6 Ways to Make Money on YouTube in 2024

YouTube has a video monetization scheme called the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which compensates you for hosting advertisements in your videos. According to Narcis Nedelcu, an expert who’s worked on over 500 YouTube channels, signing up for the YPP is the easiest way to make money quickly on YouTube.

To qualify for the YouTube Partner Program, you’ll need to set up a Google AdSense account and meet the following requirements: 1

• Live in a YPP-eligible country
• Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel
• Turn on the two-step verification on your Google account
• Have access to advanced features on YouTube
• Have at least 1,000 subscribers AND either 4,000 valid watch hours from the past year or 10 million Shorts views from the past 90 days

You can ask YouTube to send you an email to apply once you meet these criteria by clicking “Notify me when I’m eligible” in the “Earn” area of YouTube Studio. However, Nedelcu warns that “YouTube will not send a notification most of the time, or they will send it very late.” To make sure you get into the YPP as soon as possible, he says you should keep track of your own stats and submit an application when you qualify.

Once enrolled, you’ll get paid each time a regular viewer watches an ad in full. For views from YouTube Premium members (who don’t see ads), you’ll get a certain amount of money based on how much of your content they’ve consumed. 2

Nedelcu told us that where your viewers are geographically located also plays a role in how much you earn from the YPP. He says this is because cost per mille (CPM) is “the most important metric for YouTube when they calculate your income,” and each country has a unique CPM based on advertisement potential.

One exciting new feature of the YPP is that you can now monetize YouTube Shorts, which are short videos similar to those on TikTok. You’ll be paid each time a viewer watches a full ad in between YouTube Shorts. However, Nedelcu says the revenue from Shorts is “very low at the moment,” with 1 million views equaling only around $50–$60 in earnings.

What types of content may be excluded from ad revenue?

One of YouTube’s monetization policies is that the content you post needs to be advertiser friendly. This means your videos cannot contain the following material:

• Violent content
• Sexual content
• Deceitful content
• Demeaning content
• Vulgar language
• Content perpetrating hatred
• Inappropriate content for children

You can check out the full list of topics that aren’t advertiser friendly on Google’s support page, which also elaborates on their definition of each topic.

To check if YouTube has demonetized your channel, click on “Earn” in the left-hand menu of your YouTube Studio. In the same column, you can also submit an appeal by clicking on “Content” if you believe YouTube has mistakenly blocked one of your videos.

Some companies will offer YouTubers money, products, or services in exchange for a sponsored mention, a sponsored video, or some other publicity benefit. The catch is that you generally need to have a pretty big following in order to attract the attention of major brands.

For this reason, Nedelcu says it’s the hardest way to make money on YouTube. You need to reach at least micro-influencer status, meaning you have at least 2,500 to 5,000 subscribers—plus you need to have a profitable niche that’ll attract brands.

Companies offering sponsorship deals look for YouTubers who have an established viewership among their target demographic. For instance, an online counseling company may offer up a sponsorship deal if you have a widely successful YouTube channel dedicated to mental health.

Don’t rush to form sponsorships with just any brand—you may lose subscribers if people dislike the products you’re promoting. When deciding which brands to work with, live by the following rules:

• Partner with brands that fit the style of your content
• Only endorse brands you like and trust
• Be transparent with your audience about your sponsorships

How much money you’ll get offered for branded content depends on the number of subscribers you have, how profitable your niche is, and your audience demographics.

Affiliate marketing is a common way to earn money as a YouTuber by promoting products or services on your channel because you don’t necessarily need to be a superstar to get started.

In contrast to brand sponsorships, affiliate marketing deals often give you more control over your content. However, you don’t get paid upfront—instead, your income is based on the number of sales you inspire.

To start earning money through affiliate marketing on YouTube, simply browse companies relevant to your subject matter and find one that has an affiliate program. You’ll get a personalized affiliate link to add to a video’s description box, and then you’ll earn a commission each time one of your viewers uses that link to make a qualifying purchase.

Examples of popular YouTube affiliate programs include Amazon Associates, the Shopify Affiliate Program, and ClickBank. Be sure to clearly disclose your brand affiliations in your videos.

It’s also important to give some thought to the products you choose to promote. Nedelcu says the most common mistakes people make with affiliate marketing on YouTube are choosing products that don’t match their content and not trying out the product first. As is the case with most YouTube monetization strategies, thinking of your viewers is key.

