I need the Help of the OGF! | O Gauge Forum (2024)

I have been posting holiday trains videos on YouTube now for about 6 years and they are getting better with every post. My problem is I don't seem to be doing very well at building a base of followers/Subscribers. And I don't know why. I am reaching out to the OGF to get some feedback on what I can do that will help build my base. And also, if you haven't seen my channel please check it out and let me know what you think. If you like what you see please subscribe and share.

Sorry I forgot the link.

www.youtube.com/channel/UC5MaHBeOjnAalW650IkphOw

Nice channel you have on YouTube, its well laid out with plenty of videos of what you do.
I think I will enjoy looking of what you post, keep doing what your doing and the fans will come. It takes time to get a audience and of course you have to post videos that people want to see. Good luck.
Btw I subscribed.

Dave

Thanks so much for the feedback and subscribing. I hope people that enjoy trains will like my videos and subscribe to see future posts. Do you notice I went G scale for Halloween this year. It was a lot of fun and the train set was very cool.

They channels that seem to do well (have lots of subscribers) have a similar formula.

First, they post a new video at least weekly, some more frequently than that. Second they posts variety of things from train runs, unboxings, howto’s, modeling and more.

But I agree with what’s been said. You have some very high quality content. I wouldn’t worry about growing subscribers so much. Keep having fun and going the beautiful layout work you have been. I am a substitute your channel by the way.

IMO here are some of the factors in play as far as subscribers go. From what I have seen this is what builds a subscriber base in addition to what Adam said which may or may not work in your favor.

1.a Your age. With the exception of Eric Siegel, the wunderkind You Tubers are all fairly young, and they appeal to the young.

1.b Your videos are entirely too tasteful. You need to introduce an element of the absurd like Pee Wee's Playhouse or Soupy Sales. Dinosaurs are a clear choice here.

2.a You have to develop a 'You Tube' persona and appear in all your videos at the beginning and the end at least and voice overs in spots.

2.b Present your videos like a segment of TMZ or Access Hollywood with hyped up anything. For instance on the Halloween video, you would have dressed up like a late night horror ghoul host from the 60s and been on camera acting in character.

3. Hawk product and plug a train dealer or two.

4. In your video thumb nails make click bait titles with you 'aping' to the camera with exaggerated expressions and out of proportion props such as a hugely oversized engine with captions such as 'Size Matters'

5. Promote milestones such as the 100th subscriber video.

6. Post new threads on forums announcing your latest videos, Eric Siegel, and Chris' Trains seem to be doing more of that lately. Put links to your video in your posting.

7. Collaborate with other You Tube content providers you admire or know and do tag team videos to promote one another.

8. Make outrageous statements or claims Like Howard Stern, or some of these high octane sports commentators so you are seen as an outrageous 'personality'. Exaggeration sells.

9. Sponsor contest giveaways.

10. Do product reviews and similar to Gallagher instead of smashing fruits or vegetables of various types smash (or pretend to smash), blow up or otherwise destroy train products that you say are lousy! Absurdity sells.

I am certain there are other things you could do as well.

Having said all that I agree with others, you can only be yourself and I for one would not do anything that I suggested except maybe #5, #6 or #7 in order to get more subscribers for your channel.

But truth be told, # 10 sounds like fun.

Spot on!!

I always wanted to know how people find new videos on YouTube and I’m not talking about railroading videos. I’ve been tempted to post a few videos of one of our dogs. She is a Pomchi, Pomeranian Chihuahua mix, and very animated doing dancing on hind legs, barking and twirling around especially when waiting for her food. She also happens to be rather cute with great coloring.

There is a very famous Pomchi called Boo and his owner has many videos of his dog on YouTube, written books and sells a lot of merchandise. Once when I was dropping her off for boarding some little kid came up to me asking it she was Boo. I said no but then looked him up to see what he looked like.

So, how do people find some of these videos. Do they just do a generic search or there are specific things that make the videos successful. I’d also like to know how do people make money posting videos on YouTube.

Oh and one more suggestion to increase subscribers, go to your FAVORITE train forum and ask for suggestions on how to increase your subscribers.
That seem to work pretty well.
I just subscribed to your channel.

Great advice! I think its working.... The folks at OGF are the best!

Thanks Denny. Congrats you are my 100th subscriber!!!!!!

Well, this is dangerous, but I'm going to gamble that you want the truth, not just a pat on the back.

First the good news -
You've got a great display.
Awesome trains
Neat camera work
Music & ambient sounds

Now some opinions
(and these are just opinions)

Doing a lot of the listed suggestions will most likely get you more viewers.
But it will make your video just more "click bait".
Make sure that's your goal and if so, go for it.

I would try to keep above the noise polluting most of youtube now.
List key words and phrases to attract the viewers you want.
Example: model trains, model railroads, train layouts, Christmas train layout, etc.
Just watching the train go by is a limited (and shrinking) pool of interested viewers.

You have a big display - 4x8 is a lot of space, yet, looking at your 2022 Christmas display only had one view, and seemed repetitious.
Keep your best shots (you have a lot) but add a few other views and show more areas of your 4x8.
This widens your appeal to more people.

Show off your snowmen more and add "snowmen" in your description. (as an example) to get Snowmen lovers to view, etc
More angles and views to keep the interest. Track level, higher, head on, more attention to composition with your background, etc.

We have a columnist on my website (Jim Peters) who writes a page "Show Your Village" with tons of tips that might help. Especially check out last February's "you tube video titles & tags".
There are differences between displays and layouts but there are many similarities.

Also, check out other videos and see how many views that the ones you like have accumulated.
What are they doing that you're not.

To me, the biggest decision is who do you want for viewers.
Just anyone for numbers? More targeted viewers?
Or the best case to me, make the video you like and accept the the viewers you get.
Then, aim getting the word out to that type of viewer.
How many places (like here) you can get your link posted.

The "Village Videos" page on my website has some villages with trains. Yes, this is a different point of view, but it goes to a wider chance to pick up viewers.
I hope this helps a little.
Bill

Bill. Great advice. I don't think I really considered who I want my target audience to be. I am not looking for just click bait and trying to get anyone to watch. When I first started posting I was really only interested in posting so I could share my displays with family and friends easier. I think now I feel I still want that but would also like to share with anyone else that has an interest in trains. I also think my videos are really done pretty different than most on YouTube in that they aren't the typical to scale villages. I try and go with themes and add fun music that will highlight the theme and trains. Maybe going forward just work on better titles to hit a wider audience. And continue sharing in places that I know have people with similar interests like here. I think it would probably help if I posted more often. 3 or 4 posts a year is not a lot. You gave me a lot to think about. Thanks.

It's not just the titles. Remember, when people search for something, it's the "tags" that steer them to your video. I really recommend seeing Jim's column about them.
Good luck with your efforts. Celebrate your uniqueness and do what you enjoy. The rest will fall into place.

Bill

ps. Keep in mind two distinctly separate priorities.

First, get the viewers to see your video.
Second, offer them something that interests/entertains them enough to want to see more.

They are both important but handled in very different ways.
You can't build your base without both, and they each take a lot of work to do correctly.
That's why I don't have a big youtube channel - I don't have the time to do either part well.
As the saying goes, "Viewers take a lot of work, how many do you want."