Rising Creators Forum

Okay so I've been grinding on youtube for about 5 months now and I'm at 780 subs with like 2,100 watch hours. i know i need 1000 subs and 4000 hours but honestly some days it feels like i'm never gonna get there lmao

I post twice a week, spend probably 6-8 hours per video between filming and editing, and my views are kinda all over the place. Some videos get 400 views, others barely hit 80. It's frustrating because I can't figure out what's working and what isn't.

So I'm curious, how long did it actually take YOU to get monetized? and what niche are you in? trying to see if my timeline is normal or if i'm doing something wrong here.

Also if anyone has tips for that final push to 1k subs i'm all ears

It took me 11 months to hit monetization and I'm in the gaming niche. honestly those last 200 subscribers were the SLOWEST. I thought once i hit 800 it would speed up but nah, it actually felt harder

What helped me was going back through my analytics and doubling down on whatever video style got the most watch time. like i was doing let's plays and tutorials but turns out my audience only cared about the tutorials. once i figured that out and posted more of what was working, things picked up

you're at 5 months so you're not behind or anything. Most people I know took 8-14 months. just keep posting and don't change your content style too much or the algorithm gets confused

5 months in you're actually doing pretty decent! I took 13 months to get monetized and there were weeks where I gained like 3 subscribers total. It was brutal.

One thing nobody tells you is that growth isn't linear at all. I'd have a video pop off and gain 150 subs in a week, then the next three weeks I'd gain 20 combined. Super inconsistent until suddenly it wasn't.

The watch hours were harder for me than subscribers btw. I hit 1k subs at month 10 but didn't get to 4000 hours until month 13 because my videos were too short. Might want to check your average view duration and see if you can make slightly longer content that keeps people watching.