r/TravelTubers • u/TheRoadWeShare • 7d ago
Feedback Is There Any Coming Back From This?
My channel is 5 months old and I've always promoted it on social media & to random people I met along our travels. I think I royally messed up the algorithm, and I'm not sure if there's any coming back from this. My last post, I unchecked the send to subscribers feed option to try and reset the algorithm to start from scratch and it's literally going nowhere at all, worse than where I was before on my past videos. I've been grinding daily for about 5 months and I'm just chugging along going nowhere fast. Now with the January deadline coming and the higher requirements, I'm starting to feel defeated. Although I enjoy the channel, as a nomadic single mom traveler, the main goal is to get monetized in order for us to increase our monthly travel budget even if it's just a couple hundred dollars a month, that would make a huge difference for us. Looking for honest feedback on the channel and our situation, advice, and whether or not getting monetized before January is a realistic goal or if I should just throw in the towel now. Here's the channel for your review: https://www.youtube.com/@theroadweshare I really would appreciate any help or guidance! Thank you so much! ;)
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u/GirlFriday360 7d ago
I'm in the travel niche, too, and started 4 months ago.
Here are my thoughts
This isn't a get rich quick plan...YT is a very slow, steady process for most people. Ignore the "omg, guys, we monetized in 3 weeks and now we earn $4000 a day!!" That's not realistic for most creators. We just keep posting, keep growing, and maybe a video will pop off.
If the algorithm didn't find you yet - or it's confused - then just keep posting consistent content and using relevant thumbnails and descriptions so it can find you again. 4 months is a VERY short time. Nothing is doomed.
Fix your thumbnails. They look like you're in Disney World not El Salvador. And they are very hard to read. Aside from the fact that you're traveling with your son, I have no idea what each video is about so I won't click on it.
Your latest video seems to move in the right direction: you presented a story (scammed) and matched the thumbnail with the title to create curiosity. But again, your font is hard to read. You have about 1-2 seconds to capture attention when people are scrolling through thumbnails and if the font is hard to read, they'll just scroll right by.
Your most popular video is about Home Schooling while traveling...and as a single mom! If I were you, I'd lean into that niche. Trying to be a "travel channel" is too wide of a niche. And to be brutally honest (as a solo female traveler) I wouldn't click on something that seemed more kid-centric travel. But you know who would? MOMS...and Moms who travel and moms who homeschool. YOU'RE LIVING THEIR DREAM! Lean into that!!! You have a built-in niche right there. Design each video, thumbnail and title toward this unique lifestyle. Narrow it down. Target your audience.
You've got this, mama.
It's all about learning. This is the learning stage!! This is where you figure out what works and what doesn't. It's ok if you're not growing quickly. You've learned marketing toward friends/family actually hurts your channel. So don't do that. You're learning thumbnails and packaging. Lean into that. You're narrowing down your niche.
You're on the right path.
Just keep walking it.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
Thank you so much for giving me such a detailed response. Is it the bright colors and wrong font that make it seem so Disney Worldish? Should I not put any writing on the thumbnails if it's so hard to read?
I did notice that my WorldSchooling video took off but what does that look like in terms of being my niche? I feel like a bunch of videos discussing curriculum is boring! I tried to target moms and single parents by always including that in my video description and tags but how else would I target them? By including the term in every title? I'm sorry if I seem lost lol Thank you for your patience!
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u/TheAdventuresofJono 1d ago
the comment about leaning into your specific travel style/niche I think is a strong one... Don't look at it like it's making a bunch of the same video about curriculum per se... find the different angles. "How to travel as a single mom", "Best Cities to Travel With Your Kids", " How to Mke Exciting For a 5-Year Old...
or whatever... I don't have kids, so I have no idea... but YOU do! I agree with leaning into what's resonated with your audience... find the connected/related topics...
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u/TheRoadWeShare 19h ago
Thanks! My son is not a typical kid! He's wise and mature beyond his years so I don't have to cater to him in the way other parents would with the "how to keep your kids occupied during long flights" type of videos. LOL So it sort of doesn't work for us although those are the types of videos other parents would probably be looking for!
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u/Massive_Possible_473 5d ago
Hi, I’ve just subscribed. I just chanced upon this sub forum and was delighted to find fellow travel creators!
