I have my doubts about whether or not you’ll be able to make a full-time living off of YouTube. The platform is massive and it’s always expanding, which means there’s always room for more content. It’s pretty easy to get started with, all you need is a camera, a laptop and a steady hand, but beyond that you’re on your own. The good thing is that you can generate residual income from the platform in the form of sponsorships, affiliate sales and private online courses.
What is YouTube’s secret sauce? It’s an incredibly versatile tool that can be used to create content for virtually any purpose and it has a massive global audience. The best part is that you don’t need to have a huge network or a sizable group of followers to get started, which makes it much more approachable for average people like you and me. You can put yourself in an incredibly advantageous position by regularly contributing content to the platform.
Let’s explore how you can make money online with YouTube, which is truly the king of all social media networks.
Create a channel for your niche
One of the first things you need to do is pick a niche. This is the category or subject matter that you will focus on and build all of your content around. There are dozens of niches out there, but you need to find one that you can become an expert in. Your chosen niche should be something that you feel passionate about and, more importantly, that can be converted into quality content. You should also find a niche that has a lot of potential, which means there is already some demand for your product or service in your chosen niche. This will make it much easier to find people to subscribe to your channel and, ultimately, make money from YouTube.
It’s important to keep in mind that picking a niche doesn’t necessarily mean that you will specialize in that topic. There are many topics that you can choose and become an expert in, but you need to narrow it down to a more specific niche. For example, maybe you are an expert in astrology, which is a broad topic. You can carve out a niche by specializing in the zodiac signs and their corresponding characteristics. This way, you will be able to build a following and monetize content regarding astrology.
Once you’ve picked your niche, the next step is to figure out what type of content will best represent you. There are hundreds of thousands of YouTube channels, so you need to stand out from the crowd. One way to do this is to create content that is entertaining, informative or both. You can also include product reviews, how-to’s and interesting tidbits about your niche subject matter. Ultimately, you want to create content that will keep people coming back for more.
Build a community around your channel
The best way to make money online is by building a community. You can do this by becoming a thought leader in your chosen niche and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. To prove your expertise, you can include detailed descriptions of how you became an expert in your field, as well as links to blogs, articles or other websites that you have authored. The more you can include, the more credibility you will gain.
Once you’ve built a solid foundation of content, the next step is to start interacting with your audience. You can do this through videos, where you talk about your topic, or you can use a tool like Skype or Teams to have Q&As, start forums or hold webinars. In any way that you can have a conversation with your audience, engage with them and give them value. If you can do this effectively, you will have people willing to pay you for your expertise.
Monetize your channel through affiliate marketing
There are dozens of ways to make money online, which YouTube lets you do through affiliate marketing. What is affiliate marketing? In short, it’s when you recommend a product or service that you’ve been paid to promote and when someone clicks on one of your affiliate links and makes a purchase. The more you promote, the more you will make.
There are several different types of affiliate partnerships you can enter into, which allow you to make money online without ever having to worry about banner ads or sponsored posts.
To make money with YouTube, you need to create content that is both interesting and valuable to your audience, as well as establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field. Then, you can promote products that you believe in and that are aligned with your content, which in turns, will generate you some revenue.
Make money with Google Adsense
Another way to make money online is to join the Google Adsense program. With Adsense, you’ll create a small piece of code that gets injected into your web pages and allows Google to display advertisements on your site. The beauty of Adsense is that you don’t even have to run ads if you don’t want to. You can simply choose to allow Google to place the ads on your site and earn money off the organic reach of your videos.
While there are hundreds of thousands of YouTubers who are raking in the dough, the majority of them don’t make much, if any, money from ads. Why? It’s because the algorithms that dictate where and how often ads are displayed on YouTube change all the time, so having a steady stream of clicks, isn’t guaranteed. What’s more, people don’t trust ads, so they avoid them like the plague.
Monetize your channel through product reviews
Product reviews are another popular method for online content creators to make money. It works like this: You need to identify a hot product that fits your niche and have the ability to articulate your thoughts on that product. While you’re at it, you can also review products that you’ve tried and can compare them to the one you’re reviewing. This can help your audience determine which products are best suited to their needs.
For example, let’s say you’re an astrologer and you’ve developed a following on YouTube. You can use your channel to compare the features of various astrological calculators and provide your audience with an in-depth analysis of why you chose one over the other. Your analysis should be detailed, yet clear and easy to follow. You also need to make sure that you’ve tested the product sufficiently before you review it.
After you’ve built a substantial following, you can also choose to take on product reviews for other companies, which can lead to more affiliate sales and, potentially, sponsorships. The key to making money from product reviews is to make sure that the products you review are aligned with your niche and have the potential to be valuable to your audience. If you can do all of this while still maintaining a good quality standard, you’ll be able to generate a steady stream of income, without too much effort.
Make money with Affiliate Marketing
If you’re looking for a simpler way to make money, you can also try affiliate marketing. What is affiliate marketing? In short, it’s when you recommend a product or service that you’ve been paid to promote and when someone clicks on one of your affiliate links and makes a purchase. The more you promote, the more you will make.
There are several different types of affiliate partnerships you can enter into, which allow you to make money online without ever having to worry about banner ads or sponsored posts.
To make money with YouTube, you need to create content that is both interesting and valuable to your audience, as well as establish yourself as an expert in your chosen field. Then, you can promote products that you believe in and that are aligned with your content, which in turns, will generate you some revenue.
Leverage your platform to the maximum
YouTube has recently rolled out a new feature called Channel Memberships. With this feature, creators can choose to charge an annual fee for people to access their content. If you’ve got a sizable audience, this is a pretty appealing option, as it allows you to charge customers for the content you produce. What’s more, if you’ve got a popular channel, this option can also help you generate revenue from a much wider audience.
Creating content for YouTube is free, but if you want to make money from YouTube, you need to do one of the above mentioned things. The key is to find a way to make money, which doesn’t necessarily mean you need to make a full-time living off the platform. It’s a possibility, but certainly not the default option.