My YouTube Journey From Zero to $100 While Decluttering My Life | Week 2

Welcome back to my journey of making $100 on YouTube! It’s now week two, and I’ve learned so much in just a short amount of time. From subscriber growth to the challenges of technology, 

I’ve been documenting every step of the process as I work toward this goal. 

In case you missed my first post its titled Can I really make $100 with my small YouTube channel.

In todays post, I’ll chat to you about my progress this week, the obstacles I faced, what worked, and what didn’t. 

I’ll also share how much I’ve made so far, along with insights on what’s helping my channel grow (and what’s slowing me down). So grab a coffee and let’s get into the details of my YouTube journey as a small channel!

If you'd like to watch the video instead you can check it out here:

The State of My YouTube Channel: Subscriber Growth & Revenue

I’m excited to report that my channel is steadily growing. As of this week, I have 2,336 subscribers, which is a nice little jump from 2,328 last week. Though the increase might seem small, considering I’ve been inconsistent in posting, it’s a win for me. 

I’ve also made $4.83 this week, which is a step up from the $3.13 I made last week. It may not sound like much yet, but it’s progress, and I’m inching closer to my $100 goal!

Breaking down the numbers, in the last 7 days, I made $1.92. 

The bulk of my revenue is still coming from the first video in my “Making $100 on YouTube” series. This video has been performing the best because it has had a bit more time to accumulate views, and I suspect more people are interested in the concept of monetizing YouTube rather than watching a video about a caravan trip (my second video this week). 

But hey, we’re just getting started, and I’m hoping the revenue will continue to rise as my content matures.

I’m also seeing some growth in my viewership. The total views on my channel for the week reached 724, which is encouraging considering I’m still building up my content library. And though I’ve had some losses in subscribers over the past week, it’s refreshing to see an overall increase in the numbers. As I continue posting consistently, I expect these figures to grow steadily.

The Struggle With Decluttering and Filming in My Wardrobe

A little side note—if you’ve been following my journey, you know that I film in the worst part of my house: a wardrobe. It’s been part of my ongoing decluttering project, which has been an interesting (and often overwhelming) process. I had hoped that every week, my filming space would become cleaner, but honestly, it’s looked worse. I keep moving things around instead of making real progress, and I’ll admit I procrastinate a lot. This week, I managed to declutter a few things, but there’s still so much to do. It’s been a challenge to stay on top of everything with a 3-month-old baby in the mix.

I’ve realised that I tend to be a chaotic declutterer—everything gets thrown in one space before I start organising. It’s overwhelming, but I’m pushing through it. 

By the time this post is live, I hope to have made a bit more progress on the background. I know that when I tidy it up, I’ll feel more productive, and that will likely reflect in my videos, too.

My Video Strategy: Two Long-Form Videos & Six Shorts

This week, I focused on posting two long-form videos and six shorts (three for each video). I’ve learned that shorts are a great way to attract viewers to my longer videos, so I’ve been putting extra effort into creating engaging and catchy shorts. One of the long-form videos I uploaded this week was about a caravan trip I took with my newborn. The video focused on simplifying travel and living without all the creature comforts of home, which I thought would be an interesting watch for my audience who are interested in simplifying life.

The caravan video didn’t perform as well as the first video in the series, but that’s to be expected. I’ve been brainstorming upcoming video ideas that tie into my decluttering journey, as I think that will resonate with my audience. As I continue to simplify my life and tackle this overwhelming clutter, I plan on documenting the process to inspire others who might be going through similar struggles.

Struggles with Technology: Lag, Low Storage, and Editing Challenges

One of the biggest obstacles I faced this week was with my tech. My computer has been running out of storage space, even though I have two massive hard drives. The problem is that these hard drives aren't SSD drives (solid-state drives), which would speed up data transfer and prevent lag, and I don't have enough RAM (apparently). I’ve been dealing with frustrating playback issues while editing, where the video freezes, and it’s been tough to get things done efficiently.

To make matters worse, I experienced quality loss while editing my caravan video. My export settings weren’t optimal, and I’m pretty upset about how the video turned out. I’ve had a heart to heart with ChatGPT for advice on improving my video editing process, and I’m learning a lot. 

To simplify things moving forward, I’ve decided to film with my iPhone and focus on mastering its settings for better video quality.

Additionally, I was hoping that some new gear I purchased—a mirror for my rear-facing camera and a gimbal—would help improve my video quality, but both items were a disappointment. I’m returning them because the audio didn’t sync up properly, and the quality wasn’t up to par. I’ve learned a valuable lesson here: I’ll stick to what I already have and work on improving my skills with the equipment I’m comfortable with.

The Decluttering Struggle: Finding Balance as a New Mum

As a first-time mum at 40 with a 3-month-old, finding balance is a challenge. Since having my baby, I’ve noticed that I’ve become a bit of a hoarder. I used to be the type of person who would throw everything away, but now I’ve started collecting things like boxes, wrapping paper and old receipts. I'm not sure if this is anything to do with nesting?

I’m trying to get back to my pre-baby self, the one who was okay with letting things go, but it’s proving difficult. My current goal is to tackle the clutter slowly, one section at a time. In the coming weeks, I plan on making videos documenting my decluttering process to share with you who might be in a similar situation. It’s something I’m passionate about, and I believe it could help others who are overwhelmed by their own clutter.

Improving My Thumbnails and Experimenting with New Tools

This week, I also worked on improving my thumbnails. I’ve been using VidIQ to learn about optimising my video titles and thumbnails for better click-through rates. I know that thumbnails are a key factor in getting more views, so I’m spending more time on these aspects of my videos. I’m learning as I go and experimenting with different approaches to see what resonates with my audience.

What’s Next?

As we head into week three, I’m excited about continuing this journey. I’ll be posting more videos about my decluttering process and sharing how I’m tackling the challenges of motherhood while building my YouTube channel. I’m looking forward to refining my video editing process, experimenting with new tools, and gradually improving my content quality.

It’s been a rollercoaster of a week, but I’m determined to stay on track and hit that $100 mark. I know it won’t happen overnight, but every step forward counts. Stay tuned for next week’s update, where I’ll dive deeper into the challenges I’ve faced and how I’ve been adjusting my strategy to overcome them.

Thanks for following along on this journey with me. I hope it’s been insightful, and I look forward to sharing more with you next time!