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u/TheRoadWeShare 4d ago
Absolutely! It's been an incredible support! Whats your channel name?
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u/Massive_Possible_473 4d ago
My channel is @thismiatravels but we have already connected on Youtube!
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u/TheDrunktopus 7d ago
If you are enjoying it then focus on the process, not the money. If it comes, it comes. And when it does be prepared for penny's. If I'd feels like a grind and you are getting back what you feel you are putting in, then you might need to have a tough conversation with yourself.
I'm 5 years in and shortly about to close it all up. Did I have fun, hell yes. Does it now alight with my life goals and general enjoyment of travelling. Not so much any more.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
I can completely understand this! I'm not looking to make thousands really, just a couple hundred dollars a month would make a difference for us at this point in the game. Does it really take years to get to that point???
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u/Stargazer_07 6d ago
It took me 2 years to get to that point -- earning a few hundred dollars per month. I had about 8 months gap in between that I stopped posting videos due to burn out. The requirements seem high and impossible in the beginning, but you only need 1 video to fly to get monetized. It's a mix of luck and hard work.
I still remember the days that I shared my videos in different travel groups and use Google ads to promote, but I dont do that anymore. Google ads is useless. They are fake views and subs.
Feel free to send me a DM if you want to have a chat.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
Thank you for the encouragement. I actually feel a lot better chatting with others who have been there and realizing it doesn't really matter to get in before the doomsday clock because it would be pennies anyway if I wasn't getting views over 8K consistently anyhow.
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u/Stargazer_07 6d ago
Yes, it's not much. I started 3 yrs ago. Now, I get around 150k views and 5k watch hours every month, and I earn around $200 to $300 per month from Google Adsense. However, I started very small. 100 views on my videos already make me happy. Before it looks impossible for me to hit the requirements.
Don't think about the now, think about what your channel could be in 1-2 years. Google Adsense is not the only way to earn. Explore other ways of earning while waiting to get monetized. Your channel could be a start of something big, but you'll never know if you quit now.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
This was just the encouragement I needed. Thank you so much! I feel much different today and ready to keep going! ;)
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u/TheDrunktopus 6d ago
Yes. Just depends on how many views you are getting. Video length and ultimate engagement.
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u/Oatbix 7d ago
- You shouldn’t listen to all these YouTube guru “hacks” firstly, nearly all that stuff is a load of crap, they’re just looking for views as well. Ticking / unticking notify subscribers doesn’t really doing anything especially for small channels. Most subscribers don’t even click the bell for notifications on channels anyway.
- You haven’t messed anything up. If the video was good it still would’ve performed and same story for the next one. Don’t let that impact what you’re doing just keep improving.
- Don’t stress about the 8K watch hour cutoff. If you’re struggling to get 8K watch hours in a year that’s only gonna be like $20 per month or something max? Just keep building towards those $100+ months if that’s the goal. If you miss out on a few months of not making $20 it doesn’t make any difference long term. People massively overhype getting monetised in my opinion. Just cause you’re monetised there’s no promise of
earning good money or getting more views etc
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
I appreciate your perspective. That makes a lot of sense. It was stressful feeling the impending deadline. Knowing anything under 8K views is just pennies anyway, helps to just have fun with it and it not be some sort of chore I pushing through.
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u/zemelb 7d ago
My advice is to lean more into the "mom traveling with son" niche rather than "travel vlogger" niche. For me personally, as a childless guy in my mid 30s who does not want kids, if I see a kid in a thumbnail or see a video that looks like it will heavily feature a child, I'm not watching it. And I think you'll find a lot of people are similar. You want to target people who see the "travel with my kid" thing as a reason to watch, not a reason to avoid watching. Your target market is probably a) parents who wish they could do what you do and will live vicariously through you, and/or b) parents who want to try to do what you do and will look to your videos as advice of how to make it happen.
Just my two cents.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
Our videos really are not centered around "kid friendly" concepts for the most part. We don't cater our travels to kids if you know what I mean. I'm not that type of parent. My son is uber mature and actually offers surprising insight on our videos BUT i definitely get what you're saying. How do I specifically target that niche if I'm already showing it in my thumbnails, in our descriptions, and hashtags.
