Should I promote my new YouTube channel to friends and family?

While it might not hurt to share your channel within your personal network, it's essential to consider whether those people are part of your ideal audience. If they aren't genuinely interested in your niche, their lack of engagement could impact your visibility. A more effective strategy could be to share your content in communities that align with your target audience to increase the chances of attracting viewers who are genuinely interested in what you're offering.

From my experience, promoting your channel to friends and family often results in what I like to call 'pity subs.' These are people who subscribe out of goodwill but may not engage with your content. This can skew your numbers; if potential viewers see a high subscriber count but low view counts, they might question the quality of your content. Instead of focusing on numbers, I suggest concentrating on creating high-quality content that genuinely resonates with your target audience.

I personally don’t pay much attention to views or subscriber counts at this stage. Instead, I focus on developing my skills and improving my videos. It’s all about the journey and the learning process. If you keep refining your content, the numbers will follow over time. Focus on improving your delivery and production quality, and the right audience will find you.