Why Your Channel Feels “Dead” and How to Revive It  ## Metadata - Author: [[TubeTalk: Your YouTube How-To Guide]] - Full Title: Why Your Channel Feels “Dead” and How to Revive It - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/870bf4f7-29d9-4fa1-a071-d742fb31d36d ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Subscribers Aren't Views** - Subscribers do not equal views and inactivity kills channel momentum over time. - Momentum and consistent uploads drive viewership more than raw subscriber counts. Transcript: Travis We've said this before, but I'm going to say it again. Subscribers do not equal views. You can have a million subscribers if you're not uploading. At some point, your channel is going to dry up. Tori YouTube, you're in it for the long haul. So thinking about it for the long haul from the beginning is so smart. Travis Hey, welcome to the only podcast that brings you all the best things every single week, sometimes twice a week. My name is Travis, and I'm here with a very special guest, someone who's never been on before, because, you know, I like to spice things up from time to time. New member of the team here at vidIQ, Tori, how are you doing? Tori Oh, thank you for the warm welcome, Travis. I'm doing great. I'm so excited to be on the podcast. Travis We're really super excited to have you here. ([Time 0:00:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/63256114-054b-4e5c-bf7c-53f17c06510f)) - **Revived Channel Grows After Two Videos** - Travis revived a dormant niche channel with two timely videos that performed far above expectations. - He even told viewers not to subscribe and still gained 700 subscribers across two videos. Transcript: Travis I mean, I actually have some thoughts on it. It wasn't something I wanted to do. Well, it was something I was like, I kind of want to talk about it. But, you know, and after having done so many things in the pivot that were failing in a lot of ways, but I understood why. Like, I get it. Different audience. I understand. I understand. I was like, let me just do this thing, and I'll kind of subtly shout out the other stuff I'm doing while getting in the audience that I know will probably come for this content. I did not know how successful that piece of content would be. I actually just thought it would be okay. I thought maybe I get 10,000 views. Because again, I haven't uploaded anything specific in this niche for over a year. And consistently for like two or three years. Like it's been a long time. The channel was dead. It did very well. And then of course, like you're supposed to do, I followed up on it just the other day. It did very well as well. The funny thing about it is in both videos, I basically told people to not subscribe. In the second video, after people were subscribing the first video, I literally told people don't subscribe because I'm not doing this type of content anymore. I'm doing other stuff. Over two videos, I got over 700 people subscribed after telling people do not subscribe to me. ([Time 0:09:36](https://share.snipd.com/snip/49df9a06-c1e4-495b-bc87-98315ca327b2)) - **Pivot By Wedging New Topics In** - Wedging means mix what already works with the new direction to pivot without losing current viewers. - Start inserting the next topic gradually while keeping familiar formats to retain momentum. Transcript: Travis That's what I should have done. I call it wedging. Start wedging in content of the next thing. I never did that. I know to do it. I've taught people to do it for years. I was so burned out that I just cut it off. So I think that's what I'm going to do. And I'll tell you my mind, my thought process in this, because I want you to do the same amount of detail on your pivot. I want to hear your exact story. I want you to go in detail about all this. ([Time 0:11:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f7fcfd35-a960-4023-aad5-cb034855722f)) - **Use Input Goals During Pivots** - During a pivot set input goals you control like upload schedule and target audience clarity. - Avoid obsessing over analytics while the new audience builds and focus on consistent effort. Transcript: Tori So I like to set like kind of input goals through a pivot. So I was focusing on, was I really thinking through my target audience when I was crafting my videos, my new target audience that I was hoping to connect with? Was I hitting my upload schedule? Was I posting once per week? Kind of focusing more on the things I could directly control through that time period, I think is such a great way to stay focused and not kind of get lost in those like temporary wins within The analytics because they do feel so good when something works. ([Time 0:14:27](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e2321347-b88b-4dde-9946-b175c5b229c6)) - **New Fitness Channel Hits 23k Fast** - Tori launched a fitness channel and intentionally treated it as an experiment with a planned visitor journey. - Her third upload exploded to 23k views and put her halfway to monetization after only three videos. Transcript: Tori Awesome. So in the way back machine, I