I’m a new YouTuber, but you can call me a learning YouTuber. I started my channel on 25th June 2021 ( I guess it was a pandemic thing) and I uploaded my first video on 15th August 2021. This is not my first channel, but it is where my heart is so it’s the main thing, the other channel is a story for another day.
As I write this, it’s 9th January 2022 and these are my statistics 14 videos uploaded, 361 total views, 17 subscribers gained, and 17 public hours of watch time. If you know anything about youtube channels then you know I have 983 subscribers to go and about 3983 hours of watch time left before I can even monetize my channel.
Let me put that into perspective for you, I am at below 2% of growth towards the monetization goal. Sigh! My goal is way bigger than monetization but what monetization means is that you have reached the threshold for youtube to even take you seriously so it’s a big deal.
Some YouTubers are known to have created their channels and monetized the very next day but sadly, they are the exception, not the rule. For the rest of us, we are on a steep learning curve towards understanding video search engine optimization (SEO), camera confidence, keyword research, video editing, how to self-promote, and having a work-life balance, in short how to keep the algorithm happy.
I don’t know how else to say it but it’s a crazy life and I’ll tell you why; first of all, most newbies have to hide this new secret life of “YouTubing” from friends and family because no one even gets it. I for one have a BSc. in Information Technology and a Masters in Entrepreneurship so it is assumed that I should be doing a well paying 8.00 – 5.00 job so no one gets it why I should let my education go to waste (I’m not wasting it for sure but hey ).
Second, to learn all this “appeasing the algorithm stuff”, it is advised that you binge-watch guru videos and buy courses telling you what to do or not to do and as a newbie, I can clearly say with no fear of contradiction that availability of information is not the problem. The bigger problem is information overload and who to even listen to,
Third, even though I have a dream, I honestly don’t have any inclination as to how long it will take, all I know is that I want Africa to show up and claim its place in the global marketplace and I want to contribute to that empowerment. It will take time and effort but by posting this, I commit to the journey. I am Peris Musyoki, a Kenyan digital content creator and I choose to believe in the process. I’ll choose to document my journey here, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Feel free to follow along for moral support, for your learning, or to simply watch how this goes.