You’ve probably seen some of those kids who are making lots of money by uploading their silly videos on YouTube. They’re not just rich – they’re famous now.
Can you replicate their wild success? Let’s try and find out.
How Can You Monetize Your Channel?
So, how do people actually earn money with YouTube? We’re not talking about PewDiePie kind of money. You can’t really count on that sort of fame when Disney wants to make a deal with you.
We’ll take a look at how regular people earn money on the platform.
Google Adsense
YouTube is part of Google. The ads you see on the videos are paid for by the advertisers, and your channel can tune in to this network.
The in-search ads are going to be useless to you, as they display paid videos. What you should focus on are the pre-roll and in-display ads.
Pre-roll ads are shown before your video begins. In-display ones are shown on the bottom of your video or interrupt it to show an ad. The last type of ads is shown in longer videos.
Once your channel meets Google requirements for becoming a partner, you can start earning money from ads. Right now, you’re required to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 annual views to be eligible for ad revenue.
You can choose either CPC or CPV ads. Cost Per Click (CPC) ads pay you for users that clicked on an ad. Cost Per View (CPV) ones pay for the number of users who watched half of the ad. If the advertisement is long enough, you’ll get money for people watching at least 30 seconds of the video.
This is why your overall views don’t matter at all. If a million people watch your video but skip the ad, you don’t get any money.
Sponsored Videos
Another way to monetize your channel is accepting sponsors. You can get contracts from thousands of companies that want to promote their products.
The pay depends on a deal you negotiate. You can get paid for the number of views or for the number of people who click on the link. You can even get a cut off the company’s sales.
The problem here is that you can get the wrong sponsor.
The companies that offer sponsorship range from mobile games to essay writing companies like https://www.bestcustomwriting.com/.
While none of them are bad in and of themselves, you can mismatch your audience and the sponsor. If you have a gaming channel but promote essay writing services, you will lose subscribers.
Monetize Your Audience
Taking money from third parties is not the only way to earn on YouTube. You can also make money off of your audience.
For example, you can create a product of your own and promote it. It can be an original product or a common one. Many channels sell their branded T-shirts and mugs to help them continue creating content.
Do your viewers genuinely care about what you’re doing? Ask them to support you directly via Patreon or other patron services. You can earn a living from donations this way.
The Problem With YouTube
There’s a big problem with earning ad revenue on YouTube. After Adpocalypse the platform started demonetizing videos and entire channels.
Most of Google advertisers are big brands like Coca Cola or Procter & Gamble. They are very picky when it comes to content. After an incident involving an ad being played on an inappropriate video, they boycotted YouTube.
This lead to the platform starting a campaign against content that the advertisers don’t like. But that’s not the problem in and of itself.
The problem is that the algorithms they use are not perfect, and sometimes they demonetize videos that are otherwise okay. Your video can even be demonetized over the comments that your subscribers leave under it.
This is one of the reasons why practically no one is making money on YouTube these days.
Content Strategies that Help You Earn on YouTube
So how do you make money in this environment? There are two major strategies.
Create Content for a Single Audience
The first strategy involves getting into a single profitable niche. You can find how much advertisers would pay for your niche by conducting keyword research.
For instance, you can focus on men’s hair care and get ads from Gilette. Alternatively, you can create videos on computer hardware and receive ad revenue from companies that sell computers.
You have to be very precise with your research. Otherwise, you may get into a niche that doesn’t pay well.
However, you may still find sponsors for your niche.
Target Children
It’s no big secret that Youtube is TV for kids. Children watch an insane amount of videos on YouTube, and it’s the people who create engaging content for children that earn the most.
The largest amount of views are on PewDiePie videos and nursery rhymes if you don’t count big pop music hits.
If you manage to craft content that focuses on kids, you may become popular and get ads from large companies.
YouTube is Past its Peak
The bad news is that the days when you could become a YouTube celebrity overnight are over.
The good news is that you can still earn a living on the platform. If you’re wise with your strategy and create outstanding content, you can still do it!