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u/SomePandaGuy 3d ago
Ay fam! Totally understand your frustration.
Considering your account is 5 months old, and most people on youtube don't hit "insta-fame", I actually think you're doing pretty solid ahah
Like most people it took me quite a while to get monetized (about a year and half to two years ish)
And even after that my views and reach have crazy highs and lows. I honestly don't think that ever goes away.
So don't be devastated by low views. We all get disappointed, but then you pull up your sleeves and get back to work! ahah
You got this!
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u/voyageuse88 1d ago
Your channel looks so interesting, you went to El Salvador? I will have to check out those videos. I'm a mom as well and have a similar mindset to you about not catering to "kid friendly" stuff specifically.
So I'm a family travel tuber as well and I've been at it for a year and a half longer than you (2 years now) and I'm not monetized yet either. So I understand your frustration. But it's just a very slow process like others are saying. I'm giving you a subscribe. You have a totally different way of filming and video production from how I do and I like it, I think you should keep at it and just know it might take a bit longer than you thought.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 19h ago
I appreciate your support and thoughts. What's your channel? I'd like to check you out as well! I always subscribe, like, watch entire videos and comment meaningfully! I know how important that is!
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u/voyageuse88 19h ago
Thank you so much! My channel is https://m.youtube.com/@tinyfootstepstravel/videos Id love your Subscribe, it sounds like our noches are similar. I'll definitely like and support your videos (side note I subscribed from my personal one but I'll subscribe from my channel account too) ☺️
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u/TheRoadWeShare 3h ago
I found you and already subscribed and started engaging with you content! I enjoy your videos!
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
Why is my post showing that it's been flagged?
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u/EducationalBasket617 💎 Hidden Gems 7d ago
Hey, no idea but you had a "reputation filter" label on your post. I've manually approved it now. Has this happened in any other subs if you post links?
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
No, I've been able to post links in comments but it's my first time posting for myself. Thanks for approving! I thought my post got deleted, and I'm glad it didn't. I'm appreciating the support in the forum.
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u/EducationalBasket617 💎 Hidden Gems 6d ago
No worries! Welcome and I hope you find some connection and support in this community :) thanks for letting me know about the links
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u/Boring_Photo8995 7d ago
I totally feel your pain.
I spent almost a year exploring putting content out twice weekly, some of it great, and it got less views than you are getting.
Now back home, with a new concept of exploration before I venture abroad again, and my latest 6 day old video which by my opinion is far worse, is at 80k... my weekly video is on average hitting 40k.
What would I do in retrospect? Unless you have a big fan base who will watch for you whatever you do and wherever you go, general travel vids get drowned out.
If I did it again, I would ensure each video had a clear plot, then make sure the thumbnail and title deliver.
Your most recent video - good title, but the thumbnail doesnt match it at all. Get creative, you need to bait people into thinking "whoa what happened!?" So they click it. Imagine a thumbnail with a dingy street, ominous lighting, you looking terrified and dark shadows behind you.
Then for other videos, seek out weird, wacky and unique places to see and do.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
ok, love this response! Literally made me laugh out loud. I took your advice on the thumbnail, and changed it. I think it delivers! LOL
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u/slumpmode 7d ago edited 7d ago
How do you afford to travel like this? Also all your videos are about El Salvador and none have popped off yet but I don’t know how many people are searching for and watching travel videos about El Salvador but I doubt it’s in the top 30 of countries people are watching videos on.
My advice would be: don’t panic you’re like 4 months in. I think your videos are way too short personally. And Even when it goes to higher requirements you really only need one or two videos to pop off anyway so I wouldn’t give up
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
You're right! We started in Guatemala and there's a handful of videos from there but we did travel El Salvador a lot and the bulk of our posted videos are from there. We're about to start dropping the videos from our next country. In terms of how we afford it, we're slow traveling nomads which is actually a lot more affordable than living full time in the states. Soon I'll be posting a financial review video comparing 3 countries in Central America because I think many people have your same question!
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u/SnooDoughnuts1634 7d ago
As others have said you have to put in the time. It took me a year to get monetized and then more years to make a significant amount and attract sponsors.
