As an SEO writer trying to make a decent living online, one of the most common questions is: how many subscribers or followers do you need before you can start earning real money?
The answer isn’t straightforward because income potential depends on several factors, including your niche, monetization strategy, and the engagement level of your audience. However, in this article, we’ll explore realistic subscriber goals and how many you might need to make a decent full-time living from your channel or blog.
What Counts as a “Decent Living” from a Blog or Channel?
First, let’s define a “decent living.” This will vary based on where you live and your lifestyle expectations. However, for most full-time solo content creators in the U.S., a decent baseline income goal is around $50,000 – $60,000 per year before taxes.
This equates to around $4,000 – $5,000 per month in revenue. While it’s possible to earn less or more with an online business, this income level provides a comfortable living in most areas without needing a spouse’s income or supplementary side hustles.
Average Income Per Subscriber
Next, we need to estimate the average income per subscriber you can realistically expect. This varies greatly depending on your monetization model.
On YouTube, for example, channels typically earn $3 – $5 per 1,000 video views, which works out to around $0.003 – $0.005 per subscriber if each sub watches an average of 1,000 views per month.
On a blog using display ads, income per visitor often falls within $0.10 – $0.30 range. With email subscribers, you may be able to get this up to $0.50 or more by selling products and high-converting offers.
Let’s use $0.25 per subscriber per month for easy math. This is a mid-range benchmark for an engaged email list or blog audience open to purchasing products.
How Many Subscribers Do You Need?
Based on $0.25 per sub per month and a $5,000 income goal, you would need 20,000 engaged email subscribers or regular blog readers.
20,000 x $0.25 = $5,000
For a YouTube channel, using a $3 RPM estimate, you may need over 1.6 million monthly views, which likely correlates to around 150,000 – 200,000 subscribers, depending on your niche and upload frequency.
In reality, income per subscriber or view can vary significantly in either direction. But this provides a starting benchmark.
Factors That Increase Income Per Subscriber
You can make far more than $0.25 per email subscriber, especially if you have an audience highly engaged with your brand. Here are some of the biggest factors that increase income potential:
- Niche – Some niches like finance have higher earning potential.
- Target audience – For example, targeting business owners vs. general consumers.
- Offer high-value products or services.
- Use paid channels to attract subscribers open to spending.
- Build loyalty and trust to increase purchases.
- Segment and target promotional emails.
By optimizing these areas, six and seven-figure bloggers typically earn an average of $1 – $5+ per email subscriber.
Factors That Decrease Income Per Subscriber
On the other hand, you may earn less than $0.25 per subscriber if:
- Your niche has low product/service potential.
- Most of your audience comes from free traffic sources.
- You don’t build relationships or promote offers.
- Your open and click rates are low.
For example, channels providing entertainment, music, or general interest content typically have lower earning potential per subscriber compared to specialized, business-related topics.
Subscriber Goals for Different Income Levels
Now let’s look at potential subscriber goals based on different monthly income targets, assuming $0.25 per subscriber as our benchmark:
| Monthly Income Goal | Minimum Subscribers Needed |
|---|---|
| $1,000 | 4,000 |
| $2,000 | 8,000 |
| $3,000 | 12,000 |
| $4,000 | 16,000 |
| $5,000 | 20,000 |
| $10,000 | 40,000 |
| $20,000 | 80,000 |
| $50,000 | 200,000 |
Again, these numbers assume you monetize your audience effectively. But it provides starting points to set subscriber milestones.
Typical Subscriber Counts for Full-Time Creators
Next, let’s look at typical subscriber counts for full-time bloggers, YouTubers, and other content creators to set realistic goals.
While it’s possible to make a full-time living with fewer subscribers, most solo creators don’t go full-time until they reach subscriber counts in the 20,000 – 100,000 range.
Some key numbers based on my research:
- 20,000 subscribers – Minimum for full-time for most individuals if monetized well. Allows testing part-time.
- 50,000 subscribers – Comfortable full-time income for individuals with solid monetization.
