YouTube Changed Her Life With Alexa Saarenoja | She Made $37,000 In ONE Weekend - YouTube Creators Hub

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[00:02]
Dusty Porter
Welcome to the YouTube Creators Hub podcast where we help you conquer the Internet one video at a time. We cover everything from how to start a YouTube channel to how to make a video go viral. And now, here's your host, the one and only Dusty Porter.
[00:18]
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 426 of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. We got another great interview for you today with a wonderful creator, but before we get there, we'd like to remind you we're brought to you today by the fine folks over at Tubebuddy. Use our link and you get a free 30 day trial of everything they have to offer. You can also connect with me. I offer one on one YouTube coaching and it's probably one of my favorite things that I do every week is working with creators. And the majority of my clients I've been working with now for months, if not years. If you're interested in that, check the link down below. And then we have one of the largest growing communities of creators over on our Discord server. Support us on Patreon. Five bucks.
[01:02]
Alexa Sara Noia
That's it.
[01:03]
Dusty Porter
There's no more. No strings attached. Five bucks gets you in the Discord server as well as on the Mastermind calls. We got one coming up for November, so if you want to get in for that, it's coming up next week on Wednesday, so definitely check that out if you want. Links will be down below in the description and then for free. If you would leave us a review and subscribe to the podcast that way every time we go live. 6:00am Eastern Standard Time with a new interview every single week. All right, let's go ahead and jump into this week's conversation.
[01:33]
Alexa Sara Noia
Hello everyone and welcome to this week's conversation on the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. Dusty here as always, joined by Alexa Sara Noia. I actually said it. I'm proud of myself. As a former architect and designer, she transformed her focus to inspiring others over 40 to pursue their dreams on YouTube. Through her journey, she guides and empowers people to share their passions, build their channels and make a meaningful impact online, no matter where they are in life. Her channel, which is just her name, you can find it. I'll link it down below. And if you want to follow along as you listen to our interview, has just over 20,000 subscribers. But get this, she's only uploaded 130 videos, so her channel has really grown quickly over time. So that's what we'll talk about today, as well as her being able to make a really good living doing this. Utilizing YouTube as the central catalyst for that Alexa, how are you doing today?
[02:24]
I'm great. How are you?
[02:26]
Doing really well. All right, so give me the origin story of the YouTube channel. How did it start? What kind of led you to that? And just tell us how that happened.
[02:37]
Okay. Yeah, so I started my YouTube channel. I lost my job in January for I was an adjunct professor at a college in the US And I work remotely. I live in Finland, and I was teaching in the US And I lost that job due to a foreign or a policy change that didn't allow foreign contractors anymore. And I'm technically a foreign contractor, even though I'm American. So after working there for 13 years, I was let go in a moment's notice. And so I had three children to feed and no job, very abruptly. And I live in a foreign country, so I don't speak the language here. And so I was just like, okay, now what? And I don't want to be in that position ever again. So I was like, I'm going to turn to YouTube and I'm going to try to make a better financial future for myself and my family. And so I did that. I hopped on. It took me a while. I hopped on YouTube in May of that year or of this year, actually at the end of May, and then the rest is history. I jumped on and changed everything. It was awesome ride. And now I'm here.
[03:34]
The channel seems to really take off. What was the moment when you thought to yourself, okay, maybe I have something here. Maybe this can actually do what I want it to do. Maybe it can support my family. It can be something more than a hobby.
[03:49]
Yeah, I would say it wasn't really a maybe this can. It was like a. I'm all in. There's no other option. So it really had to work, to be honest. But the first video I posted, I. I had a channel before, like five years ago that had been laying dormant. And the first video I posted got 700 subscribers and was quite a good video. So it was just like one of the. Happened to be a trending video, and then after that it was less. Less of a growth. And then I had another trending video, and then it shot up. And once I was. My aim was to get mon. But once I got monetized, I realized there were so many other revenue streams to go after. So it really became like this. I don't know, this really interesting trajectory into, like, financial abundance through very different means, like very different avenues, which was really awesome. So it became clear, I would say once I got monetized, the potential that you could make money on YouTube and all the different ways.
[04:44]
What do people come to your channel for? What is your channel about? Give us. If you were to give the cheat sheet or if you're sending stuff out, what would you say your channel's about?
[04:52]
My channel helps new YouTubers to grow on YouTube over 40. So I'm over 40, I'm 45. So I'm helping Gen X and above basically Gen X baby boomers beyond to grow on YouTube. And I myself was growing at the same time. So I was actually treating my channel as like a knowledge reporter. So I was taking courses on YouTube from like Sean Cannell and other gurus and masters in YouTube and then I was sharing what I was learning with my on my channel and also like providing proof that it was working at the same time. So it was like inspirational and also educational because I'm a teacher by nature, so it's easy for me to distill information in simple terms to people.
[05:32]
Do you feel that niching down to specific demo of okay, not am I only am I just talking about YouTube and how to grow a channel and a community, but I'm also targeting a specific age bracket as well. Do you believe that has impact or affected the growth rate of the channel?
[05:52]
Definitely. I'm a big supporter of niching down for sure. And I definitely think that the 40 Plus, Gen X, big boomers, et cetera, are really clocking to YouTube right now. And so I think that it would just happen to be really good timing for it. And also I do believe that as a midlifer you have so much experience that you could bring to YouTube. So I think that it's almost gives us like a leg up when we start our YouTube channel because we have so much experience to share with people. So I think that it's almost a little easier to Even start a YouTube channel because you do have something you have been proficient in for a decade or over a decade by the time you reach midlife. Yeah. But I do think the niche helped a lot.
[06:32]
What did you make sure that you did and how did you present the channel? And video packaging being the thumbnail, the title and description to let the potential viewer know that's what you're about. Just for example, I had a guy on a few months back and he was targeting pilots or people who were aspiring to become pilots. But over 50, right where he retired from his normal job, he always aspired to be a pilot. People think it's way expensive. People think that you have to be real young to do it and he's breaking all those barriers and he's really targeting a specific niche. So he did specific things in his thumbnails, specific things in his titles. How are you doing these things? To make sure that the videos are presented to that appropriate audience, I think.
[07:18]
I put in the titles usually like 40, 50, 60 plus. I always put that in the beginning and every video I said I helped new YouTubers grow on YouTube or I said I helped Gen X new YouTubers grow on YouTube. So I always was saying it in my, when I was speaking. And I also, I don't know, I. Yeah, that's basically all I did. I didn't really, I didn't do much more beyond that. And I kept it really simple. I was, I'm known as like the scrappy YouTuber. So I like get it done no matter what. I have three small children and one was only in daycare like three hours a day. It was just like all in. And I think that, yeah, I don't know if I answered your question, but I didn't really have any kind of strategy for that. It just happened. I think people found me because of the, what I was speaking about. And of course your words then turn into a transcript which then turns into SEO. So all of this stuff. So I think I was just always constantly speaking about Gen X and the opportunities we have on YouTube and all of these things when that answers your question.
[08:14]
But yo, it absolutely did. When you had those successful videos in the beginning, did you lean into that type of programming or that type of video where you're like, okay, that's what works. And you, you had a model at that point of, of knowing that, oh, this is what's working and this is what's seeing some success on the channel. Did you double down on that and not create the same video obviously, but the same types of videos? Do you think that helped you like every.
[08:40]
So I did three videos a week and I tried to do one trending video every week. So one of the trending videos would be like my journey to monetization or get on YouTube over 40 or start a channel or something like that. So I did try to do a trending video every week, but then the other two videos of the week were more of like behind the scenes. What was going on with trying to build a content creator business online. And then the other one was tutorial based. So I had three pillars of focus.
[09:07]
Yeah, and you leaned into the. To that. I just, I, when I look at your channel, I see videos that have done well like how I made $37,000 in just one weekend. New YouTuber over 40. And then the other other video is I made 72,000 in two weekends on YouTube. So you use that style of video. And that's what I want to emphasize is people listening, that when you find something that works for your channel a lot, oftentimes people don't go back to the. Well, they don't double dip or they don't double down on that type of programming. So it's interesting to see what you did. Did you discover something when you created those titles like that of, hey, I made 37 grand in one weekend. New YouTuber over 40. That that video has over almost 120,000 views in just under a month. What did you learn about your channel when you made those types of videos of, oh, these are the viral videos. These are the videos that are going to really pop off. What have you learned from that?
[09:59]
I knew they would pop off just because of the title. It's a very kind of clickbaity title. But I was actually delivering value on the clickbait. But I, I don't know, I. It's just, I guess you just know, which, I mean, you can't say what's going to pop off. But there are certain titles that will definitely grow your channel and then there's certain titles that you use more for value, for providing value to your subscribers. Yeah. And to be honest, those videos really feel soulless to me, and I hate to say that, but the ones that grow your channel are usually the ones for me that get the least retention. I think people watch like maybe 11% of those videos and I get like hundreds of subscribers. But then the ones where I actually provide value, like the tutorials, the retention is like over 50 or 60% and it's, it's more for my subscribers. So I think that you have different strategies for what you're posting in different, different ways, if that makes sense.
[10:49]
It does make sense, but I want to follow up on that just a bit. I agree with you in that I talked to a guy yesterday on a coaching call where we were looking at his most popular video and he goes dusty. I don't understand it. Just the watch time is awful. It's got like 400 or however, it's got tons of views and it's an outlier on his channel. And we were just looking at the videos that were making him the most money through the partner program or through clientele. And it was always the videos that had less views but had the increased watch Time. So I think that understanding your analytics and that's leading to my next question. What analytics matter to you? What things do you look at and you're. And you say to yourself as a creator, oh, this one. Okay, I gotta figure out what I did here because this really stood out.
[11:34]
Yeah, it's funny you say that because I'm not really an analytics person. I follow like I have been following my channel week by week and listing all the analytics for my viewers and my subscribers and I track it. But I do think impressions is really important. Click through rate. I try to have around 6% average view duration. I would love or percentage. I would love it to be near 50% but like I said, with different strategies you have different things happening. Like the trending videos are gonna have less average view percentage and. But yeah, I usually just look at average view duration impressions and of course watch time and views are always important too. But yeah, I would say those are the metrics I really watch now.
