You’re a budding YouTube creator, and you’re wondering how to monetize your channel. It’s understandable; whether you’re making videos as a hobby or as a part of your career, you’d like to earn some money for all of the time and effort you put into creating your content.
Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to monetize your channel beyond just the traditional ads and sponsorships! We’ll cover 10 different methods in this article. From turning your channel into an online course to investing in cryptocurrency, we’ll show you how to make money from your videos in multiple ways. Let’s get started!
YouTube Partner Program: How to Monetize Your Channel
If you’re looking to monetize YouTube channel, one of the best places to start is with YouTube’s partner program. This program lets eligible YouTubers monetize their videos by displaying ads. To join the program, you have to meet some criteria—complete your YouTube profile, connect your Google AdSense account, and reach 4,000 hours of watch time over the last 12 months.
Once you’re part of the program, you can start leveraging different options for monetization. There are a few major areas you can explore:
- Ad breaks: A great way to get started is with ad breaks. These are short commercial messages that display during one of your videos at specified times. They offer more control than traditional ads as they can be customized in terms of length and frequency.
- Channel memberships: You can also charge viewers for exclusive access to content or merchandise by setting up channel memberships that fans can pay for.
- Merchandise shelf: Set up a virtual storefront and display merchandise like clothing and accessories related to your channel on YouTube itself! Viewers will be able to shop directly within videos or through live streams.
The YouTube Partner Program offers plenty of options for monetizing your channel—so explore them and see which ones work best for you!
Selling Sponsorships and Product Placements
Selling sponsorships and product placements is a great way to monetize YouTube channel. Sponsorships are when someone pays you to create content around their brand. Product placements involve a company actually inserting their product in your video so you can show the product in action.
Both of these approaches give you the opportunity to make money off of your content without relying on ads or subscription fees. Plus, having sponsors and products featured can lend more credibility and value to your channel.
But how do you get started? First, identify which brands might be a good match for your channel. Then, create examples of sponsored content that you think would be beneficial for the company. Once you have some ideas, reach out to potential companies with a proposal. Make sure to emphasize the value that your channel can bring them in terms of exposure and impressions.
Start an Affiliate Marketing Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to monetize your YouTube channel. It involves you finding products or services you use and recommend, then signing up for an affiliate program with those companies. You’ll then be able to share links and get a commission when your viewers buy products or services through those links.
For example, if you have a cooking channel, you could partner with kitchen supply stores in your area or online and promote their products on your videos. Whenever someone buys something from the store through the link you provided, you’ll get a commission. It’s an easy way to make money and it’s relatively low-risk because you’re not stocking any physical goods yourself.
Here are some tips for getting started:
- Make sure to select affiliates whose products are related to the content of your videos — do some research before signing up
- Visit affiliate networks like CJ Affiliate, ShareASale and Rakuten Marketing for opportunities
- Create eye-catching banners or ads that link directly to the product page
- Track the performance of each of your affiliate links to see which ones generate the most sales
- Offer promotional codes or discounts on related products
- Offer exclusive deals or promotions which incentivize people to buy from your link
Selling Merchandise to Your Viewers
Suppose you have a considerable number of followers on your YouTube channel—you can start selling merch to them. Selling merchandise on YouTube is an excellent way to monetize your channel. You can customize and design products related to your content and make them available to your viewers, which will help you boost your channel’s awareness and give you extra income.
Consider Creating Customized Merch
Designing customized products related to your content is a sure way to get people interested in buying from you. You can make anything from mugs, t-shirts, hats, stationery items, bags, stickers, and even phone cases! And the best part is that it’s affordable too—you just have to invest in the inventory at first.
Working With Companies for Sponsored Merch
Another great way to monetize your YouTube channel with merchandise is working with companies. You can reach out to companies that offer branded merchandise and collaborate with them for sponsored products that feature their logo or custom designs. This will give you a chance to partner up with big brands and make money off of their products while promoting them on your channel. It’s a win-win situation!
Crowdfunding Your Channel
Crowdfunding takes monetizing your YouTube channel in a slightly different direction. Instead of relying on ad revenue or sponsored content, you can look for contributions from your viewers. Services like Patreon and GoFundMe are popular ways to do this.
You can set up a page on either service where people can donate money to support your channel. You can also offer exclusive content or perks as incentives for people who contribute to your funding goals. This can be a great way to get additional income, particularly if you have an engaged fan base.
By setting up crowdfunding campaigns and advertising them regularly, you’ll be able to tap into the generosity of your viewers. It’s also a great way to engage with them and create deeper relationships with them.
Try setting up a simple goal system so that when you reach certain funding milestones, you unlock more rewards for your supporters. You may even consider setting up tiers so that people who contribute more get better rewards in return for their generosity.
This approach will give people an added incentive for donating since there’s something in it for them as well!
Licensing Your Content
Do you have amazing content that could be used by someone else? You can actually make money from licensing your content for others to use. It’s not always the most lucrative option, but you have the potential to tap into a new revenue stream.
The range of possibilities for your content is wide-ranging – from individual web designers to big-budget TV and film production companies.
You could end up licensing your content in several different ways, such as:
- Video clips: allowing other people to use a portion of your video in their own creations.
- Audio clips: audio or music recordings that can be used in various productions.
- Photographic images: allowing other people to use a portion of your images or photographs in their own projects.
- Merchandise usage: permitting someone else to print your video images on products like t-shirts or mugs.
- Software usage: letting a software companies or game developers use some of your material in their programs.
These are just some of the ways to monetize your YouTube channel by licensing your content—but with all these options, there’s definitely something for everyone!
Conclusion
Ultimately, monetizing your YouTube channel isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor. The combination of strategies you choose will depend on things like your content, your audience, and your creativity. Whether you’re looking to make a few hundred bucks each month, or reach the six-figure goal, all the strategies mentioned offer potential for monetizing a YouTube channel.
It will take some trial and error to figure out which methods work best for you, but the effort is well worth it. With the right combination of strategies, you can create a steady stream of income from your YouTube channel that will afford you the freedom to do what you love.