- 100,000 subscribers -HIGH SIX FIGURE good income potential with multiple income streams.
- 250,000+ subscribers – Seven-figure income potential.
There are certainly exceptions on both ends. But for most independent creators, these subscriber ranges match up with when they can support themselves full-time from their business.
When Creators Typically Go Full-Time
Additionally, research shows most independent bloggers and YouTubers don’t quit their day jobs until:
- Their blog or channel is earning at least 60%-80% of their full-time income goal.
- They have at least 6 months of living expenses set aside in savings.
- They’ve been consistently blogging/vlogging for 1-3 years part-time first.
Jumping into full-time blogging or vlogging too early is risky. Build your income and savings first while testing your business model and audience growth part-time.
How Long Does It Take to Get 20,000 Subscribers?
So how long does it take most bloggers or YouTubers to get the 20,000 subscriber minimum for full-time income potential?
While growth rates vary, it typically takes 1-3 years of consistent posting to reach 20,000 email subscribers or YouTube followers organically.
Some key benchmarks:
- Year 1 – 1,000 to 5,000 subscribers for most.
- Year 2 – 5,000 to 20,000 subscribers as you find your niche.
- Year 3 – 20,000+ subscribers and potential for full-time with solid monetization.
So if you’re starting from zero, set small goals and focus on quality and consistency above all else the first year. Building a loyal, engaged audience for the long-term is crucial.
Factors That Increase Growth Speed
You may be able to get to 20,000 subscribers faster by:
- Consistently publishing high-quality, useful content.
- Posting at least 2-3X per week.
- Using SEO and keyword research to attract search traffic.
- Engaging and networking with others in your niche.
- Experimenting with paid promotions to figure out what works.
- Reinvesting early income into growing your audience.
Treat your blog or channel like a business from day one. Make continual testing and optimization part of your routine to accelerate growth.
Factors That Slow Growth Speed
On the other hand, it may take longer to reach 20,000 subscribers if you:
- Post infrequently or inconsistently.
- Have no niche focus or unique value proposition.
- Create poor-quality content.
- Don’t engage with your audience or promote your content.
- Switch niches frequently trying to follow trends.
Try to remain patient, especially that first year when growth is typically slow as you learn your audience and niche. Consistency compounds over time.
Set Realistic First Year Subscriber Goals
For most creators just getting started, overly optimistic subscriber goals often lead to disappointment that first year. Instead, set smaller achievable goals and build momentum.
Here are examples of realistic subscriber goals for year one:
- Email list – 500-1,000 subscribers. Focus on 25-50 in the first few months.
- YouTube – 100-500 regular viewers. Aim for 10-25 recurring viewers at first.
- Blog – 1,000-5,000 monthly unique visitors. Build to 100+ in the first couple months.
What matters most that first year is learning about your audience, testing content formats and schedules, and improving your production skills – not raw subscriber numbers.
Tips for Your First Year as a Content Creator
Here are a few more tips to set yourself up for long-term success your first year:
- Find a niche you’re passionate about, not just what’s popular.
- Post consistently – start with a regular schedule of 1-2X per week.
- Spend time networking and engaging with others in your niche.
- Reinvest early income into improving your content and platform.
- Focus on production quality and useful content above view counts.
Building real connections and loyalty with a core audience early on pays dividends long-term. Subscriber counts will come in time.
Key Takeaways
If your goal is to earn a decent full-time living from a blog, YouTube channel, or similar platform, here are a few key takeaways:
- Aim for around $4,000 – $5,000 per month in revenue as a baseline decent living for most individuals.
- $0.25 per subscriber per month is a mid-range earnings benchmark to use for projections.
- At that rate, you need around 20,000 engaged subscribers for $5,000 per month income potential.
- Give yourself 1-3 years to get to 20,000+ subscribers while working part-time.
- Set smaller, achievable goals your first year as you learn and find your audience.
- Focus on high-quality content and connections over subscriber counts alone.
While achieving a decent living from your creative passion is possible, it takes patience and persistence. But by providing real value to others, you can build an audience and income that allows you to do work you love.
