My next experiment... Monetising YouTube

I've been uploading videos to YouTube for years. In the early days it was my friends and I messing around with things like putting an egg in a microwave (a surefire viral TikTok hit these days) or sharing a spontaneous trip to Dover (more interesting than it sounds - the video, not Dover). Then the Cadbury competition came along, before I eventually started posting technology how-to videos. (Oh, and some livestreamed game shows thrown in during coronavirus lockdowns!)

Arguably, the most important thing about being able to actually make money from posting on YouTube is to simply keep going. The problem is that's exactly what my biggest challenge has always been. I've consistently enjoyed the whole production process, but I've never been able to build a habit to post consistently alongside day-to-day work.

Simply posting a video every week or month moves you closer to the thresholds required to earn a cut of YouTube's ad revenue. That's because the thresholds are based on subscribers (the amount of people choosing to follow your account) and watch hours (the number of hours viewers have watched your content) in the past year.

YouTube's algorithm aims to find the perfect video at the right moment for the viewer, so the likelihood is eventually you'll hit the thresholds through pure determination (if you post genuinely engaging content and put in effort to improve a little every time).

I deliberately didn't book any client work in February. Consistency on YouTube was one of the goals I set myself instead. I joined a group coaching cohort (I'm halfway through) which has been really interesting. There's something about sharing the struggle and mingling with others who've already made YouTube their full-time job that has helped motivate me. Having a clear objective to unlock monetisation has also been a driving factor.

Today I'm celebrating. Not because I'm monetised (I'm less than halfway there), but because I surpassed 500,000 lifetime views and posted 7 videos in the past month - my most consistent run to date. Crucially, I think I've made this a weekly habit.

I don't have a secret formula to share with you, but here's a couple of things I’ve learned about posting on YouTube:

• Come up with loads of ideas and only ever make a small number (1-10%) of them. (This gives you some leeway to make sure you can make the very best of your ideas, whilst still being able to pick things just because they're interesting to you.)

• Packaging is everything. If viewers aren't hooked by the title and/or thumbnail, they'll never get to see your masterpiece.

• Stick to one niche if you can. This is hard for me, as I like being a generalist, but my channel is now focused on tech how-to tutorials. I might start a separate channel with more business-focused content in future.

• Be strategic. Research pays off, so spend time watching YouTube content yourself, see what content is most popular in your niche, and try it with your own twist.

My plan is to build up a small backlog of videos to maintain a roughly weekly posting schedule. That's actually something I struggle with. I much prefer putting something into the world as soon as I've created it. I'm am instant gratification person (I blame Amazon Prime) so any tips for fighting that urge would be appreciated!

If you're interested, you can find my YouTube channel here.

Reflection

I don't give myself enough opportunities to feel proud of things (however big or small) I've achieved.

Take a moment to think - regardless of anything else happening in life, what's a recent achievement you should allow yourself to take a moment to celebrate?