Have you ever started a project and then neglected it, only to be surprised by the results? That’s what happened with my YouTube channel. In 2020, I found myself with a lot of free time and not many hobbies to fill it. So, I decided to start a channel called BleylDev, where I posted videos twice a week about the programming framework Flutter. My channel quickly gained traction, and I even got featured on FreeCodeCamp.org’s main YouTube channel and wrote articles on Flutter for various publications.
But fast forward to 2022, when my wife and I were ready to move on from the small town we had been living in for her PA program. I had accumulated a significant number of subscribers, but I no longer had the free time or the passion to continue making videos. It has now been a year since my last upload, but you would be surprised to know that my channel has managed to maintain its growth despite my neglect. Here's a breakdown of where I left things and where they are now.
Subscribers
Total 1 year ago: 4,745
Today: 5,304
Growth: +1.53 Subs / Day
Despite my channel being abandoned for a year, I was surprised to find that it continued to grow steadily. My total subscribers one year ago was 4,745 and today, that number has increased to 5,304. That's a growth rate of +1.53 subs per day. It's amazing to see that even though I stopped creating content, my existing videos continued to perform well and attract traffic to my channel, resulting in an increase in subscribers.
Views
Previous Year Total Views: 213,264
Past Year: 115,983
Daily Average: 318 / Day
Out of all my metrics, the drop in views has been the most dramatic. In the previous year, my channel received a total of 213,264 views, while in the past year, that number decreased to 115,983. That's a daily average of 318 views per day.
The lack of new content on my channel has impacted my views significantly. However, I was encouraged to see that the daily views and subscribers gained over the past year remained fairly consistent. While there has been a slight drop in the monthly stats, it's understandable considering how long I left the channel neglected. Despite the drop in views, I'm still pleased to see that my channel is continuing to attract a steady stream of viewers.
Revenue
Previous Year Revenue: $317.07
Past Year: $130.40
Daily Average: $0.36 / Day
Looking at the revenue generated by my channel is a bit disheartening. In the previous year, my channel earned $317.07 in revenue, but in the past year, that number dropped significantly to $130.40. That's a daily average of just $0.36 per day compared to $0.87 per day the previous year.
Seeing such a low revenue number, especially during tax season, was disappointing. Instead of building off the previous year's gains, I took a significant hit and didn't earn much from my channel. It's made me question the worth of having a YouTube channel as a passive income source, as the amount of time and effort needed to maintain it may not always be worth the reward.
Other Interesting Stats
There's one metric that stood out to me as having a noticeable upside to not posting any new videos: the click-through-rate (CTR). It seems that by not putting out any new content, the impressions I received tended to come from people who were directly searching for videos on the topics I had covered. This had a positive impact on my CTR.
Conclusion
Is growing a YouTube channel only to abandon it a viable source of passive income? While my experience suggests that it might be possible to earn a small amount of revenue even without active channel management, it's hard to say for sure. With only 5,000 subscribers, my channel wasn't generating a significant amount of income. However, if I had continued for another year or two, I might have been able to grow the channel to 25,000 subscribers and earn between $500 to $1,000 per year. While this may not seem like much, it could still be a worthwhile hobby to pursue and a potential income source to build upon in the future.
As a data junkie, I find the statistics and analytics of YouTube channel growth and engagement fascinating. I hope my experience and the metrics I've shared have been helpful to you in some way. If you have any questions or are interested in starting your own YouTube channel, feel free to reach out to me. I'd be happy to help!