How Much I Made My First Year on YouTube

In this video I reveal how much I made during my first year on KZbin. NeverBenBetter is still a small channel, but it has grown to about 2000 subscribers. When I started, I envisioned vlogging about developing sources of passive income. The vlog idea didn't pan out, but I can still share the results of my passive income plan.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 - Introduction
0:46 - How did NeverBenBetter get started?
2:57 - How much money can be made in KZbin ad revenue after the first year?
5:43 - How much money did I make in referrals?
6:24 - How did I grow my KZbin income through my investments?
7:04 - What kind of expenses are tied to my KZbin channel?
9:00 - Conclusion
Interested in learning about my startup?
www.masteryportfolio.com
Follow me on Twitter:
neverbenbetter

[@BertVerschuren]

Very instructive video, Ben. With an openness one doesn’t come across very often. Not sure if you could make a second one on this same topic though. Maybe you could make one on the role of honesty & trust in business - or how their antagonists isn’t sustainable.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

Thank you for the compliment and thank you sincerely for taking the time to comment. Supportive viewers are worth more than a thousand views. Concerning future videos: I have been brainstorming what might be the most valuable and shareable aspects of what we've done with Mastery Portfolio. My partners and I are continually iterating over the principles that guide our business. Because all of us were at one point teachers, education and personal growth are core values for us. (And when I say "education" while there may be overlap, it is not synonymous with "school". In some of my earlier videos, I shared some of my criticisms) Anyway, the innovations we pursue require honesty and trust. Think "You can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." Condensing that into a KZbin video is something I am working on, and hearing from you is a huge affirmation.

[@izbirun]

Really appreciate how open you are, it's cool to see such financial transparency

[@neverbenbetter8225]

Thanks. One of the reasons a I made this video was not because a I was excited about how much I made THIS year, but because of how exciting I think it will be to look back on NEXT year.

[@pi2infinity]

I feel funny with how voyeuristic it makes me seem, but this is sincerely the most interesting thing a KZbinr can ever post. I hope you do another Year End Review style video next year when you have near 5k subscribers. Sidenote: I really appreciated the way you broke the fourth wall for, like, three seconds to visually show the green screen behind you.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

This is a Burger King video. Another channel, we’ll call it it “McDonald’s”, did the market research and set the example, I just put my restaurant next to theirs.

[@kristofinportugal]

It's the difference between being a teacher, where your students need to learn whatever you throw at them. And now being in a commercial environment where the "students" decide what they want to watch and you need to adapt to that to be successfull. Good luck! I like your content.

[@archer111000]

Part of the reason why educational content on KZbin does pretty well. TierZoo, SciShow, all those folks. Being forced to learn history? Bad. Choosing to learn history? YES.

[@kristofinportugal]

@@archer111000 true, and the key to success is the way you bring it. If you have a way to keep it interesting, nice and entertaining, you can do anything.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

I love this comment because it ties together the two things I've been learning this year: KZbin and building a business. You also can't build a business based on what YOU think is valuable, only the MARKET can validate your product. KZbin is more personal, however, because who you are is intertwined with what your channel offers.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

You could extend that and say: "Being forced your history curriculum? Bad. Choosing the material you think is relevant and fascinating? YES."

[@BertVerschuren]

@@neverbenbetter8225 Largely agree, but some aspects of History education aren’t nice but essential if you want to make sense of it all. One key one is the general history timeline which serves as a coat-hanger for those coats you like. Kids usually hate to learn them by heart, but those who failed to ingest them, will struggle with any interesting history topics afterwards. And I like to think this is true for any topic; no pain (some of it), no gain. A great teacher manages to make this as least painful as possible.

[@mikehedrick6544]

Ben, I enjoyed all the information you presented and found it interesting. Best wishes with your channel and your business.

[@orleydoss3171]

Congrats 👍

[@neverbenbetter8225]

Without commenting, I don't have any way of knowing who/how many people consistently watch my videos, but I know you do! Thank you, Orley, for your support this year. You have been a huge encouragement.

[@AliAlmahdi]

The video that made me subscribe was the angular video. Not Tesla stuff. I like the way you run your channel, Jan 2021 should be the start of my channel. Let's see how it goes. I'm learning from you.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

Thank you so much for subscribing and sticking around. Would you answer two questions for me? If you subscribed because of my Angular video, are you waiting for more Angular content or have you been enjoying the other content? Secondly, what is your channel going to be about? I think my biggest mistake is not kicking it off with a goal that I knew I would stick to.

[@AliAlmahdi]

@@neverbenbetter8225 As for your first question, I have been enjoying your other content. I am a software engineer, hence Angular video caught my attention. But I enjoyed your content. As for my channel, its going to be software engineering related. From software development to discussing ideas. I do tune vehicles too, so maybe some automotive software tuning too.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

@@AliAlmahdi cool. Let me know when you get started. Maybe we can do o a collab. That can be a great way to get attention from new people.

[@AliAlmahdi]

@@neverbenbetter8225 of course. Thank you very much, I'd highly appreciate it.

[@neverbenbetter8225]

Absolutely. You can reach me via my “business inquiry” email on my channel page. If you have any questions about getting started, I’m also happy to talk with you.