- Getting to your first 4,000 hours of watch time
on YouTube can be a bit of a struggle,
but I have some good news and some bad news.
The good news is that every view you're gonna get
on any video, even the ones that are low performing,
count towards your 4,000 hours of watch time,
unless we're talking about Shorts,
but we'll come back to that.
And every video you post
is an opportunity to learn something new
and then apply that lesson to your next upload.
The bad news, though,
is not only do you also need 1000 subscribers,
but that 4,000 hours of watch time
to get into the Partnership Program
has to occur within a 12 month window.
So it is crucial that your videos improve
with every single upload, but don't worry.
That's what I'm here to help you do.
So there are two things I wanna discuss with you today
to help you get into the YouTube Partnership Program
as fast as possible.
The first is the type of content you're making,
while the second is how you're making it,
be it general YouTube uploads,
live streams, or even Shorts.
Starting though, with the type of content you're making.
What exactly do I mean?
Well, when a lot of creators start out,
they tend to lack a content strategy, and that's okay.
Maybe they're just kind of trying things out
and trying to feel out what making videos is like,
and if they enjoy it.
Some creators even understand
that their channel lacks focus,
but they're just doing it for fun
and they don't really care.
But there comes a point where a lot of creators
genuinely would like to get a content strategy in place,
and they're struggling a bit
with needing to know exactly what to make
and who to make it for.
Wherever you are in that beginning of the creator journey,
the first hurdle is going to be figuring out
a content strategy for your channel.
And getting Partnered is the first step
in taking a fun hobby, that is making YouTube videos,
and then turning it into a legitimate business.
Outside of YouTube, let's use an example
of trying to start your own business.
You have to have a strategy,
a plan in place to show that you're taking this seriously.
Otherwise, you're not gonna attract any investors.
And on YouTube, it's similar
in that if you would like people to invest time
into watching your videos,
you need to develop a content strategy
that keeps them coming back for more time and time again.
Let's explain this another way with a more specific example.
Let's say you're trying to start a channel
about saving money and you tried a few different things out
and you land on a video about bargain hunting,
specifically for designer clothing.
It starts to take off
and you even get some extra subscribers as well.
And you can learn a lot
from even one of those new subscribers.
For example, you just learned that they like shopping
for bargains on designer clothing.
And now it's safe to assume that this subscriber
is on the lookout for deals on designer clothing
and ways they can save money.
And it's possible
that maybe they're a fan of a specific designer
you found a deal for in the video,
or a specific piece of clothing you cover.
The most important thing you learned though,
is that they found enough value in your content
to hit subscribe.
And when they hit subscribe, that only means one thing.
That person wants more of what they subscribe for.
So, if your next video is about bargain hunting,
but maybe it's popular tech products,
there's a chance that the crossover isn't there
and they don't watch.
And yes, some could argue that the bargain hunting videos
in general are all part of the same content strategy
and are appealing to the same audience.
But in some cases,
not all bargain hunting videos
will appeal to the same person.
And that brings you, creator, to a choice.
Do you wanna double down
on doing bargain hunting videos
that are specifically for clothing items,
or do you wanna continue going with a more broad angle
where you shop for bargains on all kinds of items?
Obviously, I can't decide that for you.
But your goal in this scenario
would be to figure out exactly who your content is for.
And it needs to also be in line with what you enjoy doing.
That is why it's so important to sit down
and figure out exactly who you want your ideal viewer to be.
And as you start doing that research
and testing out new ideas,
you can keep up with your progress using this stat here.
This is the returning viewer's metric on YouTube.
And not only can you see it across your whole channel,
but you can also check out these metrics on each video.
A healthy rhythm for this chart
is to have the blue line, your new viewers,
and the purple line,
your returning viewers, constantly crisscrossing.
This is a clear indication
that you're able to bring in a new audience all the time
and then get that audience to come back for more.
And you should be using these analytics
and this data to make informed decisions right now.
You don't need to be waiting until you get Partnered
to do this kind of work.
Now, the goal of this video is to obviously
get you into the YouTube Partnership program,
but honestly, I want you to put the money part
out of your head right now.
What I really want you to focus on are the people
watching your channel, the real human people.
If money is your only motivation
for doing YouTube in the first place,
then you're missing a huge part of the puzzle.