was a chemistry major in college. So I'm very interested in an experiment, right? I love running an experiment. And I think that's something that really excites me about the platform is that you can kind of learn and look at the data and run those experiments. So after I joined coaching, my channel, I've been running for six years, we've been through some pivots. I wanted to see how much faster I could get a channel monetized knowing kind of what I was doing, getting into it from the start. So it took me a little over two years to monetize my first channel. So that was kind of the challenge I set out. If I get really intentional about who this channel is for, what the type of content is, can I kind of fast track the process of connecting with my audience with this new channel? So I posted a video and it was kind of a, I guess, intro to the channel video, kind of laying the premise of my story in the niche and kind of setting up my background to give me a little bit Of credibility and relatability in the space. And it was a story I had never really like played around with storytelling like this. And it was another skill I was really excited to kind of start leaning into because I think it really makes a huge difference in how people respond to your content and connect with your Content. ([Time 0:20:44](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9ce237eb-650b-4e7c-b715-c9796ec0695c)) - **Design Target Videos For Bingeing** - Design each video with a target next video to create bingeable viewer journeys and trigger recommendations. - Map the logical next watch and use playlists to build strong session paths. Transcript: Travis Yeah. I talk about this a lot, actually, what I call a target video. So when you're creating a video, especially if you're, let's say, for example, you have a backlog of videos that exist already. I always preach like when you're creating a new video, what's your target video? Where are you sending people to? What is the thing that they will make sense to watch after the video you're making? Like what makes sense? And that's how you get binge sessions. And that's how people come in and you get recommendations on it. So exactly what you're saying is exactly it. You're doing it from the other side of the fence, which is I don't have any of the backlog. I need to make it now. But the concept is exactly the same. ([Time 0:25:10](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a89ac2ba-3196-4e77-bb72-b76b0e78014d)) - **Plan First Videos As A Journey** - Before launching, plan your first 8–10 videos as a connected viewer journey that tells a larger story. - Use those videos to form playlists and a repeatable format that supports discoverability and retention. Transcript: Tori When I want someone to fall onto my channel, I don't want them to just watch one video and pop onto another. I want to create an experience that someone can really get deep into with me. So think through how your first few videos are telling a bigger story for the channel, how they're working together, what problems you're solving, what playlists you want to start Building from the beginning, because that's already going to set you up strategically to be hitting that repetitious format, which is also going to help you from a growth perspective. So I would sit down and until you have those first eight to 10 videos planned out and working together to tell a larger story, I wouldn't even touch my computer unless you do your brainstorming On a computer. But I wouldn't touch YouTube. I would really just think who you're trying to connect with and the story that you're trying to tell to them at a larger scale, not on a video by video basis. I think that's what set this channel up for that initial growth, because that first video didn't pop off until the third video went up. But now they're all able to support each other and work really well together. ([Time 0:27:32](https://share.snipd.com/snip/484b6e0b-f239-420b-b0d9-08261c143d27)) - **Rip The Band‑Aid: Start Fresh If Needed** - If your channel has pivoted wildly and lacks consistent data, start a fresh focused channel rather than muddling one identity. - Keep the old channel for experiments and build predictable viewer data on the new focused channel. Transcript: Tori I was going to say this is a creator after my own heart. I'm definitely an ADHD creator myself. I love getting excited about new random things and I love good side quest. So I would say just because this channel has pivoted so much already, there's probably so much funky data going on behind the scenes on who your viewer should be. Just because, I mean, if you think about it from like a TV show perspective, the consistency in like the type of content works because like on Mondays, I watch The Bachelor. And every Monday, I sit down and I expect a certain type of format from my episode of The Bachelor. And if they were to put something else on TV on Monday in that time slot, the way that that would throw my week off, I can't even explain it to you. Oh, my gosh. So I always try and think of content like from the