I’m No Longer Romanticizing YouTube Side Hustles
I picked up a few books hoping to learn how to grow a YouTube channel faster. Instead, they pulled me back to reality. No shortcuts, no easy monetization — just a long process of learning, improving, and surviving long enough to matter. Strangely enough, that reality check made me even more motivated.
Hi, I’m WindMori.
Maybe like many people, I’ve always had this lingering desire to create something of my own.
It’s not even only about making money. More than that, I sometimes feel it would be a waste if everything I do only stays inside a company forever. I keep thinking about whether the things I know, learn, or care about could slowly become something that truly belongs to me.
That’s probably why I’ve been interested in YouTube, content creation, and personal branding for quite a while now.
Recently, I finished reading two books about growing YouTube channels. Honestly, I expected to come away with a bunch of practical “growth hacks” or shortcuts.
Instead, what I got was something much more grounded. It almost felt like being pulled back to reality.
The books weren’t trying to sell the dream of “turning your passion into easy income.” They constantly reminded me that content creation today is already a highly competitive, highly professional field that requires an enormous amount of consistency.
“Make 100 Videos First”
There was one line in particular that really stayed with me. “Most people never make it to 100 videos.”
And another sentence right after it: “Your first 100 videos are basically your entry ticket.”
Honestly, that hits pretty hard.
Because most of us still carry this slightly romantic image of YouTube. We think that if we’re passionate enough, creative enough, or genuine enough, eventually people will notice.
But the reality is probably much harsher: Your first few dozen videos may simply not be very good.
Not because the algorithm is unfair, but because you’re still learning.
Choosing topics, speaking clearly, editing, pacing, thumbnails, titles, audience retention — all of these are skills that take time to build. That was the moment I realized that content creation today feels less like a hobby and more like a competitive profession.
Ironically, many successful creators are probably far more disciplined than people working normal office jobs.
Creators Are Basically Becoming Product Managers
Another thing that stood out to me was how little these books talked about “creativity” or “self-expression.”
Instead, they focused almost entirely on things like:
- Click-through rate
- Search keywords
- Watch time
- Thumbnail optimization
- Audience behavior
- Analytics
Some parts even went into details like:
“How your background should look,” or “what you need to say in the first few seconds before viewers leave.”
At first, I honestly resisted this mindset a little. A lot of people start creating content because they want to escape overly corporate or KPI-driven environments. Yet eventually, content creation itself circles back to product thinking.
But after thinking about it more, it actually makes sense.
Because viewers are not paying you with money first. They’re paying you with their time. And today, attention might be one of the most valuable things people can give. So being “professional” doesn’t mean becoming fake. It means seriously thinking about why someone should spend ten minutes watching your video. That perspective stayed with me for quite a while.
One Idea I Still Feel Conflicted About
There was another piece of advice in the books that felt both brutal and strangely convincing. They compared a YouTube channel to a convenience store shelf.
In other words:
You should prominently display your best-performing content, while weaker or unpopular videos may need to be hidden or removed. The first time I read that, I instinctively disliked it.
Because for creators, every piece of content feels personal. Especially in the beginning, when you may spend days making a single video. Even if the results are disappointing, you still feel emotionally attached to it. But from a platform perspective, the advice is hard to argue against.
When viewers visit your channel for the first time, they don’t know how much effort you invested.
They only ask themselves one question: “Is this channel worth watching?”
That realization felt a little cruel.
But maybe that’s simply how the internet works now. People are overwhelmed with information every day, so attention naturally becomes more results-oriented.
Final Thoughts
After finishing these books, I realized they weren’t really about “how to do YouTube.”
They were more about: How an ordinary person can slowly build their own influence in the digital age.
At its core, it’s really about:
- Creating consistently
- Understanding people
- Improving communication
- Iterating continuously
- Turning interests into something sustainable
Strangely enough, I didn’t come away feeling more hyped or excited.
If anything, I probably lost some unrealistic expectations. But because of that, the whole idea started feeling much more real to me.
I no longer see YouTube as some easy side hustle.
But for the first time, I’ve started seriously thinking about what I’d actually want to leave behind if I continue creating content long-term.