Case Study: Content is Needed for Monetizing YouTube

One of the primary goals of creators on YouTube is monetizing with AdSense. This is when you’ll earn ad revenue from advertisements that show on your channel. But how much content is needed to start building your monetary empire?

In this case study, we’re taking a look at my three YouTube channels: writing, gaming, and health and fitness. All three are in very different genres, which will give us an idea about how each type of content is monetized.

It’s important to note that the writing channel is already generating revenue. It’s the gaming and fitness channels that have very little going in terms of subscribers and watch time.

The Plan

The plan to monetize is relatively simple: make content. But there is a bit more involved than just slapping up a video and calling it a day. Keep in mind that if people aren’t looking for it, they’re not going to watch it.

That means having an idea of what your audience wants to see.

In other words, you’ll have to upload a variety of topics and styles to figure out what works best for viewers. Once you land on something that can generate a decent number of views relatively quickly, double down on it.

Time Is Limited

Also, my time is exceptionally limited throughout the week. I’m working on three blogs, three YouTube channels, a podcast, writing books, working with clients, and trying to juggle my home life. Unfortunately, that means I won’t have time to create a lot of in-depth content.

However, I will have enough time to work on at least one solid video each week. This will be a great test to see if one video per week can grow a channel in a reasonable amount of time.

Weekly Video Schedule

Getting the channel on a specific schedule helps engage your audience. When you give viewers a timeframe of when your videos go live, they know when to expect another episode.

On television, timeslots were assigned to the more popular shows of when the “prime time” viewer would watch. The best shows would get the prime slots.

YouTube works similarly as people will often rearrange what they’re doing to catch the next upload of your video.

WriterSanctuary

The writing channel has a permanent Monday night live stream. However, I need to get back to uploading every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Plus, I often do live writing sprints throughout the week when I have time.

So, no matter what, each week should have one live and three uploads.

CrossingColorado

CrossingColorado, the health and fitness channel, really hasn’t produced much over the years. We have a live podcast every Tuesday, but nothing much beyond that. This is going to be the channel that has the least content every week.

The schedule for this channel is at least one live and one uploaded video every Tuesday.

Colorado Plays

The gaming channel exists because I want to use the revenue to help various charities such as Extra Life. This year, it would be pretty amazing to donate more than $20 from the blog’s AdSense account.

Currently, I am working on a hardcore series for the channel at a rate of three uploads per week. However, I want to start creating a “non-let’s play” video every Thursday. For this case study, the gaming channel should get four uploads each week.

Why the “let’s play” videos? Because they are super simple to make. Essentially, I’m just recording the gameplay at 20-minute intervals and uploading them in a series. It takes a fraction of the time to upload a “let’s play” video than it does to cover any other topic on YouTube.

vidIQ Boost

Need ideas for your videos? I use vidIQ Pro for the writing channel and have upgraded to the Boost version. This lets me monitor and create content for all three of the above channels while providing ideas based on my current audience.

So far, the videos vidIQ suggested have been winners. In fact, several of them are consistently in the top 10 for views for the channel.

vidIQ uses AI to power its platform. And although AI can write the titles, descriptions, and scripts for the videos, I refuse to utilize that aspect. I’m a writer, and using AI in such a fashion takes that power from me. I’m no longer the creator, I’m just the narrator for the computer.

The bottom line, though, is that vidIQ has been influential in helping me earn enough watch time hours for monetizing the writing channel.

The Data

YouTube breaks down the weeks from Sunday through Saturday. I’m monitoring each week while estimating growth to get an idea of when the YouTube channels will have enough watch time for monetizing.

That’s because you’re more likely to hit the 1,000 subscriber mark long before getting the 4,000 hours of watch time for AdSense. So, I’m not overly concerned about subscriber count.

Besides, it doesn’t matter how many subs you have if there aren’t enough people watching the videos.

Reading the Spreadsheet

All three brands are color-coded based on their actual blog and channel colors. When data is recorded each week, it will be filled with the brand’s corresponding color.

Everything that has not been color-coded is an estimation based on previous numbers and current weekly averages. These are rough ballpark figures to give us an idea of what the numbers will be weeks and even months down the road.

The two important metrics we’re watching with this case study are the content that is created and the weekly watch time. To qualify for monetizing a YouTube channel, you need at least 76.7123 hours of watch time each week. To give us some room, the spreadsheet “Mon. Hrs” calculation is rounded up to 76.8 hours.

In this case, we’re subtracting the number of actual hours from the total that is needed. The plan is to get these numbers out of the red, which indicates having enough time to qualify for the YouTube Partner Program with AdSense.

However, this doesn’t mean that the channel will get monetized that week. This just shows the channel is generating enough hours that particular week for monetization. The requirements of 4,000 hours of watch time in a 12-month period and 1,000 subscribers still need to be addressed. Nonetheless, keeping this number in the positive each week reduces how long it’ll take for monetization.

Currently, I’m keeping track of the estimated date when the gaming channel qualifies for ad revenue on another spreadsheet.

Weekly Updates:

As the weeks go on, I’ll post updates regarding what I’ve done, the changes that were made, and my insights into monetizing the YouTube channels.

Going Beyond AdSense

AdSense isn’t the only way to monetize a YouTube channel. Granted, being in the YPP expands what is available, such as memberships, Super Chats, and the product shelf from your online store. But you can also add links to your own affiliates, links to membership platforms like Buy Me a Coffee and Patreon, and getting a sponsor or two for your small channel.

Truth be told, AdSense doesn’t generate a lot of revenue. Sure, there are some channel creators out there who rely on ads. But the payout for other methods is usually much higher, especially if you can build a dedicated audience.

Monetizing your YouTube channel with AdSense is helpful, but there are plenty of ways to generate more income from your videos.