Road to 10 million subscribers with 4 APAC creators
Dec 28, 2023 – [[read-time]] minute read
Our Shorts community continued to grow in 2023, with YouTube Shorts averaging 70 billion daily views and being watched by over 2 billion logged-in users every month.
We recently caught up with four creators from the APAC region who have been maximizing Shorts to entertain and connect with their audience on a whole new level. Find out more about their journey finding 10 million subscribers and counting.
Creator: BEN EAGLE (Vietnam)
How did you get started on YouTube? How was your ‘Road to 10 million subscribers’?
I started my channel and uploaded the first video on December 9, 2021. After three months, I hit 100K subscribers and received the Silver Creator Award. Then, nine months later, I achieved 1 million subscribers and the Gold Creator Award. Finally, on November 28, 2023, I reached the incredible milestone of 10 million subscribers and received the coveted Diamond Creator Award. I reached this amazing milestone In less than two years, which I think made me one of the fastest people to do so in Vietnam.
I'm incredibly proud of this achievement, and the countdown moment to 10 million subscribers at Eagles Studio with my core disciples and parents was truly heartwarming. It will likely be an unforgettable memory in my life. As of now, I haven't even opened the Silver and the Gold Creator Award packages. I'm waiting for the Diamond Creator Award to arrive in Vietnam, and then I will hold a "THANKS PARTY" to celebrate and express my gratitude to everyone who has been a part of this journey.
Everyone faces challenges when starting out, especially in content creation. Have you ever experienced one? How did you overcome those difficulties?
In my first month, almost none of my videos went viral - most received very few views. It was disheartening, but I didn't let it discourage me. I motivated myself to keep creating videos and strive to make them even better because I believed in the Shorts wave and saw YouTube as a fantastic platform for creators to attract an audience. Finally, in my second month, I had a video go viral, which fueled my motivation to produce more content. By the third month, I realized that the more Shorts I posted, the faster my channel grew. So, I ramped up my production and began uploading more content daily. That's how my channel continues to grow, and since starting it, I haven't missed a single day of uploading new videos.
“ The more you take actions, the more you'll gain insights and find your channel's success formula. The more you take actions, the more you'll advance and improve.”
What advice would you give aspiring creators?
After experiencing success, I received invitations to train numerous people across the country on channel building knowledge and experience. I genuinely hope more individuals can create successful channels like mine and earn a stable income to support their lives. Here are some insights I want to share:
- Post videos daily and turn this work into your passion
- Gradually increase the number of videos to boost engagement on your channel
- Create content with value and lessons, so viewers can extract a message from your videos
- Incorporate humor for entertainment, by using joyful expressions and dynamic acting
- Interact with your audience and express gratitude for their views and comments
- Don't forget to learn from successful channels and current trends
- And lastly, keep going, because actions create results.
The more you take actions, the more you'll gain insights and find your channel's success formula. The more you take actions, the more you'll advance and improve.
Your channel has grown significantly in 2023. What key lessons can you share from this year?
2023 was the year my channel experienced the strongest growth, reaching over 2 million new subscribers each month during the last few months. I learned a crucial lesson - your channel grows significantly when you upload more new videos with exciting and surprising content that your viewers enjoy. Also, work on honing your professional skills and give your best performance to the audience. They will love and become loyal to your channel.
What are your goals for next year?
I will continue to help my disciples at the EAGLES ACADEMY to also build successful YouTube channels. My goal for my channel is to reach 20 million subscribers by April 2024 and become the most subscribed YouTube channel in Vietnam and to achieve 50 million subscribers and receive the YouTube Ruby Creator Award by December 2024.
My personal goal for next year is to build a new house for my parents to show my filial piety, entirely funded by my earnings from YouTube. My family used to be very poor and our old house was in one of the most dilapidated areas but our new house will be modern and tall.
Also, I want to set a positive example for the community and the society. Starting from May 2024, I will build one charity house for the poor in Vietnam every month and conduct charity work across the country through the EAGLES EYES charity fund.
Creator: Wisnu Trijaya (Indonesia)
For those who have yet to follow you, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your channel. How did you get started on YouTube?
Hallo! My name Wisnu Trijaya, and I'm from Jakarta, Indonesia. I started uploading my videos on YouTube on August 18, 2021, because I found an article about YouTube Shorts and its benefits. I thought I should try uploading short form content on YouTube as it might be the second chance to become a YouTube Creator. That’s how I got started, and I’m doing most of my content together with my girlfriend Stefina.
How did you get started on Shorts and how do you come up with ideas for your Shorts?
I started creating content during the pandemic. I found out that everyone started to love short form videos and also was bored from doing nothing for months. Since I wanted to make short form videos, I could do so even only with my phone. After I found the article about YouTube Shorts, I tried uploading 2 to 3 videos on YouTube without much expectation. However, when I checked again after a week, I realized I got a million views in just a week. Since then, I started to focus on YouTube Shorts.
