YouTube has become the launchpad for today’s self-made stars. These individuals captivate audiences by crafting videos that entertain, educate, and inspire, showcasing the incredible potential of the internet. If you’re finding your stride on YouTube, a world of opportunities awaits to monetize your videos and channel. From leveraging YouTube’s built-in tools to guiding viewers to external platforms, numerous paths can lead to revenue.
Let’s explore seven effective strategies to make money on YouTube and uncover the earning potential for successful YouTubers.
How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel
First Step: Joining the YouTube Partner Program
The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) is your gateway to unlocking various monetization features on YouTube. It empowers creators to generate income from Shorts, livestreams, and standard-length videos.
By becoming a member of the YPP, creators gain access to:
- Ad Revenue Sharing: Earn from ads displayed during videos and between Shorts.
- YouTube Premium Revenue: Get a portion of revenue when YouTube Premium subscribers watch your content.
- Fan Funding Features: Utilize Super Chat, Super Thanks, and channel memberships for direct audience support.
- YouTube Shopping: Offer your own products to your viewers directly on YouTube.
Beyond monetization, the YPP also provides access to YouTube’s creator support and the Copyright Match tool, crucial for protecting your original work.
While the YPP is a significant avenue for monetization, it’s not the only one, and might not always be the most profitable for every channel. Alternatives include directing viewers to your own online store, partnering with affiliate programs, or creating sponsored content. These methods will be discussed further below.
However, it’s important to note that YPP membership often simplifies or even enables many other monetization strategies on YouTube.
With over $50 billion paid out to YPP members in the last three years, joining the program is a worthwhile consideration if you meet the eligibility requirements.
Eligibility for the YouTube Partner Program
To be accepted into the YouTube Partner Program and unlock monetization features, your channel must meet these criteria:
- Subscriber Count: Reach a minimum of 1,000 subscribers.
- Watch Hours or Shorts Views: Accumulate either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
It’s worth noting that certain program features might be accessible even before reaching these full thresholds.
Crucially, your channel must be in good standing with YouTube, adhering to all of YouTube’s monetization policies. Additionally, you must reside in an eligible region.
Once you meet these qualifications, navigate to YouTube Studio on your channel and find the “Earn” tab to begin your application.
1. Activate Ads on Your YouTube Videos
Example of an in-video YouTube ad for a bicycle brand
YouTube’s automated ad platform streamlines the process of displaying advertisements on videos. YouTube
Once you’re accepted into the YouTube Partner Program, the most straightforward way to start generating revenue is by enabling ads on your videos. This allows you to earn ad revenue from display and video ads that appear on your channel.
When you enable monetization for a standard-length video, YouTube automatically inserts a combination of pre-roll and post-roll ads, which may or may not be skippable for viewers. While you can’t directly choose the specific ads displayed, for videos exceeding eight minutes, you gain control over mid-roll ads. These ads can be automatically placed by YouTube or manually positioned by you.
To monitor your ad earnings, access the “Revenue” tab within YouTube Studio. This section provides detailed reports on your ad revenue, including estimated monthly earnings for monetized videos.
Exploring Revenue Beyond Traditional Ads
While YouTube ads offer a simple and passive method to monetize your content, relying solely on ads might not generate substantial income. To maximize your earnings, it’s often necessary to combine ads with other monetization strategies.
YouTube’s demonetization policy is known for being strict, potentially limiting ad revenue on some content. Furthermore, YouTube retains 45% of ad revenue from standard videos and 55% from Shorts. Diversifying your income streams beyond ads is a strategic approach to building a sustainable YouTube business.
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YouTube Shorts Monetization: How Much You Can Make (2025)](https://www.shopify.com/blog/youtube-shorts-monetization)
YouTube Shorts Monetization: How Much You Can Make (2025)
Learn the essentials of YouTube Shorts monetization and discover additional methods to earn from your short-form video content.
2. Leverage Fan Funding for Direct Audience Support
The Patreon page of YouTube channel Wait But Why.
Wait But Why, a popular blog and YouTube channel, effectively utilizes Patreon to receive fan funding, showcasing a successful model of direct audience support for creators.
For creators participating in the Partner Program, YouTube’s fan funding features open avenues for viewers to directly support your channel through tips and recurring monthly contributions.
Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks are engaging features that allow viewers to purchase highlighted messages and animations during livestreams and video premieres to show their support. These tip-jar mechanisms make fans’ comments stand out in the chat feed.
