My short experience on YouTube

Back in 2016 I have started my first YouTube channel. I have been uploading some content there for a couple of months and then I quit it. In this post I wanted to share my findings during that short amount of time and why it didn't work out for me back then.

Prehistory

5 years ago YouTube was already very popular, but it was still actively evolving to make it better for end users and companies who pay for advertisements. Many people who wanted to get some additional income could make some videos, upload on YouTube and enjoy seeing how the amount of money coming from the platform's integrated monetization system, is increasing.

Eventually some people have spotted schemes for making good profit without making much effort. You could upload a whole bunch of cutouts from popular videos that don't have copyright protections and until your channel gets banned because of complaints for stealing content from original authors of the videos you are uploading, you could earn a few hundred bucks and transfer that to your bank account.

The main reason why I decided to quit

Well, not long later after I started uploading videos the rules for monetization on YouTube were changed drastically. Previously you could create a new channel, apply for AdSense integration and when your account is confirmed enable ads on your channel and start earning. After those changes you had to have 1.000 subscribers and 4.000 hours watched for the past year to be able to apply for partnership program. I assume this change was really necessary to stop those who were creating new channels and abusing the tricks available on the platform to earn money without basically making their own content.

As you may guess, those who couldn't fit the new criteria were removed from partnership program. My account with 30+ subscribers and a few hundred hours watched was far away from those numbers and with that I lost the symbolic amounts of money I earned from the start.

Other challenges I faced during running my channel

I was too naive when I though that I make some content, upload it on YouTube and enable monetization. After uploading my first video I discovered that I can't turn on the ads, because it had a background music that doesn't have an open license. The next day I spent searching royalty free songs or anything with Creative Common license. Luckily I managed to find some really good stuff and replace the audio line.

You actually can use most of the songs, but you will need to buy the license. But not everyone can invest money for that, especially at the beginning.

Another challenge was about the editing apps. Free software for video editing is limited by functionality. For example to make really good posters, you might need Adobe Photoshop or something similar. GIMP is super powerful free alternative, but I find it a bit inconvenient to use. Fortunately for the whole content composition there is now Davinci Resolve, which is also powerful as Adobe Premiere Pro.

Be careful on finding your niche

I have been creating gaming content, because that was my interest at the time. Just thinking some idea, recording my gameplay, cutting the highlights, making transitions, including memes that will make sense on overall product :) placing some cool background music and coming up with some poster at the end. A lot of work to be honest. I have been spending days working on a video that got a couple hundred of views after publishing.

It is not only about marketing, which you also should take into consideration, but about interest of people on what you make. Who is your audience? If you plan to create content about cars then you are targeting at a big audience who is mostly wealthy. This would also effect your income. My audience were gamers from around the world, may sound like a big deal, but since I was focusing on a specific game it was shrinked seriously.

The competition was also a thing. There were a lot of people who already had tens of thousands of subscribers and were doing really good stuff. I kept getting comments criticizing my content by naming it another channel that nobody needs, when there are better channels.

However, a good thing about the type of content I was making, was that I didn't need any equipment, except a good laptop which I owned. If your plan is doing VLOGing, then you might also consider purchasing a camera, tripod, mic, lights, etc. That's a lot of money which may never pay off.

Closing tips for those who is starting a YouTube channel

I am not enough experienced to give some pro tips, but I definitely have some findings on my not so long lasted side hustle.

Think about making long videos on one topic. With a video which is more than 8 minutes, you will be more flexible about placing ads.

Be ready to spend a lot of time on it and constantly keep uploading new content. People will leave when you take significant pauses.

Your first videos will be bad, but keep doing and improving your skills. A lot of top YouTubers were starting from low quality videos, but ended up mastering all of it and reaching millions of subscribers.

Be motivated not by money, but by sharing knowledge or telling about things that you are really interested in. If you be like me in this case then you probably will quit with the first failure.

And of course good luck on your journey!