For many, it’s a dream to make money with YouTube. After all, YouTubers seem to have a great life and the adoration of their fans. And since creating a YouTube channel is easier than ever, it can not hurt to think big and strive high.
But while creating a YouTube channel is easy, it’s not that easy to turn it into an ATM. You can earn your first hundred dollars by selling something or concluding a sponsorship deal, but to maximize revenue, you need to know all of your options before you dive in.
We’ve created this article to guide you through all the information you need to know if you want to know how to make money with YouTube. In this article, you will learn about the different ways to make money with YouTube and be able to build your own business with one of the largest internet platforms in the world.
Table of Contents
Can I Make Money With YouTube?
The short answer is yes. Thousands do it. And not all have millions of subscribers. Contrary to popular belief, YouTube is not just a numbers game – your earning potential also depends on the niche you serve, the level of engagement you generate, and the revenue streams you generate. That’s not to say that subscribers and calls are irrelevant – check out our simple tips for getting more calls to YouTube.
Are you getting paid to upload videos to YouTube?
YouTube does not charge any YouTuber for uploading videos to YouTube. In addition, the videos are not monetized by default. To make money on YouTube, you need to enable monetization in your account settings. YouTube offers you the opportunity to join its affiliate program or to present your videos on YouTube Premium (more on that later).
How To Make Money On YouTube?
If you’ve been looking for new ways to generate income, you might be wondering how to make money on YouTube. Well, there is a multitude of different ways you can make money on the platform, most of which are aimed at creating compelling video content. Here’s a look at some of the most popular YouTube income streams available:
Participate in the YouTube affiliate program
If you’ve wondered how to make money on YouTube, it is important that you understand the YouTube Affiliate Program and how it works. YouTube content creators will not be able to monetize their videos until they are accepted into the YouTube affiliate program.
When your YouTube channel has 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public views, it will be checked for participation in the affiliate program. This means that you will not be able to start generating any income until you have hit these numbers. So, it’s important to keep creating content and expanding your channel’s reach. You can apply for monetization once you meet the program’s criteria.
To enable monetization on YouTube:
1. Sign in to the YouTube account that you want to monetize.
2. Click your account icon in the upper right corner, then click YouTube Studio.
3. From the menu on the left, select Other Features> Monetization.
4. Review the Partner program terms and conditions and click Agree.
5. Connect an existing AdSense account or create a new one for your channel.
6. Define your monetization settings.
After following these steps, return to the dashboard and open the Analytics tab on the left. On the next screen, select Revenue
at the top, then scroll down until you see the Estimated Monthly Revenue
chart. The chart gives you an idea of your forecast monthly sales.
How many views do I need to make money on YouTube?
The number of times your videos are viewed does not correlate with your YouTube earnings. If you get thousands of views but nobody clicks on your ads or consumes content, you are not making money.
YouTube has criteria for paying publishers who run ads on their channel: a viewer must click the ad or view it in full for you to make money.
Even so, there is good news for people learning how to make money on YouTube: They no longer rely solely on advertisers for income. There are now programs like YouTube Premium that can help you make money without ad clicks or consumption.
Get featured on YouTube Premium
How can you make money on YouTube other than advertise on channels? YouTube Premium is the answer.
YouTube Premium is a paid membership service that allows users to watch ad-free videos. Creators don’t have to do anything as they automatically get a second source of income when YouTube Premium members play their videos.
As with YouTube’s ad-based revenue monetization rules, the bulk of the premium membership fee income goes to YouTubers (the total revenue distribution is based on how often premium members view your content).
Premium members also have the option to download your videos, watch them offline, and play them in the background, which adds to your watch time.
Offer channel memberships
If your YouTube channel has more than 30,000 subscribers, you can add another source of income by taking advantage of channel membership. Here, fans pay $ 4.99 a month for a membership package that includes early access to videos, member-only live chat, exclusive emojis, and more. Members are highlighted in comments, live chat, and the community tab with special member-only badges.
Since audiences know that getting a YouTube creator’s attention can be a real challenge, it makes sense to offer channel memberships. And voila, you have another answer on how to make money on YouTube.
Pro Tip: Use your videos to remind subscribers that they can become exclusive members by clicking the “Join” button on your page.
