📈 My First Year on YouTube: How Much Money I Made and What I Learned
Are you curious about how much money YouTubers make? Do you want to know what it takes to monetize your channel and earn a steady income from YouTube? In this article, I will share with you my experience of making money on YouTube in my first year of monetization. I will show you the back end of my channel, the statistics and numbers, my CPM and RPM, the top 5 highest paying videos, and much more. I will also share with you the lessons I learned along the way and give you some tips on how to succeed on YouTube.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Monetizing My Channel
- December 2021: My First Month of Monetization
- January 2022: The Beginning of Something Interesting
- February and March 2022: Traveling and Making Money on YouTube
- April 2022: My First YouTube Paycheck
- May 2022: A Pattern Emerges
- June 2022: A Very Productive Month
- July 2022: A 10% Increase in Revenue
- August 2022: Immigration and Business in Canada
- September 2022: A New Record for the Highest Revenue per Day
- October 2022: A 16% Increase in Revenue
- November 2022: My Highest Revenue per Day Was Almost $26
- December 2022: My Last Month of Monetization
- YouTube Taxes for Canadians
- CPM and RPM: What You Need to Know
- My Top 5 Highest Paying Videos
- Other Sources of Income: Sponsorship and Affiliate Marketing
- Business Expenses: Investing in My Channel
- Lessons Learned: YouTube Is a Long Game, Consistency Is Key, and Serving the Viewers Is Everything
- Conclusion
Monetizing My Channel
I monetized my channel on December 20, 2021, and I made $3.29 on my first day of monetization. So, in the last 10 days of December, I made $49.48, which means on average, I made $4 a day. But in 2022, things started to get really interesting.
December 2021: My First Month of Monetization
As you can see, in December 2021, I made only a small amount of money. But that was just the beginning. In January 2022, my revenue started to increase, and I began to see the potential of making money on YouTube.
January 2022: The Beginning of Something Interesting
On the first day of January 2022, I made $3, and it went up to $9.14. Usually, whenever I post a new video, my revenue goes up 50% compared to days I don't upload videos. But in January, I traveled to visit my family, and unfortunately, I couldn't upload any videos for the next three months. So, in January, I made $187 with an average daily revenue of $6. I got 17,900 views and 9,197 hours of watch time.
February and March 2022: Traveling and Making Money on YouTube
In February, I had a 5% increase in my revenue, and I made $196 with an average daily revenue of $7 a day. On February 1st, I made $7.70, and my highest revenue per day was $11.45. I got 17,500 views, which is 400 views less than January, but I got 1,100 hours of watch time, which is 100 hours more than the previous month.
In March, I made $222, which is 14% higher than the last month. I made $6.68 on the first day, my highest revenue per day was $10, and the average daily revenue was $7 a day. I got 21,800 views, which are 4,300 views more than the last month, and I got 1,340 watch hours, which is 240 hours more than the previous month.
As I mentioned earlier, in February and March, I didn't upload any videos, but in April, I uploaded three videos: "Return to Canada After Four Months Abroad," "My First Time Asking Vancouver," and "My First YouTube Paycheck."
April 2022: My First YouTube Paycheck
In April, I made $240, which was my first YouTube paycheck. I keep mentioning US dollars because I live in Canada, and I get paid in Canadian dollars, which in this case, after exchanging, was $330 Canadian dollars. I had a 10% increase in my revenue compared to last month, and I had 22,700 views and 1,340 watch hours, which is similar to previous months. On April 26, I made $12.46, which was the highest revenue per day in April.
May 2022: A Pattern Emerges
I uploaded three videos in May: "How Long Does It Take to Get Monetized on YouTube," "How to Use QuickBooks," and "How to File Taxes in Canada." I made $274, which is 14% more than the last month. So, as you can see, there is a pattern, and I expect somewhere between a 10% to 20% increase in my revenue every month. I got 22,000 views and 1,440 watch hours. I had a new record here, and it was $17.39 on May 29th.
June 2022: A Very Productive Month
June was a very productive month for me because I could upload seven new videos: "MailChimp Tutorial," "How to Create Free QR Codes," "LinkedIn Tutorial," "How to Create a Digital Business Card," "My First One Thousand Dollars on YouTube," "Google Sites Tutorial," and "How to Use Google Calendar Effectively." So, I made $373 in June, which is 36% more than the previous month. I got 24,190 views and 1,654 watch hours. My highest revenue per day was $16, and the average daily revenue was $12.43 a day.
July 2022: A 10% Increase in Revenue
In July, I uploaded six videos, and I made $390. I got 26,000 almost 400 views and 1,800 watch hours. The highest revenue per day was $16.71, and the average daily revenue was $12.58.
August 2022: Immigration and Business in Canada
I had a 10% increase in my revenue in August, and I made $432 US dollars or 600 Canadian dollars. I uploaded six videos: "How to Register a Business in Canada," "How to Become a Canadian Citizen," "How to Get a Canadian Passport," and things related to immigration and business in Canada. There's a huge difference between the views and watch time in August and July. In August, I got 33,123 views and 2,200 watch hours, which is 25% more than the previous month. I made on average $15 a day, and my highest revenue per day was $19.
September 2022: A New Record for the Highest Revenue per Day
In September, I made 500 US dollars with an average $17 a day, and I set a new record for the highest revenue per day, which was almost $22 on September 22.
October 2022: A 16% Increase in Revenue
In October, I had a 16% increase in my revenue, and I made 580 US dollars or 800 Canadian dollars with 31,800 views and 2,210 watch hours. I could upload four new videos in October: "Top 10 Highest Paying Part-Time Jobs in Canada," "How to Legally Avoid Crypto Taxes," "How to Get a Job in Canada," and "Top 10 Tips to Make a Canadian Resume Format."
