10:50aila collins · Talking Head
How I Batch a Month of YouTube Videos in 7 Days
A part-time creator's seven-day sprint that scripts, films, edits and schedules four videos so the rest of the month stays free.
November 1stThe argument in one line.
Starting a YouTube channel from zero is slow and humbling, but the skills, the unexpected impact on viewers, and the compounding growth curve make it worth continuing if you still enjoy it.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You're deciding whether to start a YouTube channel and want a realistic picture of month one through month six instead of a get-rich pitch.
- You've posted a handful of videos to almost no views and you're starting to blame your editing, your topic or yourself.
- You keep comparing your subscriber count to creators who blew up on their first upload and it's draining your motivation.
SKIP IF…
- You want a tactical playbook on thumbnails, SEO or the algorithm. This is a personal, reflective check-in with very little tactical detail.
- You need proof of monetization. The channel is at 476 subscribers and isn't earning yet.
The full version, fast.
Six months into YouTube, the creator went from 2 subscribers to 476 and says the real experience is neither a disaster nor easy money. Making videos forces you to learn on-camera delivery, scripting versus tangents, editing, and above all packaging with the title and thumbnail. Early on, only a few people watch, and that's normal. Growth was slow for four months (about 120 subscribers), then accelerated to 5 to 10 a day as more videos and subscribers built trust. Don't compare yourself to overnight successes. Measure against your past self, keep experimenting, and quit only if the joy is gone.
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00:00 – 00:51
01 · Cold open and promise
She left a 10-year career, started a channel six months ago, and promises an honest account without doom or hype.
00:51 – 03:46
02 · The skills nobody mentions
Talking to a camera, scripting versus tangents, editing, and the packaging of title and thumbnail.
03:46 – 06:26
03 · Being okay with an audience of three
Early videos are watched by family, old work feels cringe, and everything online stays there.
06:26 – 10:41
04 · The hidden benefits
Someone always gets value from your work, early low views aren't about quality, and creating makes you a fuller person.
10:41 – 12:02
05 · Real numbers, comparison and keep going
476 subscribers, growth that accelerated after month four, why comparison steals joy, and why she says to start and keep experimenting.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- Making videos means learning several skills at once: talking to a lens, deciding how much to script, editing, and packaging the title and thumbnail.
- The title and thumbnail decide whether a video lives or dies, no matter how much work went into the video itself.
- For a long time your audience may be you, your mum and your partner, and you have to be okay with that.
- Hating your old videos is a sign you're improving, even though it doesn't feel better in the moment.
- No matter how niche your topic feels, someone will get something out of it, and it may not be what you intended.
- No views early on usually isn't about content quality. You're early in a long game and the algorithm hasn't found your people yet.
- It took four months to go from 2 to about 120 subscribers, then the next two months delivered the remaining 350, with growth speeding up.
- A channel with one video and zero subscribers gives a new visitor no reason to subscribe. More videos and subscribers act as proof of concept.
- Subscribing is a split-second decision informed by small trust signals on the channel page.
- Comparison is the thief of joy. You don't know what someone else put in to get 20,000 views on their first video.
- The only fair comparison is your past self: are you improving, and are you still enjoying it?
- Making things changes how you watch them. You start to see and appreciate the effort behind every reel, video and film.
- If the process stops being joyful and becomes only painful, that's the signal it isn't worth continuing.
Keep going while you still enjoy it
WHAT TO LEARN
Early YouTube is slow because the platform has no proof of you yet, so measure progress against your past self and keep experimenting while it's still fun.
- Expect to build several skills at once: on-camera delivery, deciding how much to script, editing, and packaging with title and thumbnail.
- Accept that for a long time the audience will be tiny, and that cringing at old videos is a sign you've improved.
- Don't read low early views as proof your content is bad. You're early and the algorithm hasn't found your people yet.
- Growth compounds: four months to reach 120 subscribers, then 5 to 10 a day, because more videos and subscribers make a channel look trustworthy.
- Compare only to your past self, and ask two questions: are you improving, and are you still enjoying it?
