How to get paid from YouTube

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for monetizing your YouTube channel. But getting paid from the world’s largest video platform isn’t impossible. There are many different ways to make money from your videos, you just have to find the strategy that works best for you.
There are three main ways to monetize your YouTube channel: advertising, brand sponsorships, and selling digital goods like merchandise and subscriptions. Let’s take a look at each of these methods in more detail.

YouTube Advertising

Advertising is by far the most common way to generate revenue from your videos. YouTube’s ad revenue share model is simple - if you have 10,000 or more views, YouTube will pay you 55% of the revenue from ads. That drops down to 45% for 1,000 - 10,000 views, and 0% if you have less than 1000 views.

You can choose to display ads at the beginning, end, or throughout your video, and you can even choose which advertisers and categories your ads will appear against. This means that even if you have very niche content, you can still generate income through ads.

When you’re choosing an ad format for your videos, remember that format has to be flexible enough to work on different types of devices - from desktop computers to mobile phones. Ad formats that are designed for desktop computers won’t work as well on smartphones, and vice versa.

These are some popular ad formats that work well on a variety of devices:

•  Display ads - These are full-screen ads that cover part of the video or the entire page. They can be text ads, images, video spots, or a combination of these.
•  In-stream ads - These are ads that are shown between the video and the video controls.
•  Audio ads - These are short audio ads that play before or during the video.

Brand Sponsorships

When you partner with a brand to create sponsored content, you’ll receive a one-time payment from the brand plus any additional revenue from the video. Sponsored content can take the form of a video review, an unboxing video, or an informational video about the product. You should use this method if you want to create sponsored content with a more journalistic slant and put more focus on the product.

Sponsored content can take many forms, but let’s take a look at some of the most popular ways to monetize your YouTube channel:

•  Product reviews - This is one of the most common ways to create sponsored content. You create a review video on a product (or a few products) and then partner with the brand that makes that product to create an affiliate link.
•  Giveaways - Another way to promote a brand and drive traffic to their website is to partner with them to host a giveaway. You can either host the giveaway on your own YouTube channel or bring in brand partners to host the giveaway on their channels.
•  Create an affiliate link - This type of sponsorship is common on many types of websites, including YouTube. You link to a product or service on an affiliate’s website and get a small percentage of each sale.

Selling Digital Goods

If you have a large and engaged audience, you can make money from selling physical and digital goods like t-shirts, mugs, books, and even memberships. The type of merchandise you sell will depend on your niche, and you’ll want to find products that are both relevant to your channel and easily made. If you sell physical products, you’ll need to invest in a shopping cart and shipping supplies.
Some ways to sell digital goods on YouTube include:

•  Become an affiliate - You can partner with an affiliate marketing network and promote products in your channel. Keep in mind that you won’t be the seller of the products. Instead, you’ll earn a commission for each sale, usually between 5-25%.
•  Build a membership site - If you have a loyal following, you may be able to turn them into members of your channel with a subscription service like Patreon. You’ll have to offer enough value to entice viewers to pay a monthly fee, and you’ll have to be careful not to run afoul of FTC advertising rules.

Working with Brands – Product Reviews

Product reviews on YouTube aren’t just for new products you buy off the shelves. If there’s a product you want to review and you can’t or don’t want to buy it, you can reach out to brands and ask if they’d be willing to send a sample to review.

You can also contact different brands and see if they’d be willing to pay you to review their products. You can also host a giveaway of the product and add it as a prize.

For example, let’s say you want to review the new iPhone Xs. You can reach out to Apple and ask if they’d be willing to send you a sample to review. If you have enough of a following, they may agree. Now you can create a video where you discuss the new features of the iPhone Xs and what’s special about the product. You can also mention in the video that you got the iPhone Xs from Apple and give them a little shout out for sending you the product.

You can also host giveaways where you add the iPhone XS as a prize. This is a great way to increase your followers as well as make some extra money from the iPhone XS.

Build a Audience and Grow your Own Channel

While some people do partner with brands to create sponsored content, many more people choose to build their own audience on YouTube. It’s not as easy as getting paid to review a product that already exists, but you still own the rights to the video and can use it however you want.

It may seem daunting, but it’s definitely worth it in the long run. You’ll earn more money in the long run, and you’ll also have more creative freedom. Plus, you’ll have full control over when and how you publish new videos, which can be a huge advantage if you have a regular day job.

Building your own audience means putting in time and effort to create engaging content and grow your subscriber base. Here are some tips for growing your YouTube channel:

•  Create a great thumbnail - This may seem simple, but the first thing people see when they click on your video is the thumbnail. Make it eye-catching and relevant to your video’s topic so that viewers click on your video.
•  Use keywords - When you create your title and description, use relevant keywords that your audience is searching for. This will help your video show up higher in YouTube searches and will also help you get discovered through other search engines like Google.
•  Create high-quality videos - This may seem obvious, but make sure your videos are high quality. If you’re recording your video on a smartphone, make sure to eliminate background noise and keep the video focused.
•  Engage with your viewers - Interact with your viewers as much as you can. Ask them questions, respond to comments, and thank them for watching.
•  Promote your channel - Once you have a couple of videos on your channel, you can promote them to your friends and family and ask them to subscribe. You can also ask your viewers to click the “subscribe” button on your channel.
•  Encourage sharing - You can also encourage your viewers to share your videos with their friends and followers on social media. They can easily do this by clicking on the “share” button underneath your video.

Earn from Views and Ads without Partnerships or Advertisements

Not everyone has time to build a large following. If you’re in a rush to monetize your content, consider these methods for making money from your videos without advertisements or partnerships.

•  Sell your products - If you’re reviewing or talking about products, try selling those products in your videos.
•  Sell your services - If you’re reviewing a product and offering tips on how to use it, you can also sell your own service. For example, if you’re reviewing a particular computer program, and you offer computer tutoring, you can sell lessons on that program.
•  Get paid to click - Sites like CLICKBOT pay you to click on ads, visit websites, and take surveys. For example, CLICKBOT pays you to click on ads, and you can earn up to $100 per day.
•  Get paid to test products - Sites like Project