Fan funding is a way for your audience to support your work through donations. In exchange, you may offer special perks, like access to exclusive content.

Here are some of the most common types of fan funding:

• YouTube channel memberships: Viewers can support you by signing up for a YouTube membership to your channel. They’ll make recurring monthly payments, and in return, they’ll receive member-only perks, such as access to exclusive behind-the-scenes videos.
• Super Thanks: Super Thanks is a program that allows viewers to show appreciation for content creators. Viewers have a few pricing options to choose from, and in exchange for payment, they’ll get to see a one-time animation across your videos and get to post a colorful comment that’ll stand out in your comment section.
• Super Chat and Super Stickers: Super Chat and Super Stickers are other YouTube programs that allow viewers to post highlighted comments or stickers in the live chats of live streams in exchange for payment. The larger the donation, the more noticeable the comment or sticker will be.
• Third-party donation programs: In addition to enrolling in YouTube’s own membership and donation programs, you can set up donation portals on websites like Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee. Simply create an account and add your donation page’s URL to the description box for one or more of your videos. In exchange, you can provide these fans with exclusive perks, content, or rewards.

In Nedelcu’s experience getting fan funding in niches like DIY and indie gaming videos, he found that the most effective way to get donations was to “develop a devoted audience” by keeping in touch with viewers via Discord or similar platforms. He emphasized the importance of being “as transparent as you can about the entire project,” including its scope and what your fans are actually going to get in exchange for their donations.

A successful YouTube channel is a great platform for selling products or merchandise. You could make and sell t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, tote bags, or even your own book.

Many YouTubers will create products that align with their channel content. For instance, if you have a cooking channel, you might want to develop your own brand of kitchen utensils and promote them in your videos.

Coming up with something to sell doesn’t have to be difficult—start by thinking about the defining characteristics of your channel. For example, if you have a catchphrase you say in each of your videos, you can print it on your merchandise.

Once you’ve decided what to sell, you’ll have to come up with a logistical plan for how you’ll deliver products to your customers. When we asked Nedelcu, he said the best approach he always recommends is drop-shipping via Etsy or Shopify. This is “the most profitable” selling method with the least investment required.

When you upload a video to YouTube, you own the copyright to that content, and nobody else (apart from other YouTubers) can use it without your permission. 3 With this power comes the opportunity to charge high fees for usage rights.

Posting valuable footage or high-quality content is the most obvious way to make this work for you as a video monetization strategy. Ultimately, however, whether it’s a feasible option for you is beyond your control—it really comes down to how much other people want to reuse your videos.

For example, should one of your YouTube videos go viral, media outlets may ask you if they can show it on their website or other platforms. If that happens, they may send you a content licensing agreement granting them the right to redistribute your content. In other cases, you may have to draft you own contract.

Your licensing agreement should clearly lay out what the other party can and can’t do with your content, how much you’re charging, and how they’ll compensate you. If you’re not sure where to start, consider consulting an attorney.

We asked Nedelcu how beginners can most effectively make money on YouTube. Here are tips he gave for growing your viewership and increasing audience engagement:

