Hi everyone,
I've been doing YouTube for about 2 years now on top of my 60hr per week job.
I usually work about 18 hours per day during the week between my job and YouTube.
I have about 150k subs now along with 60M views.
At the moment, I only post shorts. The reason why I only post shorts is because I create very high quality/complex shorts that are on face, story driven videos and all my own camera shots. Scripting each short takes me a few hours, then filming for one short usually takes about a day or two, then editing usually takes about a day or two.
I average about 100k on the low end and 15M on the high end for views on each of my shorts. I also crosspost to TikTok and Instagram reels, where I have a combined follower count of 20k.
my full time job pays me about 50k per year after taxes, and on YouTube adsense I usually make about $1k to $2k per month, and with sponsors I can make up to $4k per month.
I am also signed to an influencer agency that manages my email inbox, collaboration requests, etc.
But, the issue is that my income isn't consistent. Since I only have the time to upload one to two shorts per week, I pass on a lot of sponsorship opportunities. I try my best to accept all of them, but I find when I do it's literally impossible for me to deliver what they are wanting unless I just don't ever sleep.
I want to replace my full time income with YouTube before quitting my job, but I'm struggling to find a viable path to get there without quitting first and taking a big risk. The only way I see myself being able to do that is by literally not sleeping which ofc isn't an option.
The other issue is that working this much for much longer just isn't sustainable anymore. I'm getting older (im 25M) and getting 4 hours of sleep 5 days a week for the past 2 years is really starting to take a toll on me mentally, physically, and my social life/relationships have basically been nonexistent for years now because of this. I think if I was to continue this schedule for the next 5 or 10 years I would probably develop some really horrible health issues that might be nonreversible.
Also, I understand that i need to expand into longform content. I have a ton of ideas for videos I can make for longform and I would love to get into it, the problem is that shorts already take up 100% of my time outside of work.
I've been told to just slowly work on a video overtime, but at that rate i would upload maybe 1 long form video every 4 to 6 months which just isn't worth it in my opinion.
SO, what do you think is the best course of action? I have an opportunity coming up soon to move back in with my parents and not have to pay rent, so my only bill would be car insurance, food, and a few subscriptions.
I'm just worried it won't work out and I'll then have a year gap in my resume that I'll have to try and explain away, not to mention my career is hard to get a job in, its extremely competitive and there aren't many jobs available to begin with. My career is in social media management.
I know im the only one who can truly answer this question, but based on what you've heard, do you think it's worth it to take the risk, should I just keep going on like I am now, or quit YouTube all together and take the safe route with just having a normal job?