Similarly, YouTube channel memberships provide a platform to offer paying fans exclusive perks in exchange for monthly fees. You can create up to six membership tiers with increasing benefits, such as:
- Custom Badges and Emojis: Allowing members to distinguish themselves in live chats and comments.
- Members-Only Content: Exclusive community posts, Shorts, and videos accessible only to members.
- Early Access: Priority viewing rights for new video releases.
- Exclusive Live Streams and Chats: Members-only live interactions.
- Member Recognition Shelf: Featuring member avatars prominently on your channel page.
Exploring Alternative Fan Funding Platforms
Beyond YouTube’s native features, you can also solicit donations for your channel through external platforms.
Patreon is a widely recognized fan-funding platform where creators offer bonus content, exclusive access, and other rewards to patrons in return for recurring donations.
While rewarding donors might require investing in extra content creation, these platforms provide a familiar and reliable system for your audience to support you consistently.
Alternative fan funding platforms to Patreon include:
3. Sell Merchandise and Products Through YouTube Shopping
t-shirts on a website category page
An online category page displaying various t-shirts, illustrating the type of merchandise YouTube creators can sell to diversify their revenue streams.
YouTube Shopping offers seamless ways to enable fans to purchase directly from your content. You can utilize YouTube Shopping to:
- Establish a Storefront: Open a dedicated shop directly on your YouTube channel.
- Connect Your Online Store: Link your existing online store to showcase products across your videos.
- Tag Products: Highlight your own products or those from partner brands directly within your videos.
YouTube internal data indicates that over 160,000 creators are already leveraging YouTube Shopping to sell on the platform.
Many creators choose to promote merch like tote bags, snapbacks, and t-shirts, or recommend products from brands they collaborate with or review.
Selling branded merchandise is more accessible than ever. Consider using print-on-demand services to design affordable products that are produced and shipped only when an order is placed.
Setting Up Your YouTube Shopping
The easiest way to integrate YouTube Shopping is by connecting your Shopify store to your YouTube channel. This automatically synchronizes your product listings and allows customers to complete purchases directly on YouTube or visit your store for a more comprehensive shopping experience.
Don’t have an online store yet? You can start your own with a free trial.
Start Selling Your Products on YouTube from Shopify
Shopify provides robust tools to facilitate product promotion and sales on YouTube. Seamlessly sync your product catalog, tag or pin products during livestreams, and manage all your sales operations from your Shopify dashboard.
4. Collaborate with Brands as an Influencer
Brands are increasingly allocating advertising budgets to influencer marketing and sponsorships, recognizing the value of creators who have cultivated loyal audiences.
This presents a significant opportunity for you as a YouTube creator to negotiate profitable deals by exposing your audience to brands’ products.
Brendan Gahan, a YouTube marketing expert and influencer, suggests a starting point for calculating your baseline flat fee: multiply your average video views by 5¢ to 15¢ per view.
Depending on factors like your target audience, content quality, and the uniqueness and profitability of your niche, you may be able to negotiate even more favorable terms, especially if the brand aligns well with your content and audience.
Transparency is key when partnering on sponsored content. Always prioritize endorsing products that you genuinely like and believe in to maintain audience trust.
5. License Your Content to Media Outlets
a woman in a chewbacca mask on youtube video
A screenshot from the viral YouTube video featuring a woman in a Chewbacca mask, illustrating the type of content that can be licensed to media outlets for monetization.
If you happen to create a viral video that resonates with a broad audience – perhaps a humorous clip featuring your pet – you can license your content for financial compensation.
TV news channels, morning shows, online news platforms, and other creators might reach out to acquire rights to use your videos if they gain significant traction.
You can also proactively list your videos on content marketplaces like Jukin Licensing, making your content easily discoverable and purchasable by media professionals.
6. Crowdfund Your Creative Projects
a kickstart campaign for Kung Fury movie with preview
The Kickstarter campaign page for the movie “Kung Fury,” featuring trailers and engaging content to attract crowdfunders and exemplify successful crowdfunding for YouTube-related creative projects.
When funding is the primary obstacle between an idea and its execution, crowdfunding can be an effective strategy to bring your next ambitious video project to life.
Whether you need to upgrade equipment, hire actors, or cover other production expenses, you can appeal to your audience and community for contributions, provided your project idea is compelling.
Many successful crowdfunding campaigns for creative projects entice backers by offering a sneak peek or trailer that generates excitement. Consider shooting a video to effectively communicate your project and offer a glimpse of what’s to come.
