What if I told you that thousands of people like you and me make money on YouTube, and have receive a full time living from their channels!
Let me show you how!
Most people know you can make money on YouTube by ads, but this is only scratching the surface.
Let me first say that these methods mainly apply to those who have built up a substantial following or are in the progress of doing so. You first need to open a shop and have foot traffic before you can earn money. The same goes for YouTube.
For those who are thinking about starting a YouTube channel, don’t see this as “it’s already been done” or “it’s to late for me to get started”. See this as a opportunity that you have a advantage straight from the beginning on how to earn money from your content.
Lets get stuck in!
Ultimate Guide To Making Money On YouTube – 7 Proven Methods
Play Ads On Videos With Google Adsense
Since this method is the most well known and common way to make a earning on YouTube, i will cover this first.
One of the biggest reasons for Adsense being such a popular choice for content creators is thats it’s seamless and passive.
As Google owns YouTube, integration between the two services is seamless. This means YouTube takes care of all the ads, you create the content and money goes into your bank account. Simple.
So how does it all work?
If you recently watched a YouTube video, odds are it had some type of ad embedded within it. This can come in the format of video ads, pop up banner ads, text ads and survey questions.
So how much do you get paid per view with Adsense?
To break this down in a more simple format, lets look at this as per 1,000 views.
As a rule of thumb, if you show both banner and video ads, you can expect to earn $3 per 1,000 views. However this figure can dramatically rise and fall depending on your content and engagement from the viewer.
This gives the video a poor rating in YouTube and advertisers eyes which can drop the earnings to 60 cents per 1,000 views.
For this example, say your video got 120,000 views
120,000 divide 1,000 = 120
120 x $7 per per 1,000 views = $840
This is the potential earnings of this one video at 120,000 views. In another year it might reach 2 million views. Now the potential becomes very promising over the long term. Because of this, adsense is a great first and essential step to make money on YouTube.
Make Money On Your YouTube Videos By Becoming a Amazon Affiliate
Being a Amazon Affiliate has become the newest and greatest frontier for making bucket loads of cash on YouTube.
In a nutshell Amazon Affiliate marketing is when you promote/use/review/discuss a product and receive a commission if a purchase is made. Since Amazon is one of the biggest online stores, it makes sense to to promote products through the site.
Another reason Amazon Affiliate marking has become hugely popular is thanks to its “24 hour cookie”.
Cha-Ching. Commission earned.
If you had that link in your YouTube video, you still receive a commission on that product as long as it was purchased within a 24 hour window. This applies to any product that is purchased regardless if it’s a diamond ring or a 3D printer.
This makes it hugely valuable to be a Amazon Affiliate as people use it every day to shop which means more commissions.
S0 does Amazon Affiliate work with YouTube?
Traditionally many have made a handsome income from writing reviews and recommending products on dedicated Amazon Affiliate websites. Take our review on the best ring lights for YouTubers for example. While this is a great method, the potential audience is limited and much more background work is involved.
This sounds great, but how do you sign up and what do U need?
Singing up for the Amazon Affiliate program is super simple. To signup, follow this link here to the registration page in which you will need a active YouTube channel or website.
After signing up you can expect to get a response within 2-3 days. From there it’s as simple as finding products you wish to promote.
You can check out this video below in which YouTuber Unbox Therapy reviews quirky products and leaves a link in the description. Since his videos get millions of views you can start to imagine the amount of products that would be purchased using his Amazon Affiliate links.
So how much can you earn being a YouTube Amazon Affiliate?
I suppose this is the most important question when it comes down to it. Well you may be happy to hear that the figures are quite impressive.
Before i get into the potential earnings, let me first break down the commission structure in which Amazon pays its affiliates.
Up until recently affiliates were payed on a “number of products sold” structure (see below). This was fantastic for those who sold thousands of products and could reach those high commission numbers.
While this was great for many, it was also limiting to those who sold smaller amounts of products. Hence the new structure that was put in place to even the playing field.