[12:16]
How do you three young kids, you don't have 40 hours to put into this thing. How do you manage your time as a creator? Those are, those are the things that I love talking about because that's the real life things that people deal with that are trying to grow a YouTube channel. So can you give some advice on how you manage your time and still have enough time in the week to grow a channel?
[12:39]
Yeah. Now I have put my daughter in daycare full time, so I have eight hour days now, which is really nice. It still doesn't feel like enough time though. But before I was just like, like I said, I was all or nothing. It was like this was the only option for me. And I also found that doing YouTube was like a very creative outlet for me because before I got onto YouTube I was very depressed. Like I had lost my connection to the States with my. I had that job for over a decade and it was just, it was like something became disconnected from me, all of my colleagues. Everything was just so separated. And I don't live in the US anymore, so I don't really have that sense of community with YouTube. It was just like when I started to realize there was such a strong community on YouTube, it really motivated me to get it done. And the way I got it done was I would like, if my children were having breakfast, I would run upstairs and record something real fast. Or if they were, if I could bribe them, I would bribe them. It's going to be donuts and ice cream day. Like whatever I could do. Or if I could say Watch your little sister and you guys will get a surprise if you're good. Like, I just found those moments and everything was. It might have been very piecemeal. And that's why I say I'm like a scrappy YouTuber because I just get it done. But it would be like, maybe in the morning I wrote down an idea with a few bullet points, and then when they were having snack time or nap time, then I would go up and record that video. And then if they came in, I let. Sometimes I just let my kids be in the videos. I didn't rerecord them. I was just like, there's going to be a little bobblehead right here and it's going to keep going, going. I'm not going to let it stop me. So I. That was, I think, my mentality, like, I didn't let anything stop me. I recognized that everyone that I recognized too, that the people I would want to follow my channel would be authentic enough to understand that I was a mother trying to do this and they wouldn't be offended if my child was in the video. If so, I don't know. I know there is a certain, like, level of professionality, but it's also. I was just. I was determined to get it done.
[14:31]
And I bet that really resonated with your target audience, though, because the age that they are, they probably have kids as well or have had kids and understand the struggle. And to them, it probably resonated in a way that might have even helped your channel, knowing that this is a grinding mom who's trying to be a creator and she's trying to do this thing. And obviously the people watching your channel, they want to do something creative as well. And so that probably really helped your channel, knowing that you're doing this with all this other outside things going on. To follow that question up, what are your systems like, your YouTube systems, as far as, like, the tools that you use? Do you edit yourself? Do you hire out, give us the full process of kind of from start to finish of when you do a video, what that looks like?
[15:17]
Okay. For me, it was basically, I think of what I want to talk about. I write a few notes down, and then I sit in front of my camera and actually, I don't even have a camera yet. I use my laptop, my MacBook, so I'm totally scrappy that way. I am getting a camera soon, though, now. But yeah, I use my laptop. I just sit in front of it through imovie. I record myself on the screen and then I would, after that I would just edit it whenever I have time and add in B roll if I could. My MacBook's really old, so it doesn't always let me add in B roll. So I would just add in what I could. Usually in the first two minutes of the video, I would have lots of B roll and then the rest would have none. And then I would post it later that day. So I usually when I was doing this, I was posting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So I just posted, I created, posted, edited everything each day. The video I was planning on doing and to say, what systems do I have? I didn't have any systems in place. I just had deadlines. So that was really my driving factor. Like I'm getting a video out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, no matter what. So if that meant I had to stay up till two in the morning to get that Monday video out, I was staying up till two in the morning and that was just no option for me.
[16:24]
Do you think the consistency of having a schedule and sticking to that schedule, of doing three, three videos a week, every week, do you think that was part of the success of, hey, sometimes you have to work really hard, stay up really late? I tell creators all the time, consistency is almost 80, 85% of the game. If you're really wanting to stay in this, so many people, like, let's use podcasting. So many people start podcasts. How many podcasts have you gone to go to their podcast page, get episode 12 and they quit, right? Because they, they don't get past that peak, that point of kind of no return. And I want to ask you, as a creator on YouTube, how important do you think the consistency is?
[17:05]
Very important. A hundred percent important. It's. Yeah, it's everything. I feel definitely that's all I have to say. It's like the most important thing and providing value and knowing your target audience, I would say those are the top things. And of course, being authentic.
[17:19]
Did it help you of having those deadlines, of knowing that you needed you set a goal for yourself, of always doing three videos a week? Did it help you personally of knowing that it's give you an actionable thing to do for those days, of knowing what you have to get done to. To get the videos out?
[17:34]
Yeah, it definitely did. And it also, I. If I had had more time in my day, I wouldn't have done it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I probably would have spread them out. But the fact that I had a family, I had kids, the beginning of the week was the only time I had energy and then as the week goes on, I get more tired and everyone has sports and activities and everything and it just gets busier and busier. And yeah, it just, I was like, I know I have to get it done Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. If I don't, then I'm going to be very exhausted and it's not going to happen. So, yeah, it's just, yeah, the all or nothing, the actually losing my job, not having money, that was all so many driving factors for this to succeed. I think, I think because I had tried it five years ago and I didn't have that sense of urgency and so I didn't stick with it. Like I was pregnant when I was trying to make videos and I was like planning to keep going, but then once I had my child, I just got busy and distracted, so I, I let it drop off. But I think had we needed money or something, maybe I would have stuck with it.
[18:28]
I would never encourage a creator starting on you to have that ment mentality of all or nothing just because I feel like it gives so much pressure to the person creating. And that's what I wanted to ask you about. Having that mentality of knowing that, hey, it felt like you challenged yourself of, I'm going to do this regardless. There's nothing that's going to get in my way. So whereas I would give the advice to people, hey, stay in your job. Obviously you had no choice on that side of things. Right? But I would always encourage people, stay in your job, don't quit your job right now, grow the channel during the nights, on the weekends, hustle and do that kind of thing. What did the self imposed version of you saying to yourself, this has to work, we've got to do this. What do you think that did to you with the growth of the channel? Because the channel is only six months old, you're already almost 21,000 subscribers, so you're doing these things the right way. But what do you think that did for you as a creator, to motivate you?
[19:27]
You. Yeah, now that you say it, like how it's all or nothing. Another thought popped into my head. It was, it was all or nothing, but I, it never felt like pressure to me. It almost was more like if someone, like I was inspired by Silver and Solo and I was like, if she can do it, I can do it. So it was more like, this will work. It was not. Maybe that's more of what it was like, this is going to work. If I put in the work, like, if I work, it will work. That is my main thing. And so it wasn't. It didn't feel like pressure. It felt more like fun. It was like, when will it happen? Because I knew it happened for so many other people in my age group that I was like, why wouldn't it happen for me if I put in the work and I show up and am consistent?
[20:05]
So the difference for what you've done and you've seen, the success you've seen in the people who quit or what we call pod fade in the podcasting community, whatever you want to call it, is that you've gotten through the doldrums and you're able to accept the failures of videos. Right? Where a video doesn't do well, your analytics aren't showing as good for the past 48 hours, or you're opening that studio app and you're all the time figuring it out. How do you personally, as a creator who's growing right now, how do you deal with those things of having a week that the views are down or a recent upload that's way less views or retention than the one previous? How do you deal with those things?
[20:46]
Yeah, I don't know. I must be like an anomaly, because it really doesn't bother me. I think I just. And I have been tracking my progress the whole time. So I have like 25 weeks of stats and I see all the time. It's just, it's so cyclical. It's like it goes up, you have a big viral video, then it drops off for the next five weeks, then it goes back up again when you hit another viral video, then it goes off for five weeks. Like, I just see like this cycle. So it really doesn't stress me out, I think, because I have been tracking it. And also it's also a learning process. So if that video. And also here's actually something too. A lot of videos that I even post, videos I know that aren't going to do well because they provide value to my subscribers. Like always, when I post a tutorial video, I know it's not going to do well, but it does a lot for helping people that are trying to grow their channel. So it actually does help people and it actually allows me to be more the authority. It allows me to help people learn how to grow their channel. So it. I think that it's. It like the numbers don't bother me is my point. I. I don't know why, but they just don't. And if something goes like you, you just told me, I don't Know how many views you said one of my videos has? I didn't even know that to be honest. Like I look at it like I always look at it weekly. I never look at it for the lifetime. So I never actually see that one video has or 170000 views because that just stuff doesn't bother me. If I'm reaching people and my channel's growing, I'm happy. If I'm making money, I'm happy. If I'm having consulting calls, I'm happy. So yeah, I'm probably the worst person to ask that because it really doesn't bother me.
[22:11]
I know. I think you're the best person to ask that because that mentality, that superpower, and I think I have a bit of that too. Where yes, in the past the numbers have affected me, but I feel like I've gotten to a point now to where I can look at them from a top down view and see where the ebbs and flows are and know that there are going to be ups and downs and just keep grinding, keep uploading, going on to the next video, having that next video mentality, which is what a lot of creators don't have because they get stuck in the mindset of oh no, I'm not growing or oh no, people want something yesterday, they want it now, they want instant gratification and they're just not going to get it. And so that's just where I'm at with that. You mentioned that you track your stuff weekly. Do you do this on a spreadsheet or what's your process of tracking?
[22:53]
Yeah, I use a spreadsheet, I use Google sheets for that. And I just track basically all the stats you would want to track. Like the stats I was saying, click through rate impressions, average view duration, those things.
[23:04]
And you just do this weekly. And that way you can go look at the heat map of oh, there's some anomaly here or there's something here that you might want to look at.
[23:11]