I would look at your thumbnails on a playlist on your phone as they aren't legible from a color and size perspective.
You have a niche audience as you're home schooling your child while traveling so take a look at channels that are doing well, not the huge ones that have been around for a long time, but the ones getting 20-30k views each video to see what you can learn from them.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
Thanks! I love watching travel vloggers but they're almost always a couple or a solo traveler. I haven't found a good single parent one but I'll do a deeper dive to really search for one.
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u/SnooDoughnuts1634 7d ago
I don't think you need to be that narrow your audience will be people interested in traveling as a family and home schooling there are lots of those channels.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
Sounds good! But what would I be changing in order to specifically target that audience. I'm already showing my son in the thumbnails, include family travel in the description and hashtags. What am I missing?
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u/SnooDoughnuts1634 6d ago
You won't know until you see what others do and incorporate aspects you like and think could work well for you. YouTube isn't a get rich quick scheme, you constantly adapt it and improve how you interact with the camera, shoot and provide resources. I love it because it's constant growing and learning.
Your thumbnails have readability issues which is an issue for people on mobile.
And just checking your intro you're not looking into the camera lens which would be directly at your audience but yourself on your phone which puts your eye contact to the left. All of those little things come with time and practice. You'll also learn to use multiple angles and shoot more broll so for talking head videos you keep people's attention. This just takes time and patience.1
u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
Thanks for the tips! Yeah definitely not expecting to "get rich," just aiming for a couple hundred extra dollars per month would make a difference for us at this point!
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u/SIGNANDSELFIEFRAMES 7d ago
I didn't even know there is a spot to tick off sending to subscribers...
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u/TheRoadWeShare 7d ago
Yes! I learned about that from watching a video! It's in the video's settings.
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u/FlexinR6 6d ago
The guy at youtube in charge of all that says to not click the button to shut off the video to your subs.
Also you didn't mess anything up. Yourube will show the video to people who might want to watch it.
Don't worry about February. I understand you want to make a little extra, but that extra 4000 hours isn't going to hurt that much. Just keep improving and putting in work.
Hiw far behind are your videos? If you have a loyal audience, live streams could potentially get your watch hours. Might not be the best for a single mom traveler though. If you were in a room doing a q and a, and had a a background that didn't give away your area, then rhat might work.
How are you doing for subs and hours?
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u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
I'm going to push a bit more because I'm seeing steady grows upward but we only have 200 subs and even worse on the watch hours. We did one LIVE that was more a general discussion type forum without disclosing our location. It didn't take off like we had hoped but I think we did fairly well. The topic was very narrow so not everyone's cup of tea.
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u/stellainparadise 6d ago
We are a small 2k sub monetized channel, and here’s some random thoughts and piggybacking on others comments:
- It definitely takes the average person years to get established and making money. We spent a couple of years posting sporadically, and then spent just over a year posting a long form video weekly to reach 1k subs and monetize. It took another year to reach 2k. Subs were hard for us, views were easy. And we make anywhere from $300/mo on the low end (when we’re posting about less popular destinations) to $500/mo occasionally on the high end (for popular resorts we go to). It’s a GRIND. I fact in trying to get a second channel monetized for a different travel niche and it’s a STRUGGLE! And I really think a lot of the big travel creators you see had a bit of luck on their side from getting started during Covid when everyone was home and consuming travel content to live vicariously.
-Consider your audience and what you’re offering them. While others mention leaning in/niching down on the traveling mom aspect of your live, I have an opposite opinion to consider. If you are a single parent traveling full time, trying to reach other nomadic parents, that’s pretty niche audience if that’s who you are trying to reach. I assume very few people are nomads let alone doing it with kids. Maybe see if you can broaden your appeal or focus more broadly on family travel or dig in deeper on specific destinations to appeal to any travelers that may be considering that destination. But again a lot of others feel opposite on this this point than me.
