How Much Money YouTube Paid Me After 1000 Subscribers (My First 90 Days as a Monetized Creator)

[00:00] Today I'm going to share with you how

[00:01] much money YouTube paid me after

[00:02] reaching 1,000 subscribers on my channel

[00:04] and being monetized for a full 90 days.

[00:07] Now the amounts were not jaw-dropping,

[00:09] but they did catch me offguard and it

[00:11] might do the same for you. So in this

[00:12] video, I'm going to show you what it

[00:13] took to get there, which videos made

[00:15] money, which ones didn't, and I'm going

[00:16] to break down everything I've earned

[00:18] through the YouTube partner program over

[00:19] the last 90 days. When I first started

[00:21] this channel, one of my core values was

[00:23] to be as open and transparent as

[00:25] possible regarding everything I'm

[00:26] learning about growing on YouTube. and

[00:28] that includes breaking down what smaller

[00:30] creators earn, both good or bad, so that

[00:32] newer folks out there can get a really

[00:33] good idea of what to expect and what's

[00:35] possible. Now, if you're new here, I

[00:36] started my channel back in July of 2024.

[00:39] And at that time, I didn't have any

[00:40] experience with video editing, with

[00:42] cameras, with YouTube in general, or the

[00:44] algorithm. And at the time, I was still

[00:46] working my 9 toive job, a company I'd

[00:48] been with for almost two decades. And I

[00:49] was just trying to squeeze YouTube in

[00:51] when and where I could. It took me a

[00:52] full 4 months to reach my 1,000

[00:54] subscribers and then another 2 months

[00:56] after that to reach the 4,000 watchtime

[00:58] hours I would need for AdSense

[01:00] monetization. But here's what was

[01:01] interesting is I actually didn't earn my

[01:03] first dollars from ads. The first money

[01:06] I earned through YouTube was through a

[01:07] super chat during my very first live

[01:09] stream. And this was actually a really

[01:10] cool moment for me because it was the

[01:12] first time someone supported my work in

[01:13] this way. And it was just a gentle

[01:15] reminder that I was actually on the

[01:17] right track. For the purposes of this

[01:18] video, I will be breaking out everything

[01:20] YouTube partner program related,

[01:21] AdSense, super chats, and channel

[01:23] memberships. This way, you get the full

[01:25] picture. And speaking of complete

[01:26] picture, the full 6 months that I

[01:28] mentioned that it took me to reach that

[01:29] milestone, that included uploading 50

[01:32] videos, I earned 61,000 total views in

[01:35] that time. And by the time I reached

[01:37] that 4,000 watchtime hour mark, I was

[01:39] already closer to 3,000 subscribers on

[01:41] my channel. Then came my first 90 days

[01:44] as a monetized creator. And during that

[01:46] stretched, I published another 23 long-

[01:48] form videos, three live streams. I

[01:50] didn't do any shorts, but I just kept

[01:52] trying to show up as consistently as

[01:54] possible. Now, some videos worked, but

[01:56] most did not, and that's completely

[01:57] normal. My biggest earner was actually a

[02:00] video called The Hidden Side of YouTube

[02:01] that most creators won't talk about. And

[02:03] this one pulled in just over 5,300 views

[02:06] for my channel, which is actually really

[02:07] great for me, and about $31 in AdSense

[02:10] revenue. But the real surprise came from

[02:11] a completely different direction. This

[02:13] happened to be a live stream that I

[02:14] hosted. It was the very first one that I

[02:16] did. It got just $293 views and I earned

[02:19] $24 from that one video and it was

[02:22] mostly super chats from people actually

[02:24] attending the live stream. I wasn't

[02:25] expecting that at all, but it was really

[02:27] awesome to see it. Then of course there

[02:28] were the duds, the videos that did not

[02:30] perform well. There was one video in

[02:32] particular that I thought would do

[02:33] really well. How to make your first

[02:35] $1,000 on YouTube in 4 months. This

[02:37] video didn't do much of anything. It

[02:39] brought in about

[02:41] $342 sadly. And that I would say is

[02:43] probably the biggest lesson of all is

[02:45] that you don't get to pick what performs

[02:47] well. Sometimes your quick ideas just

[02:50] land. And other times the videos that

[02:51] you put the most effort and work into

[02:53] barely make a dent. But after 6 months

[02:56] of trial and error of editing fatigue

[02:58] and of showing up when the numbers were

[03:00] not so great, monetization was finally

[03:02] on. And I had no idea what to expect.