And I also, I share that like the reason I do it is for my subscribers because every week I share everything behind the scenes I share everything I make everything that's going out of the company, revenue and expenses and all the stats on my YouTube channel. I just share everything so that it helps people to grow and get a realistic vision of how one person is growing. Because I remember when I wanted to grow my YouTube channel, I was trying to find like how much do people make monthly on YouTube from YouTube ads or from affiliate marketing or whatever it is. So I just really Want to provide all that information as transparently as possible. To be like, this is what I'm making. It might not be what you might wake or someone else might make, more or less, but it's one person's journey that I want to at least give them access to.
[23:54]
Speaking of revenue, let's move into the monetization conversation. People probably heard me talk about a video that you did where you said you made 37,000 in just one weekend. New YouTuber over 40. So I want to ask you, can you break down just your monetization buckets how you're making money from the YouTube channel and then give us on average what you might make in a normal month?
[24:17]
Yeah. Okay. So I have only been making money since July. I started in May. End of July is when I got on the YouTube partners program. I think I made like $300 in ads for that. But I have, what I do is I have, I'm in the YouTube Partners program, so I have monetization from ads. Then I have a coaching. So I coach and I do one off and that I charge 200 for 50 minutes for an hour, basically. And then I also have a high ticket coaching program that is six months long and that I charge almost 4,000 for. So 3,800 for that. And then what else? Then I have affiliate marketing too, which I make like a whopping 20 bucks a month on. Then I have what else? I have an ebook I wrote that makes 10 bucks a month. So that's all the revenue streams that I have.
[25:05]
You would say your coaching and consulting is probably the main lump sum of where you're making your money right now.
[25:11]
Yeah, yeah.
[25:12]
Okay. And how are you promoting those services? Is it. Obviously the normal ways would be in the description, calls to action during the video. What are you doing?
[25:21]
Yeah, with the, the high ticket item. I actually did a whole process. Like I did a launch and that's why it was those two weekends, like those two videos, like the 37 and then the 72,000 or whatever. I did a launch and I had people apply to the program and then I went through the applications and then I sent them all individual loom messages and then I met with them and then I told them about the program and then they. They either chose to come or not to come onto the program. So that's how I did that one and then the coaching one. I don't really mention it in my videos very often. Every once in a while I might say, hey, if you're feeling overwhelmed with this information, I have A link in the description below. We can work one on one coaching calls. Hop on a call with me. But really people were asking me for services. Like I started coaching on YouTube because people asked me in the comments, will you coach me? So that was really lovely actually to have it work out that way because I don't know if I would have. I definitely wouldn't have thought of coaching on YouTube as a new YouTuber to help other YouTubers because I had only been doing it like two months when people started asking me for coaching. So it was just like. I don't know, it was just interesting how it all evolved. But yeah, that's where I'm at. I don't know.
[26:27]
How do. How much do you make ad revenue now on average? In a month it changes.
[26:32]
I was making on average, I think it was like 500amonth in the beginning. And then just this last month I think I got a message that I was. Can I just check? I'm so sure.
[26:42]
Absolutely. I'm just curious is people like to know like view counts and how much you might make with ad revenue. I think selling big ticket items like what you're doing is really interesting because you only have to sell a few in order for it to be worth your while. Right. If you're selling something for four grand or you're selling something for. I have a client that I'm working with that their lowest Item is like 15 or $20,000. Because of just the industry that they're in, they only need to do a few. Right. Finding that out is important.
[27:09]
So let's see. So for November, I made 2, €500. So that's probably like 2, US$800. And then November so far is €517.
[27:21]
Yeah, sure. So that's an average. And how many views do you get? Do you know? I guess you would know weekly. But what is your view average per month or per week on your channel right now?
[27:29]
Currently, as you're growing right now, it says 110,000 views.
[27:33]
110,000 views, right. So that's hours. You can get a view that the watch hours are important, especially when it comes to monetization. You can have four videos doing really well that are really long videos that have people watching for a long time. Those videos are going to make a ton more money than those kind of shorter videos. I've got examples of that on my channel as well. What's next for you? You're six months in now. You're getting into the next six months. What's next for the channel. What are you looking to do? What do you want to optimize?
[28:00]
Yeah, I just hired an editor, so that was a big step. And I feel like every time you do something new, it's like these. All these hurdles you have to get over and learn, to be honest. I just want to sit with this for a second. Everyone keeps asking, what's coming next? What's coming next? Next? I do have a course that I'm planning to release, but right now it's just. It's been such a whirlwind of getting everyone into this program that they're. That I have, and now they're all in this program. So I just want to, like, learn the ropes with that. Do you know what I mean? Get comfortable with teaching this program. And then the next time it will be easier. And the next time, and easier and easier. And then I think I could start to layer on more things. So I think right now I'm just doing fun things like collaborations like this or working with other youtubers or I have my school community. So that keeps me very busy. I think I might do a paid membership eventually on school. Right now I have a free membership, but again, I don't have the bandwidth just yet to do all of these things. So I want to build at a sustainable pace. So that's my plan to keep with what I'm doing right now and not add any too many more variables in right now until I feel comfortable with this and then move on to something else.
[29:05]
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. What is the. What was the process like hiring the editor for you? How did that. How did. Is it a lot of back and forth? Yeah. Where did. Where did you go to find them and how much, if you don't mind, how much would you be paying them on average per video?
[29:20]
Yeah, so I get emails, like every day. I get like probably 10 emails a day for video editors, thumbnail editor, like all these different people. And so I messaged a few that emailed me and I had some people, like, I gave a standard video to everyone that I was trying to find an editor. If I just gave them all the same video and said, edit like a first. First a minute of this video or something like that to give me an idea of your style. And I was doing budget shopping, for sure. I was like, I don't want to spend more than 50 bucks. I was being very cheap. And yeah, so I get. You get what you pay for with that. I did interview a gentleman who was charging 200 for 15 minutes videos. And I just. I Wasn't willing to go there yet because this is so new and although I'm sure it would be a high ROI to go with someone that that's higher. But I just wasn't ready because I want to make sure that this income is consistent before I start to really pay an editor that's very expensive. So I went with a lower budget editor and I found one after going through five different people. He's awesome. He's out of India and he's so responds so quickly. I can get him a video in the morning and he gets it to me in the evening. It's very. But my videos are very minimal edited. So the process was I went through Upwork and fiverr. To be honest, I found more people on upwork than Fiverr that were look what I was looking for. But yeah, that process really wasn't that fun, to be honest.
[30:39]
Yeah, when you it's. There's so many things involved and you have to get through that initial hurdle of working with them and going back and forth until you get what you want in return. You think it's going to be a hands off process. You're like, oh, I'm hiring, it's going to be hands off. I get to get to release this one aspect to the business or the channel. And that's true eventually, but it takes a while to get there. Sometimes it can take longer than others depending on who you get to work with you. So finding the right person, knowing where to look and knowing the budget that you have is very important and you normally get what you pay for. You're exactly right. So that's awesome. Alexa, this has been an amazing conversation. Congratulations on your quick success. Very few people. And the last question I want to ask you has to do with this. Very few people have this quick ofSuccess on YouTube. I'm not sure if you know that or not. It's a very rare where people. It's more of a slow grind and I know you may feel like, oh it's been slow for me, but really 20k subscribers and just under over 6 months is a really quick kind of chart. So with that being the case, what do you think has attributed to that quick growth? If you were to look at your channel and you could say to yourself, here's what I've done well, here's what I've done not so well. What would you say these were the couple things that that have attributed to that quick success?
[31:51]
I would say being 100% transparent and authentic, like I have nothing to hide. I show Everything I say when I'm struggling with something, I, I teach everything I learn. So I'm paying a lot of money to different courses and if I learn something really awesome, I share it right away with my subscribers. I don't hide anything. I don't believe in like a scarcity mindset. I don't believe in like keeping my cards close to my chest. I, I just, I reveal everything. And I know people are like, but if you give them everything, then why would they ever buy anything from you? And I find the absolute opposite to be true. If you give everything away, there's going to be the people that take that and go and run with it. That's great. But those are the people that are going to do that anyway. They're like self starters are going to whatever they need to do on their own. But then there's always going to be the people that need a want more handheld, they want more attention, specialized attention. They want someone to work directly with them. No matter how much information you give them, they're still going to come to you. So I think the, I think that was like my secret like superpower was just to be completely like, I'm growing my channel. This is what I'm learning. Hope it helps you. This is what's working for me. And I truly want to help people to live their passion because I believe like my strong why for this is I want to make the world a better place for my children. And I really believe that if people are doing a job they love, they show up for life happier and they treat people better and they treat the earth better and they treat everything in life better. And it's, I show up for my kids happier now that I have an income that I and I'm enjoying it, you know What I mean? Versus being stuck in a job I had done for 15 years and I was just like doing the same thing over and over again over. I was like getting very bored. This is like creative outlet. It's exciting. And of course I'm like the coolest mom because I'm a YouTuber.
[33:31]
That's exactly right. Yes, yes. My oldest daughter thinks it's the coolest thing that I'm on YouTube and she comes in my office and sees the cameras and the microphones and she can tell her friends my, my videos are not the kind of videos they watch, obviously. And so once she finds out that I do instructional videos, she's, that's cool, dad, that you're a YouTuber. But it'd be really cool if you did these vlogs and we had these nice big houses, the things that they watch. That's awesome. Alexa, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been an excellent conversation and I'd love to have you on in a year or so when you're at 100,000 subscribers and you even have more to share with us. So love to follow your journey. And again, you can check out all of her links in the show notes down below and we'll talk to you next time.
[34:12]
Yep. Thanks so much.
[34:14]
Dusty Porter
Hello everyone and thank you for listening to this week's episode of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. I really do appreciate it. Don't forget you can subscribe to the show for absolutely free and your podcast player of choice. Also, there are ways you can connect with us. You can support us by supporting our sponsor, TubeBuddy, as well as supporting us over on Patreon to get access to our creator Discord community. And I also offer YouTube coaching and consultation, YouTube channel reviews, and just overall.
[34:43]
Alexa Sara Noia
Business coaching if that's something that you.
[34:45]
Dusty Porter
Are wanting to look into. So make sure you check us out there and we'll see you next week.

