How to get paid for your YouTube videos

If you have a great personality, are an excellent video editor, and love talking about your hobbies, YouTube could be the perfect place to monetize them. Getting paid for your videos isn’t easy, but with some elbow grease and creativity, anyone can get their videos out there and start making money.

If you’re reading this post, chances are that you’re thinking about how you can make money from your videos. You might also be wondering if it’s possible to monetize your own content without signing up with an agency or giving someone exclusive rights to it.

The answer is yes! You can monetize your own content by creating your own company and selling stock in it—but that probably sounds like a lot of work. Fortunately, there are plenty of other ways to make money from your videos.

YouTube Partners

If you’ve been on YouTube for awhile, you’ve probably seen a number of channels with “Partner” in their titles. And if you’ve ever wondered how they got to that position, the answer is simple: these channels are monetizing their content and earning a share of the ad revenue YouTube earns off their videos. But how do you become a YouTube Partner? And how much can you earn if you become one? YouTube’s Partner Program is invite-only and has no set qualifications.

In other words, there’s no set criteria that you need to meet in order to become a Partner. Instead, YouTube relies on a combination of analytics and human moderators to decide who can be a Partner.

The Partners Program is one of the easiest ways to start making money from your YouTube channel. You just need to be consistent, create high-quality content, and be able to meet the minimum requirements for total views and watch time. If you do that, YouTube will send you an email asking you to join the program.

Create a product-based business

If you’ve ever wondered how people make money from things like t-shirts, coffee mugs, and phone cases, it’s probably through merchandise. The good news is that you can create your own merchandise and sell it through platforms like Teespring and Zazzle.

If you have a particularly popular video you’ve already made, you can also try to sell replicas of the props you used in the video. You can also create your own products—for example, if you’re a gamer, you could create your own gaming-themed items. For example, if you like to play The Last of Us, you could create shirts featuring your favorite quotes from the game. Or, if you play Fortnite, you could create shirts based on your favorite skins or quotes from that game.

Sell ad space

If you’re not interested in creating your own products, you could also sell ad space on your channel or your website. If you have a large enough following (usually around 10,000 subscribers), you can sell ad space directly to advertisers through a service like Adsense or RevBoss. If you’re looking to get even more specific with your ads, you could also sign up to become an influencer or partner with an ad network.

Ad networks like Media.Net, AdGag, or Fameolous have ad sales teams that work with brands to find influencers in your niche. If you’re signed up with one of these networks and you have a popular channel, you could get paid anywhere from $50 to $10,000 per ad, depending on how large your audience is.

Become an influencer

If you already have a decent following on another social media platform, you could try to become an influencer. This is when you partner with an online company and promote their product in exchange for a commission on each sale.

The easiest way to find potential partners is to use a website like e-TRADE or a platform like Fameolous. You could also try to reach out to companies directly and pitch them the idea of partnering with you.

Some common types of influencer relationships include paid product reviews, sponsored posts, and affiliate links. Paid product reviews are exactly what they sound like: You get paid to review a product that you would normally purchase yourself. If you decide to go this route, make sure you disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Join a network

Another way to monetize your YouTube channel is to join a network. Networks like Fullscreen, Awesomeness, or YouNow let you get paid for hosting live streams, posting videos, and interacting with fans. You can also try to join other types of networks, like multi-channel networks (MCNs) that allow you to collaborate with other YouTubers and earn revenue from your combined audiences.

Depending on who you partner with, revenue from networks can vary. YouNow, for example, pays a percentage of your total earnings based on how many hours you broadcast each month. YouNow also gives you the option of accepting gift cards or cash. Fullscreen, on the other hand, pays a set fee for creating video content for their platform.

Make money with affiliate apps

Another way to monetize your channel is by partnering with affiliate apps. Affiliate apps like Swagbucks let you earn money for virtually everything you do online, including watching videos and clicking links. You can also try to partner with other apps and use your YouTube channel to promote them.

Affiliate apps pay in a variety of ways: Some pay per click, while others pay per impressions or per sale. It’s important to read the terms of service for each app you sign up for so that you understand how you’re being compensated.

If you want to make money from your videos, you need to think about more than just creating content. You also need to think about how you’re going to distribute that content and bring people to your channel. Once you’ve created your content, you can start to monetize it by joining YouTube Partner, using a network, or promoting affiliate apps.

If you’re serious about making money from your videos, you need to be consistent and create high-quality content. You also need to be willing to put in the time to build an audience. These efforts can take time, but if you’re willing to put in the work, you can start making money from your YouTube channel.