How to Make Money on Youtube

YouTube has become an unchallenged beast in the online media platform with two billion active users per month who enjoy 1 billion hours of video content daily. This is the reason why YouTube influencers have more impact on the trends and daily lives of people than run-of-the-mill celebrities.

Suppose that you can create quality content for YouTube which is a possibility for almost everyone with a phone and decent imagination. What are the most dominant means of earning money on YouTube?

HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON YOUTUBE:

You may be thinking that this is easy money and you will be up and earning in no time but as matter of fact most of the people who sign up for google add sense receive very little or no earnings at the start, this is because you share this amount provided by the advertisers with the google, Google has not disclosed it publicly the exact amount of the share it keeps but it appears that 45% of the total amount is kept it. In fact, you will earn around $1 to 2$ per 1000 views (CPM). The rate mentioned keeps changing regularly as the viewers have to watch the advertisement completely instead of just skipping it, in order to be counted as a view. The next option is to opt for cost-per-click (CPC) ads on your YouTube page which is dependent on the number of people actually clicking it.

The most important thing to remember is that Google has an Avg fixed payout threshold of $100. If you are unsuccessful in breaching this threshold set by google you may not be able to withdraw your money. In simple terms traffic is the key to success like any other website. If you can attract enough traffic on your channel you will reach a point where you will be able to overcome the google threshold and will eventually start to receive payments

All you need to do is create quality content for your YouTube page and promote it. This is the starting point that every YouTube influencer has to face and from this, they attract the audience for their channel which leads to an increase in the subscriber level which means higher traffic, therefore, higher earnings. This earning can be further increased by adding other income-generating methods to the mix.

Earning Rewards as a YouTube Partner

When you become a YouTube partner it does not mean that money will start flowing but it gives you access to many tools that can help you to earn money.

When you start to monetize your content and begin sharing your google add revenue with google you join YouTube as a partner. By entering this partnership with YouTube you are provided with access to in-depth analytics regarding your followers and viewers and their advertising preferences. YouTube partners also have permission to have custom thumbnails and can broadcast on google hangout.

YouTube also goes an extra mile for its partners and promotes them all over the world in different online and offline advertising programs.

YouTube partners receive special milestone achievement gifts when you reach a specific number of subscribers you get framed buttons, for 100,000 subscribers you get a silver play button, and for 1,000,000 subscribers you get a golden play button. Higher community support gets you access to more tools which allow you to get more subscribers.

YouTube has the right to use your uploaded videos as they see fit but if you are a YouTube partner then you get to keep the copyright of your content this rarely known but important advantage of being a YouTube partner.

YouTube partners are allowed non-exclusive agreements. This means YouTube does not limit you to uploading your content elsewhere, which means it will not be an issue if you choose to upload your continent on multiple platforms and monetize it.

Joining an MCN (Multi-Channel Network)

If you are a successful content creator on YouTube and want to take it a step further then you should consider the option of attaching yourself to a multi-channel network like Fullscreen, AwesomenessTV, Freedom, etc. MCNs are defined by google as entities that are affiliated with many YouTube channels and offer their expertise to help content creators in different areas such as products, programming, funding, cross-channel promotions, digital rights management, monetization, partner management, and even audience development.

Multi-Channel networks act like your talent agents/managers. They will broker deals on your behalf and will help you collaborate with other YouTube talents and may also provide you with the studio depending on your location. In return, MCN will take a percentage from your AdSense earnings or any other types of earnings that MCN has arranged for you.

The share MCN from your earnings depends on the size of your followers or subscribers for example a channel with small subscribers will pay 40% of its total AdSense earnings. The share of MCN is inversely proportional to the number of viewers your channel entertain meaning if the viewership is increasing then the share will start to decrease. MCN entities can also leverage higher ad rate levels if your channel has a sufficient subscribers.

Multi-Channel- Networks are well linked to different media formats like TV, movies, and books, if you are talented enough to distinguish your content from other creators then MCN can help get the best exposure in the industry by inviting you to participate in original productions and may present you with an opportunity to cross over to other media formats.

