So, you’re searching: How to make money on YouTube?
Our best guess is that either you’re about to start a YouTube channel, or you already own a channel that hardly gets any views.
Isn’t that so?
Or perhaps, you’re skeptical if that’s something practical and real even – if making money via YouTube is an actual possibility or not.
Well, in that case, let us introduce you to Ryan.
Ryan Kaji is only 11 years old, and he earned $29.5 million from his YouTube channel, i.e., Ryan’s World, in 2020 alone. Currently, he is the second richest YouTuber with a net worth of $50 million.
Reading this, your reflex response would be to Google this kid and figure out what does he do? How does he make that much money by only filming videos of his games and toys?
Well, hold on. Pause and stay right here.
Because we have studied each bit of what he does and brought it all on this page for you. Read on to figure out what Ryan does to make money on YouTube, along with other effective strategies to make money on YouTube.
Table of Contents
Prime Money Making Strategy: Create Original & Relevant Video Content
The first step to making money on YouTube is creating original and relevant video content.
By original, we mean you should produce it from scratch all by yourself. Its text, graphics, sounds, script, and ideas – all of it should come from you.
Now that doesn’t mean you cannot work in teams or with experts. You can. The only rule that you’ve to abide by is: that your video content shouldn’t be a replica of an already published video.
You can take inspiration. But make sure you add your custom touch to make the video stand out.
If it doesn’t have anything unique, your established competitor will keep stealing your traffic.
And by relevant, we mean, searched content. There’s no point in producing genius flawless videos if nobody’s looking for them.
For this, we recommend conducting picking a domain or niche that you find yourself passionate about. Then, conduct YouTube keyword research.
Once, you have your keywords in hand, search up the content available under those keywords. Check out the comments section and communities & groups for the existing content on that keyword, look for audience queries and demands. Using this, create unique video content. You might want to check out this YouTube video optimization guide.
Second Money Making Strategy: Edit the Video to Perfection
Since you’re a beginner in your YouTube journey, you’re likely inexperienced with filming and editing videos. You might not be able to put out flawless content.
If you’re running a YouTube channel as a hobby only, that’s okay. Put out your content nonetheless, you’ll learn to perfect it over time.
But if you are running a YouTube channel for business purposes, you cannot lose your audience and reputation with poorly filmed and edited videos.
There is no way you can make money with poorly presented content. That’s equal to putting all your effort down the drain – voluntarily.
And hence, we recommend using professional equipment and video editing tools. But the cost may become a problem for you.
On average, a professionally-produced YouTube video could cost you anywhere between $1000 – $20,000, which is quite a huge investment (especially for someone who’s only beginning!).
Hence, we’re here to help you save some money. We suggest you shoot your video from your phone. Just make sure your phone’s from a good company like Apple or Samsung and has a 12 MP+ camera.
Once shot, share your raw video with our professional video editors at editvideo.io. They’ll edit the video as per the requirements of your channel with subtitles in one-third of the expected price. For beginners at YouTube, we’d recommend our weekly plan, which offers complete editing for 4 videos per month. If you have your content planned, you can also opt for the ultimate plan.
More on How to Make Money on YouTube
We’re proud of you! You now know the two primary ways of making money on YouTube.
You now have the heart and brain of making money on YouTube. All you’ve to do is use it wisely and strategically to double up your earnings.
Here are some ways to do that:
Sign Up for YouTube Partner Program
The first and most obvious way to make money is to monetize your YouTube by joining the YouTube partner program. To join this program, you’ll have to ensure:
- You reside in an area where YouTube Partner Program is available.
- You have 1000+ subscribers.
- You have 4000+ watch hours over the last year.
If you’ve all three, create a Google Adsense account. Link it to your YouTube channel. Set your monetization preferences, and there you go!
Note that you will get paid for each click or 15 seconds+ views of the ad. If your audience chooses to skip, you don’t get any money for that.
Build an Audience & Launch Your Merchandise
As mentioned earlier, choose a niche that you’re passionate about. If you do so, you will be able to deliver premium quality content, and you will be able to relate to your audience much better. As a consequence, your target audience will watch your video once, find it valuable, and will come back to you for more quality content later on.
