In this article, we will find the answer to the question ‘How do YouTubers make money?’.
Introduction
YouTube is an app known to various people and a platform for content creators. But some people earn their living and they do it through the ad revenue from their Youtube videos. The process of earning is unique and different from usual salaries and earnings.
There is much more to content creation and distribution on YouTube than you might be aware of. So if you want to become a YouTuber yourself or are curious about it, we will explore how YouTubers make money.
Do YouTubers Pay or get Paid for Videos?
A concept generally misunderstood by people is the content creation aspect of the online industry. Content creation, of any kind, is not something you need to pay money for. Similarly, you do not receive money just to create individual content of your own on YouTube.
So content creation is technically unbiased, that is if we do not consider other aspects. Anyone can upload their content on YouTube without paying any fee (As long as it does not violate the set guidelines for security reasons).
But if your content is high quality, you will undoubtedly garner an audience. Such an audience is the engagement of viewers aided by you. So, an advertiser would want to put their ads on your channel and you will earn the revenue.
Let us understand through an example. You create a tutorial on how to make pasta from scratch. Your tutorial is concise and effective, so it becomes popular and garners views. Thus, ads start appearing before, during, and after your videos which gives you earnings.
What are the Sources of Income for YouTubers?
Again, most people only know ad revenue from advertisers as the only way for YouTube to make money. But that is not all there is to a YouTube creator. There are some other methods by which you can earn money on YouTube too.
There’s a reason why these methods are unknown since they need a sturdy fan base to apply. Newer content creators cannot earn well from these sources but established YouTubers can. Here is a list of the most popular ways you can earn money on YouTube, apart from ad revenue:
- Merchandise– If you have a YouTuber you adore and watch a lot, you must be familiar with the merchandise. Merchandise is just a collection of products like apparel with the logo of personalization done by the YouTuber. To fans, it is a way of supporting and showing love to their favorite content creators. You do require some capital and a fan base to successfully earn from the merchandise.
- Sponsorships– Sponsorships are paid advertisements by brands towards influencers. For example, a beauty brand pays a beauty guru to positively review their product and promote it with their subscribers or viewers. It is the perfect marketing strategy for a firm to target large audiences and an ideal way for YouTubers to earn some more. Again, it is something only possible for established YouTubers.
- Crowdfunding– Crowdfunding is collecting funds from the public for a content project. In such an event, the YouTuber would publically announce a goal or motive for their crowdfunding and encourage their viewers to submit even the smallest sum they could. It might be insignificant for a subscriber to give $4-$5, but imagine ten thousand such followers doing so. It would collect a huge amount for the YouTuber.
- Donations– Donations are pretty similar to the above point, but donations do not have a specific cause. Most subscribers usually donate out of their free will and they do not get told to do so. They might make tiny donations of a couple of dollars which might not seem much to them. But still, small donations made by thousands of subscribers create a lot of earnings.
- Paid Memberships– one of the newest additions to ways of earning for YouTubers is the premium paid membership for subscribers. The premium subscription makes only a small sum, but paid memberships are another ideal place for earning. In a paid membership, a subscriber pays a sum to get access to exclusive content for paid members, stickers, privileges, etc.
Do You Need High Views for Making Money?
The answer to this question is, no, you don’t need millions of views. You do not need millions of followers to create ad revenue on your channel. Contrary to popular belief, even small YouTubers with only thousands of subscribers can earn some money from YouTube.
The amount will be a lot less than what mainstream YouTubers and influencers make, but it is still good enough to earn from something you do as a hobby. Once you pass the eligibility criteria, you can start monetizing your videos.
To understand how even small YouTubers can earn money, let us take an example. Imagine a food YouTuber who makes recipe videos in their free time. They post two videos of their lunch recipes weekly on the weekend. It is their hobby and they upload the video to YouTube.
People enjoy the recipes and on average, the videos garner 40-50k views on an average. Then, the YouTuber would make well over $500 each month. So they would be enjoying their hobby while earning some extra income.
How Do Advertisers Put Ads On Videos?
There is a process for YouTubers to monetize their videos. Once they fill in all the details regarding it, the advertisers can choose the videos if they find them interesting. Once the advertiser has selected your video, they will then place the advertisement in one of the forms.
To enable monetization of your videos, you must make an Adsense account first. In the Adsense account, you would first get to choose the type of ads you like and other details. You can customize the ads you prefer according to your audience.
Here are the steps on the monetization of YouTube videos briefly explained:
- Youtuber “XYZ” builds a certain audience as a base and after they’ve established it, moves onto monetization.
