How I started on YouTube
I made my first video right after passing GMAT. Then I made the second video, then the third one. In April 2015, we moved to Silicon Valley, and I began to film everything: how we rented an apartment, how we bought a retired police interceptor as our first American car! I started documenting my life
It took a while for the channel views to really take off, but I was able to start monetizing by consulting and tutoring my subscribers (I charged around $20 for 30 minutes)
Now I run three YouTube channels in two languages (Marina Mogilko, Linguamarina, Silicon Valley Girl) with more than 5 million subscribers combined
By combining various sources of income, I am able to gross around $80,000 – $100,000 per month (Google AdSense, paid partnerships, product sales, affiliate programs). That doesn’t include taxes and expenses (I have a team now to help me with everything), but this means I only spend 5-7 hours a week to run all of my channels!
YouTube is never an overnight success
YouTube is like your reputation: you earn it first, and then the reputation, or algorithm in the case of YouTube, works for you. I believe that you need to post at least once a week for a year to find your niche and gain your first subscribers. It isn’t about just posting new videos. It’s about working with analytics, experimenting and interacting with your first viewers. It’s a process of finding your inner voice.
It sounds like hard work, but YouTube is actually one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life
I created a community of like-minded people around myself — now I always have someone to talk to
My videos help to change people’s lives — my subscribers constantly approach me on the street and thank me for the motivation and information I give them (people get accepted to universities around the world, speak English better, and start their blogs — after watching my videos!)
I do what I love – talk to a camera, learn and share information
It’s an almost passive source of income (YouTube pays me for what I am willing to do for free), and if I use a proactive approach (working with advertisers, launching products), I am able to make 5x what YouTube pays me through Google AdSense
https://archive.ph/YH3Mj
Value; $475