, where you can learn more about starting a lucrative YouTube career.

Here are some stats people were sharing on Twitter about how long it took YouTube creators to get subscribers (averaged):

100,000-1 million subscribers: 1,171 videos

The problem with these stats is that they take into account all the channels on YouTube, and that’s around 37 million. Not everyone comes to YouTube to become a creator!

, it takes much less to build that initial audience.

10 Solid Ways to Get 1,000 YouTube Subscribers

Talking about a niche topic, but presenting information as if the audience were fifth-graders

Taking titles, thumbnails, and YouTube optimization seriously

How Long It Took to Get 10,000 Subscribers on 3 Different YouTube Channels

Here are some stats on how long it took me to grow three of my YouTube channels:

Are you surprised to see how many videos attracted 10,000 subscribers? Or how many days passed before I reached that milestone? Keep reading to learn what happened on all these channels.

 in December 2014 and had no idea how YouTube works. Despite those growing pains, it only took 

39 videos and 390 days to reach 10,000 subscribers. 

This is pretty good, considering it's a Russian language channel. That's a smaller market compared to my other two channels.

2. Linguamarina (teaching English in English) 

I started this channel in February 2016, two years after Marina Mogilko. It's my fastest-growing channel right now with 80,000 people subscribing monthly. 

Relatability. I am not a native-speaker of English, but many people say it’s easier to learn from me.

I "hacked" the algorithm by using the right thumbnails and titles.

23 videos in 180 days to reach 10,000 subscribers.

Thousands of people want to learn, speak, and write English better. I took advantage of that by sharing valuable lessons, like the YouTube Short below about cutting the word "very" from your vocabulary.

3. Silicon Valley Girl (business and income)

The growth of this channel has been crazy. I started 

 with a video titled, "Buying a Lamborghini After Selling a Company to Microsoft," with me and a Lambo on the thumbnail. I knew it would work. And honestly, it wasn’t me who sold the company. It was my friend, Matt, and that was his Lambo. The whole video was about him.

 Then I just needed 44 days and four videos to reach 10,000.

How did I do this? Here are four key reasons:

 (a questionable approach because the audience wasn’t exactly entrepreneurs, which was the initial goal).

 with click-worthy titles. That was a good start, but now I'm looking to build a more engaged audience on that channel.

So what are the key takeaways from my 10,000-subscriber journey?

Make sure your first videos are searchable

, which means people are actually searching for those topics on YouTube. Make sure the titles are juicy and intriguing. Imagine the views you can get from "Buying a Lamborghini After Selling a Company to Microsoft" versus "A Successful Entrepreneur’s Story."

Aim for a bigger market, but start with niche content.

 I started Linguamarina, my English channel, with videos about the TOEFL exam. The content was highly-searchable and helped me build my initial audience.

 Familiarize yourself with the power of SEO, attractive thumbnails, and good titles. This will help you take advantage of the algorithm and fast-track your journey to 10,000 subscribers.

Need a smaller goal to reach? Here's how long it takes to get just 

Ready to get 10,000 YouTube subscribers? Here's how long the journey takes, plus tips to expedite the process.

How Long It Takes to Get 10,000 YouTube Subscribers

That was a record for him. His revenue for a regular month is a tad lower, though, around $250,000 to $350,000 – which is still more than most creators make.

A large portion of Stephan's revenue is from Google Adsense. Here's the full breakdown:

$35,000 from The Graham Stephan Show (AdSense)

$1,000 from The Graham Stephan Show podcast

Starting a YouTube Career - 7 Steps to Monetize Your Passion

Stephan has more than 3 million subscribers on his main channel, where he talks about real estate and financial investing. At some points in 2020 and 2021, he was getting nearly 13 million monthly views.

generates 4-5 million views a month, but I am not even close to $100,000 in revenue. My monthly check from that channel is 

Why is there a huge gap in AdSense revenue despite both of us getting millions of views? Most of it has to do with 

, or cost per millie. A CPM is the "price" advertisers pay per 1,000 YouTube views. Depending on the video topic, a CPM can be as low as 20 cents or as high as $50.

Views aren’t the only metric affecting your AdSense income. First of all, not all views qualify because certain topics aren't suitable for advertisers. At the start of the pandemic, if you used the term “COVID” or “coronavirus” in your video, you got demonetized right away. And generally, if you talk about controversial things (guns, war, and drugs), you won’t make much AdSense revenue.

Google AdSense 101 - How to Benefit from Ad Revenue on YouTube

 courses are one of the most generous advertisers on the platform. These courses cost around $400, sometimes even more. The net profits are very high because the classes are mostly pre-recorded. 

Course producers could invest 90% of their revenue into ads and still break even. That means creators with suitable videos for finance-driven advertisers can make lots of money. 

This mostly applies to creators who talk about: 

Other advertisers that pay high CPMs have customers with a high lifetime value. These advertisers could be brokers, banks, and credit card issuers.

This explains why guys like Stephan, Kevin Paffrath of 

 have such high CPMs and sometimes make 10 times more than creators with equivalent views. They're making videos for high-value industries.

I make videos about business and investing on my second channel, 

. Sometimes my CPM goes as high as $50 per 1,000 views. I never get those numbers on my language learning channel.

7 Video Topics That Attract More YouTube Revenue

On YouTube, you get paid because a specific audience finds your content useful. And the more that audience is able to spend online, the more you get paid as a creator. YouTube takes 45% of all ad revenue, but the remaining 55% goes to you.

These two parameters affect your revenue the most:

Of course, there is more to it. A viewer's age and their individual interests are important factors. 

Using the two parameters above, we've created a table showing video topics and their CPMs. The numbers vary from channel to channel because factors like age and viewer interest do make a difference.

Here's my advice. The CPMs for these topics are high, but don't post videos for the sole purpose of making money. Focus on bringing as much value to the viewer as you can. You’ll figure out how to monetize your channel along the way. If your niche happens to be one of the lucrative topics above, all the better.

Want to make thousands of dollars a month from YouTube AdSense? Here's what you need to know to get started.

Marina Mogilko

Posts Written By Marina Mogilko

How Long It Takes to Get 10,000 YouTube Subscribers

How to Make $200K a Month From YouTube AdSense