Video Marketing 101: How to Earn Money from YouTube

The process—uploading a few high-quality videos, attracting viewers, and making money from ads—should be straightforward enough. However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. In fact, you cannot generate enough money on ad revenue alone. You also have to consider other ways to make a massive income using YouTube.

Still, earning money from YouTube is a pretty simple concept if you understand the process well enough. To guide you, here are the most important things you should know when it comes to monetizing your video on the website.

The Ultimate Guide to Earning Money from YouTube

Why Youtube?

If you’re still not sure whether YouTube is the right platform to earn money from home, read these facts to prove you otherwise.

YouTube is the second most popular website in the world, just behind Google.
YouTube has 1.9 billion users logging in every month.
YouTube is available in 91 countries and 80 languages, covering 95% of the Internet population.
YouTube receives more than 30 million visitors everyday.
1 billion hours of video are watched everyday on YouTube.
Every minute, there are 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube.
6 out of 10 people prefer watching YouTube videos compared to live TV.
8 out of 10 people aged 18-49 watch YouTube every month.

What You Need to Make Quality Videos: The YouTuber Starter Pack

Now that you’re willing to venture into YouTube, it’s time to start making some videos on your channel to earn profit from them.

And while you can always shoot a YouTube video just with your phone, nothing can compare to the quality of a video produced with the right and complete gear. After all, a professional-looking video makes it significantly easier to attract viewers and start earning money from YouTube. So if you want to achieve high-quality videos, consider investing in these following equipment.

1. Camera

You should place importance on the quality of your videos as this allows other people to see your value as a YouTube content creator. It’s recommended that you buy a decent camera so you can record and upload videos in high definition (atleast full 1080p).

2. Microphone

Most cameras already come with a microphone but unfortunately, the quality of sound that you’d be getting from them isn’t really the best.

Buy a separate microphone to achieve top sound quality. Always avoid settling for less, especially when you plan to venture into a highly-competitive niche such as beauty or gaming.

3. Good-Looking Backdrop

If you’re planning to make tutorial videos (or anything that involves you speaking to the camera), you might want to set up a good-looking backdrop.

You may find that a nice window or a colored wallpaper can do the trick but do decorate it a little bit to make it look appealing in video.

4. Tripod

Unless you’re making a point or the scene requires it, avoid shooting shaky videos! Invest in a tripod to stabilize your shots. This makes your video look sharp, polished, and professional.

5. Lighting

For people just starting out in YouTube, investing in lighting equipment isn’t really necessary. Natural light and a few fluorescent lights can work perfectly fine.

Still, do aim to have better lighting when filming as this ultimately shows that you place great effort and time producing your videos. In addition, it makes the editing work so much easier.

6. Storage Card

Without this handy little thing, you can’t store your videos and upload them on YouTube. Get atleast a 32GB SD card for full HD videos or a 128GB one if you’re planning to shoot 4K videos.

Tip: If you mainly shoot on your phone, there are storage cards, called MicroSD, you can use to store your videos.

7. Video Editing Software

In order to put together all the video you captured, you need to invest in a video editing software. Some are completely free and can even be used in your phone. Still, professional video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro can do wonders especially if you’re planning to add special effects and complex graphics.

How to Become a Successful YouTuber: 8 Secrets to Know

However, the right gear is just a part of the equation. In order to be as successful as PewDiePie (and earn as much money as him!), there are important things you need to know. So follow these tips to elevate your YouTube channel’s reputation to stardom.

1. Show Confidence

You probably have enough self-confidence to start a YouTube channel in the first place.

Still, do remember to always show this confidence throughout your videos. After all, nobody really wants to watch a YouTuber who’s awkward around the camera—to the point that he doesn’t look straight at the camera and stutters at every word he speaks.

2. Follow Popular Trends

If you want more people to discover your YouTube channel, you have to follow popular trends. Not only can you get a new following but you can also provide entertaining video content for your current fans.3

3. Be Yourself

However, being yourself is just as important as following trends.

Avoid copying someone else’s ideas, especially if his channel is more popular than yours because people are more likely to gravitate towards him.

And even if you combine trending topics in your content, you still need to think about how you’re gonna make it unique and completely yours. It’s also recommended that you add a new twist to your videos from time-to-time to keep your subscribers hooked.

4. Pick a Good YouTube Channel Name

Users are less likely to visit your YouTube channel when you have a username mixed with random words and numbers. Stick with a simple yet distinct name. For inspiration, you can review the usernames of your favorite YouTubers.

5. Use a Catchy Video Title

Having a catchy title is the key to make the audience click and watch your videos.

