How I Monetized my YouTube Channel in Just 10 Weeks!

Summary

Jen, a 58-year-old single woman, shares her journey of monetizing her YouTube channel 'Silver and Solo' in just 10 weeks. Starting with no experience, she committed to a weekly video schedule, learned from YouTube experts, and adapted her content based on viewer feedback. Despite setbacks, she persisted, ultimately achieving the required 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watchtime hours. Jen's story offers valuable insights and tips for aspiring YouTubers on consistency, learning, and the power of community engagement.

Takeaways

• 😀 Jen is a 58-year-old single woman who started her YouTube channel 'silver and solo' with no prior experience in video making or editing.
• 🎥 Despite having no initial experience, Jen successfully monetized her channel within 10 weeks, achieving the required 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watchtime hours.
• 📈 Jen's channel started with 69 subscribers and 230 watchtime hours on January 1st, 2024, and she committed to creating content consistently to improve her metrics.
• 📚 She emphasized the importance of learning from other YouTubers and experts, watching their videos to understand the platform and improve her content creation skills.
• 🔧 Jen used basic equipment like an iPhone, a cheap tripod, a gimbal, and a small microphone for her videos, proving that expensive gear is not a prerequisite for success.
• 🔄 She experienced a significant setback in week seven with only one new subscriber but did not let that deter her from her goal of monetization.
• 💡 Listening to her audience's feedback from the comments led to a shift in her niche, which resulted in a viral video and a significant boost in subscribers and watchtime hours.
• 📹 Jen's content strategy included making one analytics video every Sunday and one midweek video on her 'silver and solo' topic, demonstrating the power of a clear content plan.
• 🚀 The turning point for her channel was a video about her experience of being let go from a job after 22 years, showing the impact of authenticity and storytelling in content.
• 📈 By week 10, Jen had achieved the YouTube Partner Program requirements and was invited to monetize her channel, highlighting the effectiveness of her strategies.
• 💰 Jen received her first payment from Google AdSense, indicating that her hard work and strategies paid off financially, and she plans to share her first month's earnings in an upcoming video.

Q & A

Who is the speaker in the video transcript?

The speaker is Jen, a 58-year-old single woman who lives alone and runs a YouTube channel called 'silver and solo'.

What was Jen's initial experience with video editing and YouTube before starting her channel?

Jen had no prior experience with video editing or YouTube before starting her channel 'silver and solo'.

How quickly did Jen manage to monetize her YouTube channel?

Jen managed to monetize her YouTube channel in 10 weeks.

What were the initial subscriber count and watchtime hours of Jen's channel on January 1st, 2024?

On January 1st, 2024, Jen's channel had 69 subscribers and 230 watchtime hours.

What are the YouTube Partner Program requirements for monetization?

To join the YouTube Partner Program, a channel needs to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months.

What was the main content of Jen's video series?

Jen's video series documented her journey to monetize her channel, including the steps and strategies she used to achieve it.

What advice did Mr. Beast give to new YouTubers that Jen found impactful?

Mr. Beast advised that the first 10 or 20 videos will not be perfect and that new YouTubers should not be discouraged by this but instead focus on improving one aspect with each new video.

What equipment does Jen use to create her videos?

Jen uses her iPhone for recording, a cheap tripod, a basic gimbal, and a small microphone. She does not use expensive camera equipment or professional lighting.

How often did Jen commit to uploading videos to her channel?

Jen committed to uploading two videos per week, one analytics video on Sunday and one 'silver and solo' themed video midweek.

What was the turning point for Jen's channel growth?

The turning point was when a comment on her analytics video led her to create a video about her experience of being let go from a job after 22 years, which drove subscriptions and views.

How did Jen's channel perform in terms of subscribers and watchtime hours by the end of the 10-week period?

By the end of the 10-week period, Jen had reached 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watchtime hours, meeting the requirements for the YouTube Partner Program.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Starting a YouTube Channel: Jen's Journey to Monetization

Jen, a 58-year-old single woman, introduces her YouTube channel 'Silver and Solo,' sharing her lack of prior experience in video editing or YouTube. Despite this, she managed to monetize her channel in just 10 weeks. She invites viewers to learn from her story, promising tips and tricks to improve channel metrics and achieve monetization quickly. Jen's channel started with minimal subscribers and watchtime hours but grew significantly by following a consistent upload schedule and learning from YouTube experts. She emphasizes the importance of commitment, consistency, and learning from others, including a valuable lesson from Mr. Beast about the initial challenges of video creation.

