The cost ($) of 309 subscribers on YouTube
And lessons for the future
👋 Hey, it’s Orel here! Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share my journey and lessons as a solopreneur who quit his 6 figures job to chase his dreams.
I am a software developer, and so far I have x4 failed projects, and x2 ongoing.
I also publish Tech Books summaries along with Anton Zaides.
In September ‘23, after quitting my 6 figures job, I started uploading weekly videos to YouTube.
I uploaded 30 videos, mainly about books and my journey and gathered 309 subscribers.
And in today’s article, I am going to break down the costs and share a few lessons I’ve learned.
Costs
Software
I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my videos, Photoshop to create thumbnails and Adobe After Effects to add cool animations to my videos.
Cost: $240.
I also purchased MisterHorse for effects in Premiere pro.
Cost: $200
Equipment
Microphone: HyperX Solocast + arm and shock mount ($100 + $30)
Camera: Sony zve10 + tripod ($850)
Cost: $980
Editor
After editing 15 videos, I decided to hire an editor. I paid an average of $15 per minute of video.
Total footage length edited: 217 minutes.
Cost: $3,255
Extras
I sometimes paid for a thumbnail designer and sometimes hired a professional content writer to polish my scripts.
Cost: ~$300
Total: $4,975
Lessons
1. Do not put too much emphasis on editing
I edited the first 15 videos that I uploaded. And the emphasis was on making something happen in the video, besides me talking, every 3-5 seconds, according to Mr. Beast’s standard.
It ruined my experience and the videos.
When you start your channel you should focus on being consistent. Don’t worry about throwing in cool animations and fancy edits.
Cut out the “hmm” parts, for starters. That’s good enough. Upload it.
2. Write your own script and improve your writing skills
Look, I paid over 5 script writers around $400. And let me tell you — non of them wrote a good script for me.
It just didn’t feel like me and I just couldn’t make a video with someone else’s text.
See, when you take the time to write by yourself, you get into kind of a flow, that you just write what comes out of your brain. And that’s the real you.
So go ahead and write yourself about whatever it is that you talk about and don’t spend time. You’ll thank me later.
3. Don’t worry about your niche
At the beginning of my YouTube journey, I tried to focus on my entrepreneurial ventures and the life of the solopreneur.
And it frustrated me so much because I couldn’t come up with any ideas, so I uploaded videos about random things that caught my interest.
And that’s all you need. Get over the fear of uploading videos of yourself or writing publicly. Then, with time, you’ll figure your niche out and be more focused.
4. Don’t buy fancy equipment (Just a good microphone)
If I am being completely honest, I bought the camera out of impulse, not because I needed it.
I just wanted to have that 4k camera to have better videos quality.
Looking back, the most successful video I have, by far, is a video with different lightings, uneven sound levels and a Logitech webcam.
40% of all my YouTube views came from this one video.
Focus on your content, focus on making cool thumbnail and interesting titles. Don’t worry about getting good equipment.
The only thing you need is your phone and a good microphone.
Final words
Starting a YouTube channel is tough, time consuming and, in my case, money consuming.
Looking back, would I do it all over? The answer is yes.
In the first few videos I felt extremely awkward talking to the camera. I couldn’t get myself to be “natural” and speak my mind.
Nowadays, I don’t mind popping a camera anywhere to create a video.
The tools I used come in handy in my projects. Things like Photoshop to prepare my UpWork profile or a product’s ProductHunt page, or Premiere Pro to edit my upcoming course.
Although it was expensive, there aren’t many opportunities you’ll get to learn those skills.
where can I find your YouTube channel?
With tools like Canva, I believe the cost of editing could be much lower. I signed up for Pro and it's only $55/year. Last year I helped a friend create two videos to launch his tech product at a major tech conference using free version of Canva. Try it out if you haven't already. It's meant for content creators.