8 Best Ways to Make Money on YouTube 2021

When you idle your time away by watching endless hours of videos on YouTube, others learn ways to make money on YouTube.

Have you ever thought that you will join this potential channel one day?

Why not TODAY?

There is always a spot for you as long as you have to be strategic in your approach.

Don’t hesitate anymore! Let’s get started!

How Do You Make Money on YouTube?

#1 – Joining a YouTube Partner program

Becoming a YouTuber by applying to the YouTube Partner Program is all you need to earn money on YouTube first. As a partner, you can make money in different ways, but make sure to surpass some ground rules below.

Step 1 – Start and grow a channel

Take a look at a handy guide on how to create a YouTube channel and promote your channel to perform correctly.

Step 2 – Meet the requirements to enable monetization YouTube

The rule for participating is that your channel has attained 4,000 hours of watching and 1,000 subscribers within the past 12 months. And when you’ve met these numbers, you enable monetization YouTube to make money.

How to monetize YouTube channel?

• Sign in to your account.
• Click the icon in the top right corner and then the YouTube Studio.
• Continue clicking Other Features in the left menu and choose Monetization.
• Read and agree to the terms.
• Create a new AdSense account to your channel to get paid (or connect your existing one).
• Set the monetization preferences such as YouTube premium revenue, Advertising revenue, Channel membership, etc.

Once that’s finished, turn back to the dashboard, click the Analytics tab, and select Revenue to see your predicted revenue from the chart Monthly Estimated Revenue.

Step 3 – Learn different YouTube monetization features

Dive deep into each monetization channel to get a general look before choosing anything.

• YouTube Premium revenue – If a YouTube Premium member views your video, you instantly receive a portion of their subscription fee. The good news, this one is automatic.
• Advertising revenue – If you want to earn ad revenue, the first thing is that you have to be at least 18 years old. Next, you need to create content that is advertiser-friendly. Simply speaking, the less debatable your videos are, the more YouTuber advertisers can run ads on them, and the more money you can get.
• Channel memberships – Make sure you must be at least 18 years old and have over 30,000 subscribers to sell channel memberships to your subscribers.
• Super Chat payments – This allows your audiences to have a chance to pay for their comments in your live chats, but remember that you need to be at least 18 years old and live in a place where the feature is provided.
• Merchandise shelf – You must be at least 18 years old and own 10,000 subscribers to sell merchandise from YouTube’s merchandise shelf.

#2 – Selling your products or services

Merchandising is a viable way to make money with YouTube. If you have products or services that are relevant to your audience, let them know by showing links in your videos or add them to descriptions.

Step 1 – Think and create your product

If you want to sell physical products, you need to buy materials or find a wholesaler, supplier, or manufacturer. Or you also sell download-able things like art prints or e-books.

It’s best to start with one or two items to make sure you engage your audience in the decision-making process.

Step 2 – Create your store

You should have a separate website to control purchases or simply enable the shelf feature on YouTube Partners to sell their channel’s merchandise.

Step 3 – Promote products in videos

Start creating awesome and unique content specifically designed for your niche. Keep track of what your audience is looking for to craft relevant videos, publish and promote to establish yourself as an authority. After that, you can market your products or services.

For instance, if you love cooking, what would be a better video strategy than to upload videos on how to make different dishes. From there, you can raise awareness and then get your brand out there to bring more customers without spending money on promotion.

#3 – Pitching your channel to brands to get a paid partnership

The good news, you don’t need to give YouTube a cut of your earnings because you negotiate directly with the brands so that they pay you directly.

Step 1 – Contact a brand and make a deal

First, you need to create content on your channel for years as well as building special bonds with your followers. And make sure you perfect your brand pitch before contacting any brand.

Or you can sign up with an influencer marketing platform to find appropriate marketing teams to work with like FameBit, Grapevine Logic, or Channel Pages.

Step 2 – Negotiate to get a better deal

Depending on your content quality, audience demographics, and how profitable and unique your niche is, you are able to negotiate a good deal if the brand is a good fit.

