YouTube stars often resemble self-made celebrities. People who have built an audience by creating content meant to be educational, entertaining, reviewing, and generally plentiful on the Internet.
Most YouTubers probably do what they do to scratch the itch, create and share cool stuff, and get in front of a small audience of like-minded people. If you’re thinking of starting your YouTube channel, making money probably isn’t high on your list of motivations. However, your YouTube channel can be a sizable revenue generator if you like to think strategically about your content.
Don’t you need hundreds of thousands or millions of subscribers and views to make money?
Fortunately, no! Perhaps the most important thing you need to know is that even small and medium-sized YouTube channels are regularly monetized. Our earning capacity is determined by the number of subscribers and views, the engagement level, the niches you serve, and the alternative revenue channels you explore. That’s not to say that your subscriber count doesn’t matter. Check out the tips for getting subscribers on YouTube fast.
Furthermore, listings like the one above can give the impression that the thousands of rupees some YouTubers earn are directly from YouTube. Many of these channels have their own product lines. But before launching our product line, we first had to find and build an audience. If your goal is to earn money on YouTube, the first steps are the same as everyone else. That is, to clearly understand your audience.
Building and understanding your audience allows you to monetize your content in many ways. When monetizing your YouTube content, the more niche your channel is, the easier it is to partner with brands that target specific audiences.
- So, be very careful when looking at your YouTube analytics.
- The age group most of the viewers fall into.
- The geographic location (country or city) where your video has been seen.
- Total viewer engagement or “time watched.”
- Use this demographic information to understand your audience better and work more effectively with your brand.
Can I get paid just for uploading great videos to YouTube?
No, you can’t get paid just for uploading videos. In fact, by default, videos are not monetized. The easiest way to earn money on YouTube is to apply and get approved for the YouTube Affiliate Program. If accepted into the YouTube Partner Program, you can enable monetization in your YouTube account settings.
It opens up several potential revenue streams, including advertising, channel memberships, and YouTube Premium revenue sharing.
Earn money directly through the YouTube platform.
The first revenue stream you might want to consider on YouTube is through videos as part of Google’s AdSense program. Ads that are posted. To receive a portion of the advertiser’s costs for these ads, you must join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) and enable monetization on your YouTube account. Two key points to work on are that your channel has at least 1,000 subscribers and at least 4,000 hours of public watch time in the last 12 months on your channel.
How to Apply Monetization on YouTube?
Once you have joined YPP, you need to follow these steps to apply monetization for your YouTube channel:
- Log in to the YouTube account you want to monetize
- Click the icon for your account in the top right second step. Click Monetize 5 in the left menu.
Suppose you have read and agreed to the YouTube Partner Program Terms and Conditions. Once done, return to your dashboard and click the Analytics tab on the left. You should select ‘Revenue’ from the top tab and scroll down to the ‘Estimated Monthly Earnings’ chart to get a sense of your projected earnings.
How many views do you need to make money on YouTube?
There is no universal answer to this question, as many factors determine how much you earn from your videos.
On the one hand, it depends on the advertising model chosen by the advertiser. CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per 1,000 views), or CPA (cost per action). Hence, getting 5000 views on YouTube videos can be a great way to attract more audience to your channel. Different models generate extra revenues from each ad viewed or clicked. Additionally, the keywords your video targets, the length of your video, and the geographic location of your audience also play a role.
Besides, 5000 views will get monetized using the Cost per Mile (CPM). So, for 5K views, your income will be; suppose your CPM was INR 400. And 5000 views X 400/1000 = INR 2000
Hence, 5000 YouTube views from INR 2000 to INR 3000 based on the given CPM. However, the pay differs for every creator based on various factors, including your channel’s niche.
YouTube Premium
It is a paid membership program that allows viewers to watch ad-free content with other benefits. For creators, this is an additional source of income, as YouTube Premium subscribers get paid when their content is watched.
YouTube shares a portion of premium earnings with creators. How much a YouTuber earns depends primarily on the channel watch time they get from premium subscribers.
The YouTube Shorts Fund
The YouTube Shorts Fund is a $100 million fund that encourages YouTubers to create high-quality short films (videos no longer than 60 seconds). YouTube will notify you if you have made a short film in the last six months and are eligible to receive funding from the Foundation.
Other than making short films and maintaining your channel’s reputation, you have no control over the availability of this revenue stream. Therefore, it may be best not to rely on it too much.