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Erika Kullberg now has over two million subscribers on YouTube and over 21 million followers on her social media accounts – but five years ago, like all new YouTube creators, she started with zero subscribers.
Kullberg makes personal finance videos for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The content focuses on helping people get what they deserve and shares personal finance anecdotes from her own life, such as why she left a $250,000 job in business law.
She says that of all the platforms she posts on, she makes the most money from YouTube.
Kullberg has earned more than $353,000 from YouTube over the past five years, excluding brand sponsorships and before taxes.
Photo credit: Erika Kullberg
It took her about three months to get her first thousand subscribers and qualify for monetization by posting a YouTube video every week. That's pretty fast: For comparison, data on the VidIQ channel shows that on average it takes about 15.5 months for YouTubers to make money.
Related: This is how much the popular influencer Erika Kullberg earns
In an interview with Entrepreneur, Kullberg revealed the secrets behind the rapid growth of her YouTube channel.
Entrepreneur: Was there a particular mindset or something you did strategically to make your channel stand out and monetize it?
Kullberg: When I started YouTube, I made a commitment to release one video a week for a year, no matter what. Because what I see a lot on YouTube is people release five videos and then get so discouraged that they don't magically get a thousand subscribers after five videos that they just give up. So 52 videos. That was a big mindset thing.
I also studied and analyzed YouTube channels before starting my own. I realized how important it is to find the right thumbnail and title. Also, it has to be a topic you are really passionate about.
It took me three months to reach a thousand subscribers, even though I uploaded a video every week, spending 15-20 hours on each video.
How can one find a YouTube niche that can grow quickly? Are there any tools or research tactics you would recommend when looking into this area?
For the niche, I would say don't target your content at what has a chance to grow quickly. Target it at what you're passionate about. I think a good yardstick to understand how big the potential market is is to look at how big the biggest people in that niche are… that will give you a rough idea of how big the niche is.
And then when you're thinking specifically about how you can make money from YouTube, how you can use it to either supplement your current income or replace it at some point, I would also think about how profitable that niche could be, not just in terms of YouTube ad revenue, which is one way to make money, but also in terms of other ways. Could you become an affiliate marketer?
If you run a gardening channel, you could promote gardening supplies and maybe earn a commission on it. That's affiliate marketing. So, thinking two steps ahead: What potential do I have to not only grow this channel and gain subscribers, but also make money?
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The YouTube search bar is your best tool. There are paid tools that YouTubers use. The three paid tools that come to mind are TubeBuddy, VidIQ, and then ViewStats.com.
What preparations did you make before posting your first video?
I analyzed what other videos did. One of the exercises I would recommend to anyone is to find the people who are talking about the same topic that you want to talk to.
List them, then go to their YouTube videos and sort by popular videos. This will give you an idea of what viral topics are featured in your videos.
Where you are now, how do you ensure that your channel continues to grow?
I think as you continue to publish content, the number will naturally increase. It may not always grow at the same pace. For example, if you want to get the most views in the personal finance space, you need to talk about things that are trending right now and stay on top of the trending topics.
But I've taken my channel in a different direction and instead create content that I enjoy talking about.
Related topics: Harnessing the power of YouTube SEO – How to rank your videos higher and gain more subscribers
How do you balance YouTube and other ventures like your legal tech startup Plug and Law?
Once you start making money on YouTube, you can figure out what you're best suited to do and then what you can outsource.
When I started YouTube, I was working full time as a lawyer and also using YouTube as a side hobby for 20 hours a week.
Photo credit: Erika Kullberg
I edited the first video myself and it took me 20 hours to learn how to edit. And then another 10 hours to edit this video. So I hired an editor.
When I started making some money from YouTube, I was able to outsource different areas. For example, I was able to hire a person to design thumbnails. I learned how to set tasks and delegate. I have a lot of people on my team now who help me, but it didn't start that way.
You used to work in commercial law. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about changing careers?
Make sure you have enough money for this. If you are thinking about leaving or changing your job or quitting to become an entrepreneur, start saving.
If you can pursue your side hobby on the weekends, once that side hobby starts generating regular income, hopefully it can become your main job and you can quit your job.
Do you sometimes regret leaving corporate life behind?
I have never regretted leaving the corporate world behind.
I became a lawyer because I wanted to help people and make a difference. But being a corporate lawyer didn't fulfill those desires and I didn't like having a boss dictating and controlling my time. I feel very, very lucky and have no regrets about taking the step here. Leave the corporate life and the big paycheck behind.
Photo credit: Erika Kullberg
Do you have any other advice for entrepreneurs who want to start and grow a YouTube channel?
I would say be clear about your mission, understand the path to monetization, and understand that results are not going to come quickly. It will probably take you twice as long to reach the number of subscribers you want, so be patient and understand that it's a lot of work.
To give context, I forget the exact numbers, but it took me three months to get to a thousand subscribers, another three months to get to 2,000, and then within a month, between month five and six, my subscribers went from 2,000 to about 52,000 and I made $20,000 from YouTube that month.
This was a combination of YouTube, advertising revenue, affiliates and sponsorships. So you are just one video away from changing the course of your future. Be patient and don't give up.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
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