Cash is oxygen for your channel

How to YouTube #39

2025 has got off to a good start.

It’s not even been three weeks, and I feel like I’ve made tonnes of progress.

Every morning from 8am to 1pm, I’ve locked in on the 1 most important task or group of tasks that will move my business forward.

Man, running your own business is good fun.

Until it’s not.

In these early weeks of my new entrepreneur life, I’m hyper conscious of the fragile nature of business.

Things can change fast, and you’ve got to count your chickens once they’ve hatched. Or don’t count them before they’ve hatched?

Either way, be careful with the chickens.

By far the biggest reason I feel like “things are going well” is because of one big, fat, important thing.

Moolah.

Or, cash *coughs awkwardly in British accent*

If you’re not making good money, and you want to be, over time it saps you of energy. No matter how much you “love what you’re doing”.

I used to feel defensive about this.

Back in 2022, I prided myself on my love of creating. I’d been making videos for a year but still had no significant income. And even though I loved making videos and growing my subscriber count, the lack of financial progress was draining.

Deep down, I wanted a reward for the time, money and energy I’d invested in growing my channel.

And while I was being impatient and wanted results too quickly, there is one thing I could have done to generate some income.

1:1 calls.

If you’re posting educational videos on YouTube, I firmly believe doing 1:1 coaching/consulting is one of the highest leverage things you can do with your time. Especially in the early days.

Here’s why.

You get paid to learn about your target audience.

It’s as close to a hack for your YouTube business as there is. You’re literally earning money while understanding the pain points of your audience and customers better.

This information will help you make better videos, write better emails and create better products.

Aka, the holy trifecta of YouTube entrepreneurship.

Here’s what to do.

Put a Calendly link in your video description with a stripe integration to charge for a call. Make the price something you’re comfortable with, and start low.

Between $30-200 per hour are all good places to start, depending on your audience size and experience level.

Then mention it at some point in the second half of your videos and at the bottom of your weekly email (if you send one, and if you don’t, you should).

The worst thing that will happen is no one books, and you learn whether people want your help or not. In that case, keep experimenting until they do.

Or, if you don’t want to charge up-front, offer free 15-30 minute calls (this was my preferred approach when I started YouTube consulting). Have a quick chat and see if you think you can help them, then charge for more calls.

It might seem time-consuming, but talking to your audience is one of the best long term investments you can make in your channel.

And constantly being on a razor-thin budget is like filling a leaky bucket with water.

It’s frustrating as hell, and you never feel like you’re making progress.

But when you have a bit of cash coming in, it’s a breath of fresh air. You feel like you’re making some progress and can re-invest it in the channel.

If you’re making videos for fun, then ignore me. But if you’re dreaming of a multi-6-figure YouTube business, often there’s no better product to start with than 1:1 coaching.

And over time, you can package the calls as a solution to a specific problem that you know your audience struggles with.

I’ve now spoken to YouTubers at all stages of the journey every single week for over 3 years.

And guess what, I’ve gotten to understand their pain points pretty well, and know what solutions they might want.

Everything always comes back to understanding the person you’re trying to reach, and never stop learning about them.

I’ll be breaking down my business and revenue streams soon so you learn from my journey too. I’ve always found it super helpful to actually see how people make money.

Have an epic week!

Tintin 🫡

P.s.

If this sounds interesting and you want to learn more, a year ago I first wrote about this topic, but with a few more examples.

A few YouTubers have since mentioned they tested it and it worked nicely for them.

Check out that issue here.

P.p.s

A great book recommendation on how to become a great coach, productise your services and make more money is Take Your Shot by Robin Waite.

I read it when I started 1:1 YouTube consulting in 2023 and it helped massively.