05:03

📚 Embracing Learning and Adaptability in Video Content Creation

This paragraph delves into Jen's learning process, emphasizing the necessity of continuous improvement and learning in video editing and content creation. She admits her initial videos were not perfect but stresses the importance of making incremental improvements with each new video. Jen discusses her equipment, which is modest and affordable, and her approach to filming in familiar, accessible locations. She also highlights the significance of identifying and committing to a niche, while also being flexible enough to adapt based on audience feedback. A pivotal moment in her channel's growth came when she responded to a viewer's comment, leading to a video that significantly boosted her subscriber count and watchtime hours.

10:05

🚀 Monetization Success and Sharing First Earnings

In the final paragraph, Jen shares her achievement of reaching YouTube's monetization criteria within 10 weeks, attributing her success to hard work, commitment, and adaptability. She details her strategy of consistent content creation, learning from other creators, and not being afraid to experiment with new video styles. Jen also discusses the importance of listening to her audience and doubling down on content that resonates with viewers. She concludes by teasing an upcoming video where she will reveal her first month's monetization earnings from AdSense, hinting at a significant sum and inviting viewers to tune in for more details.

Keywords

💡YouTube Channel

A YouTube Channel is a platform where individuals or organizations can upload and share videos. In the video, the creator, Jen, discusses her journey of starting her own channel, 'silver and solo,' which is a central theme of her story as she aims to monetize it. The channel's growth and the strategies she employs are key to understanding her narrative.

💡Monetization

Monetization refers to the process of generating revenue from a digital platform, such as a YouTube channel. Jen's primary goal, as described in the script, is to monetize her channel, which she achieves by meeting YouTube's criteria of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within a year.

💡Subscribers

Subscribers are individuals who choose to follow a YouTube channel to receive updates on new content. In the context of Jen's video, subscribers are crucial for her channel's growth and are one of the metrics for YouTube Partner Program eligibility.

💡Watchtime Hours

Watchtime Hours is a metric used by YouTube to measure the total amount of time viewers spend watching videos on a channel. Jen mentions this as one of the requirements for monetization, emphasizing the importance of watchtime in growing her channel.

💡Consistency

Consistency in content creation is highlighted by Jen as a key factor in growing her channel. She commits to uploading two videos per week, which is a strategy often recommended by YouTube experts to maintain viewer engagement and channel growth.

💡Video Editing

Video editing is the process of assembling and modifying video shots to create a finished video product. Jen mentions her initial lack of experience with video editing and how she overcame this hurdle by learning through watching tutorials and practicing with her own videos.

💡Niche

A niche refers to a specific topic or area of interest that a content creator focuses on to attract a particular audience. Jen discusses the importance of finding and, if necessary, changing her niche to better resonate with her viewers and grow her channel.

💡Analytics

Analytics in the context of YouTube refers to the data and statistics that provide insights into viewer behavior and channel performance. Jen uses analytics to track her progress, make informed decisions about her content, and share her findings with her audience.

💡Content Creator

A content creator is an individual or entity that produces material for digital platforms, such as videos for YouTube. Jen positions herself as a content creator, learning the ropes of video production and sharing her experiences and advice with her viewers.

💡Mr. Beast

Mr. Beast is a popular YouTuber known for his philanthropy and large-scale stunts. In the script, Jen references a video featuring Mr. Beast's advice for new YouTubers, which emphasizes the importance of persistence and continuous improvement in video creation.

💡AdSense

Google AdSense is a program that allows content creators to earn money from their online content by displaying ads. Jen mentions receiving payment from AdSense after her channel was monetized, which is a significant milestone in her journey as a YouTuber.

Highlights

Jen, a 58-year-old single woman, started a YouTube channel called 'silver and solo' with no prior experience in video editing or YouTube.

She managed to monetize her channel in just 10 weeks, sharing her journey and tips for others to improve their YouTube metrics and get monetized quickly.