You should keep it short and sweet as much as possible in order to quickly present the main idea to your viewers. However, do also consider using enticing and descriptive words to “bait” them in watching your video content.

Tip: Avoid using a word or phrase that’s not related to the video to minimize your chances in getting banned by YouTube.

6. Add Relevant Thumbnails

Of course, you also need to add thumbnails to your video as it’s one of the first things people see when browsing YouTube. Use a big font and make sure there are even spaces in between the characters for optimum readability.

7. Consider Youtube SEO

Like your websites, you also need to use SEO for your YouTube videos in order to rank them higher on search results in and outside of the video sharing platform. This is a broad topic but you basically need to optimize your channel by adding relevant keywords that have high search volume.

8. Upload Content Regularly

To keep your YouTube channel popular among viewers, you have to upload content regularly. It’s up to you whether you’ll be posting daily, weekly, or monthly but it’s recommended to do so at constant time periods (for instance, uploading every Monday). This ultimately helps your followers keep track of your new videos.

How to Qualify for Youtube Monetization?

But before you start earning money from your YouTube videos, you have to qualify for monetization first.

Your YouTube channel needs to have atleast 4,000 hours of watch time (in the previous 12 months) and 1,000 subscribers in order to receive a certain amount.

This policy was first implemented by YouTube at the beginning of 2018 to place importance on watch time. Watch time simply refers to the total number of hours users spent watching your uploaded videos.

Tip: If you want to keep your subscribers at your channel for as long as possible, prioritize watch time data over view count.

How to Enable Monetization on Your YouTube Channel: 6 Easy Steps to Follow

Already got 4,000 hours of watch time and 1,000 subscribers? YouTube will automatically review your account to make sure it complies with their terms and community guidelines. After getting approved at the 30-day period, you can now enable monetization on your YouTube channel. Here’s how you can do it.

1. Sign in to your YouTube account.

2. Click your account icon in the top right corner.

3. Then select YouTube Studio.

4. In the left menu, select Other Features > Monetization.

5. Read and accept YouTube’s Program Terms and Community Guidelines.

6. Then follow the steps YouTube gave.

How to Earn Money from Youtube: 8 Ways to Try Out

Once you have enabled monetization, you can now earn money from YouTube. There are many ways to generate income from the platform and I’ve listed them below to guide you.

1. Become a YouTube Partner

You can start earning money from YouTube once you become an official YouTube Partner. By being a member of this special program, you can have access to special features on the video sharing platform such as:

Advertising Revenue – Although I’ve previously stated earlier that relying on ads don’t make a steady income, it’s still one of the ways you should look into. You can get ad revenue from overlay, display, and video ads, but the amount will ultimately depend on how many views your videos receive. You have to be atleast 18 years of age to handle your payments via AdSense. Do note that you also need to meet YouTube’s content guidelines.
Channel Memberships – You can make enough revenue each month, thanks to this feature. Simply offer special perks to your subscribers and they will pay you in exchange for a membership in your channel. However, you need to have 30,000 subscribers to qualify.
Merchandise Shelf – You can even add your products or merchandise in your channel so fans can browse and buy them. (Note: More about this later.)
Super Chat – Host a livestream and enable this special feature so your fans have the option to pay your channel to get their messages highlighted in chat streams. (Note: I will also discuss this later.)
YouTube Premium Revenue – Urge your subscribers to be a YouTube Premium member so you can get a small, fixed portion of money from the subscription fee they will pay.

2. Work With Brands as an Influencer

When you hear the words “influencer,” you probably think about Instagram. But did you know you don’t have to be on this social media platform to become an influencer? Look into YouTube instead.

If you already have a large following on YouTube, you can try reaching out to popular brands. Once they review and like your video content, they will pay you directly to promote their products or services. The main advantage of doing this is you don’t have to give YouTube a part of your revenue.

To give further insight on this specific method, here are some tips you can follow.

Tip #1: Work with brands with the same ideals as you. You probably dreamed of working with big brands such as Nike, Samsung, and Amazon. However, do aim to partner with a brand that fits your channel’s demographics and interests. This will ultimately help you retain your subscribers.
Tip #2: Be transparent. Know that a sponsored content is one form of advertising and make sure your subscribers are aware of this fact. Despite this, you should continue making quality videos in order to earn your viewers’ trust. After all, nobody wants to follow a channel who only advertises.
Tip#3: Don’t be afraid to negotiate. You can charge a specific brand a lot more money for your content, especially if you enjoy a massive following already. Do keep in mind that YouTube videos are more expensive to produce compared to Instagram Stories or Facebook posts. Most importantly, you should know your worth before signing a contract.