Promote affiliate products in your videos
Businesses are aware of the potential that YouTube channels have with a large following, and they are always trying to capitalize on that potential to grow their own business.
Once you’ve gained a sizeable following on the platform, you will likely find companies reaching out to you asking you to promote their products for cash. Consider partnering with these brands and including product placements in your videos. You can also join popular affiliate programs
to expand your affiliate network.
It can be a great way to generate additional income, but be careful with it as viewers will know exactly when something is being advertised.
Pro tip: Only promote products that you believe will be of value to your audience and let your viewers know about the partnership – this will help you adhere to YouTube guidelines.
Monetize live streams through Super Chat
Super Chat function is a popular new way to make money on YouTube. This feature allows your viewers to buy eye-catching chat messages and, in certain cases, pin them to the top of the comments section of a live stream. So if you go live on YouTube you can use Super Chat to monetize your stream.
YouTube monetization rates for Super Chat range from $ 1 to $ 500, and the company is cutting sales by 30%. Still wondering how to make money on YouTube Super Chat, organizing and promoting live streams is important.
Promote them on videos, on other social media platforms, and anywhere your audience likes to hang out.
Become a YouTube influencer
With influencer marketing on the rise, there is a great opportunity for you as a YouTuber to take part in the promotion.
But where do you start? According to YouTube marketer and influencer Brendan Gahan, YouTubers should set a flat fee by multiplying the number of views their videos typically get by 15 cents per view.
Digital marketing agency WebFX
listed the following numbers on how much YouTube influencers can expect:
• $ 20,000 per video for a YouTuber with one million subscribers
• $ 2,000 per video for a YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers
• $ 200 per video for a YouTuber with 10,000 subscribers
The key to more revenue is partnering with brands whose products are valuable to your audience.
Here are some influencer marketplaces to be discovered by potential partners:
• Channel Pages – Partnership with brands and other YouTubers
• Grapevine Logic – Only 1,000 followers required to participate
Some influencer marketing platforms connect you to big brands that are willing to pay a lot, while others offer you free products. Agree to the options that best suit your needs.
Direct viewers to your products
It doesn’t matter if you already run an eCommerce business or just want to learn how to make money on YouTube, promoting your products on your channel is a great idea. You can promote the articles in both your videos and descriptions – this is a great way to get more traffic to your website.
If you haven’t set up your shop yet, you can easily set up your own shop using Shopify. Once you’ve set up your store, you can start selling products that make sense to advertise to your audience, whether it’s merchandise, products that you mentioned in your videos, or just items that you believe your viewers will find If you know how to make money on YouTube, this is a great opportunity.
How To Make Money From YouTube Videos
If you were wondering how to make money from the YouTube videos that you post, there are some great tips to keep in mind while creating content.
Try to make your videos 10+ minutes long
If you create videos for YouTube that are longer than 10 minutes, you have a higher chance of making more money from advertising revenue. YouTube videos that are longer than 10 minutes are likely to have a longer playback time, which is a positive contributor to the advertising revenue that these videos would generate. Also, videos with a higher average playback time appear higher up in YouTube’s search results, which means users can see your content better.
Collaborate with other YouTubers
One tactic that can help you make money from YouTube videos is to partner with fellow YouTubers. This is a great way to increase your YouTube presence, add unique content to your channel, and get your content out to a whole audience. Find out about YouTubers active in your niche and reach out to them with a great video idea – they will most likely be interested in working together.
Create engaging and informative content
This is critical to the success of your YouTube channel. YouTube users are always looking for videos that will entertain them or add value to them. If you can make video content available as such to your audience, they will likely watch the entire video and come back for more video content in the future. Pro tip: Check out the YouTube analytics to see which demographic is paying more attention to your videos. This will give you a better idea of what type of content you need to create. For example, if you find that your videos are more popular on Gen Z, you can try using some of their favorite slang words in your videos.
Make the most of your descriptions
Descriptions are another valuable answer on how to make money off YouTube videos. You will help people discover your content and decide whether to watch it or skip it. When writing descriptions for your videos, follow the age-old journalistic approach: mention the most obvious things first, then work towards the less important things. Also, try to explain what viewers gain by watching the entire video and try to mention at least some of their weak points (pain points make people click!). Finally, use language that your potential audience understands and can relate to.
