Jason Lee’s YouTube Creator Academy Review: What is the YouTube Business Model for Small Creators?

YouTube Creator Academy by Jason Lee is a video content creation course for people looking to earn money on YouTube in the shortest time possible using his strategies. YouTube is a very competitive platform for earning money, especially now that there are 37 million channels and 2 billion active users (and counting as of this writing). Jason Lee breaks down all you need to create a channel that people will immediately subscribe to and watch your videos from start to finish, earning you the highest profits possible from a few videos. With Jason Lee's modules, you don't need to do high-level retention editing or script writing skills, just great value for the viewers.

The course testimonials say Jason Lee has helped them increase their presence on YouTube and turn their channels into sources of income. Based on statistics regarding monetization on YouTube, an average small-time channel can make as low as $2 up to $77 per month within its first year, unless every video turns viral (which is hard to do, especially with how the YouTube algorithm works). However, Jason Lee claims that he made $15,000 in his new channel within 4 months using simple but effective techniques. With his course, you can replicate his success.

In this article, we will review everything in the YouTube Creator Academy course and see if crafting videos using his method works. We looked through each strategy: Welcome Module, The Money Machine, Finding Your Niche, Captivating Titles and Thumbnails, Keyword Research and Scripting, Niche Research, and Taking Action, Outsourcing, Studio Setup.

YouTube Creator Academy: Pros and Cons

What is the YouTube Business Model for Small Creators?

The YouTube business model for small creators is content creation that focuses on building a dedicated audience and monetizing content effectively, even with a few YouTube subscribers of at least 500. Jason Lee’s YouTube Creator Academy modules teaches you how to turn your ideas into reality, where you get the advantage of learning from a professional who has been creating videos and multiple channels for over five years, making YouTube his main source of income. 

Unlike large-scale creators or influencers who might rely on massive subscriber bases and widespread brand deals, Jason Lee teaches how small creators often find success through niche content creation, connecting more personally with their audience. He also provides various ways to create videos such as YouTube automated content, faceless informational facts, and simple talking head vlogs.

What is YouTube Creator Academy?

YouTube Creator Academy is a detailed 6-module course on how to build a YouTube channel, create high-quality faceless videos, and start monetizing it in a few weeks or months. It will teach you all you need to know to pick the right niche, the type of videos you should create, and ways to engage your viewers from beginning to end.

With an audience finding interest in you as a content creator, they turn into your subscribers, who also become your potential returning customers. Most of all, the course has updated business trends such as generative AI to make videos. 

Getting monetized on YouTube in the shortest time possible and making the algorithm favor your channel are the learning outcomes of YouTube Creator Academy.

What's Included in YouTube Creator Academy?

YouTube Creator Academy includes six modules: Welcome Module, The Money Machine, Finding Your Niche, Captivating Titles and Thumbnails, Keyword Research and Scripting, Niche Reseach, and Taking Action, Outsourcing, Studio Setup. 

The course will take you through each step in the simplest ways possible to help you understand the ways of the YouTube algorithm and how you can put it in your favor. This will result in your channel blowing up as a high-authority and valuable source of content.

Who is YouTube Creator Academy For?

YouTube Creator Academy is for people with jobs looking to make money through YouTube as a side hustle in the shortest time possible. Since YouTube Creator Academy covers the essentials, it makes a great study reference for creating effective video content. 

Students who paid for his course have said the course has been a big help for them to start their YouTube dreams, making money from something they love on videos.

YouTube Creator Academy does not give certificates, but students have vouched the legitimacy of the course. According to the testimonials, his methods have helped them understand their mistakes as YouTubers and how they can improve their content to gain subscribers and views at a faster rate.

Who is YouTube Creator Academy Not For?

YouTube Creator Academy is not for people who are not dedicated to making YouTube a source of income. It is also not recommended for people who don’t like multimedia, such as video and photo editing, which can take hours to finish.

Content creation is a hard task to do especially if you do not have an editing and videography team. If videos are not your type of way of making money, perhaps affiliate marketing, SEO, copywriting, or graphic design may be more suitable.

Who is Jason Lee?

What is Jason Lee's Private Mentorship Program?

Jason Lee’s Private Mentorship Program is his coaching sessions through exclusive private chats and Zoom calls for students who buy his $899 program that lasts for 30 days. He also provides detailed video audits and customized goal planning depending on your niche and He only offers this program to a few students so he can provide the best coaching quality.

Jason Lee's Claim: Can You Really Make $10,000 with Only 3,000 YouTube Subscribers?

Jason Lee claims that you can make $10,000 with 3,000 YouTube subscribers and 512,000 total views in a few months after creating a YouTube channel. He claims to have made a successful YouTube channel from scratch by targeting the right audience with the most ideal video content. Being a YouTube influencer is hard, but with his help, you can replicate his success even if you do multiple channels.