According to a report, creating sponsored content on YouTube is known as the highest-paid platform for brand partnerships. On average, a brand pays $20 per 1,000 subscribers or $2,000 per 100,000 followers.

But remember to be transparent about your brand-sponsored content. Avoid endorsing anything you don’t believe in or like, and always being honest with your audience about why you are doing it.

#4 – Becoming an affiliate marketer

What is affiliate marketing?

As a newbie to online marketing, this phrase sounds like Greek to you; however, the truth is that it has been around for thousands of years. More importantly, this is the easiest way to make money on YouTube as a beginner. You can also click here for more details.

Step 1 – Apply to an affiliate program

One of the most popular affiliate programs is Amazon Associates, which is a good pick for newbies because it gives a commission of more than 10%.

Or you can contact other platforms like BestBuy, Target, ShareASale, Rakuten Advertising, etc.

Step 2 – Contact brands

The good news, you easily approach companies that you are interested in promoting or you think would be beneficial for your audience. Make sure to explain how they get benefits from your channel when contacting them.

Step 3 – Create your unique content

Start incorporating the products into your videos smoothly and continuously without coming across as overly promotional since this might put off some of your audiences. Or you can recommend the products in a way that gives true value to them.

For example, an outdoor enthusiast might suggest a particular brand of camping gear. On the other hand, an online cooking instructor might promote good-quality kitchen appliances.

The more relevant the products and brands are to your audiences, the more they accept your videos and the more likely they are to purchase.

Step 4 – Add affiliate links

Do not forget to put the affiliate link in the descriptions of your videos. Also, always remind your audience of the products you suggested, and guide them they can get them via clicking the link below.

#5 – Turning to crowdfund

Crowdfunding is a practical option for making money on YouTube if you want monthly revenue or one-time financial support to jumpstart your project.

Step 1 – Participate in a crowdfunding site

Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Crowdfunder, Angle.me, or GoFundMe are some of the most popular crowdfunding sites that you can join for a long-term fundraising or one-off campaign.

Step 2 – Promote your projects in videos

Start using videos to tell the reason behind your campaign. Then keep your audience up-to-date on your fundraising progress to create interest and excitement. Or you can offer rewards like free merchandise or exclusive content to attract donors, depending on the amount they donate.

Additionally, you should post about your project on other social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and remember to include links to both crowdfunding pages and your YouTube videos to raise further awareness.

#6 – Using fan-funding to make money from YouTube

Instead of raising money from a large number of people like crowdfunding, you can use fan-funding to specially source funds from your own audience.

Step 1 – Apply to a fan-funding platform

Similar to crowdfunding, you need to join a fan-funding platform to get started. One of the most well-known is Patreon, which offers necessary tools for content creators to get regular and long-term support from their audience.

Alternatively, you can fan-fund through YouTube directly. For this, you need to become a YouTube Partner (as mentioned above). Then start raising money by providing channel membership to permit your subscribers who want to pay a small fee to approach exclusive content you create.

Or you can try YouTube Super Chat, which allows audiences to pay you in exchange for pinned comments for a set amount of time. So, the more a fan pays, the longer the comment sticks to the top. Indeed, this is a common technique among gamers who want to get extra money on YouTube.

Step 2 – Promote your efforts in videos

To operate a successful campaign, you have to spread the world to your fans so they have a chance to contribute. Always conclude your videos by politely inviting them to support your project.

#7 – License to the media

If you’ve discovered what most YouTube viewers want, chances are you’ve created a viral video. Sooner or later the media wants copies so that they can replay it to their audience. In this case, you can get money by licensing your content to the media and charging a fee for permission to use it.

Step 1 – Leave your contact information

Creating viral content has no formula because it’s just a matter of marketing strategies or chance.

There was a video of a mom wearing the Chewbacca mask on Halloween not long ago. Then tons of media outlets saw an opportunity and wanted to feature it. That is an example of the viral video.

So, if you have an idea for a viral video, just do it. Then making your contact information is easy to find.

