Before you start looking at YouTube monetization strategies, you need to start a YouTube channel and grow your audience.
Around the globe, five billion YouTube videos are watched every day. YouTube is as popular as ever with users spending an average of 40 minutes per YouTube session.
**Note** This article was written when i was still blogging. Enjoy
Lots of YouTube money-making tactics have eligibility requirements, such as total video views or channel subscribers. So you won’t have access to every method on day one. But once you get comfortable with growing your audience, there’s no limit to how much you can make.
The next thing you should learn is how to make money on YouTube. All you need is video editing software and a computer and you can get started on YouTube.
Making money on YouTube is no longer exclusive to a select few platinum musicians or huge influencers. There are plenty of opportunities for everyday people to make money from YouTube.
However, you have to be more strategic in your approach.
In this article, I’ll go over 8 ways you can start making money on YouTube this year.
Now let’s get started.
Join the YouTube Partner Program
The most straightforward way to make money on YouTube is with the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). In a nutshell, you can monetize your content with advertising revenue.
For those of you who don’t know, YouTube is a subsidiary of Google. So you’ll need a Google AdSense account to proceed. You might already be familiar with this ad network if you’ve run advertisements on a website in the past.
To be considered for the YouTube Partner Program, your account must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements:
- 18 years or older (or have a legal guardian 18+ who can manage your AdSense payments)
- Located in a country or region where the program is available
- Have 1,000+ subscribers
- Have 4,000+ hours of public watch hours in the last 12 months
- Follow all YouTube channel monetization policies
Not every channel will be eligible for the program. Channels displaying certain types of content are not considered “advertiser-friendly.”
For example, anything related to adult content, foul language, firearms, tobacco, violence, drug use, and controversial issues can’t be monetized. You can review YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines here.
Once you’ve been accepted into YPP, you can set up your ad preferences and enable monetization on your content. Payments will automatically be issued through AdSense.
YouTube Monetization: Use affiliate links on YouTube
Promoting affiliate links can be a massive earning opportunity for channels that offer in-depth tutorials as well as insightful product reviews. For example, if you recommend a product and a user visits your link to buy, you’ll start earning commissions. You can place these links in the first few lines of your description and speak about your link in your video content.
Posting affiliate links on YouTube shares a typical resemblance to promoting affiliate links on your blog. Thus, you shouldn’t pour affiliate links all over your YouTube content just for the monetary benefit. Don’t forget that viewers will only follow these links when they believe you are a trusted resource.
To build trust with your audience, help them solve concrete problems and provide tutorials. As a bonus, you can create videos that offer solutions you have previously accomplished yourself.
There are plenty of affiliate programs for you to join. You can join many different programs in one place on a popular affiliate network like Shareasale or Awin.
The best step to maximize revenue is to start a blog in unison with your YouTube channel and add affiliate links there too. That way, you’re monetizing YouTube and also have a website on a platform that you own yourself.
The first step to starting a blog is to get started with Bluehost web hosting.
Bluehost is the “official” WordPress.org recommended web hosting platform and you can read my full Bluehost review here.
Here’s how to get started:
- Go to Bluehost.com and click Get Started
- Choose your hosting plan ($2.95/month is cheapest with my link)
- Enter a new website domain name or select one you already own
- Enter your account information, account plan, and billing information
- You can uncheck the add-ons Sitelock Security and Codeguard Basic
- Click Submit and you’re ready to go!
Channel Memberships
If you’re producing high-quality content on YouTube, you can consider charging users for subscribing. This money-making strategy is reserved for YouTube creators who already have lots of subscribers.
The minimum eligibility requirements for a YouTube channel membership include:
- 18+ years old
- Must be living in an available location
- Channel is not labeled as “made for kids”
- 30,000+ subscribers (1,000+ subscribers for gaming channels)
- Channel is part of the YouTube Partner Program
- Channel doesn’t have lots of ineligible videos (Example: videos with claimed music)
If your account is eligible, you’ll see “Memberships” as an option on your admin page.
Your memberships can include things like badges, videos, live chat, emojis, and other content that your subscribers will find useful.
Just make sure you’re finding a way to add value to your content and make your members feel special. Contests, lotteries, sweepstakes, in-person meetings, and music downloads are all prohibited.
Once you establish a strong group of loyal followers, channel memberships can be the perfect way to benefit from recurring revenue each month.
Make Money on YouTube with Funding from Your Fans
If you’ve built a following of loyal fans, encouraging them to crowdfund your channel can help you fund your new videos and profit.
