How to Make Money on YouTube as a Creator

It’s no surprise that many creators want to use YouTube to start making money. YouTube is the second most visited website in the world and generates over 1 billion hours of watch time every day. 

Its massive audience makes YouTube one of the best, most lucrative platforms for creators to be on. 

So while you might not have started your channel with the purpose of making money, there are so many opportunities to do so! Take a moment to learn how to profit off all your hard work by reading about the most effective ways to make money on YouTube as a creator below.

1. Create ads with YouTube’s Partner Program

One way to monetize your channel is to have Google-placed ads on your videos. Whether you’re a fan of ads or not, the fact is they work. 

In 2022, YouTube’s worldwide ad revenue in Q2 and Q3 was over $7 billion. The video platform pays creators 68% of ad revenue, which means they earned over $680 million from placed ads in those two quarters alone. 

If you want to join the party, you’ll need to enroll in YouTube’s Partner Program. To qualify, you will need: 

• 1,000+ subscribers 
• 4,000+ watched hours over the last year 
• A Google AdSense account 

Once you’ve hit these milestones, you can read and agree to the terms of the Partner Program from your YouTube Studio (under Monetization).

Pro Tip: Keep in mind that the more ads you have before and during your video, the more difficult it will be to keep your fans’ attention. You also want to consider the age and demographic of your fans, so you can run ads that are relevant to your audience. It’s a numbers game in the end, so play around with your Monetization preferences to find what works for your channel.

2. Sell custom products with Spring’s YouTube merch shelf integration

We’re gonna toot our own horn because this is probably the most hassle-free way to monetize your channel. Spring allows creators to easily design and promote physical and digital products on their social channels, and you don’t have to hit any milestones to do it. 

With customized merch, you can:

• Get fans engaged with your brand
• Spread your influence beyond your channel 
• Easily run promotions to drive sales
• Keep offering new products to keep your income flowing

Once you have your custom merch created, you can add our YouTube integration to link your merch shelf to your channel, which makes your products display directly below your video. This way, fans can check out your merch before they click through to buy. 

Creating a Spring account is free and our dashboard allows you to create and sell within minutes. All you need is your creativity. Check out our quick walk-through video to get started.

3. Get paid subscribers with a YouTube channel membership

Users who opt for a channel membership pay a monthly fee for perks and exclusive content. You can also offer tiers of memberships at different monthly prices for different levels of perks.

Some common perks include:

• Icon badges
• Emojis
• Live chat 
• Exclusive videos

The best part? YouTube gives creators 70% of channel membership revenue (minus taxes & fees).

To be eligible you’ll also need 1,000+ subscribers and to be a part of the Partner Program. But some exclusions apply, like content cannot be made for kids or have claimed music (subject to a copyright). You’ll also have some restrictions on what your “perks” can be, so don’t offer content downloads, in-person meetings, lotteries and the like.  

What do users expect from a paid channel? Lots of content! If you’re not posting videos daily, then a channel membership might not be for you. It also will require more maintenance— creating all those perks for all those tiers takes time! 

4. Partner With Other Brands 

More and more brands are looking to partner with creators as part of their advertising on social media. When you partner with another brand, you will basically promote them in your video and your video description. 

Here are two ways to go about it:

1. Get a sponsor: When you have a sponsor, you will include their promoted content in your video. Brands will pay a flat fee based on the number of views you typically get per video, and this can range from a couple hundred dollars up to 5 figures for those creators with over 1 million subscribers. To find sponsor opportunities, check out the Upfluence marketplace.
2. Affiliate marketing: You can earn a commission when a user purchases a product or service that you have promoted, either through product placement or a direct endorsement. It’s a win-win for brands, as they don’t pay you until they’ve made a sale. This will be most effective if you include products or services that align with your brand and style, as it’s basically your endorsement that fans will rely on when purchasing. You can reach out to brands in your niche to see if they’re interested (many are).

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a lot of pathways to start monetizing your YouTube channel. Just make sure to consistently work on growing your audience. The more subscribers you have, the better the results of your monetization efforts will be.

One of our biggest goals at Spring is to help creators realize their potential. So check out our blog for more creator success tips and tricks!