Build your followers with consistent posts
If you have a YouTube channel, it is a good idea to post content regularly. If you give your viewers a continuous stream of content, they’ll stay in touch with your channel. This means that they know your online presence and its related characteristics like your e-commerce business much better.
Can I Make Money On Youtube Without Making Videos?
The only way to make money on YouTube without creating videos is to reuse other people’s content. Not many people know this, but YouTube has a library of videos that are under the “Creative Commons” license.
Some types of licenses allow you to post other people’s videos on your channel and make money out of it. For example, if you find a video that was released under the CC-BY license, you can use it and even make adjustments to it to reflect your own input.
How to get paid on YouTube?
Anyone trying to make money on YouTube may also want to learn how to get paid by YouTube. To the best of my knowledge, in order to receive payments from the company, there are a few things you need to set up.
First, sign up for a Google AdSense account with your Gmail ID and then choose your payment option: wire transfer, Western Union Quick Cash, EFT (electronic transfer), SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area), and checks.
Depending on your location, you may also need to provide your tax information when you create your AdSense account. Once AdSense is set up, you can request payment after you hit the minimum payment amount. The table below from Google showing the threshold per currency.
You won’t be able to select a payment method until your earnings reach the specified amount in your local currency because Google never issues payments below the thresholds above,
How to make money on YouTube despite competition
When researching how to make money on YouTube, keep in mind that you won’t just be competing for traffic and revenue with other entrepreneurs. There will also be full-time YouTubers competing for your audience’s attention.
This is important when creating content for your channel. You can stand out from the crowd by creating appealing video thumbnails
and titles. Remember that YouTube is a highly visual platform. If you nail these down, you can get more users to your videos.
The audio and video quality of your content can also contribute significantly to your success. You want to present your brand in a positive, professional light, so your video content needs to be of high quality.
You can also beat the competition by taking advantage of YouTube SEO. By Creating SEO content for your video descriptions, you can generate organic traffic for your YouTube channel.
Frequently asked questions
When do you start making money on YouTube?
You can monetize your YouTube account once you are accepted into the affiliate program. But before doing this, you can try to get sponsorship from brands that pay YouTubers to create good content. If you run an eCommerce store, the same day you create an account you can start making money on YouTube by promoting your items through the platform. Just make sure you get the word out ahead of time that you are showcasing your products and leaving links through your channel.
Is It Hard To Make Money On YouTube?
It is quite difficult to make money on YouTube. To participate in the YouTube Affiliate Program, you must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 viewing hours in the last 12 months. Then you need to generate lots of views and monitor your cost per view (CPV) to see how much money you are making on ads.
If you don’t have millions of views, affiliate marketing can monetize your channel. You can review products or do product tutorials and include affiliate links in your video description. This way, you can earn commissions on every sale and make more money than your promotional CPV.
I recommend you start a blog and link it to your YouTube account. This is a great way to promote affiliate links on both your YouTube channel and blog and embed your videos on your blog posts to get more views (and improve your search engine rankings).
How many subscribers does it take to make money on YouTube?
It takes 1,000 subscribers to apply for the YouTube Affiliate Program, which will monetize your channel and generate income from ads.
How many YouTube views do I need to make $ 100?
Several factors determine how much you can make on YouTube. Youtubers get paid per click on in-video and banner ads. So you could get 1,000 views or 10,000 views and make $ 100. It depends on how relevant the ads are to your target audience and whether they’ll click on them or ignore them.
How Much Money Do 1 Million YouTube Views Make?
According to income data collected by Business Insider, a Youtuber with 1 million YouTube views will make between $ 3,400 and $ 40,000.
Summary
There are several proven ways to make money on YouTube:
1. Participate in the YouTube affiliate program and earn money with ads.
2. Upload your videos to YouTube Premium.
3. Sell channel memberships to your audience.
4. Create promotional videos for brands.
5. Monetize live streams through YouTube Super Chat.
6. Make money as a YouTube influencer.
7. Sell products directly to your YouTube audience.
Do you make money on YouTube? Which monetization method works best for you? Let me know in the comments section below.
To Your Success.
