How To Earn Money with YouTube Videos

If you’re the creative type, you may have considered trying to earn money on YouTube. You have likely watched leading YouTubers and wanted a piece of their action, especially when you learn they are earning in excess of $100k a year from doing it. But it isn’t as simple as just recording a quick video and uploading it. There is a whole lot more to it than that.

In theory, making money with YouTube videos is simple. Create a video, upload it, link it to AdSense, wait for the cash to start rolling in. That theory is sound as it that is exactly what it involved, but as usual the real story is much more complicated.

The first thing to know about earning money with YouTube videos is that you don’t make much from advertising alone. The current market pays a couple of dollars per thousand views, so you need views in the millions to make serious cash. To earn like the leaders, you need to complement those ads with placements, sponsorship and other ventures. That is where the money is.

Setting up your YouTube moneymaking venture

Getting everything set up is the easy part. All you need do is create a YouTube Channel, enable monetization, connect to AdSense and read the rules. Then you can begin creating content.

1. Sign into YouTube using your Google account.
2. Select your portrait in the top right of the window and select Creator Studio.
3. Select Channel from the left menu.
4. Enable Monetization from the center pane and accept the agreement that appears.
5. Sign up to AdSense in the next window that appears.
6. Configure the ad formats you want to use.

Once complete, you can now either monetize existing videos or create new videos to begin monetizing.

YouTube recently changed the rules on earning through videos by adding a minimum threshold of 10,000 views before you get paid. So to begin with, you will see nothing happening on your new venture but once you break through that 10,000 view barrier, you will begin to see the money.

Now you have a YouTube Channel, you have it linked to AdSense and you have everything set up to make money. Now the real work begins!

Making money from YouTube

YouTube on its own won’t make you rich. Think of it more as a launch pad. You get yourself out there, become popular and use your videos to leverage products, promotions and get sponsorship. It’s a long road but everything worthwhile is.

First steps

With your YouTube channel in place, you now need to think about building an audience. With billions of potential viewers, there is already an appetite for video content but with thousands of other creators, there is also competition. To build your video empire, you need to offer something others do not. Whether that is a unique viewpoint, a different set of skills, expertise, humor or whatever. You need a USP (Unique Selling Point) that stands out from the crowd.

You need to ask yourself ‘why should these people watch me? What can I offer that other YouTubers do not?’ Once you can answer those two questions, you can begin building your YouTube brand.

Planning your YouTube domination

Now you need to put together a plan for a series of videos on your subject of choice. Before you begin recording, you need to get into a particular mindset. That of your potential audience. While performers can be a narcissistic lot, you constantly need to put yourself in the mind of your audience in order to give them what they want.

While your channel might be all about you, it needs to be in a format that your audience will like and engage with. It needs to cover a subject or subjects that enough people are interested in to make you money. It also needs to be interesting enough to keep them coming back for more.

Exactly how you approach that depends entirely on you, your chosen subject and your target audience. The longer you spend on this and the more effort you put in, the better the results will be.

Executing the plan

The balance between adequate planning and too much planning is a fine one and you have to find it. Once you know what you are going to talk about, it’s now time to write a script, get your props, set up the ‘studio’ and prepare for recording. To begin with it will likely be your bedroom or office. Make sure it is quiet, distraction free and you can record in peace. Then edit, upload and promote it everywhere you can.

It is incredibly difficult to make money from YouTube alone. It is better used as a springboard to greater things. Give it the effort and intelligence it deserves and it can catapult you into celebrity but it takes blood, sweat and tears to get there. Good luck with it!