This YouTuber Grew to 2.3M Subs in 1 Year (The Formula for Sam Sulek)

9 Dec 2023 · 7 min

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In short

Podcast Summary: Marketing School - Episode #2631

Episode Title This YouTuber Grew to 2.3M Subs in 1 Year (The Formula for Sam Sulek)

Hosts

  • Neil Patel
  • Eric Siu

Episode Overview In this episode, Neil and Eric discuss the impressive growth of YouTuber Sam Sulek, who gained 2.31 million subscribers in just one year. Sulek's success challenges conventional YouTube strategies, primarily through his daily long-form workout videos. The hosts extract key lessons from Sulek's journey, emphasizing the significance of consistency, authenticity, and relatability in digital marketing.

Key Points

Sam Sulek's Unconventional Strategy

  • Daily Posting: Sulek uploads workout videos every day, contributing to his visibility and engagement.
  • Long-form Content: Each video typically lasts over 30 minutes, catering to viewers looking for in-depth content.
  • Generic Thumbnails: Sulek's thumbnails are not professionally designed, yet they attract significant views.

Audience Engagement

  • Viewer Statistics:
  • Subscribers: 2.31 million in one year
  • Monthly Views: Over 25 million views
  • Daily Views: Approximately 27,000 views per day
  • Relatability: Sulek's unique appearance and his casual, authentic presentation style create a relatable persona that resonates with his audience.

Key Lessons Learned from Sulek's Success

  1. Consistency: Regular posting keeps the audience engaged and encourages loyal viewership.
  2. Longer Videos: Extended content can cater to viewers who enjoy detailed exercises or stories.
  3. Authenticity: Presenting oneself in a genuine manner often leads to a stronger connection with viewers.
  4. Starting Small: The hosts encourage listeners to begin creating content regardless of initial production quality or subscriber count.

Final Thoughts

  • The discussion highlights that success on platforms like YouTube does not always require high production values or elaborate strategies. Often, a simple, authentic approach can yield significant results.
  • The importance of finding one's niche and what works personally is emphasized, encouraging content creators to persist even if growth is slow initially.

Conclusion The episode concludes with a reminder to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast. Neil and Eric stress that while some may achieve rapid growth, others might take years to build their presence, but persistence is crucial.

Links Mentioned

  • [Sam Sulek’s YouTube Channel](#)
  • [Marketing School Website](https://www.marketingschool.io)
  • Connect with Neil and Eric:
  • [Neil Patel on X](https://twitter.com/neilpatel)
  • [Eric Siu on X](https://twitter.com/ericosiu)

Call to Action Listeners are encouraged to provide feedback on future topics and share their thoughts on the episode.

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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00All right, we're going to give you the secret formula on how this YouTuber grew in one year from basically zero to 2.3.1 million subscribers here. So Neil, have you heard of the name Sam Sulik before? I have not. Okay. This guy goes against the conventional wisdom of what you see on YouTube. And so here's the example that this guy over here. So if you can't see it on the YouTube video right now, let me describe what's going on here. So you can see 2.31 million subscribers. This guy's huge, right? He's massive. So he's posting every single day. Winter bulk day, day 28, home gym chest day. He's just like every single day he's posting like a workout video.

0:38Like he's working on legs, arms, back, chest, and it goes against everything that you, you, you see. Thumbnails are not even appealing, but it's, the thumbnails suck. It's, and it's like, look at this 770 K views, 679 K views, right? There's a lot of youth that's happening for this guy right now. So Neil, let's talk about this because he goes against all conventional wisdom on what you would do on YouTube. Yeah. But when you look at him, he's like, not just jacked. He's like super duper jack. So it could be causing people to just click through because they're like, what the heck? This guy's just not like jack.

1:13He's like Mr. Olympia kind of buff. Well, let's call it the things that he's doing right, right? So we shouldn't say all conventional things, all conventional wisdom. So one is every single day, it's a long form video. So each of these videos is around 30 plus minutes or so. Okay, that's one. Two, he is posted every single day. Three, there's something unique about him. Like he looks unique, right? And then if we actually click on one of the videos over here, let's look at it.

