Hey all! I thought I’d do a video documenting how well my woodworking business is going, in particular now that I have over 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Let me talk about my goals. I’m really focusing on creating new things and making YouTube videos, but I also want to make my projects accessible to other people. So, I take the time to create directions and digital files for most the things I design and create. Most of the stuff I post for free, but a few of the items I do sell. Those are the ones that I have spend more time on creating the digital product, which usually involves writing a set of directions with detailed photos and notes.

My primary goal isn’t to churn out the same woodworking product again and again. I do like making a few items of each thing I create: I prefer to sell one thing as a way to fund the project, make one for myself, and give one away to a family member or friend. It’s also difficult to sell my unique creations: I really need to charge around $300 for a typical CNC’ed bowl, and even at that price it probably isn’t quite worthwhile for the amount of hours I have into them. And my wood spatulas/utensils need to be about $30/each (or more). I think these prices are a little too high for the typical consumer shopping on the internet — particularly on Etsy, where people are most likely to find my products. I might do well at local craft fairs, and at some point I may give them a try. But for now, selling only on the internet and via friends, it isn’t worth the time to create a lot of things. I may change that if I ever get something that everyone seems to want.

Now, I’m not focused on woodworking income: to do that I’d have to pursue clients and create the things they want, which isn’t something I’m very interested in doing. I like sharing things on the internet, and I enjoy making YouTube videos, which in itself makes everything I do take twice as long as it should, simply because I’m filming things.

So, check out the video where I talk about my income and expenses for 2024. My income comes from four main sources: YouTube/Google (which includes the ads on this website), CorbinsWorkshop.com, Etsy, Amazon Affiliate links (via YouTube descriptions and my blog).

I never try to *push* stuff on people. I don’t want to do paid product reviews or placements in my videos. Heck, I don’t even want people to give me products for free just so I’ll use them in the videos. I only want to use stuff that I’d actually go out and buy. Now, there are probably a few exceptions: if some big CNC or tool company gave me a tool that I really wanted, then I’d probably take it if there were no strings attached.

I also want information to be free! Free, as in you can watch and learn from me doing stuff on YouTube and via my blog. I don’t like things being behind paywalls. I don’t ever want to be on Patreon. I don’t want to do YouTube subscriptions. Now, this is assuming everything goes smoothly in life, and I should never say never, because I can’t anticipate what might happen in my life in the future where I might need that additional income for some reason.

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