viewer perspective. Like if you can create that repetition, people are going to show up every week and they get excited about expecting that format. And if you throw them something totally different, they might not be interested in at all. And then slowly over time, they're going to stop checking in. So I would probably in this situation, just rip off the bandaid and start a new channel and try and start it with a little bit more focus this time. And then if you want to go on a side quest, do it on the other channel, just for funsies. That way you are building really consistent viewer data and the algorithm is going to really start working with you because it understands the type of content that you're making and Exactly who they should put it in front of. Yeah. ([Time 0:32:28](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4a52ab18-8947-412b-b939-3186dc6e5ce0)) - **Right Viewers Beat Big View Counts** - You don't need massive views if you attract the right viewers; niche channels can convert leads effectively. - Targeting the correct audience can create substantial business results even from low view counts. Transcript: Travis I don't, I don't need any more. And I remember looking at his views and they were up to like 300 or something. He goes, we've done so much more business that I can't even, I can't even do anymore. Like I can't even, if we got more views, I'd be in trouble because he'd have to hire people. And that's the thing he didn't want to do. So just by doing that little bit, because we focused on the right viewers, we didn't focus on more views. We focused on the right viewers. And he got so many of the right viewers that he was overwhelmed with business, which was great. It was the best kind of goodbye I've ever had from a creator. He was so happy, so excited. He's like, I got it now. Thank you so much. And it's so funny to be like, this guy graduated from coaching with 300 views per video. He was fine with it. He was more than fine with it because he was making a lot more money than people to make 10 times that on YouTube videos. Tori Well, and that's why it's so important to design your strategy with your goal in mind. ([Time 0:36:54](https://share.snipd.com/snip/93c15b4d-d084-4773-a8c8-53b07a0ebb60)) - **Search vs. Recommendation Dynamics** - Most views come from YouTube recommendations, not search, so format influences discovery differently. - Search is intent-driven and favors concise, task-focused content for evergreen value. Transcript: Travis And remember that SEO is, let's break that down a little bit, search engine optimization, which means when people search for something. Now, immediately, the first thing I always tell people is remember what that means, because it's not the same. So 70% of all views on YouTube actually come from the recommendation engine, not search. Search is an intention, and it's so important to understand what that means. If you're making search-related content, get to the point much faster, because that's what people want. If I'm looking at how to tie a tie, I got 10 minutes to get it, get my tie tied on before I got to get out of this house. I'm not looking for an hour long video about how to tie a tie. I'm gonna need you to keep it under two minutes, right? Tori Yeah. Travis And I'm probably not going to subscribe, because I need to get out of this house. I'm not even going to remember who you are. That's SEO. That's search-based. That's intention-based. Nothing wrong with that. And as a matter of fact, you can build a business off that because maybe in that Thai video, I go, I actually like that Thai. Once I want to buy that. Oh, there's a link in the description. Boom, affiliate sale. Like there's good stuff to be had from search. But, you know, explosive growth doesn't tend to happen from search unless it's a news related thing. Search has meant what they call evergreen. It's actually tied with evergreen, right? So you get views over a long period of time. ([Time 0:40:42](https://share.snipd.com/snip/88aa6926-a11b-43a8-b11a-5267864ba0f1)) - **Publish More, Plan Less** - Stop overplanning and publish more to find your voice; iterate from real uploads rather than hypotheticals. - Authentic, imperfect videos help you connect faster and accelerate learning. Transcript: Tori Okay. This is going to sound contrary to everything I've said so far. I want to hear it. Let's hear it. Stop planning so much. I feel like I held myself back a lot, especially in early days, overthinking things a little bit too much, how I was showing up, how I was speaking. And I think it almost kind of deterred people from connecting with me because I wasn't being authentic. I was like really overthinking how I was showing up. It kind of kept me from making more content, connecting with people and finding my voice faster because I was so worried. Yeah. Yeah. Travis Being overly strategic. Yeah. Tori I'm an overthinker for sure. So I would go back and tell her to just make some videos and she can do the overthinking later. ([Time 0:48:00](https://share.snipd.com/snip/566ce3e5-d139-4795-81ef-a877a08cebc1))