Today we hit 1000 subscribers on our YouTube channel.

Milestones are exciting, and I like to celebrate them when they do come around. It took work to get them. It took many, many iterations and inputs, consistently over a period of time. It took effort. So to 1000 subs, I say cheers!

…and immediately I’m ready to work for the next 1000.

More importantly, I’m ready to put in the work to earn the watch hours we need in order to monetize the channel.

You see, YouTube has two primary requirements that must be met if you hope to unlock monetization. Reaching 1000 subscribers is one of them, and today we celebrate that achievement.

The second requirement is to have at least 4000 public watch hours in the last year. So the equivalent of 4000 viewers each watching an hour of content from the channel within a year, or any variation that adds up to at least that.

That’s the minimum amount of viewership that YouTube wants to see before they will consider a channel for the YouTube Partner Program, which is how channels can earn income from ads that roll on their videos.

Interesting side note here: YouTube places ads on videos regardless of whether that channel has earned the right to monetize its content. Isn’t that fun?

So 4000 watch hours is the next goal. Where do we stand now? Currently we’re hovering around 40 watch hours (only 3960 more to go!) because most of the content we have published has been YouTube Shorts (similar to Instagram Reels or Tik Toks), and watch time on Shorts doesn’t factor in. Also fun!

So the plan now is to make some long-form content; specifically videos in the 5-15 minute range. We just posted one featuring Kacie which covers what you should bring with you to a Mardi Gras parade. You can watch it here.

I plan on doing some chapter-by-chapter book summaries for some non-fiction books that I’ve found helpful over the years. Selfishly this is an excuse for me to read more, but also a way to better disseminate the information as well as articulate it in a helpful way for others. I may send out adaptations of the summaries as emails to my book club people. You can get on that list here if you like.

If you’re keeping up with us, please know that we love and appreciate you. This is quite the journey, and it means a lot to us that you’re along for the ride.

Here’s to the next milestone.

-woodrow