Summary6 min read

YouTube Creators Hub Podcast Summary

Episode Title: YouTube Changed Her Life With Alexa Saarenoja | She Made $37,000 In ONE Weekend
Host: Dusty Porter
Guest: Alexa Sara Noia
Release Date: November 22, 2024

Introduction

In Episode 426 of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast, host Dusty Porter engages in a compelling conversation with Alexa Sara Noia. Alexa, a former architect and designer, transformed her career to inspire individuals over 40 to pursue their dreams on YouTube. With over 20,000 subscribers from just 130 uploaded videos, Alexa shares her remarkable journey of leveraging YouTube to create a meaningful impact and a sustainable income.

Origin Story

Alexa’s journey began abruptly when she lost her job as an adjunct professor due to policy changes that no longer allowed foreign contractors. Faced with the challenge of supporting her three children in a foreign country where she didn’t speak the language, Alexa turned to YouTube as a solution.

Alexa Sara Noia [02:36]: "I was like, I'm going to turn to YouTube and I'm going to try to make a better financial future for myself and my family."

Starting her channel in May, Alexa quickly realized the potential of YouTube not just as a platform but as a pivotal tool for financial stability and personal growth.

Channel Growth Strategies

Alexa emphasizes the importance of niching down, targeting specific demographics to foster rapid growth. She focuses on helping Gen X and baby boomers grow their YouTube channels, leveraging her extensive experience to provide valuable insights.

Alexa Sara Noia [05:52]: "I'm a big supporter of niching down for sure. And I definitely think that the 40 Plus, Gen X, big boomers, etc., are really clocking to YouTube right now."

Her strategy involved creating content that was both inspirational and educational, sharing her learning journey from various YouTube courses and applying those lessons in real-time.

Content Strategy and Video Types

Alexa adopted a consistent posting schedule, uploading three videos per week: one trending video, one behind-the-scenes glimpse into building her creator business, and one tutorial-based video. This triad formed the pillars of her content strategy.

Alexa Sara Noia [08:40]: "I did three videos a week and I tried to do one trending video every week."

Her trending videos, often with clickbait titles like "I made $37,000 in just one weekend," attracted significant views and subscribers, while her tutorial videos maintained high retention rates among her existing audience.

Dealing with Analytics

Although not heavily focused on analytics, Alexa tracks key metrics weekly using Google Sheets. She prioritizes impressions, click-through rates, and average view duration to gauge her channel’s performance.

Alexa Sara Noia [11:34]: "I try to have around 6% average view duration. I would love it to be near 50%, but like I said, with different strategies you have different things happening."

Alexa’s approach is more about the cyclical nature of her channel’s growth rather than obsessing over individual video performance. She maintains a healthy perspective, understanding the ebb and flow of views and focusing on long-term growth and value provision.

Time Management

Balancing motherhood and content creation, Alexa employs a scrappy, all-in approach. She utilizes small pockets of time throughout her day to record videos, often involving her children in the process to maintain authenticity.

Alexa Sara Noia [12:38]: "I would bribe them. It's going to be donuts and ice cream day. Like whatever I could do."

Her relentless determination and ability to adapt her creative process around her family responsibilities highlight her resilience and commitment to her channel.

Monetization

Alexa employs multiple revenue streams to monetize her YouTube presence:

Ad Revenue: Through the YouTube Partners Program.
Coaching Services: Offering one-on-one coaching sessions for $200 and a high-ticket six-month coaching program priced at $3,800.
Affiliate Marketing: Generating around $20 per month.
Ebook Sales: Bringing in approximately $10 per month.

