[Case Study] How I Earned My First $100 on YouTube Without Shorts or Going Viral

Social Media Marketing
#1

Hey everyone,

I’ve seen a lot of threads here about building a YouTube channel without relying on trends, AI spam, or Shorts. I recently hit my first $100 in YouTube AdSense, and while it’s not a huge milestone, I wanted to share what worked — especially because I did it without going viral or chasing views.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

  • Content niche: evergreen tutorials with low competition
  • No facecam, no AI voiceovers
  • Traffic sources: mostly YouTube search + suggested (not external)
  • Video length: ~5–8 mins
  • Tool stack: nothing fancy — just manual uploads + some basic automation to save time
  • Thumbnails and CTR made a massive difference, even more than SEO
    I wrote a full breakdown on what I did right and wrong here:
    :point_right: [My full story sharing here]
    (Feel free to delete if this breaks the rules — not trying to promo, just thought it might help others starting from scratch.)

Let me know if you’re stuck at the early stage — happy to answer questions or share examples.

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