufficient to help his life in London.

It’s gotten to the purpose the place he doesn’t really feel the necessity to promote himself anymore: as an alternative, he focuses on making his content material higher and higher. He performed the long-term recreation in rising his channel and gained.