Alexa Sara Noia [24:16]: "I have affiliate marketing too, which I make like a whopping 20 bucks a month on."

Her primary income is derived from her coaching services, which have been in high demand since subscribers reached out seeking personalized guidance.

Promotion of Services

Alexa promotes her coaching services subtly within her videos, often mentioning them in response to viewer requests rather than through aggressive marketing. Her transparency and responsiveness have organically driven interest in her offerings.

Alexa Sara Noia [25:21]: "Every once in a while I might say, hey, if you're feeling overwhelmed with this information, I have a link in the description below. We can work one-on-one coaching calls."

Future Plans

Looking ahead, Alexa plans to:

Launch a course to further educate her audience.
Develop a paid membership for her community.
Continue collaborating with other YouTubers to expand her reach.
Focus on sustainable growth by gradually adding more variables once her current systems are stable.

Alexa Sara Noia [27:59]: "I just want to build at a sustainable pace. So that's my plan to keep with what I'm doing right now and not add any too many more variables in right now until I feel comfortable with this and then move on to something else."

Keys to Rapid Success

Alexa attributes her rapid growth to:

Transparency and Authenticity: Sharing her struggles and successes openly.
Value Provision: Offering actionable insights and educational content.
Community Building: Engaging with her audience and fostering a supportive environment.
Consistency: Maintaining a regular posting schedule despite personal challenges.

Alexa Sara Noia [31:51]: "Being 100% transparent and authentic, like I have nothing to hide. I show everything."

She believes that by giving away valuable information freely, she builds trust and attracts viewers who seek more personalized support through her coaching services.

Conclusion

Alexa Sara Noia’s journey from losing her job to becoming a successful YouTuber and coach is a testament to resilience, strategic niching, and authentic engagement. Her ability to balance personal responsibilities while maintaining a consistent and value-driven content strategy has not only enabled her financial independence but also inspired a community of creators over 40 to pursue their passions on YouTube.

Alexa Sara Noia [33:31]: "This is what working with YouTube does for me. I show up for my kids happier now that I have an income that I’m enjoying."

Dusty Porter commends Alexa’s achievements and looks forward to her continued growth, inviting listeners to follow her journey and utilize her insights to elevate their own YouTube channels.

Notable Quotes:

Alexa Sara Noia [02:36]: "I was like, I'm going to turn to YouTube and I'm going to try to make a better financial future for myself and my family."
Alexa Sara Noia [05:52]: "I'm a big supporter of niching down for sure."
Alexa Sara Noia [08:40]: "I did three videos a week and I tried to do one trending video every week."
Alexa Sara Noia [11:34]: "I try to have around 6% average view duration."
Alexa Sara Noia [12:38]: "I would bribe them. It's going to be donuts and ice cream day."
Alexa Sara Noia [24:16]: "I have affiliate marketing too, which I make like a whopping 20 bucks a month on."
Alexa Sara Noia [25:21]: "Every once in a while I might say, hey, if you're feeling overwhelmed with this information..."
Alexa Sara Noia [31:51]: "Being 100% transparent and authentic, like I have nothing to hide."
Alexa Sara Noia [33:31]: "This is what working with YouTube does for me."

For more insights and to follow Alexa’s journey, listeners are encouraged to check out her YouTube channel and the show notes provided in the podcast episode.

