Gaining 1000 Subscribers On Youtube
Congratulations! You’ve finally reached this big milestone! Or maybe you’re still on your way there. In either case, if you’re close to this number, you know by now all the work that goes into having a YouTube channel and sticking it through. There are times when you’re feeling good, and growth is great. Then there are the not so good times, when you wonder why on earth you’re doing this at all. Or, maybe not - I have seen some channels where the content does not seem to have been edited at all. (The editing process can take a very long time if your videos are over thirty minutes or more). If this is you, awesome! Some people have a natural way with words and don’t have awkward pauses or say the word “um” a bazillion times in their videos. Either way, let’s discuss next steps and what else can happen at this point in your Youtube journey.
People don’t always realize that once you start a YouTube channel (even if you’re not making any money), you have started a business. It is taking up your time, it is an investment of your own money, with the potential of making money in the future. Once you actually do start making money, you might want to think about how you’re going to keep track of it, and where you want your YouTube income to go.
Youtube pays through Adsense, and there are certain restrictions in place to ensure that not just anyone can hop on, make a video and get paid because it hits millions of views. It really does strain out the people who aren’t serious about it. These restrictions include:
1. You need to have 1000 subscribers
2. You need to have 4000 hours of watch time
This can seem like a lot, and it is. It can take as short as a few months to hit these numbers, or a few years. Once you do, you can apply for Youtube’s Monetization program (with the restrictions outlined above). Once you are monetized, there are certain things you can post for monetization, and some things are considered off-limits. Youtube has changed this recently. When you go to post a video, and you click on “Monetize this video”, you must answer a series of questions before you are able to post. For instance, you might not be able to monetize your video if you talk about controversial topics, such as the Pandemic, or Wars.
When you do have money coming your way from Adsense, you will get an e-mail. You must set up a payment account through Adsense before you will be able to receive any money. At this point, you might consider if you want your money to go into your regular bank account, or if you want to set up a business account. I will tell you right now that the cheaper way to go is to have the money go to your normal checking account.
When I set mine up, I wanted to have separate purchases from my regular account. I wanted any purchases or income to track through an accounting program and I didn’t want that mixed up with my personal purchases, so I chose a business account. With that, I do get a separate bank card for business, and you can even apply for a credit card when you make enough money, and/or if your credit is good. Keep in mind that business accounts come with higher fees than normal personal accounts. If you are receiving money in US dollars, and you are Canadian, you also need a US account in which the fees are even higher. You generally get charged per transaction, and a transaction can be a deposit or a purchase.
Aside from the money part of things, have I mentioned that Youtube is a lot of work? Believe it or not, most people who start a YouTube channel give up within the first few months. You need to learn a lot of things, and it is a big time and energy investment. Remember that phrase, Time is Money? Well, in this case, it’s true. If you are quitting your day job to try and make a living from Youtube, DON’T!! I suggest stick with making videos part time, even if you’re only making one video every two weeks because that’s all the time you have. Youtube does not pay out at the beginning very well, and the money you receive ebbs and flows. It is very inconsistent, and it is based on how many people watch your video ads. (Trust me, most people skip the ads). I generally find that I make more money during the winter months when people are indoors, watching more social media or tv than during summer months. However, it does depend on your niche. Speaking of, what is a niche you might wonder?
A niche is the type of content you want to create. My niche is planner related, but I didn’t start out that way. (More on this later). A very good idea is to keep your niche limited to at most three different (related) topics. For example, if you make a video on skydiving, people who are into sky diving might subscribe to you. Then, if your next video is about unboxing products, people get confused. The sky diving people might unsubscribe because they have no interest in unboxing content. However, if you make a channel around extreme sports, it might catch the attention of a broader audience and, you might keep the sky diving people too!
A great thing to do is create content pillars. So for instance, if your niche is extreme sports, have at most 3-4 content pillars. One of them might be sky diving, one might be parasailing and the third might be kitesurfing. (Notice how they all are similar). In this instance, you could broaden the content pillars a bit and maybe say parasailing, BMX mountain biking and scuba diving. They are completely different, but still all extreme sports. In my experience, its better (and easier) to start with a more narrowed down niche and then broaden your horizons, or branch out when you get more experience. This leads me to my next topic…
You might start out on Youtube in a certain area (say you love knitting for example). You might be so happy creating knitting content, and then you all of a sudden lose interest and no longer want to knit. Maybe you’re more into diamond dots painting, or cross-stitch. You can slowly start to integrate the new content into your existing content, but you need to warn your subscribers. On top of that, be warned that you might take a drop in the number of subscribers you have.
The other option is to create a new channel on the new topic. (This really only works if you’re still creating content on the original channel). A channel rebrand is a very hard thing to pull off, but if you lose interest in a topic, your audience will know. It will be in the way you talk and people will know you are no longer interested or passionate about it.
This is sort of what happened to me. I actually started creating makeup tutorials on my main (planner) channel. That’s right - you heard me. Then, a few weeks later, I started getting into bullet journaling and posted my monthly setups every month. I stuck with that for a bit. Then, when I started getting bored (if you know me, that happens a lot!) I started to do planner content using an Erin Condren coiled planner. Eventually, I got advice from a fellow YouTuber to only create one type of content - makeup or planner/bullet journaling. So, since I still was interested in makeup, I started a new YouTube channel, called SandraDahlBeauty. But then, on my main channel, I loved everything stationery. So my main channel has a bit of everything related to art and stationery. (If I was to label content pillars for myself, I would probably have more than five - bullet journaling, planning, stationery hauls, lettering, art, subscription unboxing, budgeting and goal planning!) Currently, I do not do the budgeting, art, lettering or bullet journaling any more, but that does’t mean I might not do it in the future.) I’ve also done some vlogging, including Vlogmas, Planmas and weekly update videos.
I’ve changed things on my channel quite a bit. I always let my audience know before I do. I always check my analytics from month to month. If I notice that my subscribers are dropping, or my watch time is decreasing, I change again. If you were interested in doing a planning channel, a good idea is to stick with three different types of planners. For instance, a lot of planner people enjoy using multiple planners for different things. (I.e. I use a Franklin Covey Classic Binder for my catch-all, potentially a bullet journal for my work content, and a Planners Anonymous B6 Melody for my Wellness Planner).
I think the biggest note to take home at the end of this, is stick with it! You might change quite a bit through your Youtube journey, and that’s ok. Let your content change with you to reflect your personality and passions. (You won’t have subscribers if you don’t love what you do on your channel). Don’t be afraid of changing, but do communicate with your audience to see what they want from you. Don’t sweat it if people leave, because you will have new people join you all the time. Keep it fun, and you will be more likely to keep at it, since you are doing what you love.
Good luck!
❤️ SAN