Week 2 - YouTube paid me $8000 this year (2023)

YouTube has paid me over $8000 this year.

And I used to believe that none of this could be possible.

Just before we dive in, this is going to be going into the mindset of what it takes to become a successful creator, let’s dive in.

Back on July 8th, 2011, I posted my first YouTube video and from there I was hooked.

I’ve easily posted 500+ long-form YouTube videos over the years and for 95% of the last 12 years, I believed there was no way I could grow and have any kind of success with this.

See I viewed growing, blowing up, and doing well on YouTube as pure luck.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

See I was posting videos, but I wasn’t posting good videos. Your first 50-100 videos have got to suck, there is no other way to get good at making videos but after posting over 500 videos, I thought this whole game was rigged and I was stuck on the wrong side.

I’m a big believer in everyone knows what they need to do and the only thing that sets us all apart is the ones that take action on what they need to do and the ones that don’t.

I knew if I wanted to take this seriously, I had to put more time and effort into the ideas, scripting, thumbnails, filming, editing, titles, descriptions, the way I presented on camera, the colour grading, the audio quality, the list genuinely goes on and on.

However, from 2011 - 2022 I half-assed every video and just blamed the “YouTube” algorithm time and time again.

Now keep in mind, this doesn’t just apply to YouTube, this applies to every social media platform and also every aspect of life you want to succeed in.

I have only started to see YouTube success in the last 6 months.

What changed?

The only thing that changed, I mean the ONLY thing that changed, is that I began putting more effort into every aspect of my videos and instead of cutting corners on the edit or not filming enough, I pushed through that barrier and I am now being rewarded for it.

Not every video I put a large amount of effort into is going to do well but, as long as I hold myself to a high standard of output, when that one video blows up and does well, everyone coming from that video to view my channel will be greeted with the same level of quality they just came from.

Making them more likely to stick around, watch more of my videos and subscribe.

I’m a big believer that not everyone can succeed on social media.

It’s for a certain type of person. A person that is willing to push their boundaries and not settle for below average, shit content.

I put out way too much shit content, but it taught me all the lessons I know today, so maybe it isn’t all that bad.

I hear so many people on a daily basis complain about certain platforms not giving them the reach they deserve and even when my Instagram page @watzac.co is in the absolute toilet for reach, I still point the finger at me.

I’m yet to nail the content I want to put out and I don’t think my audience is 100% dialed in on the content I am producing yet.

Even though I’ve seen a huge shift in the accounts that once performed well on Instagram, I’m not blaming the algorithm or something else that is out of my control.

As long as I am putting out quality, valuable content consistently, then it’s only a matter of time before it starts performing well again.

If you’re just starting out or maybe you’re a year or two into this whole social media game then just know. I’ve been at it since 2011 and only in the last 6 months has the platform that meant the most to me started to perform well.

This is a game of how long you can last putting out consistent content, not about how many viral videos can you try to make before you burn out and end up hating everything you make.

Create content you like, that serves a purpose, that teaches, inspires, entertains, or provides knowledge in any way shape, or form, and just focus on getting better at it.

Alright, that’s going to wrap up my email for this week.

I’ll be sending out another email in a few days as I want to set the tone and pace for this newsletter so we are starting out big.

Anyway, thanks for your time, I’ll catch you in the next one, peace.

Zac