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As if walking away from my 10 -year career last year wasn't enough, six months ago I decided to become a YouTuber. I've watched a few of these videos before and honestly I just don't feel like what's out there represents the reality of how hard it actually is to do this and if you're expecting to make money while you sleep, I'm gonna be real, that's not...
so in this video i'm gonna be truthful about the experience not in a self -deprecating everything has been a disaster way and not in a oh my god look at how much i've made guys i've made so much money kind of way either it's just the reality of starting from zero okay there were two subscribers like me and my husband were subscribed to me so i guess not zero but starting from two to where i am today i think it's like 450 something right now i'll check i'm gonna start with the skills nobody actually mentions because before i started this like growing up i used to watch youtube a lot i i grew up with pewdiepie and the vlog brothers and all that and quite frankly i just thought you'd put a camera to your face knew there was editing involved and then you put it online and bam you've got a cool video that people enjoy like either they learn something from it or they're entertained by it whatever that's what i thought it was gonna be i was wrong what i didn't fully account for is how many skills you develop at the same time the first and most weird one is talking to a camera there is a very strange feeling about being by yourself in your room staring at a lens and acting like it's a human being and while i feel like
i've gotten more comfortable with it i still just can't help but zoom out and just like see the planet spinning and all the things happening where people are going to work and being normal and then i'm just there in my room just like being a clown on camera it's it's it's odd anyway the other stuff is deciding how to do this like if i script something i feel like i can deliver you a lot of value in one video but then my soul isn't in it like this video it's not it means I can just be myself and talk to you but it means that future Isla is gonna hate past Isla because these kinds of videos are so much harder to edit since I go on like a million different tangents so there's like the looking at the camera then there's the talking and what that should contain then there's the editing but the one thing that I didn't quite understand that was the most important part of all of this is packaging the thumbnail and the bloody title these two things literally are the life and death of your video and it's kind of soul crushing because you can pour your heart and soul into making something beautiful but then if you can't make it interesting enough to click and by the way nowadays that means just making it really clickbaity then your video just
dies a sad death and nobody sees it i think you just need to accept that for a long long time it's just gonna be you your mum and your partner watching these videos and you just have to be okay with that i actually hate looking at my older videos because i am i'm not only embarrassed by how cringe they are but the editing is so bad and i'm sure a year down the line when i look back at this video i'm gonna think it sucks they say that that's a sign of you improving but it doesn't make it any easier when you're in it so just know that there is an element of joy and frustration in it and also if you're already a critical person it's it's yeah you're putting yourself on the internet um people are judging you you you are inviting them to do that to some degree so you have to be at peace with what you make and what's out there and also once it's on the internet basically on there forever so be warned Now, here's the part I didn't expect and why I'm still doing this six months in, despite it being one of the most difficult things I've ever done.
And I've, you know, I've done some shit that made it sound bad. I mean, just like my job was hard. before you know the thing is no matter what you make no matter how rubbish you think your videos are no matter how critical you are of yourself or if you think your topic is weird or niche or whatever somebody out there is going to get something out of it and it's not always going to be what you think they're going to get out of it for example i made a very niche video about operational frameworks to use if you're planning on running a business as a couple so that you know you don't end up breaking up or killing each other and for me the point was that i would be sharing how my husband and I run our startup and how we manage to de -escalate situations that can arise from being a married couple doing a project like that and the funny thing is somebody commented on it and said hey could you make a video on how to communicate better because I really like the way you explained this.
Somebody said that they watch my videos because they find my voice soothing. I didn't know how to take that because I find my voice very irritating but it was just really wholesome to know that something I'm making is making somebody out there feel a bit better.
I can never really know what the end result is going to be but the fact that I can have an impact on so many people's lives is genuinely one of the most fulfilling things that I've ever done. Long story long you think you're making one thing but really you could be making another thing and that's kind of oddly freeing especially if you're starting to put pressure on yourself when it comes to the content that you make and you're being self -critical about whether or not it's good enough because when your first starting and you're not getting any views or any subscribers, you just automatically assume that it's because your content or, you know, the production is not good enough.
And really, it's got nothing to do with that. I just think it's more to do with the fact that you're really early in a longstanding game and the algorithm just hasn't found your people yet. So don't worry.
I'm also saying this to myself. Don't worry, Isla. editing me is going to be like what is wrong with you one other benefit and sorry i feel like i'm jumping around a little bit here but i feel like a more complete person doing this and it's because the number of skills you need to make this work as a thing and to even see like a tiny bit of growth is is crazy and i sort of empathize and appreciate creators more now you know when you watch an instagram reel or a youtube video you really liked or even a movie the thought process sort of changes.