When I make my videos, I try to make them a bit educational. I want my viewers to be able to get something from my videos. That’s how I started making experiment content, combined with challenges with my girlfriend.
Can you describe your road to 10 million YouTube subscribers?
In the beginning of 2023, I had 2-3 millions subscribers and thought it was enough. But in April, my YouTube Community Manager challenged me to get the Diamond Creator Award within this year. Like my content, I love challenges! And I thought that would be possible with Shorts. So, I started to make some strategies to reach it and am on the way!
Your channels grew significantly in 2023. Can you share any key lessons from 2023? What are your goals for next year?
Actually, I am surprised about the pace of growth as well! I gained more than 7 millions subscribers in just 8 months! I think the most important thing is the call-to-action — whether it’s to subscribe or turn notifications on — and of course, be consistent.
What are your goals for 2024?
In 2024, I want to reach 20 million subscribers and also focus on my girlfriend’s channel to help her reach 10 million subscribers, so that we can have a couple Diamond Creator Awards!
Creator: BROTHERS VLOG (Pakistan)
Your channel grew really fast since the end of 2021, but there was a time that you were thinking of giving up. Tell us a bit about that.
When we started off, we thought that our videos would go viral in just one night but it was not like that. We kept creating and uploading videos but did not get the intended response. We definitely got sad and dejected, and were even ready to delete our channel. However, then came the twist in our story.
YouTube introduced Shorts and we wanted to try it right away. This made us resurrect and start uploading again. Finally, the day came when we uploaded a video that went viral in one week. We got 5 million views and gained 10,000 subscribers in only a week. We were surprised by the reach of Shorts and became regular uploaders again. Since then, we have seen the channel explode and have been trying to improve the quality of our content continuously.
Tell us a bit about your channel and the story behind it.
Our channel, Brothers Vlog, is a peek into the life of us two brothers, Mairaj and Madni, and our humorous takes on the many anecdotes from daily life which we then transform into skits. The channel is the result of the entire family's hard work - the siblings are the camera persons, the parents are script writers and lighting crew. We also added additional characters in our videos, so our father joined the crew. The video with him was the first video that made it to the trending page of YouTube!
Can you describe your road to ten million YouTube subscribers?
Diversity. Our content is watched by people of all ages, genders, and parts of the world. I think we also try our best to create in a manner that appeals to a wide range of interests and preferences.
“ We were able achieve [10 million subscribers] because we try to think like a viewer as much as possible and also try to reinvent ourselves continuously to ensure our content strategy does not become stale.”
Your channels grew significantly in 2023. Can you share any key lessons from 2023? What are your goals for next year?
In my opinion, we were able achieve this because we try to think like a viewer as much as possible and also try to reinvent ourselves continuously to ensure our content strategy does not become stale.
As we mentioned, our whole family is part of the ideation and creation process and that includes the brainstorming as well. Our focus is often on family friendly content which is why we sit down as a family and think about what we would like to watch every day. Also, since humor is a big part of our content strategy, we take a lot of inspiration from historically famous cartoon series and characters to integrate that into our own characters for the video.
Our 2024 goal is to get more entrenched into the multi-format world of YouTube and work on building diversified content for all kinds of audience.
What would be your tip to aspiring creators?
Our simple tip to all the new creators is to not lose hope when starting off, stay consistent and continue to experiment.
Creator: Hariyo Ardhito (Indonesia)
For those who have yet to follow you, introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your channel. How did you get started on YouTube?
I uploaded my first video on YouTube when I was in France, but I started to dedicate my life to content creation in 2020. Now, I focus on making challenge videos.
You are known for your creative challenge on Shorts - How did you get started on Shorts and how do you come up with ideas for your Shorts?
I have always been a fan of a YouTube creator, and the formats that stick with me were either vlogs or challenges. I therefore had to try both, and the challenges overgrew the vlogs.
Coming up with ideas isn’t actually the hardest part for me - the toughest part is to create a format and actually make it to fruition. For example, if I come up with an idea to try to pull a 24 Tonnes dump truck, this would not be possible if I don’t have access to the field and the truck!
Can you describe your road to 10 million YouTube subscribers?
It has been a rollercoaster, probably because I didn't have any mentors for the creative process nor for managing business and employees. To be honest, it still feels like another new beginning for me, as if I'm just getting started on a bigger and better ride!
Your channels grew significantly in 2023. What are your goals for next year?
In 2024, I want to scale up and be more sustainable, balancing both creative and business. Hopefully through that, I can be one of the best in the game and make lots of good impacts throughout the journey.
Inspired? Here's how to get started on YouTube Shorts: