YouTube stars are self-made celebrities of today: people who have built an audience by creating video content geared towards teaching, entertaining, reviewing, and being awesome on the web.
Earn money on YouTube may not be your reason for starting a channel, but the opportunities to earn are a pleasant surprise once you realize how many there are. Fortunately, there are some creative ways to make money on YouTube.
Your audience can unlock the earning potential of your YouTube channel, as is often the case with Instagram influencers or bloggers, but it’s the creation from multiple sources of income, through side hustles or businesses, that help you make money.
How to Make Money on YouTube
1. Join the YouTube Partner Program
The first source of income you’ll probably explore is ads. Whether you want to make money on YouTube without creating videos or as a content creator, joining the YouTube Partner Program and setting up monetization is a vital step.
You must agree to follow all YouTube monetization policies and live in a country or region where the YouTube Partner Program is available. You can then apply for monetization once you’ve reached 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the last year.
Here’s how to enable monetization on YouTube:
- Sign in to the YouTube account you want to monetize.
- Click your account icon in the top right corner.
- Click YouTube Studio.
- In the menu on the left, select Other Features
Merchandise increases your exposure by showcasing your online brand and personality to the offline world and deepens the relationship between you and your fans as they literally “buy” what you’re making. Creators like Roman Atwood sell a variety of products in his store under the Smile More brand.
Selling brand name products is easier than it seems at first. You can order affordable, custom-made designs for specific products, like t-shirts, using independent sites like Fiverr.
And when it comes to handling orders, you can integrate your store with services like DSers or one of the many service providers. print-on-demand that take care of shipping, fulfillment, and customer service, allowing you to get all the benefits of a print-on-demand business with less effort on your part.
Alternatively, You can partner with an existing marketing network for creators, like DFTBA (Don’t Forget to Be Awesome). However, you’ll be competing with other YouTubers and have less control over adding products, offering discounts, integrating your content, and all the advantages that come with having your own eCommerce site.
You can even go one step further. more by making and selling her own unique products and boosting her business through her YouTube channel, like Luxy Hair did to sell her hair extensions with hair-related video tutorials.
As a YouTuber already gained an audience, you’ll have two advantages right off the bat that other store owners would be jealous of:
- A content engine that consistently drives traffic to your store
- Your audience trust, which you’ve earned by regularly providing them with your own brand of content for free
3. Crowdfund your next creative project
When money is the only thing standing between an idea and its execution, crowdfunding is a great way to make it happen.
If you need For help buying better equipment, hiring actors, or covering other production costs, you can call on your own audience and the crowdfunding community to get involved, if your idea is compelling enough.
Many successful creative projects from Crowdfunding tends to offer a sneak peek or “trailer” that gets people excited, so consider shooting a video explaining your project or offering a taste of what it will look like, like this popular Kickstarter for Kung Fury, a short film that pays homage to the movies. from the 1980s.
Popular crowdfunding sites with a h Proven track record of YouTuber campaigns include:
- Kickstarter. One of the best known crowdfunding sites, great for funding great products and creative projects. Be sure to set an achievable funding goal because you will only achieve it if you actually meet the goal you set.
- Indiegogo. A Kickstarter alternative that offers more flexible funding options.
4. Let your audience support you through “fanfunding”
Just like crowdfunding a project, you can also set up “fanfunding” streams to get donations from your audience.
As a creator, you contribute your voice to the Internet without forcing your audience to pay admission. So if you offer good content, your audience may be inclined to support you on an ongoing basis.
Many fan funding platforms offer creators another place for people to discover their content and a way to participate. your most loyal audience and reward them for their support.
Wait But Why creates more long-form written content than YouTube videos, but is a great example of getting support from the Patreon community.
If you choose the crowdfunding route, be sure to follow some best practices. First, create transparency about how the money will be spent. This will get your fanbase invested in your story or mission, and they will literally buy the value of your content.
Second, offer tempting rewards for better promises. The more you can make donors feel like they are getting something exclusive for being a loyal fan, the more likely you are to get donations and higher commitments.
Some popular fan funding options include:
- YouTube Super Chat. Super Chat is a feature used when broadcasting live on YouTube. It allows you to create a tip jar for your viewers to donate whenever and however much they want to contribute. You will need to set up your YouTube account for advertising, as described above.
- Channel Memberships. Channel memberships allow viewers to support your channel through monthly payments in exchange for exclusive member benefits.Like Super Chat, you must be part of the YouTube Partner Program to access this feature.