A platform like Patreon introduces more seamlessness to the process of getting paid for your content. For as little as a dollar, your fans can make subscriptions to their favorite channels, even going home with some exclusive rewards from their favorite content creators. Tipee is another service that allows you to enjoy a combo of recurring and one-time donations.
For-profit and nonprofit channels alike are leveraging this fan-funding with their audience to keep their video operations running smoothly. As long your content is interesting, entertaining, or providing value, you would be amazed at how your viewers open the floodgates of generosity.
Sell Merchandise
Do you have an ecommerce website? If so, you can add merch to your YouTube videos by linking to products or your storefront via YouTube.
You just need to make sure it’s on the list of approved merchandise sites. Shopify sites are eligible.
Other requirements for the YouTube merchandise shelf include:
- 18+ years old
- 10,000+ subscribers
You can’t add merchandise cards to videos set for kids.
Anyone with an ecommerce website should definitely consider using YouTube as an alternative method to drive merchandise sales.
Influencer Marketing
If you have a strong social following, you can leverage influencer marketing to get paid for uploading sponsored content to YouTube.
This is a little bit different from some of the other YouTube monetization strategies that we’ve looked at so far. That’s because you’d be getting paid from brands directly, which won’t be facilitated through YouTube or AdSense.
You do not need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program to get paid for sponsored content. There are no minimum number of subscribers or video views either.
However, you’ll still need to follow YouTube’s guidelines for paid product placements and endorsements.
Full disclosure is the biggest component of this policy. In addition to including something along the lines of “paid promotion” in your video content, YouTube requires that you check a box in your advanced settings labeled “video contains paid promotion.”
The sky’s the limit for what you can make with influencer marketing. It’s up to you to negotiate your rates with different brands.
If you’re just getting started in this space, you can negotiate free products in your niche before you start asking for money. This is a great way to build your audience and establish relationships with brands for the long term.
Master Your YouTube SEO
For video creators who have not built a significant following yet, you have to step up your game and maximize YouTube SEO this year.
To do that, perform keyword research like you usually would – however, think a little differently based on what people are searching for on YouTube. Next, make sure you are using high-value keywords in your video title, description, and video tags.
Once launched, you can check your YouTube “Traffic Source: YouTube search” report to get an idea of what people are searching for when they find your videos.
In general, Google provides video results for keywords on how to, reviews, tutorials, and funny video terms.
There are also five key YouTube SEO ranking factors to consider:
- Number of comments
- Subscribes after watching a video
- Thumbs up/thumbs down ratio
- Video length
- Click-through-rate on the YouTube search results
Source: tagseoblog.com
Super Chat and Super Stickers
Super Chat and Super Stickers are some of the best ways to monetize your YouTube live streams. Viewers can purchase these items to stand out during your live sessions.
People who buy Super Chat and Super Stickers will have a colored message within the chat feed.
Depending on how much they spend, the user’s YouTube profile stays at the top of the feed for a certain length of time. The more money they spend, the longer those stickers remain at the top of the chat.
This monetization strategy is facilitated through the YouTube Partner Program. Lots of users use this as an opportunity to promote their personal brands or channels. So in a way, it’s almost like selling ads in your live chat feed.
Requirements for Super Chat and Super Stickers include:
- Age 18+
- Monetized channel
- 1,000+ subscribers
- Living in an available location
Videos that are age-restricted, private, unlisted, or made for kids are not available for Super Chat and Super Stickers.
License Your Content
Media outlets are always looking for high-quality video content. Whether it’s a viral video or timely footage that’s newsworthy, those companies know that they need to pay for using someone else’s video.
Let’s say you happened to film a tornado or accident. A media outlet might want to use your footage on their website.
Include a business email in your video descriptions and channel profile for licensing purposes.
You can also submit your YouTube videos on platforms like Junkin Media.
Media networks like CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, Animal Planet, The Weather Channel, and dozens of others use Junkin Media to find video content.
YouTube Premium
YouTube Premium is a paid membership for any YouTube user. For $11.99 per month, users can benefit from improvements like:
- Ad-free viewing
- Background play (videos still play while using other apps or screen is locked)
- Download videos and view later (ideal for planes and commuting)
- YouTube Music Premium
The revenue that YouTube generates from premium subscriptions is shared with creators based on how much their content gets viewed.
How to Make Money on YouTube FAQ
How can I make money on YouTube without ads?
