What I learnt About Finance While Growing My Youtube Channel…

You know they have that saying that goes

"some people are visual, some are auditory while some are kinesthetic".

Well, I'm definitely the visual and auditory kind. So Youtube has always been my favourite social media platform.

And as soon as I got to know that kids these days aspire to become a youtuber (yes they do, more than become a doctor or lawyer), I set my heart on growing a channel.

You see, I already own one of the "hardest to tell your neighbour" job titles...

Yup, financial advisor. 

No probs, it's ok. (Handling objections and people's reaction is one of the things I train my new advisers on)

So I thought, what if I can also own the "most ideal to growing up kids" job title

Yup - A Freaking YOUTUBER! =)

My journey in youtube...

When my channel was less than 100 subs, it was really hard to just get 10 more NEW subs in...

Each new sub felt so precious.

In any case just to share, people do unsubscribe.

So in growing a channel, it will never be a straight line up. Just like an investment portfolio's performance...

Fast forward to today, things are VERY different. 

Each night, there could be 10 new subs. It kind of grows consistently now as there is already quite some stuff in the channel for different audience.

But why the difference?

Things need time to grow....

If we do the math, trying to get 10 new subs from a base of 100 is hoping for a 10% growth.

That is NOT EASY!

But 1 new sub is just 1% growth. It is hard to get excited about it.

It is just like in investing. Gaining $1 from your $100 investment pot gives you NO satisfaction.

But hoping for a $10 gain? Now that is hard from a $100 investment.

Back to today at 3,000+ subs today, getting 10 new subs is just 0.33% growth. 

0.33% growth is easy and very possible. But 0.33% of 100 is not even 1.

Sometimes we confuse percentages with absolute amounts.

Jeff bezos mentioned something along the lines: "Things... need... TIME... to grow".

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If we grow tired of 0.33% growths we are trying to take shortcuts to success.

It's like shooting to become a millionaire with an investment pot of only $50,000.

That is too high an expectation and actually dangerous.

Love what you do to become really good at it....

Investing well is an art. The learning comes from making painful mistakes.

It is the same with filming and editing of videos.

In fact, with hard practice, you can become better at ANY craft.

The first advice I took when doing up my youtube channel was to be authentic and gearing at a topic I truly like. That is why I did finance videos and not basketball videos.

"LOVE what you do" is really cliche... but true to youtube-ing success.

To share with you, each video takes 8-10hours. Who in the world has such time for extra "work"??

Exponential growth is really magical...

Now as I did more and more videos, I started to cover different topics.

Some on housing. Some on investing and now I'm doing some on business/entrepreneurship.

Each niche topic is like an octopus's arm, pulling in a different niche audience.

And as the number of effective arms grow, the audience catch grows wider and wider...

The view could has since grown exponentially.

So what is exponential in growing your money?

When one dollar grows another dollar and together, they grow another dollar.

It is non other than compounding effect on your money.

Interest on interest. Whereby your money grows exponentially after a period of time.

When you get to a different level, you see the "game" differently...

I've always liked to approach things with a "GAME" mindset.

Growing money is a game. Growing a youtube channel is a game. 

Why?

Because failure is part of the journey. Have less fear of losing and play to win!

But each stage needs different skills. How to grow to the next level cannot be with the same strategy.

It is the same with money. With $10,000 capital, you can really choose to do simple investments.

But with $1,000,000 in capital, you had better learn to diversify and understand leverage.

Jack Ma mentioned something along the lines: "When Alibaba was small, I had to beg for other peoples funds. Now that Alibaba is big, people are coming to me to beg for funds."

There are always others with more...

As I grew the channel to different levels, I've gotten exposed to different peer channels.

After a while, some have grown faster than me and some who have grown slower. You do know that youtube subscriber numbers are transparent right?

There are even software to track peer channels.

But the thing I've got reminded in this journey is, getting hooked onto the peer comparison is a NEVER ENDING game. 

Just like the game of money. There will always be someone earning more in the office. There is someone richer no matter which neighbourhood you stay.

The comparison mindset can get anyone trapped into a "RAT RACE".

Things may not always be fair.

Someone else may have gotten the "lucky break" that you wished you had and are way ahead now.

But everyone has their own journey, so really, don't let comparison get in the way of happiness.

Last words

Youtube has been fun. I hope it remains this way for as long as possible.

I'd probably not be able grow to the size of Graham Stephan's or Matt D'Avella's channel, both of whom I look up to.

It's kind of the same with investing. Look up to Warren Buffett and Howard Marks for investing wisdom but as to getting their level of wealth... you gotta be realistic ya!

Learning how to film and edit is actually a useful skill in this time and age. Agree?

You can connect with kids better. If you are seeking jobs, it also helps...

After all, continuous learning is a must for everyone. ​

PS: I've an insider sharing on my numbers below, hope it helps and SMASH THE LIKE!