As of March 2017, Amazon have updated their commission structure which is now based on the category of product that is sold (see below). For example if you did a review on a pair of hiking boots and a sale was made. You would receive a commission of 5.5% as it falls under the category of “outdoors”.
There are some definite positives and negatives to this new structure depending on what products you promote. Nevertheless there is plenty of opportunities from this new structure.
So what about the earnings?
To break down the potential earnings of being a Amazon Affiliate, lets use the above Unbox Therapy video as a example. At the time of writing this article the above video has 1.2 million views.
The product that is being promoted is a $175 iPhone case with a battery, storage, LED and wireless charging. Know lets assume that 25% of viewers who watch this video click on the Amazon link in the video.
25% of 1,200,000 viewers = 300,000 clicks
Know lets assume that 3% of these referrals decided to purchase this iPhone case. As iPhone accessories are under the “other” category, the commission is 4%.
3% of the 300,000 clicks = 900 iPhone case purchases
4% commission on $175 iPhone case = $7
900 iPhone cases sold times a $7 commission for each one
= $6,300
Keep in mind this figure doesn’t count any sales that could be made within 24 hour time frame. So overall amount could be much higher over time.
As you can see from the above potential earnings, the numbers are quite outstanding for just one video. While the high views aren’t a reality for all YouTubers. It still shows the amazon potential for your videos even if you get a couple of thousands views and strong interaction.
Gain Sponsorship From From A Business Or Company
Another great way to earn money on YouTube is to gain sponsorship by someone who is looking to promote their product or service. This is a great way to provide something of value to your viewers while also being able to cash in. Its a win win.
Unlike a advertisement before a video that could be any number of things, a sponsorship is typically targeted to a certain audience. Say for example you have a YouTube channel on photography videos and tutorials. This then becomes a prime location for related businesses to promote lenses, filters, editing software, cameras and the list goes on.
As you can see from the above example, the power of sponsorship is extremely powerful for a business and your wallet.
This is great news, but how do i gain sponsorship?
Gaining sponsorship is relatively simple.
You can either wait for a company to approach you which might take sometime depending on the growth of your channel. The second is to be proactive and approach companies that you believe would be a good fit for your channel. I highly recommend the second method as you are taking control of the situation.
Some other useful information to include while communicating would be your demographics, subscriber count, social media following and engagement with your content. This will help them decide whether your channel would be a good fit.
If you are having trouble finding suitable sponsors for your channel you can check out FameBit or Grapevine which work as middle men in connecting businesses with YouTubers. Typically you have to have a minimum of 1,00 subscribers or 2,000 views per video to be eligible.
Types of sponsorship deals
- Affiliate Sponsorship: This is typically a first type of sponsorship a YouTuber will be offered. Generally this comes in the form of recommending a service or product in which you offer a discount code for your viewers. Apart from gaining trust from the business you also get to earn some side commission from any sales made.
- One Time Sponsorships: One you start getting the ball rolling, one time sponsorships are a great way to making some real money from your YouTube channel. Companies will typically pay you a lump sum to promote or review a product over 1-3 videos. Cha-ching!
- Collaboration Sponsorship/Brand Deals: Becoming a brand ambassador is the gold nugget of sponsorship deals. This is a more long term deal which can range from months to years. Take Casey Neistat for example who is a ambassador for Samsung which he reviews and attends product launches.
Release Your Own Product Range/Merch
Among the many ways to make money on YouTube, releasing your own merchandise or product range is a great option. This particular method is generally reserved for those who have a substantial subscriber count or hardcore fanbase.
Take Poker YouTuber Andrew Neeme for example. While he doesn’t have the largest subscriber count, his viewers are devoted fans who watch everyone of his videos. Recently Andrew Neeme released a video in which he released some t-shirts, hoodies and other apparel on his website. Within 1 day nearly all the stock sold out. Amazing.
You can check out the video below in which he builds up to the release of his new merchandise.
