Do you really want to become a YouTuber?

Do you really want to become a YouTuber?

Back when this place was mostly retirees, but now more and more young people without a pension to live on are showing up. So I understand why YouTube is the first option that comes to mind. Still, I'd like you to think through a few things before buying expensive equipment.

First, you do need equipment. You can start with a phone, but I don't know any serious YouTuber who makes videos with only a smartphone. Someone will say they started that way, but that was ten years ago.

Second, the odds. You might have a better chance of succeeding in Hollywood than of becoming a big success on YouTube. A 2018 German study found that 96.5 percent of YouTubers don't even clear the US poverty line from ad revenue, and the top 3 percent of channels take about 90 percent of all views. It hasn't gotten easier since then.

Now let's look at two successful people. Both have good content and are worth following.

BecomingFilipino is Kyle Jenner, better known as Kulas. He's probably the most famous foreign creator in this country. He has over 2,000 videos, 1.16 million subscribers, and about 1.4 million monthly views. YouTube pays per 1,000 views, and the rate varies by the viewer's location. Viewers in the US and UK earn a few dollars per 1,000 views, while Filipino viewers earn only a fraction of that, and many of his viewers are Filipino. By my estimate, he makes $2,000 to $5,000 a month from ads, plus another $3,000 to $4,000 from brand sponsorships and similar deals. That's after more than ten years of work. I saw Kulas once at Mayon Volcano. He was smiling, but he looked so exhausted behind the eyes.

Kumander Daot is a British man who spends most of his time in Sulu and makes content about expat life, business, and travel in Mindanao. He has about 256,000 subscribers. He probably earns around $2,500 to $3,000 a month. That's decent money around here. But think about what it took to get there: years of uploading, making thumbnails, filming, risking his life, and so on.

These are only estimates of ad revenue. Both probably earn more from sponsorships. But that's the point. The people who make a living from this treat it like a business, and it took them years to get there.

And until you qualify, you don't get anything. To earn ad revenue right now, you need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in a year, or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. Starting February 1, 2027, the watch-hour requirement doubles to 8,000 hours, and the Shorts requirement doubles to 20 million views. Then there's the actual work: scripting, editing, thumbnails, responding to comments, and posting on schedule whether you feel like it or not.

Finally, burnout is real. Lost LeBlanc built a travel channel with millions of subscribers by quitting his job and traveling the world. He hasn't posted a video since March. And it's a rat race. You're only as good as your last upload, and one flop can cause your reach to plummet for weeks. When established YouTubers who are doing well go quiet, I start to think that in the long run, YouTube may not be worth what it looks like. Don't misunderstand me. If you love YouTube and feel you have something truly unique and interesting to show, go for it. But let's be clear: this is a job. It's a full-time job with no benefits and no guarantee of next month's paycheck.