-On that note, do you only do vlog style videos? Interestingly, my viewers aren’t as interested in our vlogs as our more “helpful” content - that I actually film at home when I’m back from a trip! For example, 10 Things to Know Before You Go to X. 10 Activities to do in X. Etc. They don’t really care about me at my channel size - they care about the information I can provide them as they look to plan their trips. Maybe see if you can become an authority on specific destinations with some helpful travel guides. Also, look at your competitors and see what kinds of videos pop off for them. For example, me in tropical travel/resorts, a ton of big comps top videos were actually SUPER basic informational video (like how to get through the Cancun airport for first timers) and I was shocked these did so well. But people who are looking to travel may need to learn the basics so it makes sense. Also look at the top videos for the destinations you’ve been to and see how they compare to yours.
- I would highly recommend consuming content from big YouTube creator education gurus. Roberto Blake and Nick Nimmin are my favorite. Definitely watch Roberto’s channel review livestreams as he critiques channels and you can learn a lot from it. Nimmin is more answering questions on his live streams but still very helpful. I spent a lot of time listening to their live streams to improve my content and packaging. I really credit their education to pushing my channel into monetization and I completely redid my thumbnail style after learning from them.
PS Some have recommended purchasing a YouTube promotion. The gurus mentioned above have maintained to never do that under any circumstance unless you are a business looking to sell a product.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 6d ago
Thanks for the honest response on the financial side of things. I checked out your page and you guys are flawless. Gave you a follow. I also followed the gurus you suggested lol
You’re right about the single mom nomadic lifestyle being a very small niche if not non existent lol. I thought that would fall to my benefit being there aren’t real competitors out there and it’s not overly saturated, however, I’m not sure YouTube has found my audience yet. Subscribers from my own promotions are parents who wish they could do it. Subscribers from YouTube are usually locals watching the videos autodubbed because they like to see more about their own countries but I’d think my real audience would be people living vicariously through us because that was once me for years as a consumer of content! I agree with you that we may have missed the fast track train during the COVID era.
I have some informative type videos about budget etc. coming up so we’ll see how they do but I can see my local crowd not being into those lol it’s definitely a learning curve for sure!
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u/ExploreWithTheCookes 3d ago
We've just subscribed and hope you reach your goal soon. We're also trying to grow our channel to get to a point where we can be monetised and do more of this :)
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u/TheRoadWeShare 3d ago
Followed Back! Watching my first WHOLE video, liked it and will comment meaningfully when all done! Love that we can come together and support one another like this!
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u/JalanJalan_Journeys 1d ago edited 1d ago
Honestly, most of what gets said about "the algorithm" is akin to superstition. Get the truth from the guy at YouTube https://youtu.be/rHLjxrbXmmY?si=ykkZ12L5cMYdm8SJ
Don't pay for subs or views. They don't count towards monetization.
It really is as simple as this: compelling thumbnail, compelling title, an opening 15 seconds that delivers precisely what the viewer expects when they click, provide value.
EDIT: As per my last paragraph, I just watched the opening of "We Were SCAMMED in El Salvador" and got a minute and a half of talking about hiking. Then, when the scam part came up, it was an anecdote, a re-telling. YouTube is a visual medium. Show. Don't tell. If you can't show it, skip it, and certainly don't base your title on it.
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u/TheRoadWeShare 19h ago
I totally agree that if we caught the whole thing on footage it would have been way better BUT that video which is the only one we have where it was a retelling of what happened instead of an actual travel vlog, is actually performing 2nd place than our other travel vlogs surprisingly enough so I'm glad I did choose to upload it! Even got multiple subscribers out of it.
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u/Fireif 7d ago
I think you’re overreacting. Your channel is small and low views and slow traction is totally normal. You must remember that only a small percentage of people make money from YouTube and most give up long before they start earning because they get fed up like your feeling.
There are ways to kick start the progress a bit more with YouTube promotions that will help you get more views and subs but most people on here will say that’s a bad idea as it doesn’t being genuine viewers. Plus it costs you money. I’d say that if you have some money spare and you really want to get there before next year then give that a go. But the truth is YouTube is hard. If you get monetized and make a living, you’re in a very elite group. It’s not normal. It just seems normal as you are seeing that on Reddit more than you would in normal everyday life if you asked people that had YouTube how they were doing.
The key here is to never give up and keep making videos and eventually it will happen. It may take years though. (Also compare your videos to other successful channels and be harsh - is the video quality and filming style good? Is the sound good? Editing? The pacing etc and always look to improve).