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13 Brutally Honest Lessons to Grow on YouTube in 2026

2024-11-26 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 25:01 · watch on YouTube

Topic: YouTube, writing online and creators · mode: List of tips or lessons · tags: His own products discussed, His own numbers, His medical past, Sponsor segment present

Ali gives 13 lessons for growing on YouTube: consistency above all, a system behind the channel, quality through quantity, letting the niche emerge, not doing it for the money, at least two years, imitating before innovating, treating the algorithm as the audience, seeing most obstacles as drama problems, outsourcing editing, never stopping improving, ignoring gear and not fearing negative comments.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Seven years on YouTube, almost 6 million subscribers and the Part-Time YouTuber Academy

  • ★★ In his seven years on YouTube, Ali says, he has gained almost 6 million subscribers. — 00:00:00 · YouTube
  • ★★ Ali says his Part-Time YouTuber Academy has helped over 20,000 students grow their channels and has been running for four years. — 00:00:00 · Part-Time YouTuber Academy

00:00:25 — Nothing matters more than posting videos consistently

  • ★★★ Nothing matters more on YouTube than posting consistently, Ali says, and consistency means choosing an upload schedule that is enjoyable and sustainable for you, without burnout, and sticking to it. — 00:00:25 · YouTube

    “Consistency just means you are choosing an upload schedule that works for you”

  • ★ Ali says he did not want to film this video and had to get a coffee and talk himself into it. — 00:00:25

  • ★★ When he first started on YouTube, Ali waited to feel like filming before filming, and soon realised that consistency is impossible if you wait for the feeling to strike. — 00:00:55 · YouTube
  • ★★ To get himself filming, Ali sits down with a plan and tells himself he only needs to record for five minutes and may then quit; he thinks only one video in the last thousand made him quit after five minutes. — 00:01:24

00:01:50 — You need a system behind your channel

  • ★★★ To stay consistent on YouTube, Ali says, you need a system behind your channel: creators who think one video at a time end up on a hamster wheel and in a cycle of burnout. — 00:01:50 · YouTube
  • ★★ Ali says he and every other successful YouTuber he knows have systems behind their channels, kept in tools such as Notion, Apple Notes, Trello and Figma. — 00:01:50 · Notion, YouTube
  • ★★ A YouTube system, such as a video format, a thumbnail style guide or a checklist for each video, leverages and multiplies the time and effort you put into a channel, Ali says. — 00:02:19 · YouTube

00:03:03 — Quality is important, but quantity is how you get there

  • ★★★ Ali says the quality of YouTube videos comes through quantity: as with building muscle at the gym, you have to get in the reps. — 00:03:31 · YouTube
  • ★★ Ali says he got reasonably good at making YouTube videos about 70 videos in. — 00:03:31 · YouTube
  • ★★ Rather than making every video better than the last, which cannot be sustained, Ali advises picking one little thing to improve in each video, especially early on. — 00:04:00

00:04:10 — Epidemic Sound sponsor read

00:05:30 — Stop worrying about your niche, you will find it over time

  • ★★★ Ali tells beginners to stop worrying about their YouTube niche: if you keep making videos, your niche will emerge over time. — 00:05:55 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Ali describes two approaches to YouTube, the architect and the archaeologist; he generally does not recommend the architect's, who wants a full blueprint and plan before filming any videos. — 00:05:55 · YouTube
  • ★★ In the archaeologist approach Ali recommends, you make a few videos in one niche, move on if nothing happens, and hop around niches and value propositions until you find videos you enjoy making. — 00:06:25
  • ★★ Ali's channel began with music videos of him and his friends singing, then travel vlogs of his plastic-surgery elective in Cambodia, BMAT tutorials and a series on trying to build a medical app. — 00:06:54 · BMAT
  • ★★★ Ali's channel first found its feet when he pivoted to advice for medical students, and his 71st video was the first to take off. — 00:07:23

  • ★★ Ali's niche was once helping students get into medical school in the UK; it has evolved, and he now calls himself the general productivity and life improvement guy. — 00:07:23

    “I'm now the general productivity and life improvement guy.”