Loading summary

Transcript61 lines

[00:02]
Dusty Porter
Welcome to the YouTube Creators Hub podcast where we help you conquer the Internet one video at a time. We cover everything from how to start a YouTube channel to how to make a video go viral. And now, here's your host, the one and only Dusty Porter.
[00:18]
Hello everyone and welcome to episode 426 of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. We got another great interview for you today with a wonderful creator, but before we get there, we'd like to remind you we're brought to you today by the fine folks over at Tubebuddy. Use our link and you get a free 30 day trial of everything they have to offer. You can also connect with me. I offer one on one YouTube coaching and it's probably one of my favorite things that I do every week is working with creators. And the majority of my clients I've been working with now for months, if not years. If you're interested in that, check the link down below. And then we have one of the largest growing communities of creators over on our Discord server. Support us on Patreon. Five bucks.
[01:02]
Alexa Sara Noia
That's it.
[01:03]
Dusty Porter
There's no more. No strings attached. Five bucks gets you in the Discord server as well as on the Mastermind calls. We got one coming up for November, so if you want to get in for that, it's coming up next week on Wednesday, so definitely check that out if you want. Links will be down below in the description and then for free. If you would leave us a review and subscribe to the podcast that way every time we go live. 6:00am Eastern Standard Time with a new interview every single week. All right, let's go ahead and jump into this week's conversation.
[01:33]
Alexa Sara Noia
Hello everyone and welcome to this week's conversation on the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. Dusty here as always, joined by Alexa Sara Noia. I actually said it. I'm proud of myself. As a former architect and designer, she transformed her focus to inspiring others over 40 to pursue their dreams on YouTube. Through her journey, she guides and empowers people to share their passions, build their channels and make a meaningful impact online, no matter where they are in life. Her channel, which is just her name, you can find it. I'll link it down below. And if you want to follow along as you listen to our interview, has just over 20,000 subscribers. But get this, she's only uploaded 130 videos, so her channel has really grown quickly over time. So that's what we'll talk about today, as well as her being able to make a really good living doing this. Utilizing YouTube as the central catalyst for that Alexa, how are you doing today?
[02:24]
I'm great. How are you?
[02:26]
Doing really well. All right, so give me the origin story of the YouTube channel. How did it start? What kind of led you to that? And just tell us how that happened.
[02:37]
Okay. Yeah, so I started my YouTube channel. I lost my job in January for I was an adjunct professor at a college in the US And I work remotely. I live in Finland, and I was teaching in the US And I lost that job due to a foreign or a policy change that didn't allow foreign contractors anymore. And I'm technically a foreign contractor, even though I'm American. So after working there for 13 years, I was let go in a moment's notice. And so I had three children to feed and no job, very abruptly. And I live in a foreign country, so I don't speak the language here. And so I was just like, okay, now what? And I don't want to be in that position ever again. So I was like, I'm going to turn to YouTube and I'm going to try to make a better financial future for myself and my family. And so I did that. I hopped on. It took me a while. I hopped on YouTube in May of that year or of this year, actually at the end of May, and then the rest is history. I jumped on and changed everything. It was awesome ride. And now I'm here.
[03:34]
The channel seems to really take off. What was the moment when you thought to yourself, okay, maybe I have something here. Maybe this can actually do what I want it to do. Maybe it can support my family. It can be something more than a hobby.
[03:49]
Yeah, I would say it wasn't really a maybe this can. It was like a. I'm all in. There's no other option. So it really had to work, to be honest. But the first video I posted, I. I had a channel before, like five years ago that had been laying dormant. And the first video I posted got 700 subscribers and was quite a good video. So it was just like one of the. Happened to be a trending video, and then after that it was less. Less of a growth. And then I had another trending video, and then it shot up. And once I was. My aim was to get mon. But once I got monetized, I realized there were so many other revenue streams to go after. So it really became like this. I don't know, this really interesting trajectory into, like, financial abundance through very different means, like very different avenues, which was really awesome. So it became clear, I would say once I got monetized, the potential that you could make money on YouTube and all the different ways.
[04:44]
What do people come to your channel for? What is your channel about? Give us. If you were to give the cheat sheet or if you're sending stuff out, what would you say your channel's about?
[04:52]
My channel helps new YouTubers to grow on YouTube over 40. So I'm over 40, I'm 45. So I'm helping Gen X and above basically Gen X baby boomers beyond to grow on YouTube. And I myself was growing at the same time. So I was actually treating my channel as like a knowledge reporter. So I was taking courses on YouTube from like Sean Cannell and other gurus and masters in YouTube and then I was sharing what I was learning with my on my channel and also like providing proof that it was working at the same time. So it was like inspirational and also educational because I'm a teacher by nature, so it's easy for me to distill information in simple terms to people.
[05:32]
Do you feel that niching down to specific demo of okay, not am I only am I just talking about YouTube and how to grow a channel and a community, but I'm also targeting a specific age bracket as well. Do you believe that has impact or affected the growth rate of the channel?
[05:52]
Definitely. I'm a big supporter of niching down for sure. And I definitely think that the 40 Plus, Gen X, big boomers, et cetera, are really clocking to YouTube right now. And so I think that it would just happen to be really good timing for it. And also I do believe that as a midlifer you have so much experience that you could bring to YouTube. So I think that it's almost gives us like a leg up when we start our YouTube channel because we have so much experience to share with people. So I think that it's almost a little easier to Even start a YouTube channel because you do have something you have been proficient in for a decade or over a decade by the time you reach midlife. Yeah. But I do think the niche helped a lot.
[06:32]
What did you make sure that you did and how did you present the channel? And video packaging being the thumbnail, the title and description to let the potential viewer know that's what you're about. Just for example, I had a guy on a few months back and he was targeting pilots or people who were aspiring to become pilots. But over 50, right where he retired from his normal job, he always aspired to be a pilot. People think it's way expensive. People think that you have to be real young to do it and he's breaking all those barriers and he's really targeting a specific niche. So he did specific things in his thumbnails, specific things in his titles. How are you doing these things? To make sure that the videos are presented to that appropriate audience, I think.
[07:18]
I put in the titles usually like 40, 50, 60 plus. I always put that in the beginning and every video I said I helped new YouTubers grow on YouTube or I said I helped Gen X new YouTubers grow on YouTube. So I always was saying it in my, when I was speaking. And I also, I don't know, I. Yeah, that's basically all I did. I didn't really, I didn't do much more beyond that. And I kept it really simple. I was, I'm known as like the scrappy YouTuber. So I like get it done no matter what. I have three small children and one was only in daycare like three hours a day. It was just like all in. And I think that, yeah, I don't know if I answered your question, but I didn't really have any kind of strategy for that. It just happened. I think people found me because of the, what I was speaking about. And of course your words then turn into a transcript which then turns into SEO. So all of this stuff. So I think I was just always constantly speaking about Gen X and the opportunities we have on YouTube and all of these things when that answers your question.
[08:14]
But yo, it absolutely did. When you had those successful videos in the beginning, did you lean into that type of programming or that type of video where you're like, okay, that's what works. And you, you had a model at that point of, of knowing that, oh, this is what's working and this is what's seeing some success on the channel. Did you double down on that and not create the same video obviously, but the same types of videos? Do you think that helped you like every.
[08:40]
So I did three videos a week and I tried to do one trending video every week. So one of the trending videos would be like my journey to monetization or get on YouTube over 40 or start a channel or something like that. So I did try to do a trending video every week, but then the other two videos of the week were more of like behind the scenes. What was going on with trying to build a content creator business online. And then the other one was tutorial based. So I had three pillars of focus.
[09:07]
Yeah, and you leaned into the. To that. I just, I, when I look at your channel, I see videos that have done well like how I made $37,000 in just one weekend. New YouTuber over 40. And then the other other video is I made 72,000 in two weekends on YouTube. So you use that style of video. And that's what I want to emphasize is people listening, that when you find something that works for your channel a lot, oftentimes people don't go back to the. Well, they don't double dip or they don't double down on that type of programming. So it's interesting to see what you did. Did you discover something when you created those titles like that of, hey, I made 37 grand in one weekend. New YouTuber over 40. That that video has over almost 120,000 views in just under a month. What did you learn about your channel when you made those types of videos of, oh, these are the viral videos. These are the videos that are going to really pop off. What have you learned from that?
[09:59]
I knew they would pop off just because of the title. It's a very kind of clickbaity title. But I was actually delivering value on the clickbait. But I, I don't know, I. It's just, I guess you just know, which, I mean, you can't say what's going to pop off. But there are certain titles that will definitely grow your channel and then there's certain titles that you use more for value, for providing value to your subscribers. Yeah. And to be honest, those videos really feel soulless to me, and I hate to say that, but the ones that grow your channel are usually the ones for me that get the least retention. I think people watch like maybe 11% of those videos and I get like hundreds of subscribers. But then the ones where I actually provide value, like the tutorials, the retention is like over 50 or 60% and it's, it's more for my subscribers. So I think that you have different strategies for what you're posting in different, different ways, if that makes sense.
[10:49]
It does make sense, but I want to follow up on that just a bit. I agree with you in that I talked to a guy yesterday on a coaching call where we were looking at his most popular video and he goes dusty. I don't understand it. Just the watch time is awful. It's got like 400 or however, it's got tons of views and it's an outlier on his channel. And we were just looking at the videos that were making him the most money through the partner program or through clientele. And it was always the videos that had less views but had the increased watch Time. So I think that understanding your analytics and that's leading to my next question. What analytics matter to you? What things do you look at and you're. And you say to yourself as a creator, oh, this one. Okay, I gotta figure out what I did here because this really stood out.
[11:34]
Yeah, it's funny you say that because I'm not really an analytics person. I follow like I have been following my channel week by week and listing all the analytics for my viewers and my subscribers and I track it. But I do think impressions is really important. Click through rate. I try to have around 6% average view duration. I would love or percentage. I would love it to be near 50% but like I said, with different strategies you have different things happening. Like the trending videos are gonna have less average view percentage and. But yeah, I usually just look at average view duration impressions and of course watch time and views are always important too. But yeah, I would say those are the metrics I really watch now.
