about 5 months ago I did something I've been thinking about for a long time I bit the bullet and started making YouTube videos since that first upload I posted a new video every week some did well some flopped and I spent way too much time obsessively refreshing the YouTube analytics app hoping for that breakthrough moment I watch so many videos from new YouTubers trying to understand how the algorithm works works and quickly realized everyone's experience is wildly different so I thought I'd share my journey right on the custom of becoming monetized this is my time
capsule from this point in my YouTube Journey who knows maybe I'll revisit it someday if I'm lucky enough to hit 10,000 subscribers I'm naturally an introverted person I love spending time alone on woodworking projects or going down endless YouTube rabbit holes over years I've watched countless M creators grow their hobby based channels and the idea of giving it a go myself started to take roote now people who know me wouldn't expect me to start a YouTube channel so I decided to do it quietly without telling anyone no expectations no pressure just to see what might
happen I knew I wanted my channel to focus on woodworking Workshop projects and built guitars and the occasional tool review to keep things varied my first video was a review of a new mosur I bought it's awkward clunky and just not great but it's still there because everyone has to start somewhere feel free to check it out if you want to feel better about posting your first video I shot it on my iPhone with a built-in microphone and minimal editing experience as an introvert putting myself out there felt like a huge leap but I hit
publish and nothing happened views trickled in no likes no comments it was honestly a bit of an anticlimax but I kept going after watching advice videos I realized consistency was key I committed to posting weekly and started documenting a guitar build again nothing happened but something unexpected started to change YouTube gave me a reason to prioritize my woodworking projects life often gets in the way but by committing to weekly oblad it meant I was carving out time for what I loved of course building things for a channel comes with challenges time in the workshop editing
voiceovers thumbnails it all adds up but I stuck with it and eventually things started to pick up the views came first then the comments then subscribers slowly but surely people began finding my videos and enjoying them one turning point was when I tackled the project I've been putting off for years building a new new workbench the pressure of weekly uploads pushed me to start and I turned it into a series each week more people tuned in and their support with comments get me motivated by this point I'd started to relax into my style my voiceovers
became less serious pretty unlike this one more self-deprecating and viewers seemed to connect with that then out of nowhere my first video got picked up by the algorithm it was a quick review of a pocket hole jig I'd used for a workbench I throw it to together with recycled footage added a silly spit take and an AI generated onetick Pony joke and poked a bit of fun at Americans in the voice over to my surprise it took off 5,000 views 10,000 views 20,000 views and eventually started slowing down with just over 23,000 views the comments
flew in mostly light-hearted my subscriber count jumped turns out not taking yourself too seriously works after that other videos began picking up momentum I tried replicating the pocket hole video success with a table saw review but it didn't take off lesson learned YouTube will humble you quickly and nothing is guaranteed still I stayed consistent and after about 4 and 1/ half months I finally hit 1,000 subscribers as I'm recording this I'm currently about 600 hours away from the magic 4,000 hours that you need to join the YouTube Partner program and monetize the channel starting a
YouTube channel is a slog most channels take over a year to hit 1,000 subs and 4,000 watch hours and it's a ton of work planning content filming editing and of course stressing about analytics but it's been worth it I've learned so much prioritize my hobby develop new skills and connected with people who enjoy my sketchy techniques self-deprecating humor and tedious jokes as I approached this first Milestone I wanted to reflect on how far I've come maybe I'll make another video If hit 10,000 Subs that might take 10 years or 10 weeks you never know with
YouTube for now I'm focused on improving my workshop making better videos and trusting the process if you're thinking about starting your channel here's my advice just start you don't need everything figured out be yourself and do what you love trust that the right people will find you it might take time but keep going if you're one of my subscribers and you've watched through to the end of this video thank you normal Tom Foolery will resume very shortly
