So what have I learned from the over 500 comments I received in the last week and a half or so on my videos? I have learned that people need to be encouraged. That’s it, the bottom line. I am amazed how many people watch a video and say thank you for the encouragement. It’s not just a US thing, these comments are from all over the world. Granted that the majority of the comments are coming from older people who felt like they could not start a YouTube channel. They were just too old. But a fair amount from people in their 30s who think they’re already over the hill. And yes, I actually go to every single channel of someone who replies in my comments. I probably won’t be able to do that much longer, but it’s giving me a perspective on the people that are commenting. From Africa, Spain, Finland, New Zealand, Australia, and places I’ve never heard of. People want to improve their lives and move forward, and need the encouragement to do it. Is there a way to encourage people in your YouTube videos? I encourage you to think about it.

It’s pretty amazing since I started my channel that I’ve sold over 100 products on Amazon through my Amazon affiliate links. So yesterday I decided to go in and see what everybody was buying. To my shock less than 25% of the people linking to products I have in my videos: they aren’t buying those things, they are buying something else. Everything from under arm deodorant, to a toaster oven. I did know that onece an affiliate link is triggered and someone goes to Amazon that anything they buy over a 24 hour period (or timeframe I’m not sure) goes to your credit. However, I had no idea just how far reaching this program really is. Between Buy Me a Coffee, and my Amazon affiliate links, it looks like I may make close to $300 on YouTube this month.

Even though I still am waiting for AdSense and Review to catch up, it feels like so much has been happening so quickly. I have just under 1700 subscribers and it keeps climbing. I have my 4k watch hours just in this month, and now I have an amazing partner agreement with a manufacturer of high quality over the counter hearing aids. They’re offering me a 20% commission and they want to be able to use my videos on their site and promote my channel. Meanwhile I’m getting some consistent Amazon Affiliate sales. Just a couple of months ago I was seriously thinking of giving up after working hard on this channel for a year. Don’t give up, it does pay off!

Hi Tribe! I wanted to share a big win with you all! 🎉 We posted our first video on August 1st, and it’s been a long, slow haul. We’ve been consistent, posting every week, and about a month ago, at Alexa’s encouragement, we bumped it up to three videos a week. It’s been challenging balancing this with our jobs, especially since for a while, it felt like nothing was really happening. That all changed yesterday. We’d been stuck at 97 subscribers for about a week, and each subscriber before that felt like it took forever. But yesterday, we posted a video at 8 AM, and by 9:30 PM, we finally hit the 100-subscriber mark! As the night went on, the views and subscriber count just kept climbing! Now, a day later, we’re at 139 subscribers and 2,239 views (the first time we’ve ever needed a comma in our view count)! 🙌 We even hit another milestone—our first negative comment! And we’re framing it as a positive sign because it means more people are finding us. I just wanted to jump on here to celebrate this milestone and encourage anyone else who’s feeling like growth is slow. Stay consistent—it does happen! I’m excited for the day I get to come back and share that we’ve reached monetization. Until then, let’s keep enjoying the journey together! 💚

I can’t believe it! I just posted last week how I was only getting 20 views per video and felt like I was in YouTube Algorithm jail. I was very discouraged. But I posted a video last Thursday that now has 92 views 😱😱. Now I know that is nothing for most people but y’all that is amazing for me. I am so excited that I am finally getting some traction. I just wanted to thank you guys and @Alexa Saarenoja for your encouragement. This community is amazing!