If you aren’t making a lot of money with advertisements, there are plenty of other ways to generate an income from your channel. Here are some of the best options:
1. Add affiliate links to your video descriptions to recommend products and earn commissions on every sale.
2. Sell merchandise, t-shirts, and physical products linked to an ecommerce platform like Shopify.
3. Sell digital products, online courses, and eBooks.
4. Build your audience and get a YouTube sponsorship from a brand.
5. Use crowdfunding and ask for donations.
5. If you’re an expert in your niche, sell coaching and consulting services and charge an hourly rate.
Is it hard to make money on YouTube?
It is pretty challenging to make money on YouTube. First, you must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within the last 12 months to join the YouTube Partner Program. Then you have to generate a lot of views and monitor your cost per view (CPV) to see how much money you make for advertisements.
If you don’t have millions of views, one great way to monetize your channel is with affiliate marketing. You can review products or perform product tutorials and place affiliate links in your video description. That way, you can earn commissions on every sale and make more money than your advertising CPV.
I recommend you start a blog and couple that with your YouTube account. That way you can promote affiliate links on both your YouTube channel and blog and embed your videos in your blog posts to get more views (and help your search engine rankings).
How much is 1,000 views worth on YouTube?
There is no definitive answer to how much 1,000 views is worth. Factors to consider include the industry you’re in, how many people click on your advertisements, and the country you are located in. This all factors into your average CPM.
Additionally, advertisers create a Google AdWords account to place YouTube ads then choose their ad strategy based on either paying on a cost per view (CPV) or cost per click (CPC) basis.
For example, you could get $0 for one view and $5 for another view if that viewer clicks on a high-value advertisement. A good rule of thumb is to assume that you will earn $0.75 – $1.00 for 1,000 views if you use banner ads, or $6-7 per 1,000 views if you use ads that play before your video starts.
How many subscribers do you need to make money?
Based on the YouTube Partner Program eligibility requirements, you need 1,000 or more subscribers to be able to monetize your channel. You also need at least 4,000 watch hours within the last 12 months and have an active Google AdSense account. Once you apply and are accepted into YPP, you are allowed to set ad preferences and enable monetization for the videos you upload.
How Much Money Do YouTubers Make?
For thousands of YouTubers, this answer may be nothing, or barely anything. For popular YouTubers, this could be a million dollars or more per year.
It’s getting tougher to make money, as ad revenue can range from $0.35 to $5 per view, with the safe assumption being $1 per 1,000 views.
The profitability of your channel is tied to both your views and your niche.
YouTubers in highly-viewed niches like listicles, news, celebrity gossip, makeup and beauty, and popular fails quickly pull in revenue with millions of views.
There are also YouTube revenue calculators to help you understand how much you can make based on video views and engagement.
How many views do you need to cash out on YouTube? Once you attain a balance of $100, YouTube pays you.
And can you earn from YouTube on a pay-per-subscriber basis? YouTubers just rolled out a subscription service to YouTubers with high follower counts.
Who is the highest-paid YouTuber?
The top YouTube stars like Logan Paul and PewDiePie bring in millions of dollars a year by monetizing their channels. Whether reviewing and playing video games or creating engaging content, these YouTubers put in a ton of work to increase their viewership. Here is a list of the highest-paid YouTubers based on yearly revenue in 2019:
1. Ryan Kaji: $26 million.
2. Dude Perfect: $20 million.
3. Anastasia Radzinskaya: $18 million.
4. Rhett and Link: $17.5 million.
5. Jeffree Star: $17 million.
6. Preston: $14 million.
7. PewDiePie: $13 million.
8. Markiplier: $13 million.
8. DanTDM: $12 million.
Conclusion
Making money on YouTube is possible, but it’s hard to make money with just YouTube alone. It’s vital to have a platform that you own like a blog and use YouTube as a secondary traffic stream. One benefit is that YouTube SEO is not yet as competitive as organic SEO. If you can get in now and start generating traffic, you’ll be a better place by 2020 when the competition is more fierce.
My advice: start a blog with a high-end marketing funnel, then join YouTube as a secondary way to build your email list and generate affiliate income.
The best way to do this is by starting a blog with Bluehost in unison with your YouTube channel.
Reminder: here’s how to get started:
- Go to Bluehost.com and click Get Started
- Choose your hosting plan ($2.95/month is cheapest with my link)
- Enter a new website domain name or select one you already own
- Enter your account information, account plan, and billing information
- You can uncheck the add-ons Sitelock Security and Codeguard Basic
- Click Submit and you’re ready to go!
Feel free to use some of these YouTube monetization tips to launch your channel and build your audience of avid viewers this year.