Another great example of YouTubers creating and marketing their own products is RomanAtwood. Apart from being one of the biggest Vloggers in the world he is also a merchandise genius. Roman has gained millions of fans around the world that are obsessed with his positive attitude towards life.
With this huge following Roman has released his own brand Smile More which revolves around positive lifestyles. As far as products are concerned, Roman has it covered with t-shirts, hats, pens, sunglasses, books, stickers and heaps more.
For this we recommend using TeeSpring who take a small cut for every t-shirt sold. They have minimum order requirements that can range from 10-50 orders depending on the profit you want from each shirt. But this is a great way to experiment with your audience and designs at no cost.
Provide Extra Content And Become A Tutor On Udemy
When it comes to learning new skills, YouTube is the holy grail of free and extremely valuable content.
You can literally learn anything on YouTube from boiling a perfect egg to forge welding. I myself learnt web design on YouTube which paved the way for me to create and design this website.
While YouTube offers a lot valuable content, there are limitations that come in the form of long formatted and curated content for a particular skill set. Where Udemy differs from YouTube is that it is formatted in a “lecture style” which offers up a lot more information that YouTube videos tend to lack.
Instead of having lecture type fees, Udemy instead offers courses for about the same price of a meal. Prices typically range from $10-$40 depending on the length and popularity of the course, but it’s up to you on how much you want to charge.
In hindsight this would have been a huge time saver when it came to learning web design as i was getting overlapping and conflicting sources on YouTube. While eventually i learnt the skills, the time and ease to do this was a lot longer and difficult.
So how exactly can i make money from Udemy as a YouTuber?
One great way to start earning money from Udemy is to offer up some initial value on your YouTube channel. From there you can direct viewers who are looking to learn more to your Udemy course.
Say for example you had a YouTube channel revolving around photography and offered up some short and valuable tutorials. In one of these video you showcased the fundamentals of street photography which included best times to shoot and composition.
If you direct traffic to your Udemy course you will receive 100% of the course fee. Great value courses sometimes get hundreds if not thousands of students which can add up to thousands of dollars over the life time of a course.
Even better is that if people stumble on your course from Udemy rather than YouTube, you still receive a 45% commission of the fee.
Take this video below for example. This YouTuber has created a Wedding Photography course which he has directed traffic to via his YouTube channel. At the time of writing this article, his Udemy course has racked up 9,180 students at $34 for the course.
Once you do the math, you can start to imagine the amount you can earn on Udemy is quite handsome. To get started check out this guide on how to get started with Udemy.
Become A Social Media Influence Marketer
In many ways just by being a YouTuber is to be a social media influencer. Say for example you use a certain type of camera, eat at a particular restaurant, fly on a certain type of airline. This is by itself indirectly influencing the people that watch your videos.
Say for example you had a YouTube channel on working out. Therefore the type of gear you use, gym you workout out at, supplements you use are all potential things that you could use and earn money from.
Social media influence marketing tends to be more organic in the way you use a product or service on a daily basis. As a byproduct you can then earn money from your daily routines and likes. Gaining money via influence marketing is to speak directly with the businesses that you use on a daily bases.
Remember that you are repressing yourself as a business so respect and trust is essential in making any potential deals or offerings.
Create A Patreon Channel For Die Hard Fans
Another great weapon in your arsenal of making money on YouTube is to join Patreon. If you have built up a substantial following who love your content, Patreon might be the perfect fit for you.
In essence Patreon is a private platform for creators in which they share their videos, music, animations, photography, poems and so on to Patreon members who pay a small price per content. This can come in the form of Patreon’s paying $1-$20 per per video or a monthly donation.
From this transaction, Patreon members get access to exclusive material and early access to new content that will be released publicly. Take YouTuber Veritasium who releases insanely awesome content about science. Since his content is so rich of value and information, viewers cant get enough of it.
Because of this Veritasium releases exclusive content to his Patreon followers in which he earns extra money that allows him to keep creating awesome content. You can check out Vertasium’s Patreon page here.
Hopefully this article gave you some insight on the how to make money on YouTube! Check out some of our other posts about YouTube.
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