From YouTube Side Hustle Business to 6 Figures: 6 Things I Stopped Doing

Building a successful online business is as much about what you don’t do as what you do. As a YouTuber who has grown my channel and business to generate six-figures in revenue, I’ve learned some important lessons along the way. In this post, I’ll share the 6 things I stopped doing that helped me go from having a YouTube side hustle to a thriving business. Plus, I’ll reveal the one thing I started early on that paved the way for success.

1. Treating Your Business Like a Side Hustle

The first thing I stopped doing was treating my YouTube channel like just a side hustle. I started thinking more like a real business – learning from successful companies outside of YouTube and online business about how they operate and grow. As the saying goes, “Build the business you want to have, not the business you currently have.” Shifting from a side hustle mindset to a full business mindset was key.

2. Constantly Creating New Offerings

In the early days, I wasted a lot of time and momentum by thinking every course or product I created was a failure and completely starting over from scratch. What I realized is that most of the time, they weren’t really failures, I just needed to make some tweaks and iterations rather than reinventing the wheel. Evolution is good, but constantly scrapping things is exhausting and ineffective.

3. Focusing on Multiple Revenue Streams

Another change I made was to stop splitting my focus between multiple revenue streams like affiliate marketing, ad revenue, courses, etc. Instead, I chose to focus primarily on the business revenue streams I have the most control over and find most fulfilling – my own courses, programs and digital products. This doesn’t mean abandoning other income sources entirely, but consciously choosing where to direct the majority of time and energy. When I made this shift, my revenue soared.

4. Waiting for Magical Milestones

I used to think I needed to hit subscriber milestones like 100K to be successful. But the reality is, there is zero correlation between subscriber count and revenue. You can have a small audience and still generate significant income if you serve them well. Letting go of the notion that I needed a certain vanity metric freed me up to focus on the content and offerings that actually grow the business.

5. Blindly Emulating Other Businesses

It’s great to have role models and pay attention to what successful people in your space are doing. But at a certain point, I realized I needed to stop blindly following what I saw others doing and get crystal clear on the unique business and life I wanted to build. Just because an influencer is running an online summit doesn’t mean I need to. I stayed focused on my vision and building the business model that excited me most.

6. Frankensteining From Free Business Advice

Lastly, I stopped trying to piece together my business strategy from random free content I found online. Free content is great for ideas and inspiration, but I realized I needed to invest in learning proven systems and strategies from experts if I wanted to get to the next level. I invested in learning about sales, marketing and online business, which gave me a cohesive roadmap instead of a Frankenstein monster.

The One Thing I Started Doing

Now, the one thing I’m glad I started doing early on and recommend to everyone: Building an email list! Having a direct line of communication with your audience outside of social media algorithms is a game-changer. Email allows you to build real relationships, have a predictable way to share new content and offers, and control your own access to your community. If I lost my email list, my revenue would probably drop by 80%. Start building your list now, even if your audience is small.

Conclusion

Reaching six-figures in my online business didn’t happen by accident. It happened because of strategic decisions about what to focus on (and what not to). I hope this behind-the-scenes peek at the 6 things I stopped doing and the one thing I started gives you some valuable food for thought as you build your own business. Remember, success leaves clues, but it’s up to you to apply them to your unique situation. Here’s to your inevitable success – just keep showing up and serving your audience!