  • ★★★ Ali advises not doing YouTube for the money; the only exception is if you already have a business and use YouTube to drive leads to it. — 00:07:52 · YouTube

00:07:56 — Don't do YouTube for the money

  • ★★ It takes ages, Ali says, to get the watch time and subscribers needed for AdSense, and to reach the point where brands start paying you. — 00:08:25
  • ★★ Ali says new creators come to hate brand deals and he knows no creator who enjoys them, though he enjoys his own with his particular brands, which are very nice and around which he has good systems. — 00:08:25
  • ★★★ If your main goal is money, Ali advises what he calls the business-first approach: start a business, get it to $10,000 a month, then use YouTube to generate leads for it. — 00:08:54 · YouTube
  • ★★ In the creative-first approach, Ali says, you do YouTube for fun, fulfilment and creative joy, and doing it for intrinsic reasons makes you far more likely to stick with it long term. — 00:08:54 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Ali says you need to stick with a YouTube channel for at least two years, and often says that a video every week for two years will completely change your life. — 00:10:08 · YouTube

00:10:43 — It will take at least two years

  • ★★ Ali says systems and enjoyment keep a creator consistent: systems give leverage and make it easier, and enjoying the process makes it energising, so you won't burn out. — 00:11:14
  • ★★★ Ali's advice is imitate, then innovate: when starting out it is fine to copy YouTubers you admire, looking at the videos they make and doing your own take on them. — 00:11:14
  • ★★ In the early days of his channel, Ali says, he really looked up to Simon Clark, Sarah Dietschy and Peter McKinnon. — 00:11:14 · Peter McKinnon

00:11:50 — Imitate, then innovate

  • ★★ Ali copied Simon Clark, Sarah Dietschy and Peter McKinnon, but within his own area of expertise, medical school admissions. — 00:11:52 · Peter McKinnon
  • ★★ Ali says your YouTube content need not be original or unique: trying to make completely novel content when starting out is probably not going to work, as it raises the barriers to entry. (hedged) — 00:11:52 · YouTube

00:12:29 — The algorithm isn't against you, your content just isn't good enough yet

  • ★★★ The YouTube algorithm is not against you, Ali says: as people who work on it at YouTube also say, the algorithm is the audience. — 00:12:29 · YouTube

    “the algorithm is the audience”

  • ★★ When a video does not do well, Ali says, it is not the algorithm: the content is not good enough yet, or it has not had enough time to find the right audience. — 00:12:54

  • ★★ Ali says making whatever you want is a hobby, while a business is something for other people that provides value to their lives. — 00:14:16
  • ★★★ Viewers pay for a YouTube video with their time and attention, worth more than money, Ali says, so a good quality video is one that was worth it for the person watching. — 00:14:16 · YouTube
  • ★ Ali says this video would have lost at least 30% of its audience in the first 30 seconds. (speculative) — 00:15:13
  • ★★★ Ali got the idea that there are only two types of problems, drama problems and maths problems, from Russell Brunson, who he thinks got it from the life coach Brooke Castillo. (hedged) — 00:15:43

00:15:55 — The biggest thing holding you back is you

  • ★★ A maths problem is tactical, such as raising a landing page's conversion rate from 0.4% to 0.8%, Ali says; a drama problem is everything else, such as feeling demotivated, that your videos are not good enough, or imposter syndrome. — 00:16:05 · imposter syndrome, landing page
  • ★★ In his live Q&As for YouTuber Academy and Accelerator students, Ali says, 80 to 90% of the time the problem is emotional drama rather than maths. — 00:17:12 · Part-Time YouTuber Academy, YouTube
  • ★★★ A question like why a channel is not growing often turns out, Ali says, to be inconsistency rooted in doubt about the niche, a drama problem disguised as a maths problem: the biggest thing holding you back is you. — 00:17:41
  • ★★★ Ali urges YouTubers to outsource their video editing, though it may be hard at the start if you have no money. — 00:17:41
  • ★★ Ali says you can outsource video editing for about $10 to $15 an hour to someone quite good, or $5 to $7 an hour to someone less good in another country. — 00:17:41
  • ★★ The more you value your own time, Ali says, the more you should pay someone else to edit your videos, unless you really enjoy editing or it is key to your channel's success. — 00:17:41

