The most common question I encounter in my webinars is “How much we can earn from YouTube” and I say “Unlimited”. It sounds like an overstatement to many, but trust me it’s true.
Earning from YouTube depends upon quality and frequency of your content.
YouTube can change, has changed, and is changing lives of many.
To most of us You Tubing or YouTube content creation is a hobby or just a passive source of income, but it can be a “MAIN “source of Income if worked on properly with strategy.
You-Tubing income depends upon how you take it and how you work on it.
For some it is additional pocket money, for some it is “bread and butter” and for some it’s Dream Achieving Career.
In this article we will deep dive in to:
- Different ways to earn money from YouTube
- How much you can earn from YouTube
- Key Factors for success of a YouTube Channel
- Dos and Don’ts of YouTubing
How You Can Earn From Youtube / Different Ways To Earn Money From Youtube
Before we discuss how much we can earn from YouTube let’s discuss the Top Five ways of earning from YouTube.
- Earning from Ads
The most popular way of income from YouTube is income from ads i.e. Google AdSense.
You can monetize your channel once you meet the basic criteria for Google AdSense which is; channel must have 1000 subscribers at minimum and in last 12 months its videos have crossed 4000 of total watch hours. After monetization you AdSense income starts which depends upon number of factors that will be discussed later in this article.
Besides AdSense Ads. you can also partner with brands and companies to include their ads in videos. Number of subscribers and views have the same importance here as brand and companies looks YouTube channels with considerable and suitable viewership.
- Affiliate and Review Products
Affiliate marketing on YouTube can bring even more handsome earning as compared to ads but it requires large viewer (subscriber) base. Product links are shared in video descriptions to direct traffic to client’s web store. Upon placement of order commission is earned on each sale as per agreed amount or percentage.
In this era of e-commerce people prefer to watch reviews before placing an order. You can become a paid reviewer of products relevant to your niche and can earn hefty amounts.
- Merchandise Sales
If your channel has loyal following you can sell your own branded merchandise through it.
For example, a “Plant & Gardening” channel can also sell its branded gardening tools and supplies.
- Brands Collaborations and Sponsors
Unlike other social media platforms, YouTube users intentionally search and watch content.
For this reason, brands and businesses pay / sponsor content creators for promotion of their products and pay premium amounts.
- Coaching & Selling Online Courses
Educational and Informational YouTube channels usually have much engaged audience.
A part from free coaching, you can design paid online courses.
These courses can be in downloadable, printable or e-book forms. Similarly paid webinars, workshops, live sessions can be conducted.
How Much You Can Earn From YouTube
This must be the most sought out question by many budding youtubers.
Generally, YouTube income is linked with number of views which is not the case at all.
In my interaction with most of the youtubers, the general idea of income against 1 million views was $1000 to $30,000. Most common answer was $3000 or $5000.
Let’s be clear that making money on YouTube is not all about views of a video, it’s also about
The watch time of your video, how long your video is? Who is watching your video? What location they are in? all these different factors come in to play but you really don’t need to be getting like 10 million Plus views a month to be making a living on YouTube. You can get a lot less views and make more than someone who is getting 10 million views a month.
To determine how much money, you can make from YouTube ad sense is not so black and white to calculate.
Key Factors For Success Of A YouTube Channel
Let’s try to unlock the YouTube’s payment matrix.
- Number of Subscribers.
- Number of Views and Watch Time.
- Location (Country) of Audience.
- Demographics (Age, Gender etc.) of Audience.
Term to understand:
- CPM: It is the cost paid by advertiser for 1000 Ad impressions when ad is displayed.
- CPM is based on demographics like (country, time, gender age etc.)
- CPM varies from country to country; it varies between .50 cents to $40 or above per thousand impressions.
Top 10 Countries by YouTube CPM Rates (2021-2022)
| S. No. | Country | CPM Rate in $ |
| 1 | Norway | 43.1 |
| 2 | Germany | 38.8 |
| 3 | Moldova | 29.5 |
| 4 | Algeria | 24.5 |
| 5 | South Korea | 17.0 |
| 6 | Sweden | 18.1 |
| 7 | Finland | 14.9 |
| 8 | United Kingdom | 13.7 |
| 9 | Canada | 13.5 |
| 10 | United States | 13.0 |
- CPM is also affected seasonally it goes up on certain festivals and events like Christmas, Olympics and FIFA World cup as more advertisers tend to float their ads.
Dos and Don’ts Of YouTubing
To earn better by YouTube ads and all other ways following key points must be kept in mind while creating content.
- Create Engaging & Interesting Content.
- Videos shall be unique and original.
- Avoid absurd & unethical content in videos.
- Follow YouTube Community guidelines & YouTube advertising formats.
- Create & Post videos regularly and consistently.
Thoughts For Inspiration:
Shelby Church whose channel has 1.76 million Subscribers earns up to $ 7000 from a video and about $30,000 a month just from ads. Her earning through affiliate and sponsored ads is estimated to be much higher.
So, what stops you to make videos and express yourself. One can earn a lot more than a routine “Eight Hour” work shift if he or she cracks the YouTube earning code.