How Long It Actually Takes to Get Monetised on YouTube - Whilst Working a 9-5

It takes a while

From lurking on reddit and watching other YouTube videos on this topic, it appears it can take anyone on average anywhere from 6 to 12 months+, and 50-100 or so videos to get monetised. Some channels can get it done sooner, some, take longer with more or less videos. It varies a lot.

It took me 20 video uploads, 1 year, 8 months, and 21 days to get monetised. Just shy of 2 years.

Could it have been done quicker? Possibly.

What took so long? Probably, in-experience, and the fact I started from scratch. Zero.

• I didn’t know anything about recording videos with cameras. I had a camera, but mainly I use it for photography.
• I didn’t know how important audio is, and I didn’t know anything about microphones.
• I didn’t know the first thing about editing videos.
• I did my first few videos using iMovie, then eventually took the plunge and coughed up money to pay for Final Cut Pro X.
• I didn’t have an existing social media following such as Instagram, Twitter/X or TikTok I could leverage.
• I had a demanding 9-5 day job and I was trying to do this on the side in my free time.

What do you actually need to get monetised?

In order to be qualified to start earning some $$$ with YouTube, you will need:

• 1,000 subscribers
• 4,000 watch hours across a 12 month period OR 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days

YouTube introduced these requirements around 2018. Why? To make the barrier of entry higher.

But also to ensure channels are producing good quality content and not just pushing out spam or noise.

More importantly, advertisers don’t necessarily want to be associated to low-quality channels and content - that’s understandable.

How do you get 1,000 subscribers?

Well, having experienced this myself, the first 1,000 is the hardest and there is no short cut for mere mortals like us.

Is it volume of videos? Quality?

Consistency. You may have heard or read that its just consistency. This is partly true. But I believe there is more to it.

If one consistently uploads once a week, thats 52 videos in a year. In 2 years thats 104 videos. That’s a lot of videos. Surely by then one can reach 1,000 subscribers? Maybe. Maybe not.

But quantity does not equal quality.

If one is not learning from the previous video of what works and what doesn’t and just consistently posts and each video only gets 100-200 views, then something is not quite right.

It’s consistency + focusing on a niche/area + being useful/entertaining

• Searchable
• Related to current trends/news
• Entertainment

Education / Entertainment

The first 1,000 is the hardest

Is it worth it?

For the first time ever, I can say this channel is earning some internet money. It’s not life changing money, and not something I can quit my day job - not yet anyway. But its also not pocket change either.

As a software engineer, I have made several attempts of launching a product/service, in the hope of earning a side income. I’ve spent countless hours coding, building, designing, launching, building some more, trying to market it with product hunt and on IndieHackers - only to come to the same result - zero paying customers. Heart-breaking.

This. This YouTube channel, I too have spent countless hours scripting, editing, filming, generating ideas. Probably not as much as I have spent over the years with software products, but as I mentioned before, it took me just shy of 2 years to get monetised.

So, in a way, yes, its been worth it.

Also, now With AI in the picture now, and as a software engineer, for once in my life, my job is at a potential risk.

With a YouTube channel, not only is there a small side income, if I end up losing my job for whatever reason, and it takes several months to find a job, at least I have YouTube to lean into and put more of my time and effort into it.