On January 1st, 2024, Jen's channel had only 69 subscribers and 230 watchtime hours, far from the YouTube Partner Program requirements.

Jen committed to making one analytics video and one 'silver and solo' video every week until her channel was monetized.

She emphasizes the importance of consistency, as recommended by YouTube experts, by posting at least one video per week.

Jen learned about video making and YouTube by watching other creators and experts, including a video featuring Mr. Beast.

Mr. Beast's advice to new YouTubers was to expect the first 10-20 videos to be imperfect and to focus on improving one aspect with each new video.

Jen used only her iPhone, a cheap tripod, a gimbal, and a basic microphone for all her video shoots, avoiding expensive equipment.

She decided on a niche for her channel and made weekly analytics videos outlining her progress and improvements.

After a week with only one new subscriber, Jen remained undeterred, drawing parallels to her previous job loss experience.

A comment on her analytics video led Jen to share her experience of job loss, which unexpectedly increased her subscribers and views.

Jen advises to listen to the audience's feedback and adjust the content accordingly, as she did by changing her niche.

When something works, she recommends doubling down on it, which led to a viral video and significant subscriber growth.

By February 29th, Jen reached the 1,000 subscriber milestone, and by March 3rd, she achieved 4,000 watchtime hours, qualifying for the YouTube Partner Program.

Jen shares that she received a significant payment from Google AdSense, which she will detail in an upcoming video.

The video concludes with an invitation to Jen's audience to learn about her first month of monetization earnings in her next video.