Merchandising

Once you have found a place in the sun you will have fans who watch every content you make. These fans will want to be associated with you and the content you make therefore will happily spend money on any merchandise you put for sale. There are different types of merchandise you can sell like you can have a custom range of shirts or hats that promote your site or channel.

The products you offer to sell as merchandise will be specifically for your loyal fans. The more popular your channel is, the higher will be your fan following and the more followers will buy your merchandise. There are many YouTubers that prefer merchandise sales over the advertising income they receive from YouTube. You also have to be careful when marketing on your YouTube channel especially generation Z whose opinions and loyalties change easily. You should not give greedy or business-oriented vibes to avoid alienating your audience. You are to portray yourself as original and should not lose the personality trait that attracts your fans.

This model is different for some businesses as their main focus is different from traditional ideas behind a YouTube video. The primary objective of such businesses is to sell or pitch their products to the views and video content displayed is the byproduct. Red bull is a perfect study for this case as they have 5.5 million subscribers on their YouTube channel which shows action-oriented content. They are not directly showing their drinks but every view is completely aware of the product behind the camera.

Ancillary Products

Most YouTubers are pursuing this path as a part-time earning solution and are invested in different activities outside the world of YouTube. If they are successful in building a fan following on their channels, this can be an opportunity for them to advocate their other interests and activities.

There could be a possibility that they have written a book, created a game, invented a new product, or even a course on their area of expertise. Their YouTube channel will be a perfect opportunity for them to mention their products listed on other markets such as eBay and can deliver their course on the website of their choosing. By doing this their YouTube channel will be working as a marketing tool to promote their product. PewDiePie has a huge fan base and he used that popularity to launch his game, PewDiePie: Legend Of The Brofist. He made this game by collaborating with a Canadian-based developer Outerminds Inc. That game made over $100,000 on the day it was released in the USA and according to MoneyNation’s calculations. It is estimated that he made approximately $8.9 million as income before tax through merchandising and ancillary products in the 2016 financial year. Like this many celebrity YouTubers use their fame and attraction to launch new products.

There are some YouTubers who are introduced to new streams of income because of their YouTube channels as they may be invited to events or conferences to speak at and be paid for it or can be hired as a consultant on YouTube marketing.

Sponsorship, Endorsements, Product Placement

Once you are well-known in the YouTube community and have made a name for your channel window sponsorships may open up to you. In truth, you need to have a huge audience in order to be considered for sponsorship by a business. These sponsorships are very similar to corporate sponsorships because they are only possible when a brand or business can benefit from being attached to you or your channel. The size of sponsorships depends on the size of audiences your channel engages, the higher the traffic on your YouTube channel, the larger will be the sponsorship you will be able to negotiate. Before accepting sponsorships for your channel, keep in mind that you have to declare the said sponsor on your page for both ethical purposes and also to meet the YouTube terms and conditions.

Product placement is another type of this, where you will be paid to use the product of the sponsor in your video. It can be anything from wearing a hat, or t-shirt in the video to driving a specific model of a car. If you are making exceptional videos that are enjoyed by large audiences, companies may appreciate your influence on your followers and may consider it as important as that of traditional media. This may lead to product endorsement which means not only, you be using a product but will also be recommending it to your followers. This is the same trend that was only followed in TV and movies but has made its way into YouTube videos.

This combination of sponsorships, endorsements, and product placement can be a very attractive form of income for popular channels that enjoy huge fan bases.

Many companies exist that help channels negotiate sponsorship deals between brands and YouTube creators. There is a company called Grapevine that considers a YouTube channel with 10,000 or more subscribers to be viable enough to be considered as an influencer.

Affiliate Links

Product reviews are done by almost the majority of YouTube channels. These reviews are in a wide variety of niches. Some of the reviews are purely related to advertisement of the product while most have educational purposes which help the viewer to get a better understanding of the product and how it can be best used. Almost in the description of every video of this type, there is a link that leads to the site where this product was purchased and viewers can use a similar link to buy one if they want to. Those links in the description are called affiliate links and it allows the site to know where these visitors arrive from. If a visitor buys that product a percentage of the sale is given to the owner of that channel.

