Authortube: Celebrating Milestones

AUTHORTUBE: CELEBRATING MILESTONES

It's really only been the last year or so that my Authortube channel has gotten an audience that keeps building. Before when I hit milestones, I wasn't really engaging with the subscribers that I had, even though some would watch, usually on other sites like Goodreads or Tumblr, I didn't get many comments and I didn't do giveaways and such to celebrate hitting 100 subs and on like that.

It was only really watching other authortubers who were new to the scene do such giveaways and celebrate the small milestones (and the bigger ones) that I really woke up to the idea that it's good to give back to the people who tune in every week to watch. And so when I hit 400 subs, I did a giveaway. Now, I will say that there was a bit of a problem with someone claiming to be one of the winners in order to get a $10 Amazon giftcard, and I almost fell for it. It was only when the guy started trying to convince me that I should give him more because the US dollar was worth more than the Australian dollar, which was where I knew the winner actually lived. Then I checked his channel and sure enough he'd cloned it, and that was a headache and a half!

But today I wanted to give you some tips to both avoid that mess, and also make sure that you celebrate the milestones on Authortube. It's not just about wanting to give back, but also allowing yourself to also celebrate the hard work you've put into your channel. You don't have to do something massive, you can do things like Q&A sessions which are popular with the bigger milestones. Personally, I love those, and I've seen other people do them for the smaller gains as well. I do a regular video on my channel answering reader and writer questions often enough that I personally wouldn't really consider it special for me. That's not to say others can't though!

Thinking about it, I wonder if my channel growth would have carried on climbing if I'd celebrated the little steps it took me to get there. Since my 400 giveaway, I've already gotten a heap more of subs and that's led to me thinking ahead to the 500 milestone. As I've said numerous times before, I made a lot of mistakes on Authortube and I'm hoping that by showcasing those here on the blog and my channel, you guys won't go into it, doing the same thing!

So don't think you need to skip the smaller ones and put your eyes on the big 1K. It takes a long time to get there, though I'm told that once you do, the subs mount up quicker. It's something to keep in mind, something to remember that everyone who's watching you, they're gonna be happy to celebrate with you. So whether you go for a giveaway, or a Q&A or a livestream, or anything else that I've not thought of, or mentioned, then just be sure it's something that allows your followers to engage with you, get to know the person behind the lens and actually talk to you as a person.

One caveat to that, just because you're on Authortube, it doesn't mean that you have to share everything about your life. Only you can decide what you want people to know, and so long as you're genuine, then it's not a problem. I know of an amazing Authortuber, Dal Cecil Runo, who for a while didn't show their face, only in shadow, and has since switched to an animated avatar while she does voice over. You don't have to put your face out there if you choose not to, the wonders of technology is that you can show however much, or little, you want, and so long as you're comfortable, that's okay!

So how do you celebrate milestones? Whether that's on a blog, or Authortube, lemme know in the comments below!

Follow Joey here on her blog, or on Facebook or Tumblr to be kept up to date with the latest news regarding Joey and her books