What I’ve learned after 4 weeks of starting the Summer of Jira
Today, I have successfully uploaded twenty videos to YouTube. Four weeks ago, I decided to challenge myself by dedicating my Summer to monetizing my YouTube channel where I create Jira tutorials. I created a bold plan. Over the course of 100 days and roughly 14 weeks, I would produce, edit, and upload 60 videos. Each day of the week would have a specialized topic. For example, Mondays are all about Jira administrative type of videos, while Wednesdays are all about agile based videos. Tuesdays are a little different in that I do a live stream, answering community questions and dedicated to connecting with my community. Thursdays are dedicated to tips and tricks where I share some of the best practices I’ve picked up over the last six years of being a Jira user. And finally, Fridays are to explore plug-ins and tools that expand the power of Jira.
Creating 60 videos is a lot of work. Most folks that jump on this platform have a hard time creating 1 video a month. Creating for YouTube isn’t as easy as it sounds. The YouTube community upholds a very high standard for quality videos. Lighting, sound, and video all have to be on point. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and courage to hit that record button. Because I knew I really wanted to hit my goals, I decided I would need a plan to ensure that I didn’t chicken out. In the months leading up to the start of Summer, I was comfortably releasing 2 videos a week. But, I knew that I wanted to challenge myself to something a little more harder. Monetize before the end of Summer!
With a plan developed, and 60 video topics predetermined, all I had to do was hit record. I have to be honest, having all 60 video topics/ideas already figured out has made a huge difference. Every week, I open up Jira, and I plan my “sprint”. I pull in all the videos that I’m going to record and get to work. Titles, Thumbnails, the video, descriptions, and promotional content are all created over the weekend when I have the most amount of time available. Every video for that week is uploaded to YouTube by Sunday night and scheduled to be released during a time that YouTube tells me that it’s ideal to release.
I wanted to share some details with you. Hopefully this will encourage you to also set some goals and just learn to hit record. The following metrics are going to be focused on the growth from just the last 4 weeks. I will show where I was when I started this new chapter of my life.
Memorial Day 2022:
I started this new chapter with 521 subscribers.
I started my channel the first week of December 2021. 6 months later, I was halfway there. I knew I had to get a little more aggressive if I wanted to monetize before my 1 year mark. And because I like to make things hard on myself, I decided Labor Day 2022 is going to be the day that I targeted to monetize.
As of June 24, 2022, I’m currently sitting at 704 subs!
I honestly feel like I might actually be able to hit my goal before the end of Summer.
I’m writing this because my content is Mr. Beast worthy. I teach a small demographics of people around the world how to use a technical tool. I know that I’m not going to have a viral video that is watched by millions of people because honestly, I don’t think most people care how to plan the perfect sprint. But, for the people that watch my videos. The people that take the time to hit subscribe, I just wanted to say thank you.
I can honestly say that consistency is the secret to YouTube. Consistency and just putting content out there for the community. As long as you do your part, put in the work, and try to do your best, folks will appreciate what you do and try to support you.
If you are like me a few weeks ago, not sure how you get to the finish line, I hope this post motivates you to keep on going. Make a plan, hold yourself accountable, and most importantly do something for your community/audience. Put them first and watch people come and support you.
If you haven’t Subscribed to my channel by now, but feel compelled to do it after reading this post, please head on over to my YouTube channel and show your support. Thanks for your support and I look forward to posting another one of these update posts in four weeks. How many subscribers do you think I’ll have by then?
https://www.youtube.com/c/ApetechTechTutorials