Popular crowdfunding sites with a track record of success for YouTubers include:
7. Utilize Affiliate Marketing to Earn Commissions
Affiliate marketing is a monetization strategy where you earn a commission by promoting products or services from other brands within your videos.
As a YouTube creator, you can become an affiliate marketer by creating content that naturally integrates and promotes relevant products to your viewers.
Getting Started with Affiliate Marketing
To begin affiliate marketing, identify affiliate programs that align with your channel’s content and are likely to appeal to your audience. The more relevant the product or brand, the higher your chances of success.
Once you’ve registered with an affiliate program, you can add affiliate links to your video descriptions or end screens.
Affiliate marketing is particularly effective if your YouTube channel includes product reviews or tutorials. Since brands only pay commissions on actual sales, it’s generally easy to get started. Always ensure you clearly disclose your affiliate relationships when promoting products.
YouTube simplifies affiliate marketing through its Shopping affiliate program, allowing you to quickly find relevant products and view commission rates. Once you find a product to promote, tagging it directly in your videos is straightforward.
While any creator can include affiliate links in their YouTube content, utilizing the official YouTube Shopping affiliate program typically requires YPP membership and meeting YouTube’s eligibility criteria.
Finding Affiliates for Your Own Products
Conversely, if you have your own product line as a creator, consider recruiting affiliates to promote your offerings.
Eligible Shopify merchants can easily add their products to the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, allowing other creators to find and promote them in their videos. Sync your product catalog via the Shopify YouTube app and set commission rates that are profitable for your business.
Let Popular YouTube Creators Market Your Products
Effortlessly add your products to YouTube’s affiliate program. Set your preferred commission rates and empower YouTube creators to feature your products in their videos, enabling viewers to shop directly as they watch.
Understanding YouTube Earnings: The Numbers Behind Views and Money
How Many Views on YouTube Do You Need to Make Money?
The relationship between Youtube Views And Money isn’t always direct. While views are a crucial factor, they don’t automatically translate to revenue. The average YouTube channel earns approximately 1.8¢ per view, equating to $18 per 1,000 views, according to data from Influencer Marketing Hub.
However, simply accumulating views doesn’t guarantee earnings. If your video gets thousands of views but viewers don’t engage with the ads (either by clicking or watching the ad in full), you won’t generate revenue. This is because YouTube’s advertiser billing criteria require viewer interaction with ads, such as clicking or watching the entire ad (10, 15, or 30 seconds), for creators to get paid.
How Much Annual Income Can YouTubers Generate?
Top-tier YouTubers like MrBeast can command annual earnings in the tens of millions of dollars through their channels. While these figures are exceptional, even smaller channels can achieve a sustainable living on YouTube.
Consider Justine Leconte‘s YouTube channel, which focuses on fashion and style advice and boasts one million subscribers. Based on her total video views and solely from ad revenue, her estimated annual earnings are around $259,304, averaging approximately $979 per video, according to Influencer Marketing Hub’s YouTube Money Calculator.
These estimates suggest that Justine could potentially earn a comfortable living from her YouTube channel by consistently posting one or two videos per week. However, it’s crucial to remember that these are just estimations. Justine’s actual earnings may vary based on the specific monetization strategies she employs for her business.
Maximizing YouTube Revenue Streams
YouTube channels can be effectively monetized even without reaching millions of subscribers. Your earning potential is influenced by audience engagement, your chosen niche, and the variety of revenue streams you explore.
While lists of top YouTube earners might suggest that vast fortunes are made solely from YouTube ad revenue, in reality, many of these channels have diversified with their own merchandise lines and other ventures. These successful channels prioritized building and engaging their audience before expanding into additional revenue streams. If making money on YouTube is part of your strategy, the foundational step is always to develop a deep understanding of your target audience.
Tips for Effective Selling on YouTube
Many YouTube monetization strategies involve promoting products or services. It’s crucial to ensure your promotions enhance, rather than detract from, the integrity of your content.
The concern of “selling out” is valid for many creators. However, neglecting compensation altogether may hinder your long-term sustainability.
Follow these tips to integrate promotional content into your videos in a way that respects and engages your audience.
Deeply Understand Your YouTube Audience
Building a dedicated audience puts you in a strong position to monetize your content through various methods. However, maximizing these opportunities requires a thorough understanding of your audience.