[12:16]
How do you three young kids, you don't have 40 hours to put into this thing. How do you manage your time as a creator? Those are, those are the things that I love talking about because that's the real life things that people deal with that are trying to grow a YouTube channel. So can you give some advice on how you manage your time and still have enough time in the week to grow a channel?
[12:39]
Yeah. Now I have put my daughter in daycare full time, so I have eight hour days now, which is really nice. It still doesn't feel like enough time though. But before I was just like, like I said, I was all or nothing. It was like this was the only option for me. And I also found that doing YouTube was like a very creative outlet for me because before I got onto YouTube I was very depressed. Like I had lost my connection to the States with my. I had that job for over a decade and it was just, it was like something became disconnected from me, all of my colleagues. Everything was just so separated. And I don't live in the US anymore, so I don't really have that sense of community with YouTube. It was just like when I started to realize there was such a strong community on YouTube, it really motivated me to get it done. And the way I got it done was I would like, if my children were having breakfast, I would run upstairs and record something real fast. Or if they were, if I could bribe them, I would bribe them. It's going to be donuts and ice cream day. Like whatever I could do. Or if I could say Watch your little sister and you guys will get a surprise if you're good. Like, I just found those moments and everything was. It might have been very piecemeal. And that's why I say I'm like a scrappy YouTuber because I just get it done. But it would be like, maybe in the morning I wrote down an idea with a few bullet points, and then when they were having snack time or nap time, then I would go up and record that video. And then if they came in, I let. Sometimes I just let my kids be in the videos. I didn't rerecord them. I was just like, there's going to be a little bobblehead right here and it's going to keep going, going. I'm not going to let it stop me. So I. That was, I think, my mentality, like, I didn't let anything stop me. I recognized that everyone that I recognized too, that the people I would want to follow my channel would be authentic enough to understand that I was a mother trying to do this and they wouldn't be offended if my child was in the video. If so, I don't know. I know there is a certain, like, level of professionality, but it's also. I was just. I was determined to get it done.
[14:31]
And I bet that really resonated with your target audience, though, because the age that they are, they probably have kids as well or have had kids and understand the struggle. And to them, it probably resonated in a way that might have even helped your channel, knowing that this is a grinding mom who's trying to be a creator and she's trying to do this thing. And obviously the people watching your channel, they want to do something creative as well. And so that probably really helped your channel, knowing that you're doing this with all this other outside things going on. To follow that question up, what are your systems like, your YouTube systems, as far as, like, the tools that you use? Do you edit yourself? Do you hire out, give us the full process of kind of from start to finish of when you do a video, what that looks like?
[15:17]
Okay. For me, it was basically, I think of what I want to talk about. I write a few notes down, and then I sit in front of my camera and actually, I don't even have a camera yet. I use my laptop, my MacBook, so I'm totally scrappy that way. I am getting a camera soon, though, now. But yeah, I use my laptop. I just sit in front of it through imovie. I record myself on the screen and then I would, after that I would just edit it whenever I have time and add in B roll if I could. My MacBook's really old, so it doesn't always let me add in B roll. So I would just add in what I could. Usually in the first two minutes of the video, I would have lots of B roll and then the rest would have none. And then I would post it later that day. So I usually when I was doing this, I was posting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So I just posted, I created, posted, edited everything each day. The video I was planning on doing and to say, what systems do I have? I didn't have any systems in place. I just had deadlines. So that was really my driving factor. Like I'm getting a video out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, no matter what. So if that meant I had to stay up till two in the morning to get that Monday video out, I was staying up till two in the morning and that was just no option for me.
[16:24]
Do you think the consistency of having a schedule and sticking to that schedule, of doing three, three videos a week, every week, do you think that was part of the success of, hey, sometimes you have to work really hard, stay up really late? I tell creators all the time, consistency is almost 80, 85% of the game. If you're really wanting to stay in this, so many people, like, let's use podcasting. So many people start podcasts. How many podcasts have you gone to go to their podcast page, get episode 12 and they quit, right? Because they, they don't get past that peak, that point of kind of no return. And I want to ask you, as a creator on YouTube, how important do you think the consistency is?
[17:05]
Very important. A hundred percent important. It's. Yeah, it's everything. I feel definitely that's all I have to say. It's like the most important thing and providing value and knowing your target audience, I would say those are the top things. And of course, being authentic.
[17:19]
Did it help you of having those deadlines, of knowing that you needed you set a goal for yourself, of always doing three videos a week? Did it help you personally of knowing that it's give you an actionable thing to do for those days, of knowing what you have to get done to. To get the videos out?
[17:34]
Yeah, it definitely did. And it also, I. If I had had more time in my day, I wouldn't have done it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I probably would have spread them out. But the fact that I had a family, I had kids, the beginning of the week was the only time I had energy and then as the week goes on, I get more tired and everyone has sports and activities and everything and it just gets busier and busier. And yeah, it just, I was like, I know I have to get it done Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. If I don't, then I'm going to be very exhausted and it's not going to happen. So, yeah, it's just, yeah, the all or nothing, the actually losing my job, not having money, that was all so many driving factors for this to succeed. I think, I think because I had tried it five years ago and I didn't have that sense of urgency and so I didn't stick with it. Like I was pregnant when I was trying to make videos and I was like planning to keep going, but then once I had my child, I just got busy and distracted, so I, I let it drop off. But I think had we needed money or something, maybe I would have stuck with it.
[18:28]
I would never encourage a creator starting on you to have that ment mentality of all or nothing just because I feel like it gives so much pressure to the person creating. And that's what I wanted to ask you about. Having that mentality of knowing that, hey, it felt like you challenged yourself of, I'm going to do this regardless. There's nothing that's going to get in my way. So whereas I would give the advice to people, hey, stay in your job. Obviously you had no choice on that side of things. Right? But I would always encourage people, stay in your job, don't quit your job right now, grow the channel during the nights, on the weekends, hustle and do that kind of thing. What did the self imposed version of you saying to yourself, this has to work, we've got to do this. What do you think that did to you with the growth of the channel? Because the channel is only six months old, you're already almost 21,000 subscribers, so you're doing these things the right way. But what do you think that did for you as a creator, to motivate you?
[19:27]
You. Yeah, now that you say it, like how it's all or nothing. Another thought popped into my head. It was, it was all or nothing, but I, it never felt like pressure to me. It almost was more like if someone, like I was inspired by Silver and Solo and I was like, if she can do it, I can do it. So it was more like, this will work. It was not. Maybe that's more of what it was like, this is going to work. If I put in the work, like, if I work, it will work. That is my main thing. And so it wasn't. It didn't feel like pressure. It felt more like fun. It was like, when will it happen? Because I knew it happened for so many other people in my age group that I was like, why wouldn't it happen for me if I put in the work and I show up and am consistent?
[20:05]
So the difference for what you've done and you've seen, the success you've seen in the people who quit or what we call pod fade in the podcasting community, whatever you want to call it, is that you've gotten through the doldrums and you're able to accept the failures of videos. Right? Where a video doesn't do well, your analytics aren't showing as good for the past 48 hours, or you're opening that studio app and you're all the time figuring it out. How do you personally, as a creator who's growing right now, how do you deal with those things of having a week that the views are down or a recent upload that's way less views or retention than the one previous? How do you deal with those things?
[20:46]
Yeah, I don't know. I must be like an anomaly, because it really doesn't bother me. I think I just. And I have been tracking my progress the whole time. So I have like 25 weeks of stats and I see all the time. It's just, it's so cyclical. It's like it goes up, you have a big viral video, then it drops off for the next five weeks, then it goes back up again when you hit another viral video, then it goes off for five weeks. Like, I just see like this cycle. So it really doesn't stress me out, I think, because I have been tracking it. And also it's also a learning process. So if that video. And also here's actually something too. A lot of videos that I even post, videos I know that aren't going to do well because they provide value to my subscribers. Like always, when I post a tutorial video, I know it's not going to do well, but it does a lot for helping people that are trying to grow their channel. So it actually does help people and it actually allows me to be more the authority. It allows me to help people learn how to grow their channel. So it. I think that it's. It like the numbers don't bother me is my point. I. I don't know why, but they just don't. And if something goes like you, you just told me, I don't Know how many views you said one of my videos has? I didn't even know that to be honest. Like I look at it like I always look at it weekly. I never look at it for the lifetime. So I never actually see that one video has or 170000 views because that just stuff doesn't bother me. If I'm reaching people and my channel's growing, I'm happy. If I'm making money, I'm happy. If I'm having consulting calls, I'm happy. So yeah, I'm probably the worst person to ask that because it really doesn't bother me.
[22:11]
I know. I think you're the best person to ask that because that mentality, that superpower, and I think I have a bit of that too. Where yes, in the past the numbers have affected me, but I feel like I've gotten to a point now to where I can look at them from a top down view and see where the ebbs and flows are and know that there are going to be ups and downs and just keep grinding, keep uploading, going on to the next video, having that next video mentality, which is what a lot of creators don't have because they get stuck in the mindset of oh no, I'm not growing or oh no, people want something yesterday, they want it now, they want instant gratification and they're just not going to get it. And so that's just where I'm at with that. You mentioned that you track your stuff weekly. Do you do this on a spreadsheet or what's your process of tracking?
[22:53]
Yeah, I use a spreadsheet, I use Google sheets for that. And I just track basically all the stats you would want to track. Like the stats I was saying, click through rate impressions, average view duration, those things.
[23:04]
And you just do this weekly. And that way you can go look at the heat map of oh, there's some anomaly here or there's something here that you might want to look at.
[23:11]
