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Reality of my YouTube Career | How I went from 0 to 25 Million? | Dhruv Rathee — Transcript

by Dhruv Rathee · 3,687 words · 494 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Hello, friends!
0:01Today is a special occasion.
0:02Exactly 10 years ago,
0:04I made my first YouTube video.
0:08I filmed myself with a smartphone while having fun at a waterpark.
0:12I edited the video for 2 months.
0:13I still remember it.
0:14I was 19 and had so many doubts.
0:17"Should I do this?"
0:18"Is this a good idea?"
0:20But then, with a lot of courage,
0:22finally, I clicked on the 'Upload' button.
0:24And in June 2014,
0:26With 0 subscribers and 0 views,
0:28began this story.
0:31Today, there are more than 15 million subscribers,
0:33and around 2.5 billion views!
0:35Friends, this is my YouTube career's
0:3710 Year Anniversary.
0:39Over the last 10 years,
0:40this career, literally, changed my life.
0:42I gave me freedom, purpose,
0:44and financial stability.
0:46It gave me the privilege to see the world and meet interesting people.
0:49Today, everything that I am,
0:50everything I have achieved,
0:52I could do it all because of this career in social media.
0:54But people often ask me one thing,
0:57"How did you do it?"
0:58How difficult or how easy is it to do?
1:01To be a YouTuber,
1:02to make a career on social media.
1:04What's the scope in it?
1:05What are the differences between those who are successful in this field
1:08and those who fail?
1:10In this special video, I'd like to share 5 secrets with you.
1:145 secrets that I believe made me successful.
1:175 secrets that can help you be the #1 in your career.
1:21If you want to pursue social media as a part-time job or a full-time career,
1:25then this video will be very useful for you.
1:35These numbers are quite interesting, friends.
1:37According to the Kalaari Report 2022,
1:40there are more than 80 million creators in India.
1:42It means, more than 80 million people in our country
1:45uploaded their videos on YouTube or Instagram at least once,
1:48and have tried to get a social media following.
1:51But of them, only 150,000 creators
1:54could earn substantially
1:56to turn it into a full-time career.
1:57What's the difference between these 150,000 people
1:59and the remaining millions of people?
2:01What do you think?
2:02Why isn't everyone equally successful?
2:04One of the first reasons that you may think of
2:06is that the others did not pursue this career seriously enough.
2:09Some people might have uploaded some videos as a joke,
2:12and then didn't even think about it.
2:13That they weren't seriously interested in turning it into a career.
2:16Another reason could be that they didn't have the required skills.
2:18You'd need a lot of skills to be a successful YouTuber.
2:21You need to know filmmaking,
2:22video editing, scripting,
2:24you need to be creative.
2:25So those who weren't skilled at these, failed.
2:28But even then, there would be numerous people
2:30who are skilled in all of this.
2:32They pursue it seriously,
2:34but still aren't successful.
2:35In my opinion, the biggest factor here
2:38is uniqueness.
2:39This is my first secret.
2:40A YouTube channel can be compared to a small business.
2:44Take a restaurant, for example.
2:45Suppose you want to run a Punjabi restaurant in your district or sector.
2:49But there are 10 Punjabi restaurants in this area already.
2:52Do you think your restaurant will be successful?
2:56Especially when you plan to sell the same dishes that others are selling.
2:59Your menu items are the same.
3:01Obviously, not.
3:03Even if you do everything right,
3:05you get the best quality ingredients for your dishes,
3:08you hire the best chefs,
3:10your location is quite good,
3:11the seating arrangement and ambience are fantastic,
3:14even then, it will be very difficult for you to be successful,
3:16because the other 10 Punjabi restaurants
3:18are already well established.
3:20They know what works in this business and what doesn't.
3:23The problem is, you are running a race
3:25where 10 people are already 1 km ahead of you.
3:28Winning this race will be extremely difficult.
3:30But if you run in a race where
3:32you are the only one running,
3:34you will always be the first.
3:35Do you get it?
3:37Many people claim that
3:38they want to become like so and so YouTuber.
3:40They want to make vlogs like Sourav Joshi,
3:42they want to be a YouTuber like Dhruv Rathee,
3:44to this, I ask you, why would anyone want to watch your content,
3:47when someone else makes similar content and is better at it?
3:51Had I thought the same in 2014,
3:53what would have happened?
3:54I would have watched the top YouTubers back then, like TVF, AIB,
3:58seen their comedy videos,
4:03and have wanted to be like them!
4:05I would have wanted to make comedy videos like them.
4:07But I am not skilled in comedy or acting.
4:10I didn't have the professional equipment they were using.
4:14I didn't have a team or side actors,
4:17how could I have done it?
4:18Had I seen their success and tried to make comedy skits like them,
4:22there was no chance for my YouTube channel to be successful.
4:24I decided to make socio-political, educational videos on serious issues,
4:29it was a unique path.
4:30Because I was the only one running in this race,
4:32the bad quality of my videos didn't matter,
4:36or my speaking style when I was starting out,
4:38or even the editing quality.
4:41"In this video, I'd like to tell you..."
4:42"This controversy isn't very complicated..."
4:45"It's important to know the reason why there's black money."
4:47People watched my content, because I was the only one making something like this.
4:51I was talking about things
4:52that no one else was talking about.
4:54By the time others joined this race,
4:56I was already quite ahead of them.
4:57I had years of experience by then,
5:00camera quality had improved,
5:02my speaking style had improved,
5:03the video editing was better,
5:05the storytelling in the videos was much better.
5:07"Hello, friends!"
5:10Due to this uniqueness, I could remain at the #1 spot in my category.
5:14That's why if you want to be the #1 in your career,
5:17don't limit yourself to thinking about how you can work harder,
5:19about what else you can do,
5:21these are important,
5:23but it's more important that
5:24you are running a race where you are the only runner.
5:27Or there are very few people competing with you.
5:30From the perspective of becoming a YouTuber,
5:31this race can be about any particular skill.
5:34Your storytelling skills may be superb,
5:37so focus on that particular skill to move ahead of the competition.
5:40You may be talented in comedy,
5:42or you may have preexisting knowledge in a particular field,
5:44it gives you an advantage compared to your competitors.
5:47Focus on your uniqueness.
5:49The real struggle is finding such races.
5:52Friends, suppose I try to sell mufflers and jackets on a Goan beach.
5:59It's unique.
6:00There wouldn't be anyone else selling jackets on the beach,
6:03I would be the only one running in the race.
6:06Would I be successful?
6:07Obviously, not.
6:09Because no one would buy jackets of mufflers on a beach.
6:12Obviously, you shouldn't be running a meaningless race.
6:17You shouldn't aim to be the first person to sell a jacket on a Goan beach.
6:21You might be the first, but it will be meaningless.
6:24This would be a flop idea.
6:26Similarly, if you start a YouTuber channel,
6:28to showcase your personal life,
6:30you want to make vlogs about what happens in your home,
6:33'personal life vlogs.'
6:35Who will watch them?
6:36Here comes the second secret.
6:37Value.
6:38There should be some value in your work.
6:40Be valuable.
6:41If you make unique YouTube videos,
6:43that has no demand from the viewers,
6:45the audience doesn't want to watch those videos.
6:47It doesn't make sense.
6:48There's a demand from the audience when
6:50they find some value in it.
6:52The values that you get from my videos,
6:55are knowledge and education.
6:56In case of a comedy YouTuber or a Bollywood actor,
6:59the value that you get is Entertainment.
7:02Every successful YouTuber, actor or business
7:06not only give you some sort of value,
7:08but a combination of uniqueness and value.
7:10A unique value.
7:12What is the value of watching comedy videos?
7:14You laugh, it feels good.
7:16What's the value of travel vlogs?
7:18Some people feel relaxed when watching them.
7:21You get to know about new and interesting things.
7:24Even the worst creator today
7:26among the ones who are popular,
7:27does provide some sort of unique value.
7:29Because value doesn't necessarily mean something positive.
7:32A thing may not be valuable to you,
7:34but it can be valuable to someone else.
7:36Controversies, mindless entertainment, drama, gossip,
7:40people may not admit to it,
7:41but if people are watching such content, it means that
7:44some kind of unique value is being created.
7:46As I told you, value is subjective.
7:48It depends upon the situation.
7:50Perhaps, cheap content with useless controversies
7:52may not appear valuable to us,
7:54but someone out there is watching it.
7:56Even if he doesn't like watching it,
7:58there is a transfer of value in the form of mindless entertainment.
8:03If you try to sell jackets in Manali,
8:05it'll be valuable.
8:06But if you try to do it on a beach in Goa,
8:09it has 0 value.
8:10A Mercedes car may be extremely valuable to you now.
8:13But if you are stranded in a desert and are thirsty,
8:17a bottle of water would be more valuable to you
8:20than the Mercedes car.
8:22To be successful on YouTube,
8:24this is the biggest struggle.
8:25Based on your situation, for your target audience,
8:28making highly valuable videos,
8:30that are unique as well.
8:32And you need to do this within the limits set by your passion, your skills, and your needs.
8:36How can you do this exactly?
8:38Friends, here I'd like to introduce,
8:40my third course on Dhruv Rathee Academy.
8:43The YouTube Blueprint.
8:45By summarising the knowledge and experience I have gained over the last 10 years,
8:48I created this 7.5-hour-long course.
8:50This is my third course on Dhruv Rathee Academy.
8:53And the most detailed course yet.
8:55In it, you will learn how
8:57you can make YouTube and social media your part-time job or a full-time career.
9:02There are 7 chapters in this course,
9:04that have been distributed across 7 weeks.
9:06Each week a new chapter will be unlocked for you.
9:08The first chapter is the introduction.
9:10In it, you will learn about several myths and realities surrounding social media today.
9:14In the second chapter, you will
9:16analyse your talents, skills, and passion,
9:19to find your unique value.
9:22I will give you 20 unique ideas
9:24of channel categories that do not yet exist in India.
9:27I believe these have the potential to be successful YouTube channels.
9:32From the third chapter, you will start learning necessary skills.
9:35First, we will focus on filmmaking.
9:37How you can use your smartphone to capture amazing cinematic footage.
9:40How can you capture the best-sounding audio.
9:42And how you can master lighting.
9:44We'll even talk about filming techniques.
9:46The fourth chapter focuses on video editing.
9:48In it, I will teach you how to edit your videos
9:51using a free software on your smartphone,
9:53and then a professional software on a computer.
9:56The fifth chapter is about the Analytics.
9:58And the sixth chapter is the most important.
9:59It is focused on Monetisation.
10:01The various ways for a content creator to earn money.
10:05And how you can use these ways to make your career profitable.
10:08And finally, in the seventh chapter, we'll focus on long-term growth.
10:11How one day, you can hopefully get to 1 million followers.
10:16This is the first launch of the course,
10:17so I'd like to give you a huge discount.
10:20Use the coupon code WIN41
10:22WIN41
10:24the first 1,000 people who buy this course
10:27will get 41% off.
10:29You can scan this QR code to get to the website,
10:31or use the link given in the description below.
10:34Do join it.
10:35And now we'll move ahead to the third secret.
10:38Be authentic.
10:39When some YouTubers notice that
10:41some people get unique value even from mindless entertainment,
10:45they choose an easy and cheap way
10:48to run after success.
10:50A path that eventually leads them to their downfall.
10:53For example, some people believe that
10:55their audience loves seeing luxury cars.
10:58Because the audience sees it as a new thing that they do not have.
11:01They are curious and interested in knowing more about it.
11:05So they watch the content.
11:06So these YouTubers start showcasing one luxury car after another.
11:10They get a lot of views.
11:11They believe that their formula worked
11:12and want to show even more luxury cars.
11:15They keep showing luxury cars.
11:16When they think that their audience is impressed that they have so many luxury cars,
11:19they start showing off the things they have.
11:22Then these YouTubers start faking things.
11:24They rent cars and pretend that
11:26they own them.
11:28But what is the downside of doing so?
11:29As soon as the audience finds out that they are shown a fake life,
11:34that the reel life did not actually exist,
11:36they lose all interest.
11:38Their curiosity and excitement evaporate.
11:41This was just one example.
11:42But you would have seen it happening many times on social media.
11:45Someone shows off on Instagram
11:47and displays strange behaviour.
11:53As if they are faking their life.
