I'm a bad YouTuber. What I got paid in 2025.

I did something a little bold this week.

I opened up my YouTube analytics and showed the internet exactly what a “bad YouTuber” earns from the platform.

And when I say bad, I mean it:

• I didn’t publish a single new video in 2025 (with caveats*).
• I barely touched social media outside of LinkedIn for work.
• I didn’t push any traffic to my channel.

So what happened to my little 3,000-subscriber channel when I essentially abandoned it for nearly two years?

I went through my analytics month by month, filled out a spreadsheet live on camera, and learned some fascinating things about what content actually creates passive income.

A few fun facts I discovered:

The gray hair ROI is wild. My gray hair videos—posted between 2019 and 2024—have brought in 1,540 subscribers, 200k+ views, and earned $574 since publication. They bring in views and traffic but they don’t earn much…which leads me to…

Business, Career, & Productivity content crushes Lifestyle content (at least for me). When I compared my “business” videos about careers, side hustles, goal setting and productivity with my “lifestyle” videos about going gray or travel, the difference was striking. The lifestyle content gets significantly more views, BUT they earn significantly less. It all comes down to RPM (revenue per thousand views). The lifestyle videos earn an average RPM of $2.25 while the business videos earn an average RPM of $12.92.

Example:

My “Should you switch to Kajabi” video has only 1,850 views but has earned $467.99 while my “What I Wish I Knew About Going Gray” video has nearly 63k views and earned $411.53.

They basically earned the same, but the lifestyle video has 34x the views. They have to get a lot more engagement to earn what my business videos get.

Creating a product changed the game. My 12 Week Year videos have earned me $110.84 from ad revenue. BUT those same videos helped me sell my 12 Week Year template for $1,871. The video was the marketing; the template was the real revenue stream.

What you’ll learn when you watch the video:

• My total 2025 revenue from YouTube (spoiler: it’s enough for a nice dinner, not a mortgage payment)
• Which videos kept earning money on autopilot month after month
• What my RPM (revenue per thousand views) actually looks like as it fluctuates throughout the year
• Whether YouTube actually paid me out (there’s a $100 threshold you need to hit)
• What happened to my subscriber count when I stopped feeding the algorithm
• The one video I posted in August that performed well… then I took it down out of imposter syndrome

 Watch: What YouTube Paid Me in 2025 as a Bad YouTuber →

The bigger lesson? Those evergreen videos I created years ago when I was actually showing up? They’re still working for me. Still bringing in views. Still adding subscribers. Still generating revenue.

Even when I’m doing absolutely nothing.

That’s the power of creating content that serves a specific audience with a specific problem—and letting the platform do its thing.

Now imagine what could happen if I actually posted consistently again. (Don’t worry, I’m working on it.)

See you next Friday,

Brooke

P.S. Let me know if you like behind-the-scenes content like this. I love being nosy about other people’s numbers, so I’m betting at least a few of you do too.

*I posted 4 videos in August, October, and November 2025, HOWEVER I ended up taking them down due to some paralyzing imposter syndrome (my forever-battle). They are back up now if you want to go give them a watch:

• Why everyone needs a side hustle
• Why I left the US
• My super-simple new wireless mic setup

Tools I recommend:

• Kajabi — The all-in-one platform to build a profitable personal brand. Get a 30-day free trial with my unique link (affiliate link).
• Tella — I recorded and edited this YouTube video in under an hour using a tool I’m obsessed with. Use my link to get 20% off for 3 months (affiliate link).