Affiliate links are not clearly discussed in the terms and conditions of YouTube but they are seen under almost every product review video and YouTube appears to have no issue with it. You must keep that in mind before using affiliate links, that you must try to be as transparent as you possibly can and remain honest with your viewers so they can see what you are doing. Your affiliate link should also provide viewers value for their money. It is considered to be another way of monetizing your videos but your content should not be made only with the intention of making money using affiliate links.

Click bank and amazon are the best-known affiliate marketplaces on the web which can be used to find products to review.

All the methods or ways of income that you can earn on YouTube depend on the size of your subscriber base, the larger your followers higher will be your income. If you are making videos for a specific shopping channel or a focused review about a product you may have a higher percentage of your viewers willing to purchase because of this you do not need the high number of subscribers you normally need for other methods of earning.

Affiliate links only generate income when a sale is made using your link and there is no amount received while clicking that link which is why you earn higher amounts through AdWords because on AdWords you are being paid per click basis, not per sale basis. There are some affiliate products like SAAS software that can provide you with a monthly income, this is only possible when a viewer purchases a product with a monthly payment therefore every time a payment is made you get affiliate income.

You should convince your customers that you are not reviewing this product because of the money and should try to give genuine remarks on the product to avoid being seen as a scammer or someone who is doing this to earn easy money.

Subscription Fees

YouTube offers premium or paid-to-view options to its viewers which are not available to other free users. If you are successful in building a loyal fan following who appreciate the effort you put into your content then you can consider or opt to make content specifically for them by making your channel a premium paid subscriber-only channel. This is not an option that can be considered by beginners this is due to the fact that most YouTube viewers are accustomed to consuming content for free and it will be very difficult to convince them to pay for the same content.

There are few paid channels registered on YouTube. Numbers may vary from country to country but in the USA only 303 paid channels are available to American viewers with topics covering music, cartoon, and skill teaching such as woodworking.

The only problem with making your channel pay to watch is that you are stopping your content from getting viral. You can not easily promote your content to casual viewers who are the majority users of YouTube.

You can use your free YouTube channel as a showcase to display the quality of your work by uploading some of your quality content for free while holding your best video for paid subscribers only, this will allow you to promote your channel and show casual viewers the quality of the content you are making while attracting them to your paid content at the same time. This practice is also used by the famous YouTube channel The Young Turks.

Crowdfunding Support

Crowdfunding is practiced by people who want to donate or help out other people using a specific website like Patreon. Crowdfunding is rapidly becoming a new method to raise finance for different types of products and services, recently its been discovered by YouTubers who are using this method to encourage their subscriber or viewers to help them out financially. In order for you to launch a successful crowdfunding camping, you need to create a loyal fan base and most importantly upload quality content regularly.

Patreon is specifically designed for people who want to pay the content creators of their choice. Patreon allows creators to obtain funding from their viewers to meet the financial requirement of making quality content with the option of a monthly subscription amount of their choice. There are many tyoes of creative art with YouTube vedio creation being one, through which a person can earn income using crowdfunding at Patreon.

This is another method being used by modern YouTubers whose content influence and inspire fans to a degree that they are willing to pay cash to the creators to produce more content for them.

This earning method can be explained by taking the Nerdwriter as an example who uploads weekly content focused entirely on how to cultivate a worldview. He set a crowdfunding goal of $3,000 so he can use more of his original animation and can purchase new camera equipment. This was not his first crowdfunding campaign before and he was successful in achieving his targets of $400, $700, $1,000, and $2,000. He reached this goal of raising the $3,000 target thanks to donations from his 1,909 patrons. In order to thank his crowd funders, he posted 30 videos which are only available to them. It is a very regular practice for content creators to upload exclusive content only for their patrons or crowd-funders.