For instance, you can create an email account with the name of your YouTube channel, and put it in the description section or on your website. Remember to explain what this email address is for with a direct and clear statement, like For business questions, please contact at [email address].

This allows brands or companies to easily approach and offer payment for your content.

Step 2 – Participate in a video rights marketplace

Signing up to a video rights marketplace is also a good way to show your viral video to media professionals. And Jukin Media is a great place to start.

Here, you can save your files in their content library as well as sending them to advertising agencies or new channels. And if these organizations decide to use your video, you’ll then get money.

#8 – Posting compilation videos

Compilation videos are quite well-known on YouTube since they easily get a lot of views. And if you create good content and post them constantly on YouTube, you can start making some good money, for instance, ads that are being shown on your videos.

Step 1 – Find a certain niche

There are some ideas for finding a niche such as gaming, music, funny clips, etc. 

After determining your niche, you need to gather videos or content to make your own videos. But make sure to choose the clips on YouTube with a CC license (Creative Common license).

Step 2 – Edit your video

After downloading the videos, it’s time to start creating your own videos. This depends on your creativity to hook people and get their attention.

Step 3 – Posting your videos

Make sure you prepare at least 30 videos because you need to post a lot at the beginning to attract the audience. Start posting about 3 videos per day and then you can lower the number when you get some views.

How Much Money Can You Make on YouTube?

Now that you know different sources on how to make money on YouTube to allow you to turn your hobby into a full-time job. Just note that the profitability of your channel depends on both your niche and your audience.

According to a report from Influencer Marketing Hub, a YouTube channel can get from $3 to $5 per 1,000 video views with an average YouTube pay rate of $0.18 per view. Once you get a balance of $100, YouTube will pay you.

Of course, there are many popular channels that can earn over a million dollars per year. Take a look at 2019’s top-ten highest paid YouTuber.

1. Ryan Kaji – $26 million
2. Due Perfect – $20 million
3. Anastasia Radzinskaya – $18 million
4. Rhett and Link – $17.5 million
5. Jeffree Star – $17 million
6. Preston (Preston Arsement) – $14 million
7. PewDiePie (Felix Kjellberg) – $13 million
8. Markiplier (Mark Fischbach) – $13 million
9. DanTDM (Daniel Middleton) – $12 million
10. VanossGaming (Evan Fong) – $11.5 million

In sum, these popular YouTubers above are business people with an entrepreneurial mindset. As long as you know how to do it yourself, making money on YouTube is realizable.

How to Make Money on YouTube FAQ?

How much do YouTubers make per view?

YouTube will pay for YouTube views about $3 to $5 per 1,000 views, which means you can get anywhere from $0.01 to $0.03 per view with AdSense. And if you have 1,000,000 views, you can get up to $5,000.

But there are other estimates, and some YouTubers might make less or more depending on the number of clicks or views, video length, ad quality, and ad blockers.

How many subscribers do you need to make money?

As discussed above, you need at least 1,000 or more subscribers to be able to monetize YouTube channel. Besides, you have 4,000 watch hours within the last 12 months and an active Google AdSense account.

Although YouTube doesn’t pay you based on the number of your subscribers, they are important. It’s because they are the ones who will like, comment, and share your videos with the others. And if you get YouTube subscribers as many as possible, you can obtain more views and potentially more money on YouTube.

How do you get paid on YouTube?

Indeed, you had basic steps to getting paid on YouTube from the beginning.

Signing up for the YouTube Partner Program is the first and foremost step that you should do to enable monetization on YouTube. And after meeting the requirements, you will get final approval from YouTube. Then select one of the methods above to make money with YouTube.

Are You Ready to Make Money on YouTube?

Promoting any product or service on YouTube and making money out of it seems a solid business model. However, do not expect that success might come overnight.

Keep in mind that the amount you make from other monetization strategies on YouTube – whether it’s creating affiliate content or selling something – depends on your marketing attempts and your number of audiences. Experience with the different options on how to make money on YouTube above and then pick the one that’s most suitable for you.