November 2022: My Highest Revenue per Day Was Almost $26
In November, my channel made 584 US dollars with an average daily revenue of $19.50, and hopefully, my highest revenue per day was $25.67, which was a new record. I uploaded three new videos: "Top 10 LinkedIn Profile Tips," "How to Sell on Amazon FBA from Canada," and "How to Pay Alibaba Suppliers." I got 34,800 views and 2,450 watch hours.
December 2022: My Last Month of Monetization
So currently, it's December 18, and as of today that I'm recording this video, I made 340 dollars from December 1st to December 16th. If we divide 340 dollars by 16 days, it gives us an average $21.32 cents per day. So, if we multiply 31 days of December, it's gonna give us 660 US dollars or 910 Canadian dollars. To sum up, I made 4644 US dollars or 6382 Canadian dollars in 2022, which was my first year of monetization on YouTube.
YouTube Taxes for Canadians
A common question I get asked a lot in the comment section is how do YouTubers pay taxes in Canada? If a YouTuber is located in the US or in most countries, Google AdSense will deduct a tax rate of around 25%, and it only pays you 70% to 75% of your income. But since Canada has a tax treaty with the US, Google will ask you to sign a form called W8 bin e for individual or W8 bin for the Canadian Corporation, and hopefully, there will be zero withholding taxes, which means every month, YouTube pays you 100% of your income without any tax deductions. You're going to pay your taxes to the CRA, hopefully as a self-employed person. If you have enough business expenses, you will pay zero taxes in Canada. I have a great video about the top 10 tax deductions in Canada, so make sure you go ahead and watch.
CPM and RPM: What You Need to Know
As a YouTuber, you get a cut of what advertisers pay, which is 55% of your revenue, and the higher the CPM, the more money you make at the end of the day. CPM is the cost advertisers pay per 1000 ad impressions before YouTube revenue share, whereas RPM or Revenue per Meal is your total channel revenue per 1000 views after YouTube revenue share. For 2022, from January to December, my CPM is $26, and my RPM is $14. But since my channel is improving constantly, right now, in December, my CPM is $35, and my RPM is $18. So, basically, from every 1000 ad impression, my channel makes $35, and after YouTube takes its commission, I make around $18 from every 1000 ad impression.
My Top 5 Highest Paying Videos
The number five is "How to Register a Business in Canada," which made $202 US dollars. Number four is "How to Create an Amazon Brand Storefront," which made me $210. Number three is "How to Find Cheap Flights," which made me $220. Number two is "How to Pay Alibaba Suppliers," which made me $400. And first and the top-earning video is "How to Pass Selfie Test," which made me $1324 dollars in 2022.
Other Sources of Income: Sponsorship and Affiliate Marketing
My YouTube revenue is the most common way YouTubers make money on YouTube, but there are some other sources of income. For example, sponsorship and affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is if you put a link under your YouTube videos, which is a link that is connected to your name, connected to your affiliate profile. When someone clicks on that link, they'll go to the website, whether it's Amazon or some other software I use, and if they buy the product that I put the link under my videos, I get a very small percentage on every purchase.
Business Expenses: Investing in My Channel
I didn't spend all the money I've made from YouTube on frivolous things, even though I could. The majority of this money has gone back into the channel. I bought a new camera, two new microphones, a new softbox for my lighting, which I use to improve my video quality, certain software on my computer to edit my videos, just things to make these videos hopefully better. Whether you're self-employed or you own a corporation, a company, you can list all those things as business expenses or tax write-offs. Buying these cameras and equipment and websites are all business expenses.
Lessons Learned: YouTube Is a Long Game, Consistency Is Key, and Serving the Viewers Is Everything
There are a few lessons I've learned on my YouTube journey, and the first lesson is YouTube is a long game. In the beginning, I was getting only three views, five views, 10 views, and so on, and the channel didn't make a single dollar in the first few months. Then, after that, the channel started to make two to three dollars a day, and the numbers were fairly small, but then it started to grow, and right now, in December 2022, it makes $25 to $30 a day, which is equal to working two hours in Canada before taxes or three hours after taxes. The first lesson we can learn here is YouTube really takes a large amount of time. The more effort you put into this game, the more likely it is to return results. I see a lot of people, including my close friends, start a YouTube channel, but unfortunately, they don't stick with it long enough to see the results that they expect. In the last few months, I tried my best to be consistent with posting videos, and if there is one golden rule with YouTube, consistency should be your main priority. Just pick a day and make sure that you post weekly. I'm sure I would gain much more significant following if I consistently posted videos over the last three years. YouTube can quickly become a full-time job if you stay consistent. The final piece of the puzzle is likely the most important. As I've said before, no one really cares about me because they don't know me. It's not because I'm not a person of word, it's just because the viewer has a problem, and they're looking for a solution. As a YouTuber and a business owner, I have to remember that my job is to serve the viewers. So, if I'm not offering a solution to someone's problem, what's the point of making this video? YouTube is a search engine, and people are looking for answers to their questions, and by providing answers in my videos, I can increase the opportunity for them to know me, to like me, and to trust me. Serving the viewers is all about looking outside of myself and not creating selfish content. It's not my job to create content I want to see, but rather create the content that my audience is looking for. Obviously, I can insert my story and my message within my videos, but the content must first serve the audience. While I would love to have a successful business and have my YouTube channel be a part of that equation, I have to remember to serve first.
Conclusion
In conclusion, making money on YouTube is not easy, but it's definitely possible. It takes time, effort, and consistency to build a successful channel. You have to be patient and willing to put in the work. But if you're passionate about creating content and helping people, then YouTube can be a great platform for you. I hope this article has given you some insights into how YouTubers make money and what it takes to succeed on YouTube. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. Thank you for reading!