You can see behind the camera, the effort that goes into the production. I just think it makes you appreciate people and life more. And that's an added bonus.
So, you know, you got that to look forward to if you decide to start. Okay, now let me actually break down the real numbers. Six months in.
So my first video went up on the 7th of January and this should be up on the 10th of July, but I'm filming it on the 1st of July. See how far I've planned ahead? Yeah.
i'm doing it um by the way it doesn't always work out like this like there are times where i'm literally filming and editing the day before so you know it ebbs and flows ebbs and flows but right now i'm looking at my um dashboard i currently have 476 subscribers which it's hilarious it is so hilarious because the first four months i had about 120 that like it took four months to get from two subscribers to 120 and then the last sort of two months i've gained the rest of it and it's accelerating i used to get one subscriber every like five six days now i'm getting between five and ten every day i do not know what's happening but i think it's probably that compounding effect that people talk about when you know if you go on a channel and it's empty right there are no subscribers but there's one good video you are less likely to subscribe because you don't know if that creator is going to keep creating you don't know that they're going to be like giving you good content but when there's more videos more subscribers it's almost like a proof of concept you make a decision in a split second when you land on that person's channel to subscribe and that is informed by all these little things so i'm thinking that now that i have more videos and a few more subscribers i don't look like you know a new
basically and there's nothing wrong with being a noob but do you know what i mean like people can trust you a bit more so i'm thinking that now people are like joining the party if you've just joined the party welcome i'm very happy to have you okay i need to calm down i think like this is my third coffee it's like 10 30 in the morning so i think that tells you why i'm like this i'm a very changeable person watch my video from two weeks ago i practically look depressed it's probably because i was depressed anyway calm sorry um okay I think one of the hardest parts of this growth or no growth is that you naturally compare yourself to other people.
And I think about the fact that comparison is the thief of joy all the time. I say that to myself on a regular basis because that natural tendency to look at somebody else and want what they have is, I think it's just ingrained in our biology. I've seen people...
post a video and get 20 000 views right off the bat they and then just get like 2 000 subscribers overnight and sometimes when you're doing something and it's a little bit slower and you see that happening it can be a little bit demoralizing especially if you have a perception that you're putting in a little bit more but you don't know what that person's put in you don't know what their journey is and i'm telling myself this as i speak to you now i don't think it matters and the only thing that you should compare to is your past self Are you improving a little bit?
Are you still enjoying it? If the answer is yes to both of those questions, then you're good. Keep going.
So I feel like I've covered a lot here, but ultimately you're probably watching this because you're trying to decide whether or not you should start a YouTube channel or you're nosy like me and you want to see how other creators are doing because that's why I watch these. But I genuinely think that if you haven't started already, you should.
And if you have started, you should keep going because there is a fulfillment. that you'll have that nobody can take away from you when you make something and put it out into the world and somebody else sees it and says thank you for this it made my day i think also you'll just get better at things that you didn't expect to care about and there's this added other benefit of meeting lovely human beings and finding your people and the list is endless there is this beauty in making something and i think in our modern era that beauty has sort of sunk into the background of our lives because we're so busy just consuming and that's not anybody's fault right like the tech that we have in our lives is designed to be addictive and work is so all -consuming that we're often too tired to dabble in our hobbies so i think that doing this is a fantastic way to become a more creative person to create a little bit more and also if the goal is monetization which it is for a lot of us i would love for this to be my job one day but it could mean that one day
maybe not this year maybe not next year maybe even longer than that but one day all the stuff that you're making will be found by the right people and bam overnight you're monetized and you're making a little bit from something that was just a fun experiment and i think that's what life should be a series of experiments until you found your thing so if you're thinking of doing youtube or if you're doing youtube already but things are a little bit slower than you'd hope for whatever just keep experimenting and i think if it gets to a point where it is sort of becoming a painful experience and you're not like there's no joy in it then i think that's a sign that it's not worth it right like for me because i'm enjoying the process so much it really doesn't matter and i'm just gonna keep going anywho sorry i hope you enjoyed this video i uh might do more chatty ones like it because it's more fun you know i was gonna say something but i thought i'll see you next friday bye why is the coffee always gone
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Six months in, a new YouTuber promises neither a disaster story nor a money flex, just what starting from two subscribers actually looks like.