Transcripts

hi I'm Jen I am 58 years old I'm single

I live alone hence the name of my

channel silver and solo and I have no

experience in video editing video making

video

anything before starting this YouTube

channel I had no experience with YouTube

even before I started this channel I

really did monetize my channel in 10

weeks if you're interested in hearing

how then take

about 8 minutes and listen to my story

and hopefully it will give you some tips

some tricks some insight into how you

can also improve your YouTube channel

metrics and analytics and get your

channel monetized as quickly as

possible on January 1st of 2024 my

channel had 69 subscribers and 230

watchtime

hours now what YouTube wants from you in

order to join the YouTube Partner

program YouTube wants 1,000 subscribers

and 4,000 watchtime hours in the course

of 365 days I made a whole video series

about my drive to monetize my channel

starting from January 1st 2024 until

March 3rd

2024 uh 10 videos I made them in to a

playlist on my channel and I'm going to

link them in the description below but

they walk you through exactly my path

the journey that I took in order to

become monetized in 10 weeks I really

recommend that you watch them but I'm

going to summarize here a quick overview

of my channel is that I started the

Channel in May of

2023 and didn't upload a video to it

until July of 2023 and that was just me

walking my dog it got zero views the

reason that I started the channel was

that I had booked a cruise and I had

never been on a cruise before and

so I typed how do you cruise and up came

YouTube videos so I started watching

YouTube videos about cruising and I just

thought to

myself I should take video on my cruise

and upload it to YouTube that's where it

all started I did end up uploading

cruise videos from my cruise and you can

still see them on my channel and they

are horrible but they're still up there

they're a testament to where I started

uh I uploaded those in September of 2023

they got like a few views mainly from

family I put up a couple more videos in

November and December of 2023 but also I

had recently discovered that you could

monetize your YouTube channel and

actually get paid for putting up videos

videos and I just

thought that would be pretty good and so

on January 1st

2024 New Year's Day resolution

day I decided

to devote myself to getting my channel

monetized and I had at that point I had

69 subscribers and 230 watchtime

hours so number one commitment I was

going to make one video about my

analytics every week and I was also

going to make what I was calling my

silver and solo video midweek every week

so two videos every week until I was

monetized and I put that into my brain

and I committed that to

myself

consistency all of the YouTube experts

giving advice on how to get your channel

monetized say that cons consistency is

key you have to do at least one video

per week number three you have to watch

YouTube videos in order to learn you

can't just Wing this on your own you've

got to watch other content creators

you've got to watch the so-called

YouTube experts I'm linking some of the

channels that I watched Pretty

religiously in order to learn more not

only about video making but about how

YouTube works one video that helped me

was a video of someone interviewing Mr

Beast and if you don't know who Mr Beast

is then maybe that's your your first

step find out who Mr Beast is on YouTube

and one of his pieces of advice for new

you YouTubers um hit me and it he said

uh your first I think 10 or 20 videos

are going to suck and there's no getting

around that and I fully agree with with

that don't worry about it and

don't stop don't let that stop you from

starting a YouTube channel and trying to

get it monetized that you're too

embarrassed because the other thing that

Mr Beast said was to improve one thing

every

video so yes your last video sucked but

you're going to make this new video

today and today's video is going to

improve on one thing baby steps I can do

that I can do that I can prove one thing

every time I make a video and I walk

through those things on the Sunday

monetization videos that I give you the

link to in the playlist I tell you what

I improved what I tried to improve what

I thought went wrong um and new things

that I learned every week you have to

learn you have to learn you have to

learn I didn't know anything about video

editing software and it was really

intimidating

to look at it I'm going to post a a

screenshot of D Vinci resolve which is

what I use for editing my videos I had

to watch dozens and dozens of videos and

get over my complete lack

of understanding of how to do that in

order to make videos for YouTube I don't

have expensive equipment I shot all of

my videos and I continue to shoot all of

my videos on my phone it's an iPhone I

have a cheap tripod I have a pretty

cheap Gimbal and a little microphone

that I use but other than that I don't

have an expensive camera I don't employ

anyone I don't have special lighting I

shoot in my in my house and out walking

the dog familiar places easy to get to

places I do all of my editing at home I

do it myself the big thing that I had to

learn and decide upon to begin and what

you should always decide upon first

before you start making videos is what

is your Niche what are you going to

focus on figure out what you're going to

make videos about and every week I made

one video on Sunday outlining my

analytics and my progress so far and one

video

midweek on my silver and solo topic my

Niche things were not going very quickly

but I was seeing some progress after

week six and in week seven that sort of

all Came Crashing Down in week seven I

had a total of

one new subscriber and I was pretty down

I sort of likened it to my previous

employer I had worked at another job for

22 years and they let me go when I was

53 and that was a shock and

disappointing but you know it didn't

beat me and so if that didn't beat me

having one subscriber in one week was

also not going to beat me this isn't

going to make me turn away from my my

mission to get the channel monetized

even though one subscriber in a week is

not that great but looking through the

comments on that week seven analytics

video someone made a comment and asked

to know more about my experience of

being let go from a job I'd been at for

22 years and so I

thought okay yeah I can do that why not

and in week eight in the analytics

video that jobl loss video had driven

subscriptions and driven views that week

29 new subscribers better than one and

it was

you know sort of an eye opener that if

you listen to the people in your

comments you can learn what people want

to see and that would be my my next tip

is listen listen to your commenters

listen to the people who are already

subscribed to your channel what do they

like to see from you and I was willing

to change my Niche the next

tip keeps on rolling from that one and

it is if something is working double

down on it so I made another video so in

week nine that video went

viral in week 10 I had gained 1,700

subscribers and 3,100 watchtime

hours just from that one video on

February 29th I reached 1,000

subscribers which is the first thing

that you have to reach in order to be

monetized with YouTube on March 3rd I

reached 4,000 watchtime hours which is

the second parameter that you need to

reach for monetization so February 29th

I had 1,000 subscribers March 3rd 4,000

watchtime hours I was invited into the

YouTube Partner

program and that was week 10 of me

trying to get my channel monetized I

don't know if I got lucky but I know

that I worked really hard for it that I

did the commitment I did the

consistency I studied YouTube I listened

to the advice I watched other creators I

wasn't afraid to try new things I had a

niche but I changed it I tried new video

Styles I learned how to do video editing

for myself I didn't buy expensive

equipment I just used what I had I

didn't shoot in exotic locations I shoot

in my house I shoot walking my

dog these are all things that if you put

them all together your channel is going

to be a success this video is a prologue

to the upcoming Sunday video that I will

be making where I reveal my analytics

for my first month of monetization and

how much money I made from YouTube and I

recently got paid yes money from Google

AdSense went into my bank account just

two days

ago and it is a significant amount not

going to tell you how much right now but

tune in on Sunday and I'll walk you

through it if you're learning anything

from this video if you liked it please

hit subscribe like and definitely leave

me a comment