Many people dream about making money on YouTube, but only a few people actually know how to go about it. Having the YouTube dream is fantastic. After all, you see other people doing it to the adulation of their fans while making money seemingly enjoying themselves. However, having the YouTube dream is not enough; you have to go the extra step to understand how you will be making revenue on the platform before dabbling in it. So, what opportunities are there for a creator on YouTube to make money? How do you monetise your videos so that you can make a stable income from the platform? In this post, I will be sharing 5 foolproof ways to make money on YouTube.
YouTube Partner Program
The first and easiest way to start making money on YouTube is through the YouTube Partner Program. To qualify to sign up, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers. Please note that the YouTube Partner Program does not automatically sign you up for monetisation. You need to manually apply to be accepted to the program. It is super easy to apply, just follow the simple steps below:
- Sign in to YouTube.
- In the top right, click profile picture to open YouTube Studio.
- In the left menu, click Monetization.
- If under the eligibility for watch hours and subscribers, click “Notify me when eligible” to get an email. The user will receive an email when they reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past 12 months. Once these requirements are met click Start on the “Review Partner Program terms” card.
- Once the user has signed the term, YouTube marks this step with a green “Done” sign on the “Review Partner Program terms” card.
Below is a full breakdown of all the YouTube Partner Program policies:
- Follow all the YouTube channel monetization policies.
- Live in a country/region where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
- Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel.
- Have more than 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months.
- Have more than 1,000 subscribers.
- Have a linked AdSense account.
When your application to the YouTube Partner Program is approved, YouTube will start placing ads on your videos and you make a commission every time a viewer watches the ads.
Through Affiliates Marketing & Sponsorship
Once you amass a sizeable following on the YouTube platform, chances are that businesses will start reaching out to you to give a shoutout to their products in exchange for payment. This is another way to make a good income on YouTube. You may even have sponsorship deals where businesses sponsor a certain amount of episodes of your videos.
If companies don’t reach out to you for sponsorship deals, you can opt to do affiliate marketing for products and get paid a commission anytime the affiliate product is sold.
A great practice is to make sure that the affiliate products you are selecting are products that are in line with the content you share as well as your audience needs. For example, if you run a beauty channel, it will make sense to market beauty products.
There are a number of affiliate networks out there that you can promote their products. Just select one that has a good reputation as well as the kind of products that your viewers will patronise.
YouTube Premium
YouTube Premium is the paid version of YouTube. It is a subscription-based model where viewers can opt to pay to watch videos without being interrupted by ads. As a creator, you don’t need to do anything to qualify for YouTube Premium. If premium subscribers watch your content, YouTube will share a percentage of the revenue with you. In that sense, the idea is to create interesting and engaging content so that both premium and regular customers watch your videos.
Consider Offering Channel Memberships
When your channel hits 30,000 subscribers, YouTube gives you the added option of offering membership subscriptions. It gives you the opportunity of charging your fans $4.99 monthly for premium membership. To attract premium subscribers, you can offer exclusive videos, access to private chats, video requests and other exclusive offers that you are sure will attract people in your target audience.
Here’s how you can turn on the channel membership option:
- Go to the YouTube Creator Studio.
- Navigate to the left menu and click ‘Monetization’.
- Next, you’ll see the ‘Channel Monetization’ page. Go to the uppermost menu and click ‘Memberships’.
- Find the ‘Set-Up Your Memberships Offer’ panel, click ‘Start’, and follow the instructions.
Monetize Your Livestreams With Super Chats
Do you know that you can go live on YouTube? Even better, do you know that you can make money from your live sessions with YouTube’s super chat feature?
The YouTube super chat feature is one that allows you to charge your viewers a fee to allow them to comment on your live sessions. In most cases, creators take questions or comments from the live chats and discuss them on the show. That way, your followers can feel that they are getting value from the session.
Conclusion
YouTube is a great platform to make money online, but knowing how to navigate the platform for revenue can be tedious at times. With this guide, you should understand the various avenues to make money on YouTube and how to apply these strategies.
IMAGE SOURCE: Pixabay
