If you have always wanted to be an entertainer and do it for a living, there are now numerous ways you can achieve that dream in today’s digital age. One of the most popular platforms used by millions of people across the globe is YouTube, providing you entertainment and the potential of making a lot of money. The platform racks up to five billion views daily from individuals worldwide, with viewers spending an average of 40 minutes or more per YouTube session. You can join the bandwagon as anyone can start their own YouTube channel with no expense.
However, although starting a channel is easy, you may be wondering if you can earn money from the platform? Yes, you can! Many people are already making money on their websites, as YouTube boasts over one million content creators in their YouTube Partner Program. All you need is a decent video editing software and a desktop computer to start your YouTube journey. In order to maximize your earnings on the platform, you have to be more strategic in your approach.
For newbies and enthusiasts, we offer five expert tips to help you begin your journey on YouTube and make money.
- Become a YouTube Partner and Take Advantage of Ad Revenue
For most YouTubers, ads are the most critical aspect of their revenue stream. When you partner up with YouTube, you can make money through three different ways:
- Placing ads on your videos.
- Start offering exclusive channel memberships.
- Place Google AdSense banner ads on your videos.
However, to become a YouTube partner, there are ground rules and prerequisites to follow before sealing the deal. Aside from following YouTube’s guidelines and ad rules, you need to accumulate a minimum of 4,000 video watch hours on your channel for a period of one year and have at least 1,000 subscribers. There are no specific rules for earning these 4,000 video hours, and you can reach it by having 100 hours of watch time each on 40 separate videos or any combination.
When you successfully reach the 4,000-hour requirement and earn your place as a YouTube partner, you can now start making money from ads. When you go to the platform and proceed to your Video Manager page, you will see a green dollar sign next to your videos, indicating that you can begin your journey towards YouTube monetization.
- Master the Art of YouTube SEO
If you are starting your YouTube channel, you may find it challenging to build a significant following as there are numerous competition on the platform. You can outshine your competition by incorporating YouTube SEO on your posts.
Here is a quick guide on how to implement YouTube SEO on your videos:
- Search for the necessary keywords as with SEO keyword research for websites or blogs. You will need to think outside the box and determine what people would more likely search on YouTube.
- When picking out the keywords, make sure to use high-value keywords on your video title, description box, and video tags.
- When you have incorporated the keywords, you can now publish your videos.
- Once launched, check your YouTube traffic source and search report to determine what people search for when they come across your videos.
You can find video results for keywords on Google, providing you with commonly searched keywords such as how-to, reviews, tutorials, and funny video terms.
- Incorporate Affiliate Linking on Your YouTube Content
Using affiliate links is the best way to earn on any platform. Promoting these links can give you massive earning opportunities, mainly if your channel focuses on tutorials and product reviews.
For example, when you recommend a product and a user visits your affiliate link to purchase it, you will start earning commissions. The best places to put these links are in the first few sentences of your description or your comment section and pin it at the top. You can also speak about the affiliate link in your video content to encourage your viewers further.
Posting affiliate links on YouTube is similar to promoting links on your blog or website. This is why you should not flood your content with links since it can discourage your viewers. To build trust with your audience, make an effort to create insightful video content that can help them solve their problems, or provide tutorials and solutions that you have previously accomplished yourself.
That not only lends more credibility to your channel, it also makes it more believable. If people really know that you bake, your baking or cooking tutorials will be 100% believable. Share what you know and watch the number of viewers increase!
- Get Funding From Your Audience
If you have been in the platform for long enough and have built a decent following of loyal fans, you can make money by encouraging them to crowdfund your YouTube channel. Doing this can help your fund your new videos and provide better content to your viewers. You can also give your audience exclusive content when they donate to your cause, and this can encourage them to continue funding your channel.
Nonprofit and for-profit channels leverage this technique of fan-funding to provide better content for their audience, ensuring smooth video operations. As long as you dedicate yourself, be passionate, and genuine with your audience by providing them with top-quality content, you would be surprised at how generous your viewers can be.
- Join the Amazon Influencer Program
The Amazon Influencer has become more popular in recent years because of the popularity of online retail stores. This multi-billion dollar E-commerce company lets you make money by maximizing your YouTube presence and allowing you to review and recommend products from Amazon and encourage your viewers to purchase them via your affiliate links. You earn money when your viewers click your affiliate link and make a purchase on Amazon, allowing you to earn 8 to 10% of the commission.
How Much Money Do YouTubers Make?
Popular YouTubers can make millions of dollars yearly; however, it can be barely anything for smaller content creators. With YouTube’s algorithm becoming stricter, it is getting tougher to make money on the platform, as ad revenue ranges from $0.35 to $5 per view.
The profitability of your channel will heavily depend on your views and your particular niche. You can consider starting a channel in niches like news, celebrity gossip, makeup and beauty, gaming, and fails as it can easily pull in revenue with over millions of views. However, you need to earn a balance of $100 to cash out your first earnings from YouTube.
Although making money on YouTube is getting harder, it is still possible. You have to establish a unique persona and follow our five expert tips to help you begin your journey on YouTube and start earning money. Good luck!