- Youtuber “XYZ” then joins the YouTube Partner Program and agrees to all terms and conditions.
- Youtuber “XYZ” then enables monetization with at least 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watching time garnered over a year.
- Youtuber “XYZ” creates an Adsense for monetization since it is a compulsory step for all creators.
- Youtuber “XYZ” selects the type of ads they want for their videos. Such ads could be in the form of banner ads, overlay ads, skippable videos, etc.
- Youtuber “XYZ” makes content adhering strictly to the content guidelines and avoids violent, sexually explicit, or abusive content.
- Youtuber “XYZ” then gets ads and receives revenue through their preferred payment method.
How YouTubers Receive Their Earnings?
As mentioned in the above steps, a YouTuber must create an Adsense account if they do not have one. Only after creating this account can they monetize their videos and receive ad revenue too.
Though you might not be able to monetize your videos in some countries, you can do so in the USA easily. Once you feel that you have reached a steady audience that will continue to love your content, you can go ahead with monetization.
In the account creation and setup, you can enter your preferred mode of payment. You can receive your ad revenue in multiple ways, the most common being bank transfer. You can search all the currently available platforms for the transfer and enter the necessary details.
How Can Content Creators Enlarge Their Earnings?
If you ask someone, the career of a YouTuber is a risky one. Especially for people who do solely YouTube for a living, it may be true too. Since you can either make it big or not reach any landmark at all on YouTube.
You surely can earn money even if you do not have hundreds of thousands of viewers, but the more the better. If you have more views on your content, you can earn more money. So you must constantly try to raise your views.
But what most people don’t notice is that it’s not up to fate to decide, it is up to the content. Have you ever wondered that if there are thousands of tutorials on making an omelet, what makes the top one popular?
So here are some of the tips and tricks you can make your content more engaging and attract more viewers:
Focusing On Quality Content
The crucial trick to making it big on YouTube is undoubtedly the content quality. Since YouTube is a free platform anyone can use, there is more competition than anywhere else. But if your content stands out from all the other content of the sort, you will make it big.
Even if you make videos about the simplest tasks or tutorials, you can still find ways to enhance and improve your content. By developing complex and fun content, you can grab the attention of the viewers efficiently.
Production quality, scripts, execution, and video engagement are all essential in making a perfect video. And you must remember not to stretch your videos too long either as it is not the best strategy for more engagement.
Avoiding Explicit/ Harmful Content
We have talked about the best ways to appeal to the target audience. But what about appealing to the advertisers who will pay you. Apart from other factors, the most important is how user-friendly your content is.
If you do not consider mainstream and already popular YouTubers like PewDiePie, you must stay within the guidelines to attract ads. Since companies do not want to put their ads on abusive, sexually explicit, or violent videos, it is best to abide by the guidelines.
Especially if you are a creator who is starting from scratch, you would have a hard time finding advertisers if your content is way too explicit for most audiences. Remember that teens are some of the most frequent users of YouTube, hence inappropriate content is not profitable.
Catering to The Right Audience
Apart from making the best quality content possible, you also need to customize and market your content to the right people. Everybody wants hefty views on their video, but since they approach all age groups, their content does not reach most potential viewers.
If you target larger age groups, you are less likely to garner more views. Let’s say you make and upload cover videos of music, then you’re best at marketing it to young adults or teens. These people would be the most interested in all such content and probably give you ideal views.
And if you do, try to stick more to targeting Gen Z as older people rarely visit YouTube as much as the youngsters do. And even advertisers tend to choose the videos and content that target the given audience too.
Conclusion
Since the YouTuber profession is relatively newer in the industry, many people are still aware of its details. Whether they are questions about the content on YouTube or how people earn through such a platform, they are not common knowledge.
So you have to make some effort to understand exactly how revenue generation happens in YouTube. Also how it benefits the content creators working hard on the platform. With the above information, you can grasp the concept of money-making on YouTube, one of the biggest content platforms in the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much money do YouTubers make each year?
There is no set amount of money earned by YouTubers. It depends on the views and engagement a YouTuber receives that decides their earnings. The biggest earner “Ryan’s World” makes approximately $30 million annually.
- Is my channel eligible for monetization on YouTube?
There are certain conditions your channel needs to meet before you can apply for monetization. You need to have 1000 or more subscribers with at least 4000 watching hours in a year to begin monetizing your content.
- Do YouTubers get paid for their content?
No, YouTubers do not get paid for their content itself. Although their content plays a big part in it, the main source of income is through the ad revenue. So content only plays an essential role in their earnings.
