If I started A YouTube Channel In 2025, I’d Do This

This new channel reached over 37,000 subscribers with only one video and if you follow just three simple steps. Hold up, does this sound familiar? You’ve probably come across dozens of videos like this, but if you haven’t, here’s a quick recap:

The Typical YouTube Success Video

1. YouTube reflects massive results while proclaiming they know the secret strategy to going viral.
2. YouTuber explains said strategy they use to go viral.
3. YouTuber ends the video by essentially saying YouTube Success is not luck and anyone can do this.

But are the strategies these creators actually legit? And if so, which one should you practically follow if you want to get the best results possible?

The Study

I decided to do an in-depth study of every “How I Blew Up on YouTube” video I could find to uncover the fastest way to actually blow up your views in 2025. I started out by figuring out which videos I should actually study. Basically, I eliminated any YouTube gurus who didn’t share:

1. A holistic growth strategy that you could supposedly follow from A to Z to get crazy results.
2. Any creators who didn’t actually demonstrate or prove that the strategies they taught worked.
3. Creators who just parroted the same advice as other more successful creators.

Funnily enough, after doing this, I went from hundreds of potential videos to analyze to just 14. And this is where things started to get interesting because these 14 really knew what they were doing. It took them an average of 38 days to go from 0 to 1,000 Subs, with some of them getting results like 1,000 subscribers in just 14 hours or even 1 million Subs in a month.

After boiling down the advice from these 14 creators, I discovered what seemed to be eight distinct strategies they use to get crazy results. That’s what this video is about today. I’m going to share and break down these eight distinct strategies so you can figure out which one best fits your channel and your goals.

Strategy 1: Search-Based Content

This strategy was illustrated well by Chad Bartler. Chad is a seasoned affiliate marketer and YouTuber, but he decided to start a brand new channel from scratch with a simple goal: to create another income stream and prove that it is possible even for beginners to start and succeed on YouTube today.

How Chad Did It:

1. He created a new trading channel called Chad Trade.
2. He used VidIQ to find keywords with high search volume and low competition.
3. He created videos around these keywords, posting about one video a week.
4. He focused on sharing personal lessons, stories, and journeys within his videos.

Results:

• It took Chad around 93 days to reach his first 1,000 subscribers.
• He was able to generate money outside of YouTube AdSense by selling digital products.
• His channel now has over 40,000 subscribers.

Recommendation:

This strategy is ideal for small beginner educational YouTubers who don’t mind a slower growth trajectory in the beginning but want more consistent growth over time. I would put this strategy in B tier.

Strategy 2: Viewer Avatar Focus

This strategy was illustrated by Ed from Film Booth. Ed set out to create a brand new channel and get it monetized as quickly as possible.

How Ed Did It:

1. He looked for a gap in the market – a topic not many people were covering but that viewers would like to watch.
2. He developed viewer avatars, putting himself in the shoes of his ideal viewer.
3. He brainstormed video ideas his avatar would most want to watch, without considering keywords or searchability.
4. He focused on his returning viewers analytic.

Results:

• Ed was monetized in just 6 weeks.
• Another 6 weeks later, he made nearly £300 from his channel.
• He started getting emails from brands who wanted to sponsor his channel.

Recommendation:

This is a good strategy but can be tricky for some people to pull off. I would put it in A tier.

Strategy 3: High-Effort, High-Reward Viral Video

This strategy was illustrated by Wano, who decided to take on a new challenge: publicly build a new YouTube channel and blow it up with just one video.

How Wano Did It:

1. He created a unique blend of key video ingredients (personality traits, humor, expressions, energy, identity, tone, style, visual branding, and entertainment value).
2. He used AI to help create much of the content.
3. He invested over $2,000 in editing for this one video.

Results:

• The video was slow to grow in the beginning but blew up on day 30.
• 30 days later, it had racked up over 1.8 million views.

Recommendation:

While the results can be incredible, this strategy is too risky for beginners. I would put this strategy in D tier.

Strategy 4: Artistic Approach

This strategy was illustrated by Bruno K, who took an artistic approach to creating content.

How Bruno Did It:

1. He created videos around topics he personally found interesting.
2. He put a lot of effort into his videos, trying to make each one better than the last.
3. He posted frequently, with three high-quality videos in roughly the first two weeks.

Results:

• One year later, he had 14,000 subscribers and over 800,000 views.

Recommendation:

This can be a good strategy for beginners, especially those trying to learn on their own. I would put this strategy in A tier.

Strategy 5: Viral Kids-Focused Shorts

This strategy was illustrated by Mo Mike, who focused on creating viral shorts targeting one of the largest audiences on YouTube: kids.

How Mo Mike Did It:

1. He found a style of short that was doing well (videos about a viral slushy cup product).
2. He started by posting one short a day and slowly increased to 4-5 shorts per day.
3. He encouraged viewers to subscribe, like, and watch three times to supercharge engagement.

Results:

• By day 25, he had 1 million subscribers.
• By day 30, he had 1.18 million subscribers and 50 million total views.
• He made $2,400 from YouTube monetization and $460 in profit from product sales.

Recommendation:

While this strategy works, it’s limited in the type of content you can create and doesn’t lead to a highly engaged audience. I would put this strategy in C tier.

Strategy 6: Authority Hacking

This strategy was illustrated by Ludwig, who set out to prove that YouTube was all skill and not luck by creating a new channel without using his face, name, or voice.

How Ludwig Did It:

1. He created a mini video essay about a popular Twitch streamer.
2. He used anonymous accounts to promote the video in the streamer’s Reddit and Twitch chat.
3. He donated to the streamer’s stream to get him to watch the video live.

Results:

• In just 4 days, Ludwig’s channel got 11,000 views and 1,000 subs.

Recommendation:

This strategy is risky and doesn’t guarantee success. I would put this strategy in D tier.

Strategy 7: Desperate Live Streaming

This strategy was illustrated by The Tech Realm, who set out to get 1,000 subscribers on a brand new YouTube channel in one day.

How The Tech Realm Did It:

1. He set up a brand new channel and started a live stream.
2. He used a desperate “I literally won’t stop streaming until I reach 1,000 Subs” title.
3. He streamed for 14 hours until he hit 1,000 subscribers.

Recommendation:

This strategy is not sustainable and attracts subscribers who don’t care about your content. I would put this strategy at the bottom of the tier list.

Strategy 8: Viral Outlier Content

This strategy was illustrated by Fabio Morena, who set out to gain at least 10 million views and generate at least $10,000 in ad revenue with a faceless channel.

How Fabio Did It:

1. He looked for small channels that were getting a lot of views and analyzed their content.
2. He created “brain rot” content inspired by viral outlier videos.
3. He purchased pre-monetized channels to start with.
4. He posted consistently across two channels (English and Spanish).

Results:

• His English channel got 2.3 million views and generated around $1,000 in revenue.
• His Spanish channel generated 13.2 million views and over $14,000 in revenue.
• His actual profit ended up being about $4,292.

Recommendation:

While Fabio’s specific approach had some questionable elements, the core strategy of finding viral breakout videos and modeling them can be effective. I would put this strategy in A tier.

Conclusion

After analyzing all these strategies, I personally recommend finding small channels that are going viral, analyzing the topics and formats they’re using, and then using that to inspire your own content while posting relatively frequently (ideally 1-2 times a week) and maintaining high quality. This approach gives you the best shot at getting views and subscribers quickly while still building a loyal audience.