11:56Sometimes people fake a drama.
11:57Some people pretend to cry.
12:06This clip of a foreign YouTube vlogger went viral a few years ago,
12:17She was live-streaming,
12:18and after the live stream ended,
12:20she forgot to turn off her camera.
12:21So people found out how she was treating her child.
12:25She was telling her son to pretend to be crying,
12:27so that they could get the perfect thumbnail.
12:30Normally, people love watching drama and controversy.
12:33But if someone creates fake drama
12:35and pretends to cry,
12:36no one will appreciate it.
12:38Because it will be inauthentic.
12:39The YouTubers who are the most successful in the long term,
12:42who are respected the most by their audience
12:45have one quality in common.
12:47Authenticity.
12:48Authenticity means on video, you show yourself as you are in your real life.
12:54You do not pretend to be something else for the video.
12:57When YouTubers pretend to be something they are not,
13:00when they are acting or trying to be fake,
13:03people can easily recognise it subconsciously.
13:06If this keeps happening.
13:08People realise that the creator is trying to fool them.
13:10Authenticity plays a crucial role in other jobs too.
13:13Such as being a receptionist, waiter, or an air hostess.
13:17You would have noticed that some people have a big smile when they serve you.
13:23But that looks like a fake smile.
13:26Their smile makes you feel uncomfortable.
13:28Because you know that the smile isn't genuine.
13:31They aren't actually happy to serve you,
13:33instead, they are pretending to be so.
13:35There is a mismatch between their body language and their words.
13:44And it is the easiest to identify the YouTubers who do this.
13:46Be authentic about whatever you choose to show.
13:50Whatever you feel about something, your experiences, your thoughts,
13:55express them genuinely through your video.
13:57For example, if I show you a new place in a vlog,
13:59and I do not like something about it,
14:02I am honest about it.
14:03"One thing about New York
14:05that you aren't told when you see it in films and videos,
14:08is that this city stinks!
14:10Wherever you go, it stinks so bad."
14:13If I find something boring or if I like something,
14:15I tell you everything transparently.
14:17"This is the view when we step outside our room."
14:20"They've crafted such a beautiful room!"
14:22But if a YouTuber pretends.
14:24Even if I don't like this,
14:26if I try to convince the audience that I loved it,
14:30people will find out very soon.
14:32Basically, the person you are in your real life,
14:34share your opinions with the audience transparently.
14:36If we go back to our example of luxury cars,
14:38what should an authentic YouTuber do?
14:41If you notice that your audience loves watching luxury cars,
14:44then you should take this into account
14:47and transparently tell your audience that
14:50you are renting cars to make your videos.
14:53People will actually appreciate this authenticity.
14:56Secret #4: Quality over quantity.
14:59People ask me why I don't upload vlogs daily.
15:01People tell me they would love it if I upload daily vlogs.
15:05Some people ask me why am I so late at uploading videos on my main channel.
15:08Sometimes a week goes by without a video.
15:10They ask me to upload 2-3 videos every week.
15:13There's a simple reason for this.
15:14In my opinion, quality is much more important than quantity.
15:18Normally, when you buy products from a brand or a company,
15:21you find out about the product's quality after you purchase it.
15:24But in YouTube's case, you find out instantly.
15:27When someone looks at your thumbnail,
15:29within a second they can identify the quality of the video.
15:33Whether watching the video would be worth it for them or not.
15:36At the very latest, 5-6 seconds after clicking on the video and watching it,
15:39they'll find out the quality of the product.
15:42YouTube's algorithm is based on these parameters.
15:45If the viewers like the quality of your videos,
15:47if they like the thumbnail, if they like watching it,
15:50then YouTube promotes your video more.
15:52But if your video is not valuable to the viewers,
15:55people will not click on it,
15:57they won't watch it any further,
15:58and YouTube will not promote it either.
15:59To be honest, my daily life isn't interesting enough to entertain you every day.
16:04If I start uploading daily vlogs,
16:06it'll be so boring that you will stop watching them.
16:09You would have noticed this too.
16:11People who upload videos daily,
16:14their content becomes quite boring after a certain point.
16:16If quantity is the focus point,
16:19quality will be compromised.