For many YouTubers, specializing in a niche channel can be advantageous for attracting brands seeking specific demographics. Pay close attention to:
- Audience Gender: Identify if your audience skews towards a particular gender.
- Age Range: Determine the primary age demographic of your viewers.
- Geographic Location: Pinpoint the countries or cities where your videos are most watched.
- Audience Engagement (Watch Time): Analyze overall engagement levels and watch times.
This demographic insight is invaluable for understanding your audience and collaborating effectively with brands. All this data is readily available within your YouTube analytics.
Integrate Info Cards Strategically
Whether as part of a brand partnership or to promote your own products, info cards (previously known as YouTube Cards) offer an eye-catching method to capture the attention of engaged viewers.
Utilize free video editing software to add pop-up info cards at strategically timed moments, ensuring they are relevant and minimally disruptive to maximize their impact.
a youtube video with two info cards and an ad for shoes
A YouTube video displaying two info cards and a shoe advertisement, showcasing how creators can use info cards to engage viewers with additional content or promotions within their videos.
Utilize Links in Video Descriptions Effectively
Direct viewers to your online store, Patreon page, Kickstarter campaign, or other revenue sources by strategically adding relevant links to your video descriptions.
Gymshark youtube video with links to follow the brand on social media in description
The description section of a Gymshark YouTube video, featuring links to follow the brand on social media, demonstrating the use of video descriptions to guide viewers to external resources.
Cross-Promote Your Offers on Other Platforms
Just because your content is hosted on YouTube doesn’t mean you should limit your promotional efforts to the platform itself.
Amplify awareness of new campaigns or discounts by sharing them across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and other social media profiles you manage.
The broader the reach of your message, the greater the likelihood of it being seen. Cultivating a following beyond YouTube through social media marketing is always a beneficial strategy.
The Rise of the Creator Economy
While financial gain is rarely the primary motivator for creators, with a well-defined monetization strategy, creators can transform their passion into a sustainable career and be rewarded for the significant effort and innovation required to navigate the YouTube algorithm.
The journey of MrBeast, who started making videos at age 13 and dedicated years to refining his viral content – from Let’s Plays to videos analyzing YouTuber wealth – exemplifies this dedication.
For many businesses, cultivating an audience and maintaining their attention is the most challenging aspect. YouTubers have already mastered this crucial component.
From budding entrepreneurs to established global retailers, Shopify provides solutions for businesses of all sizes. See plans and pricing.
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How to Make Money on YouTube FAQ
How many views do you actually need on YouTube to start making money?
The number of views alone on your YouTube channel doesn’t directly determine your revenue. While high view counts are beneficial, earnings are tied to ad engagement. If your videos get thousands of views but viewers skip ads or don’t interact with them, your earnings will be minimal. YouTube’s payment system for creators is based on ad interactions – viewers need to click on an ad or watch the entire video ad (which can be 10, 15, or 30 seconds long) for you to earn revenue.
On average, how much do you get paid per 1,000 views on YouTube?
The average YouTube channel earns approximately 1.8¢ per view, which translates to about $18 per 1,000 views, based on data from Influencer Marketing Hub. Keep in mind this is an average, and actual earnings can vary based on factors like ad type, viewer demographics, and video content.
Is it true that you get paid simply for uploading videos on YouTube?
No, content creators are not directly paid by YouTube simply for uploading videos. To start monetizing your content and earning money on YouTube, you must enable monetization within your YouTube account settings. From there, you can apply to the YouTube Partner Program or opt to have your videos included in YouTube Premium to generate revenue.
What are the primary ways YouTubers actually make money on the YouTube platform?
YouTubers utilize a diverse range of strategies to generate income, including:
- Joining the YouTube Partner Program and earning ad revenue.
- Selling their own products or merchandise through YouTube Shopping.
- Utilizing crowdfunding platforms to fund creative projects.
- Leveraging fan funding features like Super Chat and channel memberships.
- Licensing their content to media outlets for broader distribution.
- Collaborating with brands as influencers for sponsored content.
- Participating in affiliate marketing programs to earn commissions.
Is there a way to make money on YouTube even without creating and uploading your own videos?
Yes, one way to potentially earn from YouTube without creating your own videos is by partnering with established YouTube creators. If you have products to promote, you can collaborate with popular creators who can feature your products to their engaged audience. Shopify users who meet eligibility criteria can add their products to the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, enabling creators to easily tag and promote these products in their videos, allowing viewers to make purchases directly while watching.