- Patreon. The membership platform that makes it easy for creators to get paid. Fans can subscribe to their favorite creators for as little as $1 a month and receive exclusive rewards.
- Tipeee. This platform allows you to get a mix of one-time and recurring donations.
- Buy me a coffee. Buy Me A Coffee allows creators and artists to accept donations and membership fees from their fans. It is known as the “#1 Patreon Alternative” with over 300,000 creators. The differences are that it’s easier to accept payments with Buy Me a Coffee, there’s a flat 5% fee for all features (versus 12% for Patreon), and payments are instant.
5 . License your content to the media
If you happen to create a viral video with mass appeal, say a funny clip with your dog, you can license your content for money.
TV news outlets, morning shows, online news sites, and other creators can request the rights to use your videos if they go viral.
You can also post your videos on a marketplace, such as Trusted Media Brands, where your content will be easier for the right people to find and buy.
When this video of a woman wearing a Chewbacca mask went viral, many media outlets wanted in on it.
6. Work with brands as an influencer
Brands are increasingly investing in influencer marketing and sponsorships, spending their usually large advertising budgets on influencers who have already earned the loyalty of their audiences.
This creates a great opportunity for you as a creator if you can negotiate the right deals.
Brendan Gahan, a YouTube influencer and marketing expert, recommends setting your fixed referral fee by looking at the number of views your videos typically get and multiplying that by $0.05 to $0.15 per view (which is roughly what many brands are willing to pay for views through YouTube ads).
According to WebFX data, videos Potential prices for influencer marketing on YouTube are:
- $200 per video for a YouTuber with 10,000 subscribers
- $2,000 per video for a YouTuber with 100,000 subscribers
- $20,000 per video for a YouTuber with 1,000,000 subscribers
Depending on your leverage, your cs audience demographics, the quality of content, and how unique and profitable your niche is – you may be able to negotiate a better deal if the brand is a good fit.
The key when partnering in brand-sponsored content is to be transparent about it, not endorsing anything you don’t really like or believe in, and be honest with your audience about why you’re doing it.
Here are just a few of the many influencer markets your channel can add and get discovered by brands big and small:
- Crowdtap. Complete small “tasks” of content creation in exchange for money and other rewards. There are no restrictions on how many followers you need to join.
- Upfluence. A large-scale influencer platform with a database of over 3 million influencers. Clients can search through Upfluence to find creators by keyword and contact them to form a partnership.
Some influencer marketplaces offer you free products, while others are known for having big brands that they are willing to pay. further. Take advantage of the opportunities that best fit your needs, but list yourself in as many places as you can to ensure maximum visibility for your channel.
7. Become an Affiliate Marketer
Affiliate marketing refers to earning a commission by promoting a product or service made by another brand. You can become an affiliate marketer for brands and include product placements, sponsorships, or other types of content. However, you must disclose associations to viewers in your videos.
This works especially well if you review products as part of your YouTube channel. Since there is no risk involved on the part of the brand (they only pay when they make sales), there is usually a low bar to start with.
Popular affiliate programs include ClickBank (1% commission per 75%, depending on what the seller establishes) and the Amazon affiliate network (up to 10% per sale). You can also reach out to brands in your niche who run their own affiliate programs, which is not uncommon in the eCommerce space.
How many views do you need on YouTube to make money?
The average YouTube channel can receive around $18 for every 1,000 ad views, which equates to around $3-$5 per video view, based on data from the Influencer Marketing Hub.
The number of views you get doesn’t correlate with the revenue you get. If your video gets thousands of views but no one sees or clicks on the ad, you won’t earn money. This is due to YouTube’s criteria for billing advertisers: a viewer must click on an ad or watch the entire video ad (10, 15, or 30 seconds) to get paid.
How to get paid on YouTube
- Post ads on your channel
- Offer channel subscriptions
- Offer channel memberships
- Sign Up for Affiliate Marketing
To start making money directly through YouTube, you must have at least 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of viewing in the last year. Once you achieve that, you can apply to the YouTube Partner Program and monetize your channel.
One area where you can make money as a beginner with a small number of subscribers is affiliate marketing. Niches like food reviews, product launches, and top [X] lists are popular topics for YouTubers. You can earn money when they buy affiliate products from your video, instead of clicking an ad or watching a video.
How much money do YouTubers make per year?
Top 5 YouTubers major as of January 2021 have tens of millions of followers each. Accounts include MrBeast, Jake Paul, Markiplier, Rhett and Link, and Unspeakable. These YouTubers earn more than $28.5 million a year through their channels. While what they earn is huge, smaller accounts can still make a living on YouTube.
