Writing, shooting, editing, marketing—being a YouTuber is a full-time job, and like any occupation, you should expect to get paid. But where will your revenue come from? And how can you increase it? Let’s dive into the answers.
1. Join the YouTube Partner Program.
Signing up for the YouTube Partner Program is typically the first step to take if you’re looking to become a YouTube influencer who makes money. The program allows content creators to earn income through ads, channel memberships, Super Chats, and more features. Beyond financial benefits, it also provides access to tools like copyright protection and YouTube’s Creator Support team, which can help manage and grow a channel.
RELATED: How to Join the YouTube Partner Program in 4 Easy Steps
To join the program, you have to meet YouTube’s eligibility requirements—and there are a lot of them. Your channel needs at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million public Shorts views in the last 90 days. Your account can’t have any active Community Guidelines strikes, and you need to enable two-step verification for security.
You can apply by going to YouTube Studio. The platform will then evaluate your content for compliance with its monetization policies, which usually takes about a month.
For those serious about growing a YouTube career, joining YPP is a must. Like with any way to earn money on YouTube, to access it you need to build a following. This means understanding the YouTube algorithm and creating quality content that makes people want to see more.
2. Sell merch.
How does any type of entertainment business make a lot of its money? Merchandise. Once you’ve built a loyal fan base, you can increase your earnings by selling them T-shirts, stickers, mugs, toys, hats, pants, boxed lunches… you get the point.
To sell this merch, you can direct your fans to your own website or you can use YouTube’s Merch Shelf. You’ve probably seen this function before: It pops up under your video, allowing users to scroll through your offerings while your video plays. The Merch Shelf is linked to your own store.
Remember, if you want fans to stay loyal (and to keep buying your merch!), don’t rip people off. If you’re charging a lot of money, make sure your merchandise is quality.
3. Use fan funding.
YouTube also offers a few ways for fans to directly support a creator. Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and Super Chat all operate as digital tip jars, letting fans toss you a few dollars during livestreams and video premieres. They aren’t expecting anything back from you beyond more content, though YouTube does reward them by highlighting their comment with eye-catching colors for all the world to see.
Another fan funding method is YouTube’s channel membership. These paid tiers (you can create up to six of them) can give fans exclusive access to features such as videos and chats.
Fan funding doesn’t have to be done through YouTube. Many content creator jobs are supported by Patreon, a platform that allows fans to contribute monetarily in exchange for a wide array of offerings that aren’t just limited to video creation. Patreon can create a one-stop shop for everything you make, from podcasts to paintings.
As with merchandising, to encourage fan funding on Patreon, you need to make your offerings valuable. If you have subscription tiers but only deliver infrequent and underwhelming content, fans won’t pay for it.
4. Work with brands.
If you have a large following, landing a brand sponsorship can be the most lucrative option. The trust built between creators and fans means that if you endorse a brand, your fans are much more likely to check it out than if an ad for it plays before your video.
There are three types of brand sponsorships:
Product sponsorship is when a brand sends you a product to review. This can be a toy or an item of clothing, or even something intangible, like a trip. Your audience will get to see you experience the product and decide for themselves if it’s worth the money.
RELATED: How to Reach Out to Brands as an Influencer
Affiliate sponsorship entails getting a code that you share with your viewers to use at checkout. When they use the code, you get a small percentage of the sale. Affiliate sponsorships are lower stakes and usually the easiest to obtain, so if you’re a smaller channel, this may be where you want to start.
Paid sponsorship is when a brand pays you to directly promote their product. The big Kahuna, this is usually the most lucrative type of sponsorship, since there’s more at stake—if you promote a product you don’t really believe in, it will cost your credibility.
With all of these options, be judicious. As you take on more and more sponsorships, your videos will feel more and more like an ad—and nobody wants to watch an ad.
To land these types of sponsorships, you’ll probably want to use YouTube BrandConnect, which, as its title implies, connects brands and influencers. You’ll likely also want to create a pitch deck that highlights just how popular you are, how engaged your fans are, and the quality of your videos.
5. License your content.
Licensing your YouTube videos is a great way to generate revenue beyond traditional ad monetization. When you license a video, you sell or grant permission for someone else to use it under specific terms. News organizations, documentaries, TV shows, and digital media companies often look for viral clips, interviews, or high-quality footage to include in their own content. Rather than letting them use your work without permission, licensing ensures you get compensated (and credited).
To start licensing your content, you can either set up a Creative Commons license yourself or work with a licensing agency to ensure you’ve dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s. You can also use YouTube Content ID, which helps you make money when your original music is used in other YouTube videos.
For better licensing potential, upload high-resolution content and provide detailed descriptions so buyers can find your videos easily. Adding watermarks can also prevent unauthorized use while encouraging proper licensing. If your video gains traction, proactively reaching out to media outlets can lead to more deals.
As you can probably tell, there are many, many ways to make money off of your hard YouTubing work. Don’t be discouraged if it’s slow-going at first—we all have to start somewhere. Instead, focus on delivering quality material to your audience.
