I started this blog and my YouTube channel just before the turn of 2020 with the aim of establishing a channel offering tips and tricks, help and information on investing, passive income and making the money you have work harder for you.
My aim is to spread the message of living below your means, investing the excess and hopefully reach a stage where you can live life on your terms, not those where you work until you are 70 and then claim a pension….
Anyway, YouTube has been a lot of fun these past few months and I recently hit the 100 subscriber mark with this particular video on my Trading 212 April Update. Passing that landmark is a nice moment for me and I wanted to talk about exactly what that means in terms of earning from YouTube.
It has been nice to see the subscriber count rising – I haven’t embarked on this sub-for-sub strategy that leaves you with hundreds of subscribers, none of which actually watch your videos. Sure, I have reached out to friends and family and like-minded channels on YouTube to try to get off the mark, but blanket sub-for-sub isn’t something I want to get involved with.
The organic growth I’ve seen in terms of subscribers has been mirrored in proportionate statistics on views and watch time, so I have been able to see my channel grow, slowly but progressively. This is nice. It is good for the soul! It’s nice to see that people want to see the stuff I’m producing.
So what’s your earning figure for 100 subscribers!?
So the reason you are here: How much did YouTube pay me for 100 subscribers? Absolutely nothing! But that’s not to say I haven’t made any gains from my channel. There is certainly more to be gained from running a YouTube channel than simply gaining from ad revenue.
Many of you will already this, but YouTube will monetise your channel at 1000 subscribers and when you have 4000 hours of watch time in a 12 month period. What this means is that YouTube will begin to show ads on your channel and you get a cut of the advertising money paid by various companies to have their ads displayed on channels that reach the aforementioned criteria,
I have neither at this point. But that’s not I haven’t made any money.
Some of the videos I produce are around investing in the stock market – one of the most efficient ways of increasing your wealth over time – and as such I review and talk about some apps I use and run a diary of a particular Trading 212 account I use. On these videos I offer an affiliate link, which if someone uses this link to open an account of their own, we both get a free share.
To date I have received various referral bonuses worth about £132. Not too shabby. I take further heart from the fact that people are interested enough in what I have to say to use my links and it’s nice to get compensated (if that’s the right word) for the time taken to put together these videos.
I have also engaged in lots of interesting discussions about saving and investing strategy in all it’s forms with both seasoned veterans and folks who are just getting started. It’s great to be part of a community that are so passionate about breaking free of the norms that so often shackle us in our day to day lives.
Summary
Maybe some day I’ll have enough subscribers and viewing time to actually make ad revenue on my channel, but that is not the goal right now. I heard a quote from the excellent Sunny Leonarduzzi, “Don’t do it for the likes, do it for the legacy”. It’s very much my intention to try to keep putting out videos that people are interested in and with a good message.
In these uncertain times, and as jobless figures rise across the world, it’s never been more important for us to talk openly about money, saving and investing and to take control our finances. Head on over to my YouTube channel and get involved in some conversations about crafting your own independant future.