From Zero to $614k: My First Year on YouTube

From Zero to $614k: My First Year on YouTube

In my first full year on YouTube, I earned $614,000. But it wasn't always this way – when I posted my first video on February 19th, 2021, I had no idea I would take so long to start making money from the platform. At first, my videos only got 5-10 views per video, and any success that exceeded 20 views was considered a huge victory for me – thus earning no money from YouTube until quite some time after posting them.

When I look back at the back end of my channel, it's surprising how few views my videos received. On February 19, 2021, when I posted my first video, there were only 13 views! I was thrilled by this development, as it seemed remarkable that 13 people would click on my video.

Unfortunately, my next video, posted almost one month later on March 9th, 2021, only managed four views – yes, four!

On the following day, my views were nearly nonexistent. Looking beyond the flat line on my chart, you'll see that they were practically nonexistent. Though I occasionally got a few views here and there, mainly from the first day I posted on YouTube until May 1, I got virtually zero views. Remember that I posted fairly consistently, with nine videos from March until May.

After uploading my video “The Top Five Best Vanguard ETFs,” my views gradually climbed. Within one day, it went from having a few hundred to over 1,500 views – far surpassing all my previous videos, which only received 10-20 views. Subsequently, there were other small spikes with several thousand viewers, but then things settled down again with only a couple hundred per day between May and late October, barring these three brief spikes.

Most people would have given up by this point. After nine months of posting videos with no income and little progress, a video suddenly went viral in mid-October 2021. My channel's views and subscribers began increasing exponentially, leading to an exponential rise in income as well. My income on YouTube had been zero dollars per day – a flat line.

On September 10th, 2021, however, I made my first $1.18 on YouTube, and from then until late October, I made several dollars per day from mid-September until late October 2021.

My video went viral, and as a result, my YouTube income began to increase. On November 2nd, 2021, it peaked at $168; thereafter, it fluctuated between $60-$100 per day until the end of the year, with one final surge with an incredible $209 day on December 29th, 2021. In 2021 my total YouTube income totaled $7,750.

A very different picture emerges if you filter the chart only to include 2022. We'll now dive deeper into exactly how I made over $614,000 last year on YouTube, what income sources I had, and what strategies I employed.

 

Income Breakdown

Let's begin with an income breakdown to demonstrate how I made this money. My YouTube earnings last year were broken down into three major categories: ads, sponsors, and affiliates – these were the three primary sources of revenue for my channel.

 

Sponsorships

Let's start and discuss sponsors, my most minor YouTube income source from last year. For most YouTubers, sponsorships make up the bulk of their earnings; however, for me – and this may change this year – sponsorships only make up a fraction of my overall earnings.

Last year, my sponsorship income totaled $105,200. This may shock some of you since it wasn't even close to being my highest source of income; sponsorships only started coming into play around April of 2021 when my channel had just launched, so the amount made per sponsorship was much smaller than now. However, that number will be significantly higher this year; last year, it only made up a small part of what I made overall.

 

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate income from affiliate marketing was my second-largest income source, and it involves making money by promoting someone else's product or service through an affiliate link. For instance, if I made a video about how I film my YouTube videos and mentioned that I use a Sony A7 S3 camera, I could include the link in the description for anyone interested in purchasing it: Amazon.com.

Whenever someone visits my video description and clicks on the Amazon link to purchase a camera or something related, such as lenses, mics, SD cards, or perhaps lights, I will receive a commission from that sale. Last year through affiliate marketing alone, I earned $146,000 – though that may come as no surprise since that was only my second most significant source of income.

 

YouTube Ads

Finally, let's dive in and discuss my primary source of income: YouTube ads. I believe this is the stream most of you are interested in hearing more about, so let me break this stream down further for you.

Last year, YouTube ads generated a total of $363,000. I know many of you are likely wondering what my average RPM was; for a channel, my size to earn over $362,000 from ads in one year is truly remarkable; channels five times my size still don't make this much from ads on YouTube.

If you don't know what RPM stands for (Revenue Per Mille – not a mile, not millie, but Mille – the French word for thousand), it's the amount you earn per thousand views on your YouTube channel. Generally speaking, the higher the RPM number is, the greater your earnings per thousand views will be; on average most YouTube channels have an RPM between three and four dollars.

On Reddit, someone claims they're a musician with an RPM between three and four dollars and 1.5 million views per month, earning them six to seven thousand dollars monthly. These numbers generally represent most channels, depending on what kind of content you create.

My channel's earnings from one million views range between $20,000 and $40,000. This fluctuation in RPM (Real-time measurement) can cause fluctuations in my channel; in some months, it could reach as high as forty dollars! On average, for 2022, my RPM will be around $21.30; it should also be noted that these values change daily – one day, they might jump up to 30-35, then drop back down again back towards 25-20.

YouTube channels that cover money, finance, and investing tend to have higher RPMs than most others due to advertisers willing to pay more money for the placement of ads. For example, in October, my average RPM was almost $30; in November, it was 27.48 on average; and in December, it dropped significantly to 21.37 cents on average.

You may notice another number higher than the RPM: CPM (cost per mille). CPM stands for cost per mile and indicates how much money you'll make before YouTube takes its cut; on the contrary, RPM represents what remains after YouTube takes its share.

From 2021, when I earned zero dollars from February to September, this year has been quite the opposite – it's incredible to watch my income on YouTube grow exponentially as you can see by this chart.

At the start of the year on January 1st, my daily earning began increasing gradually as months passed by as I continued posting content and staying consistent with ads – eventually reaching over $1,000 per day from YouTube ads alone! By year's end, I now earn over $2,000 daily from ads!

 

My Income Goals

In conclusion, my first year on YouTube was filled with obstacles and slow progress. At first, my channel had few views and no income, but I kept uploading videos consistently. Over time, however, it grew and eventually earned money through ads, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing – in 2022, I made $614,000 from advertisements alone.

By 2023 my target is to reach 2 million dollars in combined income and 1 million subscribers; small victories can add to massive success over time, so I encourage others to set ambitious targets too! Thank you again for reading – hopefully, I will see you again soon!