3. Sell Your Products

Already have a business before starting your YouTube career? Or maybe you’ve been thinking about starting one ever since you made it big on the video sharing platform?

Either way, one thing is for certain—you can earn money from YouTube by selling your products or merchandise. Whether it’s clothing, bags, makeup, or something small like pens and badges, feel free to feature and promote them on your channel. Not only are you announcing to the world about your items, but you are also building meaningful relationships with your fans. Ultimately, what you’re doing makes them feel like a part of a community that are willingly supporting you.

Tip #1: Choose a unique product that fits your YouTube channel. It’s best to sell items that represent your channel’s personality. This will help you connect to your audience more and gives off a higher chance that your products will be successful in the market.

Tip #2: Consider partnerships. Think about how you’ll produce and get your products to your audience. For instance, if you’re planning to venture into T-shirts, you can contact merchandising networks to help you produce your items at their own warehouse. (Refer to this list of approved merchandise sites.) For handling orders and customers, consider logistics providers to take care of the shipping and customer support. Ultimately, by partnering with such companies, you avoid taking on the heavy work and simply enjoy the benefits of your business as it comes.

Tip #3: Put up a separate website. Doing so can provide more information about your products to your audience and help you handle purchases easily. Of course, don’t forget to add your shop’s link to your video descriptions!

4. Direct Traffic to Youtube Affiliate Links

You can also take advantage of affiliate marketing on YouTube. Simply put up a link to a website in your videos and wait until your viewers click that link. Once they make a purchase on that specific website, you get a small percentage of the sale.

Again, like partnering with brands, make sure you put up links that are only relevant to your channel.

5. Crowdfund Your Next Creative Project

Since donations are now common in the online community, crowdfunding is one thing you shouldn’t miss when making videos on YouTube. Once you have set up your crowdfunding account, you can fund your next creative project or even generate ongoing income from small monthly donations.

Here are some popular crowdfunding sites where you can reach out to people with the same ideals and interests as you.

Kickstarter – It’s probably the biggest name on the list where you can ask for funding cool, high-tech products and creative projects. It’s also easy to use: just simply set an attainable amount of money then the time period to complete it. However, you have to remember that Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. If you don’t complete your campaign, you don’t get any money. So it’s best to set an attainable funding goal to receive donations from the site.

Indiegogo – You can enjoy more flexible funding options (namely fixed and flexible) with Indiegogo. Fixed funding is recommended for projects that need a certain amount of money. On the other hand, flexible is best if you want your campaigns to benefit from any funding.
GoFundMe – You can opt to reach out to GoFundMe users if you need funds for personal use, such as charitable causes or emergencies.

6. Try Fan Funding

You can also let your fans directly pay you if they really like your video content. There are various fan funding platforms you can implement on your YouTube channel.

Super Chat – This Fan Funding feature is only unlocked once you become a YouTube partner and live in a country where it is available. Basically, when you live stream, you can generate income when your viewers pay money to see their comments highlighted and pinned at the top of the live chat stream. The duration a comment stay highlighted will depend on how much a user spends.
Patreon – This membership platform is outside YouTube but many video creators get paid here. By sharing exclusive content and even access to your work with your loyal fans, you can get paid a hefty amount.
Tipeee – You can enjoy both one-off and recurring donations when you sign up for Tipeee, another fan funding platform outside YouTube. And don’t forget to share the link to your YouTube followers so they can support you!

7. License Your Video to the Media

On the rare (and extremely lucky!) chance your videos go viral, you can expect news and media outlets to reach out to you and get your permission to replay the said video for their audience. However, you can actually license your content in exchange of money!

Tip #1: Add your contact details on your About page. Once you include your phone number and email address on your channel, people from the media can easily contact you. Do make sure the details are all updated so you can receive inquiries in real time.
TIp #2: Don’t wait for the media! Opt to submit your videos to an entertainment marketplace like Jukin Media where news outlets just directly buy your content from the website.

8. Consider Live Speaking Engagements

If you want to boost your YouTube reputation, live speaking engagements are the way to go. In addition, you can actually generate a large amount of money by simply presenting an hour-long talk.

But before you seek this opportunity, you need to produce video content that is focused on a specific audience. Research about annual conferences and other industry-related events to give you an idea. After, you can start pitching your videos to the directors of these big events and hope they consider you as a speaker for their next event.

With about 1/3 of the world’s internet population using it, YouTube is certainly a platform you should consider if you want to make money online. Simply shooting and uploading your videos for ad revenues is not enough. You also have to consider other ways to earn money from YouTube in order to generate a steady income.

Visit my blog for more insights on video marketing.