5 Secrets to Know Before You Start A New YouTube Channel As Side Hustle

YouTube Channel can be a lucrative side-hustle — But it demands a lot from you

YouTube is amazing! Both for viewers and content creators.

Content creators never had an outlet like YouTube before. They can now create something on their own and reach thousands of people with that.

If you want to create content, I strongly encourage that you start your channel. However, if you also want to earn money, the journey might be more difficult than you expect. YouTube monetization has become tougher than ever. YouTube also adds new rules that exclude several topics from monetization.

There are a few things you need to consider before you begin. Before we get to that, let’s clarify the requirements from YouTube.

YouTube wants you to accumulate 4,000 hours of watch time and 1,000 subscribers. The watch time has to take place in the preceding 12 months.

That’s a lot! Some people complain about the Medium Partner Program policies. But if they see what YouTube is asking for, they’ll realize that it is still easy to get monetization in Medium.

Also, not all channels are allowed to get monetization. It’s better to check that before you start putting in hours.

Secret 01: YouTube is a proper marathon

It’s very unlikely that you will get success overnight on YouTube. You will struggle for views unless you have a substantial following outside of YouTube already.

Let’s just do quick and dirty math. 4,000 hours equal to 240,000 minutes. Let’s assume all your videos are 10 minutes long. Currently, the average video watch time percentage (Audience Retention) is at 50–60%. Your viewers on average watch 50% of the total or 5 minutes. That means you will need —

• 480,000 videos with each getting 1 view
• 48,000 videos with each getting 10 views
• 4,800 videos with each getting 100 views
• 480 videos with each getting 1,000 views
• 48 videos with each getting 10,000 views

The last two options are technically possible. But, creating 480 videos is a lot of work — it’s probably impossible to do in a year. 48 videos are a much more feasible target. But in your first year, 10,000 views per video might not be achievable.

You can get lucky! Your content may resonate with viewers and go viral. You may have a following already and that can help with views. But in most cases, you’ll have to do the grind.

You need to strike a middle ground. But either way, it will likely take you over a year to get monetization.

It’s going to be a frustrating year. Remember, patience is key in this marathon.

Secret 02: How many video ideas do you have?

You might have 10 ideas. It won’t cut it.

You need to have 50 rough ideas always in the pipeline. You will need to have multiple videos created and scheduled. Casey Neistat uploaded daily videos for 500 days. He has 12.4m subscribers now.

The ideal option will be to get 20–50 videos ready before you even start. I will tell you why you need so many videos in the next secret.

If you have an amazing, see if you can stretch it to more. Otherwise, you will lose steam quickly.

Secret 03: You need to show YouTube that you are serious about content creation

As of May 2019, 500 hours of video were being uploaded to YouTube every minute! In 2021, that number has surely increased.

To become successful on YouTube, your video needs to reach a large number of viewers. YouTube shows videos to potential viewers as suggested videos, browse features, etc. Your video is more likely to be promoted by YouTube if you show you are serious.

Anyone can upload a video on YouTube. But a serious content creator will continue uploading at regular intervals. That is the signal you need to send. You are there to stay.

The interval is up to you. Some recommend weekly uploads and some push for daily uploads. It is better to not go beyond weekly upload if you want to grow fast.

This channel started its journey in June 2021. By September 2021, it has generated 32.3k impressions and 4.4k views.

The channel creates stopwatches and timers. For a new channel with no promotion and very basic content, it is not a bad number.

In the first two months, “Ujin Timers” uploaded 50+ videos. The channel went with the daily upload strategy and YouTube rewarded it with more impressions.

So, if you want to upload a video every 3 days, you should have a month of content at least. That means you will need 11 videos. If you go for daily uploads, you will need 31.

On top of that, it is better to upload 5–15 videos on your first day. Some viewers will come to your channel on day one. They might like what they see and want to subscribe. But if they see the channel has only one video, they might feel discouraged to hit the button.

So, if you go for daily uploads, you will need 36 videos to start with. Then you can have a month’s headstart. You can use that time to learn, research, and make better content.

Bonus tip: Make sure to fill up the channel description and tags. Youtube will understand what your channel is about from that.

Secret 04: You need to study what YouTube rewards

YouTub wants viewers to spend more time on the platform. Simple as that.

If you make crappy content that makes people stop watching for the day, YouTube will punish you.

Keep your viewers longer on the channel, you will reap the reward. As of now, YouTube values audience retention highly. That means, what percentage of your video was watched by a user. If it’s a good video, they will watch all of it. If it’s a bad one, they’ll run from it after it starts. You need to work on your title, keywords, tags, thumbnail, video intro, video content, and data analytics to keep improving audience retention. It’s a lot of work, but there’s a method to that madness.

In recent times, YouTube is rewarding Shorts makers.

They have introduced a $100m fund to reward Shorts Makers. Tiktok is doing pretty well. They have reportedly taken crossed YouTube in terms of watch time. Obviously, YouTube can’t sit idle. So, YouTube is pushing its Shorts.

Make Shorts to promote your longer videos. Just like I used this shortform to promote an article on psychological pricing strategy.

Secret 05: You need to be SEO friendly and searchable

Your channel name is your biggest identity. It has to be short, memorable, and unique. It can’t be a generic one. People will try to find your videos by adding the channel name in the search option.

You may also need to engage (genuinely, don’t spam) with other videos. By dropping your comment in other channels, your channel name will start getting out.

You will need to research tags and create thumbnails to perform better.

Combining everything, the platform is going to take a lot of time to manage and maintain.

Don’t give up! Create a support system that will keep you motivated.

Final Thoughts

• Prepare for a marathon — YouTube is likely to test your patience.
• Budget a lot of time — uploading the video, researching keywords, tags, titles, and making thumbnails take more than you expect.
• Keep making videos — your 100th video might go viral and make things easier for you
• Learn how things work — don’t make mistakes you will regret later like “sub for sub”

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