The Benefits of Becoming a 30 Day Challenge YouTuber
30 days is just enough time to offer a credible review of a lifestyle, service, or product while maintaining your sanity. As a YouTuber, I’ve had my 30-day challenge phase and highly recommend it.
This video will explain how you can upgrade your lifestyle, make real money, and manage time easier with 30-day challenges. Keep reading because I offer 25 challenge ideas to inspire your first video!
Hopefully, these search results [above] prove to you that everyone loves a good 30-day challenge video no matter the month.
Enrich Your Life Beyond the Paycheck
The top reason somebody decides to post on YouTube is money. You can call your channel a “passion project” all you want, but there’s always a part of you that wants to monetize your hobby and buy food. (No shade — I’m a big fan of food too. Good stuff…)
But, there’s a secondary benefit to taking on challenge videos: You try new things. You may discover your favorite Italian recipe, the best camping equipment, and your next workout routine. It doesn’t matter if you’re a chef, an outdoorsy person, or a fitness guru beforehand. In fact, viewers prefer you to be inexperienced at your challenge.
Most likely, those viewers are also inexperienced but nonetheless interested. They want to know if somebody like them can actually do whatever you're trying out; so, be sure to share the time commitment, physical and mental struggles, and breakthrough moments in your video. If you remain authentic, your audience can relate to you.
Yes, you might fail some of your challenges, and other times the challenge will fail you. I recently tried an expensive beauty device for 30 days that brought zero results. It’s disappointing for me and the viewers, but I’ve never read a comment that they regret watching my video.
Challenge videos are a great way to also hold yourself accountable to a healthier lifestyle. I don’t enjoy working out, so I purposely (and begrudgingly) picked workout challenges to keep me active every day. Yes, the workouts got old, but it was better than being a couch potato!
Snowball Your Money
It’s okay if product reviews are not really your thing, because they aren’t my thing either. But here I am, several product-review videos deep, and telling you that you are seriously missing out.
All of my product reviews have higher CPM than my funny storytimes. As a small YouTuber, I can choose to make $10 or $300 in one month. Which one do you want? Well, let me rephrase: Which one do you need? (If money is no object, keep up the creative freedom.) But if I spend 4–8 hours per video, I like to be paid my worth.
Before you hit ‘publish,’ you need to appropriately pack your description box with affiliate links. (My only experience is with Amazon Associates. It’s good but not amazing. Do some research before you apply.) If somebody chooses to shop your links, you will earn a commission. (And of course, always disclose to your audience which links earn you money. That’s the law. Review FTC guidelines if needed.)
Side note — even if your product is a flop, still add your affiliate link. I once had a product fail to give any results on camera, and people still purchased it. I’m baffled by this because my review video was not sponsored, very honest, and super thorough. I guess you can’t waste your time trying to understand people sometimes.
The more you upload reviews, the more companies will email you for partnership. Most of the time, they want to gift you free product in exchange for an honest video review. If you are just getting started, most of these inquiries will come from shaky, poorly-rated companies; but, every once in a while you get a winner. My cats love their new heated cat house! (Yes, I‘ll include a picture for the cute factor!)
And the more honest reviews you put out, the more your audience will trust you. Maybe one day you will partner with a brand or make your own merch. If you tell your audience that what you are promoting is good, they will believe that you know what’s good quality and gladly buy it.
Please talk to your tax person about this first, but whatever products you review for a video can be marked as a business expense. Every year the tax write-off regulations change, so talk to a professional and keep your receipts.
There is always the chance that a company will want to buy your video. I uploaded an app review and was able to sell the usage rights one year later to a marketing agency. Contracts do vary, so always read before you sign and negotiate. But do note, this doesn’t happen often.
Realistic Filming Schedule
What is the point of committing yourself for 30 days straight if you are miserable the entire time? With any job, I believe the day-to-day is the most important.
I created a strategic filming schedule that allowed me to upload twice per week while remaining one week ahead.
Pick challenges that integrate well with your daily routine, like a skincare product or workout. I never choose anything that would take longer than 20 minutes a day to complete.
Decide what parts of your challenge you will film. From a creative standpoint, you may want to film every day to turn the clips into a quick 20-second montage. It’s a nice touch but not necessary for a successful video. Most times, I can keep viewers satisfied by filming Day #1, #15, and #30. The rest can be done off-camera.
Stack your filming days. This is the biggest key to success in my opinion.
For example, I’d film Day #1 Workout Challenge, then the next day I’d film Day #1 Water Intake Challenge, and then the day after that I’d film Day #1 Dress-like-a-cat Challenge. Within 3 days, you will have started 3 challenges that can easily overlap. Then you have some off-camera days to think about thumbnails and edit your Day #1 footage.
You can definitely try to film all three Day #1 challenges in one day, but I usually get overbaked under a ring light and get too flustered to film. If you are true to your challenges, then you will have an uber-busy Day #15 and #30 as well. That doesn’t sound fun to me.
25 Challenge Ideas
- 100 squats, crunches, etc.
- Workout routine
- Track water intake
- Practice dance choreography
- Meal plan for every meal
- Track bloating
- Post TikTok, stream gameplay, tweet, etc. to become famous
- Complete a full video game story
- Schedule a date once a day to find love
- Meet someone new or call family member
- Practice drawing, painting, or graphic design
- Write (and maybe complete?) a book
- Journal to achieve self-growth
- Read as many books or chapters as possible
- Meditate, stretch, or walk
- Cut out social media or screen time
- Wake up early to become a ‘morning person’
- Train your dog/cat for X minutes per day
- Dress up, wear costumes, full-on cosplay
- New makeup routine every morning
- Follow your horoscope
- Flip a coin to decide your activities
- Act like a movie character
- Eat at restaurants for every meal to measure grand total cost
- Travel somewhere new
Want more inspiration, click here to view more YouTube search results.
Pick something you love and then take a risk with something entirely new. You should enjoy what you make. I hope you consider the 30-day challenge. Please write to me for assistance.