16:21I want each of the videos that I upload
16:23to have the perfect storytelling, research, editing, flow, music, and animations.
16:29I want it to be of the highest quality.
16:31This lesson is for everyone.
16:32Irrespective of your chosen career.
16:34Most people across jobs do not focus on quality.
16:38They do the bare minimum
16:39so that they can get it done as soon as possible.
16:42Because of this attitude,
16:43Many people are stuck in mediocre jobs
16:45and are unable to move ahead in their careers.
16:47Because of this bare minimum attitude, several companies have collapsed.
16:50But in YouTube's world,
16:52if you start a new channel and focus on the quality,
16:55to publish a video that people haven't seen before,
16:58then it is possible that your first video gets more than 1 million views.
17:03I am not kidding, there are such channels.
17:05Look at this channel.
17:06There are only 4 videos on this channel.
17:08But look at the view count.
17:09Their first video has been blocked now,
17:11but it had more than 4 million views.
17:14And finally, the secret #5, be self-critical.
17:17While providing your unique value, you need to be constantly aware
17:20of how you can improve things.
17:23How you can take things to the next level.
17:26Every single element!
17:27As a YouTuber, focusing on the script, the audio quality,
17:30film quality, video editing quality, animations,
17:33how can everything be improved?
17:36Being self-critical is crucial for continuous improvement.
17:40If you are one of those people who think that
17:43everything they do is perfect,
17:45you won't see any scope for improvement.
17:48Your mindset should be that
17:50no matter the situation, no matter your position,
17:52there is always scope for improvement.
17:54Somewhere something can always be improved upon.
17:57For this, you need introspection.
18:00Where are you falling short?
18:01You should be aware of your tiniest mistakes.
18:04And how you can improve it.
18:063-4 years ago when people criticised any mistake in my videos,
18:11I could have easily ignored them.
18:13I could have called them liars.
18:15I could have defended my videos as being perfect.
18:17But it's true that there were mistakes in my videos.
18:20I acknowledged the situation
18:22and created a strategy for how such mistakes could be minimised.
18:26I use a strict system to minimise any mistakes.
18:30I have an excel file with the record of all past mistakes.
18:34The mistake as well as its timestamp for each video.
18:36Why did that mistake happen?
18:38And who was responsible for it?
18:39Was it an editing mistake?
18:39Did I say it wrong?
18:40Or was the researcher wrong?
18:42What was done to rectify the mistake?
18:44And what are the steps were taken to avoid similar mistakes in future?
18:47Our team established new systems
18:50to bring in improvements and minimise mistakes.
18:53And you can see its result.
18:55The number of mistakes in recent videos is nearly zero.
18:58Not absolutely zero,
18:59because some mistakes may creep in still.
19:01But it is greatly reduced compared to earlier videos.
19:04This is just one example that shows you
19:06the importance of self-reflection and being self-critical.
19:09Many successful people,
19:10become egoistic once they become popular.
19:13And here, their ego becomes a huge problem.
19:16Some YouTubers believe that everything they do is absolutely right.
19:19Afterall, they are so popular,
19:21they can't be wrong, right?
19:22Because of their ego, people fail to introspect.
19:25They cannot recognise their failures.
19:27Another example of this would be
19:29my Jobs Zara Hatke series.
19:31I worked really hard to launch it.
19:33I had hoped that it would be a novel experience.
19:36This was an experiment, but this series was a flop.
19:39Compared to other videos, audiences' interest in them was negligible.
19:42I felt that something was lacking in them.
19:44Perhaps the research wasn't up to the mark.
19:47So a series on which I worked for over 2 years,
19:49I cancelled it after 2 episodes only.
19:52Even though the remaining 3 episodes had been shot.
19:54It is very important to be pro-active in every career.
19:57Experiment even if your fail,
19:58learn from the failure and move on.
20:00Throughout my YouTube career, I haven't shied away from experimenting.
20:03There were different types of videos.
20:05Some failed, some were successful.
20:08But you can see their result today.
20:11I hope this video provided some unique value to you.
20:14And you would have learned something new.
20:16If you are interested in making YouTube
20:17your part-time job or full-time career,
20:21then do check out the course.
20:22The link is in the description below.
20:24Thank you very much!

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