• Consistently upload new videos: The only way to establish a devoted fan base is to regularly post high-quality content. If you don’t, people will simply stop watching. A reasonable target could be two videos per week or one Short per day, depending on the type of content you’re producing and your niche.
• Get specific: Choose a niche or topic that you’re really passionate about and that has an audience. You’ll likely have more success as a specialist in a small niche than a generalist in a broad category.
• Invest in good video equipment: Using a decent camera, microphone, and lighting will ensure that your videos have clear audio and visuals. This will help you communicate more effectively, improve viewer experience, and get returning visitors to your channel.
• Get to know your audience: To keep people coming back to your channel, you need to know what they want to see. Research the competition and audience preferences for your subject, and identify gaps that you can fill with your unique expertise.
• Give thought to video titles, descriptions, and thumbnails: Titles and thumbnails are the first things viewers see when encountering your videos, and they can significantly impact click-through rates. Choose attention-grabbing but honest titles and thumbnails, and also write detailed and accurate descriptions that incorporate relevant keywords.
• Do keyword research: Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner or YouTube’s search suggestions to find relevant keywords. Incorporate these into your video titles, descriptions, and tags to improve discoverability.
• Mix it up: You can increase your video output by uploading videos that require less time and effort to create. For instance, you won’t need to worry about cinematography if you post audio-only videos or tutorials on your channel.
• Collaborate with other YouTubers: Featuring other YouTubers on your channel and vice versa can help both you and your peers gain exposure and increase the profitability of your channels.
• Cross-promote: Share your YouTube videos on other social media platforms to increase your visibility and expand your reach. Adding in a couple of relevant hashtags can also help you connect with the right audience.
• Review YouTube’s rules and policies: You can’t make money on YouTube if you get kicked off the platform for violating their rules. Brush up on YouTube’s Community Guidelines, copyright rules, and monetization policies to ensure you stay in the clear.
• Add a call to action: You’ve probably seen a thousand videos end with a call-to-action phrase like “Don’t forget to like and subscribe if you liked this video.” This is a popular tactic YouTubers use to increase their number of viewers. You can also ask your viewers for feedback and suggestions and then reply to their comments to increase engagement.
• Adapt your approach when necessary: Keep tabs on YouTube Analytics so you know which videos are performing best and why. If your channel’s not performing as well as you’d like, be willing to experiment to find the optimal YouTube monetization approach for you.

Ultimately, Nedelcu says the most important thing you can do when starting a YouTube channel as a side hustle is do your research first. He’s helped the creators of hundreds of YouTube channels, and he says the most common mistake he’s seen is YouTubers starting off with very high expectations of what they’ll achieve without doing the research required to succeed.

He stresses that you should only start a YouTube channel after you’ve found a space in a niche that hasn’t fully matured yet. Utilize free online resources and materials to build up your knowledge, and then you can get started the right way.

Like the case with any side hustle, monetizing a YouTube channel is the perfect job for some people but not a good option for others. Nedelcu pointed out the main drawback of a YouTube side hustle is the lack of stability for creators. There are no guarantees when it comes to your monthly earnings, and YouTube can kick you out of the YPP program (or remove you from the platform altogether) at any time.

The only way to know if you can make it as a pro YouTuber is to try. If you already have a successful YouTube channel, then attempting to monetize your content is definitely worthwhile. However, if you’re still building a following or you haven’t even started your YouTube channel yet, then you’ll have to decide whether it’s worth it starting from square one.

How much money can you make on YouTube?

Estimates from different sources show that as a YouTuber, you can get paid anywhere in the range of $1.61–$30.00 for every 1,000 views you get. 4 5

Nedelcu told us he had one major client with 15 million subscribers who was earning over $600,000 per month. Another creator he worked with had seven YouTube channels and was making a jaw-dropping $1.5 million per month. But to be clear, these are rare cases.

While these figures go to show that there certainly is money to be made through YouTube, the truth is that not everyone will get the same results. Your income will partly depend on the quality of your content, but it will also come down to your marketing skills, the monetization strategies you use, how consistently you post new videos, and good old-fashioned luck.

How long does it take to make money on YouTube?

Like the case with how much you’ll earn, how long it’ll take you to start making money on YouTube depends on a range of factors. Nedelcu says that in the best case scenario, you could start seeing earnings in as little as 3 months. However, for most new YouTubers, he says it takes 5–6 months.

Alternatives to making money on YouTube

If you love the ideal of generating an income digitally but you’re struggling to make it big as a YouTuber, you can explore monetization options on other media platforms.

Here are a few ideas:

• Become a social media influencer: Making money on social media sites and apps works in much the same way as it does on YouTube. You can work with brands to promote products on your social media accounts, create branded posts, or sell your own merch.
• Live stream: Believe it or not, you can actually get paid to play video games. A popular side hustle among gamers is signing up for Twitch, a platform specifically built for live streaming. Once you’ve established an audience, you can monetize your content through the Twitch Affiliate Program.
• Sign up for websites and apps that pay you: There are plenty of ways to easily earn extra cash remotely online. For example, you could watch ads for money or take paid surveys.
• Start a blog: Much like the case with paid Youtubing, you can make money blogging by using content monetization strategies like affiliate marketing.

Beyond these options, you can also explore countless other side hustles that fit in with your lifestyle. There are plenty of other creative side hustles that may suit you if you love the artistic or cinematographic aspects of creating YouTube videos.