00:18:00 — For goodness sake, outsource your editing

  • ★★ Most successful creators Ali knows, those who manage to be consistent, have found a way to outsource their video editing. — 00:18:27

00:18:50 — You're only as good as your next video, never stop improving

  • ★★★ You are only as good as your next video, Ali says, so never stop improving: if you are not improving your content, you are falling behind. — 00:18:50
  • ★★ Ali says more people than ever are trying to make it as YouTubers, helped by hardware such as the iPhone that lets anyone film. — 00:19:19 · iPhone
  • ★ Ali says Firecut, an AI app for Premiere Pro made by his friend Sahil, saves two hours of editing. — 00:19:19
  • ★★ YouTube is no longer like ten years ago in the Casey Neistat era, when people religiously watched the same YouTuber every day, Ali says; it is now so algorithmic. — 00:19:49 · YouTube
  • ★★ Because a channel that stops giving viewers value declines, Ali says, creators are never allowed to be complacent: YouTube is an infinite game. — 00:20:21 · YouTube

00:21:17 — Gear isn't holding you back

  • ★★★ Gear is not holding you back, Ali says: creators he knows with hundreds of thousands of subscribers film on an iPhone or Android phone, because gear does not really matter. — 00:21:17 · iPhone
  • ★★ If you think gear is holding you back, Ali says, ask what emotional drama makes you feel you need a fancier camera or microphone rather than filming with your iPhone. — 00:21:46 · iPhone
  • ★★★ Ali says negative comments are generally a sign that you are growing and stepping slightly outside your comfort zone. — 00:21:46
  • ★★ Ali tends to hide negative comments on his channel and says deleting them is totally fine. — 00:21:46

00:21:58 — Don't fear negative comments

  • ★★ A comment on Ali's previous video told him to change his niche because his content was becoming repetitive and getting fewer views, and he felt bad. — 00:22:33

  • ★★★ Ali came to consider himself a teacher who does not worry about repeating content: viewers who stop getting value from it have graduated. — 00:23:31

    “I consider myself a teacher, a teacher who doesn't worry about repeating content.”

  • ★★★ Ali used to avoid looking at negative comments; he now seeks them out because they give him data about his own internal state. — 00:23:31

  • ★★ A comment that hurts is a good thing, Ali says, because it shows an area where you still cling to ego and are not free. — 00:23:31

00:24:48 — Pointer to the video on five signs of potential

In the description and comments

  • ★★ Asked whether he grew on YouTube by telling people how to grow on YouTube, Ali says no: he grew with videos on getting into medical school, studying for exams and being more productive. — creator comment · YouTube

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: architect versus archaeologist · imitate then innovate · math and drama problems · YouTube

Also: People: Brooke Castillo · Casey Neistat · Peter McKinnon · Russell Brunson · Sahil · Sarah Dietschy · Simon Clark

Projects: Part-Time YouTuber Academy · Part-Time YouTuber Accelerator

Works: BMAT · Feel-Good Productivity (book)

Concepts: audience retention · five-minute rule · imposter syndrome · infinite game · landing page · leverage · Medical elective · Plastic surgery · value proposition · watch time

Places: Cambodia

Products: Adobe Premiere Pro · Android · Apple Notes · Figma · Firecut · iPhone · Notion · Trello · YouTube AdSense

Also centred on architect versus archaeologist: How to Make Money Online · 9 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started YouTube

Also centred on math and drama problems: How to Avoid Burnout

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