This way, you will begin building an audience. Once you have returning views and a solid clientele, you can begin selling your custom merchandise. It can include a mug, keychains, a t-shirt, and whatnot. The more you sell these, the more money you make.
Direct Your Audience to Fan Funding
Fan funding or crowdfunding is a mode of alternate finance. Through fan funding, you can ask your audience to contribute financial resources for your new creative project or your new YouTube video.
You can either do so directly via YouTube or create a YouTube video project (open for fan funding) on crowdfunding sites like Patreon. It is highly recommendable that you keep your purpose and process regarding the collected month absolutely transparent. Any doubt can cause a blow to your reputation.
Earning by this means is not profitable. But it is still a means of generating money.
Incorporate Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing refers to commission-based selling of another brand’s products or services. You review their products or services in your videos in a promotional way. And the company tracks your affiliate link. If they make a sale via your affiliate link, you get a pre-decided commission amount This predetermined commission can vary from 1% – 75% depending on the brand.
You can get affiliated with Amazon.com, Walmart, Best buy, etc.
Like crowdfunding, we recommend that you keep your affiliate links and program transparent with your audience.
Review Goods & Services You Use
Now, this is very similar to affiliate marketing, except it’s not linked with a brand. Suppose you’re only starting, and every brand out there refuses your proposal to become an affiliate marketer of their brand. Or perhaps, your preferred brand refuses to do so.
In this case, you can establish your YouTube channel as a trusted source of reviews for that particular product/service or in that specific niche. Review the products and services you actually use, so the reviews come out authentic and reliable. And they won’t have you investing large sums of money. Both affiliate marketing and review marketing are best for influencers and bloggers.
Create Promotional & Sponsored Content
Now, here’s another type of earning via YouTube that resembles affiliate marketing. The difference here is in the funds you generate.
An affiliate marketer receives money for each successful conversion. However, a sponsored content creator only receives a lump sum of money for participating in the advertisement campaign. Usually, sponsored content is followed by lots of social buzzes, which is why it’s a popular means of making money on YouTube.
It’s meant to trend.
Now, if you’re wondering where to get started with this, you ought to go back to strategies 1, 2, and 3.
If you create original and flawless content, you will most definitely have an audience. And if you have a good enough audience and manage to create buzz around the social media platforms, brands relevant to your niche will likely notice you.
They will reach out to you by themselves.
If that’s not happening, then upgrade your content. Also, try cold pitching.
Encourage Your Viewers to Become Premium Members
Recently, YouTube introduced its premium version wherein free members can subscribe. They pay $11.99 per month to enjoy an ad-free viewing experience.
It cuts out the annoying ads for the audience.
But for content creators, it promises a boost in earnings. In the premium version, videos earn their revenue without ads. You will earn just as much as people will watch your videos. You don’t have to rely on the possibility of your audience clicking on the ad or waiting long enough. You can entirely rely on your creative content.
So, to raise YouTube money figures, encourage your existing subscribers to switch to the premium version.
Learn Viral Video Marketing & License Your Content
Viral video marketing is an art. It’s challenging, but it’s not difficult.
[Read this step-by-step guide to viral video marketing to create your very own viral video right now!]
Once you develop command over this art, you will find yourself immensely satisfied with the results because it promises overnight success for YouTubers. So, along with your niche-relevant content, focus on creating trending content as well.
Also, do not forget to license your art. When you create quality content, it takes rounds on the internet. People may copy and cash it on their own, without benefitting you at all. So, ensure that you get your due rights before it leaves your channel to entertain elsewhere.
Haste Makes Waste – Be Patient!
About 500 hours of content is uploaded on YouTube almost every single minute. If you’re beginning your journey on this platform, there’s a high chance your video can get lost in the crowd even if it’s unique, creative, and worth watching. That’s particularly true if you upload it at the wrong time or do not optimize it enough.
Henceforth, be patient. Do not give up, and don’t lose hope. As long as you’re passionate about what you create and you’re pouring in originality and quality, you’re bound to succeed. Good luck!