He also believes that AI video content is the way to go because content creation has become more accessible for everyone. However, YouTube constantly changes its algorithm, favoring organic videos over AI-generated ones.

Jason Lee's Claim Debunked

While earning $10,000 with less than 3,000 subscribers can be possible, more than 90% of channels give up before they start growing in less than a year. Earning from a monetized channel also depends on multiple factors: click rates, video retention, and audience engagement. If you can achieve all those, you can generate a lot of money even from one video. 

However, the average YouTube channel with 500 subscribers and 3,000 total watch hours only makes $0.2 to $1 per 1,000 views in one video. The rate depends on how long the viewer watches your video and the engagement of your audience (comments, clicking the thumb-up button, and sharing to other platforms). 

Looking through SocialBlade, a free statistics website that analyzes YouTube and Twitch channels, Jason Lee’s channel only makes $40 to $646 since he opened his channel in 2022.

I think his claim of $10,000 and 3K subscribers was rather based on the total number of earnings from his current channel and other faceless channels that he did not specify. Even so, the profits that he claims are possible to achieve are difficult to do unless every video you make is viral, like MrBeast or PewDiePie’s channels.

How Do You Become a Good YouTube Content Creator?

You can become a good YouTube content creator by doing content strategies, uploading videos consistently, providing unique information or entertainment, understanding YouTube analytics, creating attractive video thumbnails, sharing your content with other social media platforms, and focusing on the right target audience.

According to VidIQ, you do not need to have the same high-skill editing level of MrBeast videos but provide information and content that people are looking for. You can earn from a monetized video just from talking in front of a camera instead of wacky videos (also known as retention editing) that constantly keep your eyes focused on the screen.

For example, bodybuilding YouTuber Sam Sulek has over 3 million subscribers in just over a year since he started his channel in 2023. He does not have intense retention edits, but he just records himself working out and talking in front of the camera about his workout routines. It may seem generic, but because of his unique physique and information that he shares to his viewers, the YouTube algorithm considers his channel valuable for the fitness niche.

Another example is HealthyGamerGG by Alok “Dr. K” Kanojia, an educational channel that teaches the importance of mental health and balance between life and gaming. Because his channel is unique, which not a lot of other channels can provide, he earned 2.24 million subscribers since 2019, making him an authority in a micro-specific niche.

How Long Does It Take to Start Making Money on YouTube?

It takes one to three months to start making money on YouTube, although that depends on your upload schedule and consistent video quality. There are rare occurrences where channels with only a few videos get thousands of subscribers, consistent views, and high engagement in only weeks or a month.

For example, James Jani made only one video called “The Untold Truth About Money: How to Build Wealth From Nothing.” The YouTube algorithm put his video on the front page of the website and went viral, catching over 5 million views and over 100,000 subscribers within 3 weeks. This was all thanks to his interesting topic, engagement that emotionally touched the viewers, and constant shares from different social media platforms.

According to his interview with VidIQ, he made more than $15,000 from that viral video. He leveraged his success by creating more interesting videos which also gave him millions of views. Today, he has more than 1.91 million subscribers. 

While you can achieve the same success story, there are plenty of factors to consider, including the YouTube algorithm not favoring your content, high competition in specific niches, and similar video topics that cover the same content as yours, but better. Even if you make a high-quality video, that does not equate to plenty of views and high engagement. It all depends on the algorithm and how your video favors the needs of the audience within that specific niche.

Is YouTube Content Creation a Good Way to Make Money Online in 2024?

YouTube content creation can be a good way to make money online, especially if you are into multimedia and online content. However, it can get tiresome, especially if you need to do the scripts, edits, and recordings on your own.

Since more people have discovered how accessible video content creation is, the competition has tripled since 2020. With the release of the YouTube Studio and YouTube Partner Program, plenty of users want a slice of the monetization pie and hope that they can turn their life around by making viral videos and earning plenty of money from it. 

Although YouTube is an unstable source of income unless you have a constant engagement with the right audience, and the algorithm’s favor of your niche videos. 

The early adopters of YouTube from 2005 to 2014 have turned their channels into sprawling businesses, but the newest channels since 2020 have been struggling to keep their relevance and profits because of the competition. 

Is YouTube Content Creation the Best Way to Make Money Online?

While YouTube content creation is popular, local lead generation offers a more profitable business model. YouTube creators face challenges like needing constant content production and stiff competition, which has tripled since 2020. These obstacles make it tough for new creators to earn a stable income.

In contrast, local lead generation doesn’t have these challenges. This model focuses on generating customer leads for local businesses, which is less competitive and more targeted. Businesses using local lead generation often see higher conversion rates because the leads are more likely to buy, making it a more effective and profitable approach.

Local lead generation works by connecting with potential customers who are already interested in specific local services, which means less competition and no need for daily content updates. It’s easier to start, scales well, and is more profitable, making it an excellent alternative for those looking to make money online.