Take Justine Leconte’s YouTube channel for example. She has 913,000 subscribers and 91 million video views on her channel helping people dress better and understand fashion. Aside from ad revenue, his estimated total earnings are around $259,304, earning $979 per video, on average, according to Influencer Marketing Hub’s YouTube Money Calculator.
Based on these estimated numbers, Justine could make a living on her YouTube channel by posting one or two videos per week. It is important to note that these are only estimates. Justine could be earning more or less than the above numbers, depending on the YouTube monetization strategies you use for her business.
How do YouTubers get paid?
Forbes data shows that YouTube’s top earners make 50% of their annual revenue from ads. You can set up an AdSense account and enable monetization once you create a YouTube channel. You only get paid once you reach $100 in your AdSense account.
YouTube channels can be monetized even if they don’t have millions of subscribers. Your earning potential is not determined solely by the number of subscribers and views you have, but also by the level of engagement you generate, the niche you serve, and the revenue channels you explore. That’s not to say subscribers don’t matter – check out our tips for getting more subscribers on YouTube.
Second, this list of top 10 earners might give you the impression that millions of dollars obtained come directly from YouTube In fact, each of these channels has its own line of products. These channels found and built their audiences first, before launching their own merchandise. If making money on YouTube is part of your marketing plan, the first step is the same for everyone: have a clear understanding of your target audience.
Tips for Selling on YouTube
Many Some of the above monetization strategies involve promoting products or campaigns (for example, crowdfunding a video series). But you’ll want to make sure your promotions don’t sabotage the integrity of your high-quality content.
“Selling out” is a real concern for many creators. But if you never ask, you will never get. There are a number of “placements” you can choose from for promoting products or campaigns.
Know Your Audience on YouTube
Building your own audience puts you in a great position to monetize content in a variety of forms. But you’ll only be able to take full advantage of the opportunities you have if you understand the composition of your audience.
For many YouTubers looking to monetize, the more niche your channel is, the better position it will rank. I will work with brands looking to target specific audiences (more on that later).
You will want to pay close attention to:
- The gender of your audience, to see if they lean towards a particular group
- The range of the age of most of your audience
- The geographic location (countries or cities) where your videos are viewed
- The overall engagement of your audience or “watch time”
With this demographic information in hand, you’ll have a better understanding of your own audience and be able to work better with brands. All the demographic information can be pulled from your YouTube analytics, but to compare your own channel with others, try a tool like Social Blade.
Record a call to action in your videos
“If you liked this video, hit the like button and subscribe.”
Many YouTubers include a similar call-to-action at the end of their videos to increase their audience. By suggesting the intended action you want them to take, your audience is more likely to take it.
You can tailor this approach to direct your audience’s attention to a revenue-generating opportunity.
Add timely YouTube cards to your videos
Whether you’re part of your deal with a brand or promoting your own products, YouTube cards offer an eye-catching way to grab attention of engaged viewers. .
You can set them to appear at just the right time, when they are most relevant and least distracting, to increase their impact.
Add links in your video descriptions
You can funnel viewers to your shop, Patreon page, Kickstarter campaign, or another part of your online presence focused on videos. income by adding links to your video descriptions. .
If you’re a video creator who wants to focus on generating income as an affiliate marketer, check out Unbox Therapy. Unbox Therapy specializes in product reviews and uses affiliate links in their video descriptions to earn money through YouTube audiences.
If you’re creating videos about your own products and own or run a Shopify store, you can incentivize new customers to buy your products with “buy X get Y” promotions or discounts.
Promote your offer on other platforms
Just because your content is hosted on YouTube doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of all the other distribution channels out there.
Spread the voice about new campaigns or discounts on Twitter, Facebook and any other profiles you have.
The more places your message lives, the better chance it will be seen. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to grow your following beyond YouTube with social media marketing.
The Rise of the “YouTubepreneur”
What’s Driving the Most creators create rarely is money. It’s the idea of making something for the world to enjoy. Many famous YouTubers started with humble beginnings, such as MrBeast, who started at the age of 13 under the name MrBeast6000; their initial content ranged from Let’s Plays to “videos estimating the wealth of other YouTubers.”
But ironically, that puts them in a great position to make money in a content-obsessed world.
While the hard part for many businesses is capturing and keeping their audience’s attention, YouTubers have already figured that out.
All that’s left is to get creative and channel the momentum. business to explore ideas with how you choose to monetize your audience and your passion.
Becoming a Full-Time YouTuber
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