[03:04] Would I make 50 bucks, a couple hundred

[03:06] bucks, or zero? And I debated whether I

[03:09] should be sharing this information at

[03:10] all because honestly YouTube earnings

[03:12] early on are just all over the place. It

[03:14] can be super high or super low and

[03:16] sometimes sharing this stuff can feel a

[03:18] little vulnerable. But I made the

[03:19] commitment. I want to be open and

[03:20] transparent with you guys. So here is

[03:22] the big reveal. Over those first 90 days

[03:24] of being monetized, I earned 50,000

[03:26] additional views. I picked up 3500

[03:29] additional watchtime

[03:30] hours. Subscribers came in. and I earned

[03:33] $217 through AdSense, $43 through

[03:37] supers, and then another $14 through

[03:39] channel memberships. My single highest

[03:41] day earning was $24 from that live

[03:43] stream that I had mentioned. So, no,

[03:45] this was not life-changing money by any

[03:47] stretch, but it was real. I could see it

[03:50] now. It was in the YouTube studio, and

[03:52] it was really cool to finally see all of

[03:54] this work that I've been putting in six

[03:56] plus months come to fruition and having

[03:58] that front row seat of watching the

[04:00] earnings start to come in. But here's

[04:02] the thing that I think most creators

[04:03] need to hear is that monetization

[04:05] through the YouTube partner program

[04:07] shouldn't be the end goal. It should be

[04:09] a goal but not the end goal. Between the

[04:12] fluctuating amounts that advertisers are

[04:14] willing to pay, the inconsistent views

[04:16] that you might see, and then the fact

[04:17] that not all content earns equally,

[04:20] YouTube AdSense revenue can be quite

[04:22] unpredictable, even when you do

[04:23] everything right. So that's why early

[04:25] on, I knew that I was going to have to

[04:26] build off platform in order to make

[04:28] money through my YouTube channel. And

[04:29] during this same 90-day stretch, I

[04:31] actually earned about 10x off platform

[04:33] than what I earned on platform. And this

[04:35] was all done through my YouTube channel,

[04:36] through my coaching business. So, start

[04:38] thinking about how your content can

[04:39] support something bigger, because that's

[04:41] where the real long-term opportunity is.

[04:43] And I already knew going into this that

[04:45] building a business around my YouTube

[04:46] channel would be far more scalable and

[04:48] reliable than just relying on AdSense.

[04:51] But still, that first 90 days where you

[04:53] start to see that money trickle in, it's

[04:54] actually a really cool experience

[04:56] regardless of where you're making your

[04:57] money through YouTube, to see the daily

[04:59] earnings trickle in, and then to finally

[05:01] get your first monetization checks. It's

[05:02] a pretty cool feeling. Now, along the

[05:04] way, there are a few lessons that I

[05:05] think are worth sharing. Lesson one is

[05:07] that what earns isn't always what

[05:09] performs. Some of my best viewed videos

[05:11] weren't the highest earners, and some of

[05:13] my lowest viewed videos actually led to

[05:15] coaching clients. So, let that be a

[05:17] reminder that views don't always equal

[05:19] income. Lesson number two is that people

[05:20] will support creators that they connect

[05:22] with. Now, I wasn't expecting anything

[05:24] when I first went live, but people

[05:26] showed up. They gave supers and they

[05:28] even joined as channel members. Even

[05:30] with a small channel, it shows that

[05:31] trust leads to support. Sometimes you

[05:34] just have to invite it. And lesson

[05:35] number three is that monetization is

[05:37] more of a checkpoint than a turning

[05:39] point. Getting monetized is exciting,

[05:40] but it doesn't magically change

[05:42] everything. I think for me the biggest

[05:43] shift has been just trying to stay

[05:45] consistent, trying to make improvements

[05:47] with every upload and then really

[05:48] thinking beyond the ads by nurturing and

[05:51] growing my community. So, if you're just

[05:52] crossing 1,000 subscribers or on your

[05:55] way, I hope this gives you a good idea

[05:57] of what's realistic for a newer creator

[05:59] for your first 3 months being monetized.

[06:01] It's not magic. It is a grind, but it's

[06:03] totally doable. And if you want help

[06:05] growing towards monetization or maybe

[06:06] you just need to think through other

[06:08] ways of monetizing offplatform, feel

[06:10] free to book a free 15-minute

[06:11] consultation with me. There is a link in

[06:13] the description below. And then also be

[06:15] sure and check out the video right over

[06:16] here. It is my full deep dive on all

[06:18] things YouTube partner program so that

[06:20] you know what you're getting into when

[06:22] you sign up for it and when you get

[06:23] AdSense monetized and that you get

[06:25] everything set up correctly. So, I hope

[06:26] this video was helpful. Talk to you guys

[06:28] in the next one.