I was always irritated by channels cluttered with ads, so I was sure I'd never monetize mine. But a year later, I realized it was hard to sustain a project on pure enthusiasm; even subscribers started saying they wouldn't mind a "couple of affiliate programs." So I decided to figure out how to do it carefully. I came across this content , and a lot of things fell into place. You can really see the approach there: value first, advertising second—and only that kind of monetization really works.