The people who are making a living
on YouTube, creating content, love what they're doing.
And I don't mean they love making videos for YouTube,
although that's certainly part of it.
I mean, they love specifically what their channel is about.
Like, for example, if I told you that right now,
baking channels are super hot
and I bet you if you started a good baking channel,
you'd have like a million subscribers in a week.
What would you do with that information?
Well, unless you specifically really,
really love to bake things,
I would hope the answer to that is, nothing.
I can't do anything with that information.
Because on YouTube,
the answer isn't to force yourself to do something
just because you think it's going to get you
millions of views and a whole bunch of money.
The whole point is to take something
that you are genuinely passionate about
and then find an audience
that is also just as passionate about that thing as you are.
And if you do that right, and you're really good,
the money stuff falls into place on its own.
The reason I'm pushing this point so hard
is because here at vidIQ, every week,
we do these live streams
where we look at dozens of channels and give them advice.
And the number one piece of advice we give them?
Develop a content strategy.
So many channels end up walking away
with that exact piece of advice.
So now that we've discussed your passions
and the type of content you're creating,
we need to discuss the ways in which you can create it,
and if they can get you to your 4,000 hours of watch time.
You could upload a general YouTube video,
like the one you're watching right now.
You could also take advantage of YouTube Shorts.
And on YouTube, you can take advantage of live streaming
on your channel.
Each one of these three buckets, we'll say,
has its own rules for generating the watch time needed
to get into the YouTube Partnership Program.
Depending on what I say next might actually influence
which bucket you decide to live in,
and of course I would sit here
and tell you that it absolutely shouldn't,
but let's proceed.
I would say general uploads
are the simplest to understand.
Basically, every second of video that someone watches
on your channel when it's just a regular upload
counts towards your first 4,000 hours of watch time,
which leads a lot of creators to ask me,
hey, how long should my videos be?
And my answer here is always going to be,
make them no shorter or no longer than they need to be.
Don't add fluff,
but don't cut out important information either.
That's because YouTube judges your content,
your individual videos,
based on a number of metrics,
but one of them being audience satisfaction.
Your videos will spread much further, much faster
if the perceived value in the title and thumbnail
is resonating with an audience.
So don't take what should be a two minute comedy sketch
and stretch it out to five minutes long
just because you think that will get you
more watch time quicker.
Audiences can detect when you add fluff to a video,
and if they get bored, they're gonna click away
and you're not getting 'em back.
This will cause YouTube to stop spreading your videos.
And the overall goal of YouTube
is to keep viewers on the platform for as long as possible.
So, your job is to help them do that
by making good quality content.
But let's talk about live streams
because those can also help you
get to your first 4,000 hours of watch time.
But this one's a bit trickier.
Every time a live stream ends,
YouTube gives you a little report card
and tells you how many watch time hours you actually earned
from that live stream while you were going.
As long as your live stream is set to public,
all of the hours it accumulates, according to YouTube,
count towards the YouTube Partnership Program requirements.
What we're less clear on right now
is if the hours you get during the actual stream itself
count towards the 4,000 hours,
or if it's only the hours you get once the live stream
becomes a video.
The most confusing watch time hour metric
we have to look at, though, is of course, YouTube Shorts.
At the time of recording this video,
not a single hour you get from your YouTube Shorts
counts towards the YouTube Partnership Program.
There is good news though,
and that is if you're using YouTube Shorts
to grow your channel,
you don't need to be in the YouTube Partnership Program.
Your focus should be on making the best Shorts possible,
so they can spread far and wide,
because YouTube could still give you money.
Even channels who are not in the Partnership Program
are eligible to receive payments
from the YouTube Shorts creator fund.
Now, obviously YouTube is very secret about this stuff,
but from what we've seen,
it just seems like you need to get as many views
as possible if you want a chance for YouTube to include you
in that month's payouts for the Shorts fund.
But again, you do not need to be a YouTube Partner
to receive checks from the YouTube Shorts fund.
It's just a different way to use YouTube
and a whole different strategy to consider
when you're deciding how you wanna make content.
Speaking of money,
I would like you to watch this video next
if you like money and would like to make some
making YouTube videos
because there's a whole bunch of things you could be doing
between now and the time you become a YouTube Partner
that will help you get your channel
to be a lot more profitable.