1:43He's just like talking to the car, right? And so it's just like his story. I think it's something that you can go around, like you can follow this guy. And it's almost like you're watching a TV show. That's what this guy is. It's a TV show. Yeah, it's really interesting. And what Sam Sulek, S-U-L-E-K, Sulek, I'm actually going to go check out his view count too. Look at that, 25 million views. Look at this. 520K additional subs in the last 30 days. Here, I'll show you right now. So if you look at him on YouTube. I have it on my screen. I'm on Social Blade right now. Yeah, but I have it on my screen.

2:22Look. Oh, that's a monthly? Yeah. Yeah. All right. So I'm looking at SocialBlade. He's getting roughly 27 ,000 views per day. 27 ,000? Are you sure? I think it's more than that. Look at mine. Look at my screen. This is pulling from vidIQ. I think this is more accurate. 25 million views and then 520k additional subscribers. So he's still, he's gone down a little bit, but still like the key thing here is you can see each and every day he's publishing a 30 minute video and so i think people are liking the fact that this is a guy that is continually showing his progress there's a story to tell and he kind of seems relatable in the fact that it's not overproduced if there's no crazy thumbnails it's not like a mr b spectacle or anything like that yeah no it's a good amount of views it's not bad and the views are those i can't see your screen dude oh it's a month range All right.

3:22I'm getting old. Anyway, so what are the key lessons that we can extrapolate for this? One, we talked about the consistency. We've talked about longer form videos. We talked about the – if you just watch him, he's just talking about what he does every single day if you watch one of his videos, right? And then you see some of his workouts and all that, and that's what it is. And it's like you can just have this on in the background, and people like watching TV. People like entertainment. This is like a – it's like a – what do you call it? It's like a feel-good entertainment type of thing. So – Yep.

3:53Look, and he's also being authentic and real. That's the reason why reality TV does so well. People want to see the authentic and real and everyone talks about like, Oh, I need this crazy production studio and having all these cameras and lighting. A lot of times is doing stuff that's lo fi. And I learned that really from watching Tai Lopez. You know, when Tai Lopez started blowing up years and years ago, the thing he did was his production quality sucked. He was just busting out his phone and recording. but it was realistic. People can relate more to it and it helped him grow rapidly. Yeah. There's a lot of different ways to do it.

4:30I think the key thing here is that if you're looking to get started, just go out there and start because there are YouTube channels out there, some that get millions of views per month and only publish one video. And then you have the Mr. Bees who are, they're spending a lot of time and effort, millions of dollars per video, right? For a production. Then you have people like Ryan Trahan, where he will run a penny across the the United States and then he'll give it to Mr. Beast at the end. And like, that's not a high budget thing, but it's, it's creative. Right. And then you have guys like this.

4:56They're just super consistent and he's, he's kind of relatable, but he's also not relatable because he's got these big muscles. Right. So just figure out what works for you. Like in this case, Neil and I, we love learning. We love teaching. So this is why we do this and figure out what works for you and then just keep going. And it might take you two, three years to get something going, but that's what it So anything else? Nope, that's it. Make sure you rate review this podcast. Give us five stars. We really appreciate it.

From the publisher
In episode #2631, We discuss the unconventional success of YouTuber Sam Sulek, who gained 2.31 million subscribers in just one year. Despite defying conventional wisdom, Sulek's daily, long-form workout videos have garnered millions of views. The key lessons from Sulek's success include consistency, longer-form videos, authenticity, and relatability. We emphasize the importance of finding what works for you and starting, even if it takes time to gain traction. Don’t forget to help us grow by subscribing and liking on YouTube! Check out more of Eric’s content (Leveling UP YT) and Neil’s videos (Neil Patel YT)  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: (00:00) Today’s topic: This YouTuber Grew to 2.3M Subs in 1 Year (The Formula for Sam Sulek) (00:27) Description of Sam Sulek's unconventional YouTube strategy (01:37) Unique aspects of Sam Sulek's videos (02:48) Discussion about Sam Sulek's viewership and subscriber count (03:23) Lessons learned from Sam Sulek's success (05:02) Final thoughts and call to action for podcast (05:17) Conclusion and podcast rating request (05:17) That’s it for today! Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe! Go to https://www.marketingschool.io to learn more! Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Sam Sulek’s YouTube Leave Some Feedback: What should we talk about next? Please let us know in the comments below Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review. Connect with Us:  Single Grain << Eric’s ad agency NP Digital << Neil’s ad agency X @neilpatel  X @ericosiu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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