I Was NOT Able To SKIP the 2-Year YouTube "Crucible"

This video is an update on my journey, where I’ll share what I learned last month on YouTube: what worked, what didn't, and how I plan to pivot this month and next. November will be my final publishing month for the year before I take a break through December and part of January. I’ll then kick things off again in January with YouTube and my other content creation efforts.

If this is a journey you’re on, I invite you to join me as we figure this out together. Hopefully, we can help each other reach the finish line and beyond. In retrospect, this series of videos will serve as breadcrumbs for others on a similar path.

Progress and Key Metrics

I started the year with 68 subscribers. As of recording this, I have 377 subscribers, meaning I’ve grown by over 300 subscribers in 10 months. While this is slower than I'd hoped, I am grateful for the progress. I’ve also secured two sponsorships this year, an unexpected win that contributes to my overall goal of earning $100,000 as a content creator.

Monetizing on YouTube requires 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within 365 days. Breaking down the watch hours goal, you need approximately 11 watch hours per day to achieve it within a year. While hitting 11 hours in a single day is realistic and something I've done many times, maintaining that consistency is the real challenge. The key is building a content library that does much of the heavy lifting for me.

Last month, I averaged between three to four watch hours per day. My goal has been to publish 26 new videos per month and get at least 100 watch hours monthly. Last month, I fell just short of 100 watch hours, but came close. Continuing this pace would lead to monetization sometime in 2026. Becoming more effective will, of course, accelerate this timeline.

A Two-Year Journey

The most interesting and humbling part of this journey is its duration. It will likely take me about two years to get monetized, longer than I initially thought. I’ve had to accept that I have a lot of learning to do and systems to put in place.

When I wrote Path of the Freelancer in 2017, I noted that it takes most freelancers about two years to get established. However, my previous seven years owning a marketing agency, along with the network and lessons learned, allowed me to skip that two-year crucible and achieve success as a freelancer within just a few months. I quickly became profitable, and now I earn a six-figure income working part-time, which frees up the rest of my time for content creation.

I thought I could skip the two-year journey with YouTube, just as I had with freelancing. It turns out I didn’t know enough and was missing too many components to bypass the necessary experience to get from a nobody on YouTube to being monetized. This realization has been humbling, leading me to adopt a more sustainable approach. My plan is to continue the 26-video-per-month cadence through November.

The 20-Mile March Discipline

I am committing to a 20-Mile March approach, a concept from Jim Collins' work (specifically, I believe, Great by Choice). The idea, inspired by two Antarctic explorers, is to maintain a consistent pace—your "20 miles"—every single day, regardless of circumstances.

The successful explorer maintained their 20-mile march daily, pushing hard when conditions were tough and maintaining the discipline not to overextend on good days. The one who failed lacked this discipline, performing based only on circumstances.

I'm leaning into this discipline for my YouTube efforts and my podcast, where I'm now committed to one episode every week for 2025. To build a commercially viable content creation business, discipline is essential to growing the platform into one of value for potential sponsors.

Building a Content Library and Multimedia Platform

I'm focused on building a multimedia platform, creating content in video, audio, and written formats, often using images and graphics as well. The goal is to communicate ideas in the channels and mediums people prefer—some like video, others like written content. Creating content in a way that allows for reaching a wider audience. I'm taking ideas and putting them into a variety of different formats and channels.

My strategy involves relying on the algorithm to deliver content to the right people. Unlike social media, where content is often presented based on your following, YouTube delivers content on a topical basis. I can create a video on freelancing, and the algorithm will show it to people interested in that topic. I can create a separate video on small business, and it will show that to a different audience. This allows me to focus on multiple audiences without having to choose just one.

I'm using my channel as a laboratory, experimenting with various video types, including travel videos and a series about converting a cargo van into a mobile book library. I think of this process like packing dynamite: I'm diligently building this video library, one video at a time, with the hope that when something takes off, the huge library of content will take off with it.

This is similar to being an author. One path to success is writing several books so that when one becomes a hit, people can then explore your entire back catalog. I believe the same principle applies to YouTube. When a video takes off, it helps the other videos gain more activity and traction. I'm already seeing some older videos that I think deserve more traction begin to pick up steam in YouTube search and the algorithm.

A Look at the Analytics

In October (for the period leading up to this video), I had 44 watch hours, which was actually one of my highest months of the year, averaging around 20 for the year up until that point. This showed me the initial potential.

My watch hours for the last several months of my serious effort were:

• January: 66.72
• February: 237 (My highest month)
• September: 98.23

I published 26 videos in August and 26 in September. In August, my watch hours were higher (151) because one video, my second-best video for the year, accounted for about 70 watch hours. In September, while the total was lower, the watch hours were generated more evenly across the portfolio of videos.

A key focus for me is old watch hours—time from videos four months old or older—which creates a crucial baseline. You can see the climb in old watch hours:

• May, June, July: Starting to pick up
• August: Shot up to 31.44 (one short podcast clip took off, accounting for about 10 hours)
• September: Settled at 21.67

Maintaining around 21 watch hours per month from my back catalog equates to 240 to 300 watch hours per year. This baseline means new videos only have to fill the gap to break the monetization barrier. The idea is to build that library and use the momentum to push past the monetization threshold.

Bootstrapping to Monetization

I turned 41 this week. I'm a 41-year-old YouTuber who wishes he'd gotten serious about this years ago. They say the best time to start was 20 years ago, but the second-best time is today.

It's important to recognize that I'm trying to reach the monetization threshold on my own—meaning, I'm handling the production, recording, editing, publishing, packaging, and promotion myself. I haven't invested much money or hired people because I want to bootstrap this effort, learning the system organically. Outsourcing may accelerate the process, but I wouldn't gain the deep understanding I’m looking for.

I'm focused on making this financially viable. My goal is to earn $100,000 from content creation, and this year, I’m only a little over 3% of the way there through sponsorships, affiliates, and my own products. If I spent that $3,000 on hiring help, I'd have made no profit, which echoes a lesson from freelancing: building a business with many clients and employees is only worthwhile if you’re making a profit.

For my freelancing, I chose to charge more and work fewer hours, which allowed me to hit a six-figure income part-time and dedicate the rest of my time to content creation.

Given my background and skills, I’m taking advantage of my ability to do intermediate-level editing and production myself. I keep my videos simple, focusing on providing valuable information and insights rather than relying on fancy production values. The goal is to streamline the process, making it simple, easy, and fast to get the content published and move on to the next thing, making small improvements as I go.

Looking Ahead

I will release one more report video in November, covering my October insights. I won't have a November report until January, which will likely be a summary of the entire year—the progress, mistakes, and lessons learned.

I’ve created a playlist to track this journey every month, and I will get monetized eventually. I want to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for others—for you—who are coming after me, so you can be successful in the same ways I hope to be.

I'd encourage anyone to start a YouTube channel, even if you only put up a video a couple of times a year. Doing video can be a vehicle for personal development, helping you become a better leader and a better version of yourself.

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