And I also, I share that like the reason I do it is for my subscribers because every week I share everything behind the scenes I share everything I make everything that's going out of the company, revenue and expenses and all the stats on my YouTube channel. I just share everything so that it helps people to grow and get a realistic vision of how one person is growing. Because I remember when I wanted to grow my YouTube channel, I was trying to find like how much do people make monthly on YouTube from YouTube ads or from affiliate marketing or whatever it is. So I just really Want to provide all that information as transparently as possible. To be like, this is what I'm making. It might not be what you might wake or someone else might make, more or less, but it's one person's journey that I want to at least give them access to.
[23:54]
Speaking of revenue, let's move into the monetization conversation. People probably heard me talk about a video that you did where you said you made 37,000 in just one weekend. New YouTuber over 40. So I want to ask you, can you break down just your monetization buckets how you're making money from the YouTube channel and then give us on average what you might make in a normal month?
[24:17]
Yeah. Okay. So I have only been making money since July. I started in May. End of July is when I got on the YouTube partners program. I think I made like $300 in ads for that. But I have, what I do is I have, I'm in the YouTube Partners program, so I have monetization from ads. Then I have a coaching. So I coach and I do one off and that I charge 200 for 50 minutes for an hour, basically. And then I also have a high ticket coaching program that is six months long and that I charge almost 4,000 for. So 3,800 for that. And then what else? Then I have affiliate marketing too, which I make like a whopping 20 bucks a month on. Then I have what else? I have an ebook I wrote that makes 10 bucks a month. So that's all the revenue streams that I have.
[25:05]
You would say your coaching and consulting is probably the main lump sum of where you're making your money right now.
[25:11]
Yeah, yeah.
[25:12]
Okay. And how are you promoting those services? Is it. Obviously the normal ways would be in the description, calls to action during the video. What are you doing?
[25:21]
Yeah, with the, the high ticket item. I actually did a whole process. Like I did a launch and that's why it was those two weekends, like those two videos, like the 37 and then the 72,000 or whatever. I did a launch and I had people apply to the program and then I went through the applications and then I sent them all individual loom messages and then I met with them and then I told them about the program and then they. They either chose to come or not to come onto the program. So that's how I did that one and then the coaching one. I don't really mention it in my videos very often. Every once in a while I might say, hey, if you're feeling overwhelmed with this information, I have A link in the description below. We can work one on one coaching calls. Hop on a call with me. But really people were asking me for services. Like I started coaching on YouTube because people asked me in the comments, will you coach me? So that was really lovely actually to have it work out that way because I don't know if I would have. I definitely wouldn't have thought of coaching on YouTube as a new YouTuber to help other YouTubers because I had only been doing it like two months when people started asking me for coaching. So it was just like. I don't know, it was just interesting how it all evolved. But yeah, that's where I'm at. I don't know.
[26:27]
How do. How much do you make ad revenue now on average? In a month it changes.
[26:32]
I was making on average, I think it was like 500amonth in the beginning. And then just this last month I think I got a message that I was. Can I just check? I'm so sure.
[26:42]
Absolutely. I'm just curious is people like to know like view counts and how much you might make with ad revenue. I think selling big ticket items like what you're doing is really interesting because you only have to sell a few in order for it to be worth your while. Right. If you're selling something for four grand or you're selling something for. I have a client that I'm working with that their lowest Item is like 15 or $20,000. Because of just the industry that they're in, they only need to do a few. Right. Finding that out is important.
[27:09]
So let's see. So for November, I made 2, €500. So that's probably like 2, US$800. And then November so far is €517.
[27:21]
Yeah, sure. So that's an average. And how many views do you get? Do you know? I guess you would know weekly. But what is your view average per month or per week on your channel right now?
[27:29]
Currently, as you're growing right now, it says 110,000 views.
[27:33]
110,000 views, right. So that's hours. You can get a view that the watch hours are important, especially when it comes to monetization. You can have four videos doing really well that are really long videos that have people watching for a long time. Those videos are going to make a ton more money than those kind of shorter videos. I've got examples of that on my channel as well. What's next for you? You're six months in now. You're getting into the next six months. What's next for the channel. What are you looking to do? What do you want to optimize?
[28:00]
Yeah, I just hired an editor, so that was a big step. And I feel like every time you do something new, it's like these. All these hurdles you have to get over and learn, to be honest. I just want to sit with this for a second. Everyone keeps asking, what's coming next? What's coming next? Next? I do have a course that I'm planning to release, but right now it's just. It's been such a whirlwind of getting everyone into this program that they're. That I have, and now they're all in this program. So I just want to, like, learn the ropes with that. Do you know what I mean? Get comfortable with teaching this program. And then the next time it will be easier. And the next time, and easier and easier. And then I think I could start to layer on more things. So I think right now I'm just doing fun things like collaborations like this or working with other youtubers or I have my school community. So that keeps me very busy. I think I might do a paid membership eventually on school. Right now I have a free membership, but again, I don't have the bandwidth just yet to do all of these things. So I want to build at a sustainable pace. So that's my plan to keep with what I'm doing right now and not add any too many more variables in right now until I feel comfortable with this and then move on to something else.
[29:05]
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. What is the. What was the process like hiring the editor for you? How did that. How did. Is it a lot of back and forth? Yeah. Where did. Where did you go to find them and how much, if you don't mind, how much would you be paying them on average per video?
[29:20]
Yeah, so I get emails, like every day. I get like probably 10 emails a day for video editors, thumbnail editor, like all these different people. And so I messaged a few that emailed me and I had some people, like, I gave a standard video to everyone that I was trying to find an editor. If I just gave them all the same video and said, edit like a first. First a minute of this video or something like that to give me an idea of your style. And I was doing budget shopping, for sure. I was like, I don't want to spend more than 50 bucks. I was being very cheap. And yeah, so I get. You get what you pay for with that. I did interview a gentleman who was charging 200 for 15 minutes videos. And I just. I Wasn't willing to go there yet because this is so new and although I'm sure it would be a high ROI to go with someone that that's higher. But I just wasn't ready because I want to make sure that this income is consistent before I start to really pay an editor that's very expensive. So I went with a lower budget editor and I found one after going through five different people. He's awesome. He's out of India and he's so responds so quickly. I can get him a video in the morning and he gets it to me in the evening. It's very. But my videos are very minimal edited. So the process was I went through Upwork and fiverr. To be honest, I found more people on upwork than Fiverr that were look what I was looking for. But yeah, that process really wasn't that fun, to be honest.
[30:39]
Yeah, when you it's. There's so many things involved and you have to get through that initial hurdle of working with them and going back and forth until you get what you want in return. You think it's going to be a hands off process. You're like, oh, I'm hiring, it's going to be hands off. I get to get to release this one aspect to the business or the channel. And that's true eventually, but it takes a while to get there. Sometimes it can take longer than others depending on who you get to work with you. So finding the right person, knowing where to look and knowing the budget that you have is very important and you normally get what you pay for. You're exactly right. So that's awesome. Alexa, this has been an amazing conversation. Congratulations on your quick success. Very few people. And the last question I want to ask you has to do with this. Very few people have this quick ofSuccess on YouTube. I'm not sure if you know that or not. It's a very rare where people. It's more of a slow grind and I know you may feel like, oh it's been slow for me, but really 20k subscribers and just under over 6 months is a really quick kind of chart. So with that being the case, what do you think has attributed to that quick growth? If you were to look at your channel and you could say to yourself, here's what I've done well, here's what I've done not so well. What would you say these were the couple things that that have attributed to that quick success?
[31:51]
I would say being 100% transparent and authentic, like I have nothing to hide. I show Everything I say when I'm struggling with something, I, I teach everything I learn. So I'm paying a lot of money to different courses and if I learn something really awesome, I share it right away with my subscribers. I don't hide anything. I don't believe in like a scarcity mindset. I don't believe in like keeping my cards close to my chest. I, I just, I reveal everything. And I know people are like, but if you give them everything, then why would they ever buy anything from you? And I find the absolute opposite to be true. If you give everything away, there's going to be the people that take that and go and run with it. That's great. But those are the people that are going to do that anyway. They're like self starters are going to whatever they need to do on their own. But then there's always going to be the people that need a want more handheld, they want more attention, specialized attention. They want someone to work directly with them. No matter how much information you give them, they're still going to come to you. So I think the, I think that was like my secret like superpower was just to be completely like, I'm growing my channel. This is what I'm learning. Hope it helps you. This is what's working for me. And I truly want to help people to live their passion because I believe like my strong why for this is I want to make the world a better place for my children. And I really believe that if people are doing a job they love, they show up for life happier and they treat people better and they treat the earth better and they treat everything in life better. And it's, I show up for my kids happier now that I have an income that I and I'm enjoying it, you know What I mean? Versus being stuck in a job I had done for 15 years and I was just like doing the same thing over and over again over. I was like getting very bored. This is like creative outlet. It's exciting. And of course I'm like the coolest mom because I'm a YouTuber.
[33:31]
That's exactly right. Yes, yes. My oldest daughter thinks it's the coolest thing that I'm on YouTube and she comes in my office and sees the cameras and the microphones and she can tell her friends my, my videos are not the kind of videos they watch, obviously. And so once she finds out that I do instructional videos, she's, that's cool, dad, that you're a YouTuber. But it'd be really cool if you did these vlogs and we had these nice big houses, the things that they watch. That's awesome. Alexa, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been an excellent conversation and I'd love to have you on in a year or so when you're at 100,000 subscribers and you even have more to share with us. So love to follow your journey. And again, you can check out all of her links in the show notes down below and we'll talk to you next time.
[34:12]
Yep. Thanks so much.
[34:14]
Dusty Porter
Hello everyone and thank you for listening to this week's episode of the YouTube Creators Hub podcast. I really do appreciate it. Don't forget you can subscribe to the show for absolutely free and your podcast player of choice. Also, there are ways you can connect with us. You can support us by supporting our sponsor, TubeBuddy, as well as supporting us over on Patreon to get access to our creator Discord community. And I also offer YouTube coaching and consultation, YouTube channel reviews, and just overall.
[34:43]
Alexa Sara Noia
Business coaching if that's something that you.
[34:45]
Dusty Porter
Are wanting to look into. So make sure you check us out there and we'll see you next week.