YouTube is the second biggest search engine in the world. YouTube helps creators upload valuable videos and make money.
Creating a YouTube channel isn’t hard for anyone.
So if you have a business computer and a fast internet connection, you can start your free YouTube channel.
Secondly, if a creator has an engaging channel, there are many means to make money through a channel.
We have discussed all the means below. The only thing matters are that your videos should be valuable for YouTube users.
If you have the guts to create engaging videos and entertain or help people, you can make much more than your 9-to-5 job.
Here is everything you need to know to start a YouTube channel and get paid.
On this page
Starting a YouTube Channel
Starting a YouTube is pretty easy.
It doesn’t require any expertise to create a YouTube channel.
Anyone can follow the following steps to start a YouTube channel.
- Click the link “create YouTube channel“
- Sign in to your Google account or create one
- A pop-up will appear (automatically once you sign in or have already signed in)
- Add a picture that represents your idea
- Give your channel a name
- Click “Create Channel”
- It will get you to your channel’s dashboard.
You have successfully created a YouTube channel for yourself.
You can start uploading your videos if they are ready.
After uploading videos, and building an audience around them, you can easily earn from your channel.
There are five best ways to earn from a YouTube channel.
But before that, you are required to run your channel professionally to be eligible for all five income streams.
Let’s see how you can run a YouTube channel and make it eligible for all income streams.
Run a YouTube Channel Professionally
The most crucial step is to run it appropriately.
Remember, it’s not your personal channel where you could post anything, it’s your business, and you should treat it like your business.
To run a channel appropriately and professionally, everyone has to follow some guidelines.
Here are some guidelines to run a channel professionally.
- Choose one topic or niche
- Pick the right name
- Produce high-quality content
- Optimize your videos
- Schedule posting
- Share with others
Choose one topic or niche
It’s the best strategy to choose one topic or niche for your channel. If you stick to one category, you are more likely to attract like-minded people to it.
And that’s the pilar behind making huge incomes.
For example, it could be entertainment, food, games, cartoons, or anything else, but you should never go beyond that.
Pick the right channel name
Your channel name is the best marketing tool you have on it.
If your name represents your topic or something you are working around, it will get more subscribers.
For example, if you are looking for gardening channels, whom you would prefer with the channel names, Alex Costa or Gardening with Alex?
At least, I prefer subscribing to channels with relevant names or if the person is himself an expert in the field.
In this way, you can easily attract your first 1000 subscribers.
Actually, you need at least 1000 subscribers on YouTube to apply for Adsense.
Produce high-quality content
It’s said, content is king.
Whatever you do, give your best.
For instance, if you are a programmer or developer then YouTube can be your best business as a developer or programmer.
Your videos should be so much appealing that your viewers could become your subscribers.
Your content can make you a brand name. And that’s what you should focus on.
Optimize your videos
Running a successful youtube channel isn’t just making videos and uploading them.
It has some other stuff to do. That’s called optimizing your videos for YouTube search.
For instance, if you write a topic in the YouTube search bar. You get some videos on the top. Actually, those videos have great relevant content and are optimized for those search terms you entered.
Optimizing content isn’t a difficult thing. There are quite a few things to consider while creating content and uploading it.
- Choose a phrase (keyword) you are targetting
- Use those phrases in the content
- Add keywords in the video name
- Add keyword in Title
- Make appealing clickable titles and keep the first alphabet of each word capital
- Add keywords in the description
- Add keywords in the relevant tags section
- Keep uploading videos
It will take a little time to build an audience, but it will surely get you results pretty soon.
Schedule posting
Scheduling posting means a lot in blogging and vlogging.
If you schedule your posting, it will help your audience know when they should be ready to see your newer articles. And hence it will make your channel lovable on YouTube.
Share with others
The first 24 hours after uploading a video means a lot.
If you could get many interactions after uploading your video, it will help YouTube understand that it’s worthy content and should appear in the top results.
Once your videos are at the top of the search terms which have some traffic, it’s going to be a huge thing for you.
A free audience will watch your videos, and you will get 4000 watch time to apply for Adsense.
5 ways to make money with a YouTube channel
Starting a channel takes less than a minute. But making money from it takes time unless you invest money in its marketing.
Let’s be specific now.
Basically, there are five different ways to earn from a YouTube channel.
- Google Adsense
- Affiliate Sales
- Sponsored Content
- Offer Exclusive Content
- A Coffee Request
That means if your AdSense is disabled on your channel, that doesn’t mean it’s worthless. It means you have only lost one-third income streams. That’s just 20% of your income streams.
Google Adsense
Google Adsense is one of the most trusted and highest-paying ad companies in the world.
It’s pretty easy to get eligible to apply for Google Adsense on a YouTube channel.
It has obvious eligibility requirements.
- 1000 subscribers
- 4000 watch time in the previous 12 months
Once you get 1000 subscribers and 4000 total watch time on your videos, you can apply for Adsense and earn from it.
Once you have enabled Adsense on your channel, your viewers will see ads on your ads.
You will earn from Ads views and ads clicks.
Usually, people are paid $1 to $4 for each 1000 ad views. However, ad clicks can get you a lot from it.
Affiliate Sales
If you could build an audience around your topic, you can share commercial content and add another income stream.
For instance, your niche is technology. You share the latest in technology.
In this niche, you can share reviews of different gadgets which are relevant to your topics. Add a purchasing affiliate link in the description.
And ask your viewers to buy products from your affiliate link.
YouTubers also offer some coupons and promos to increase sales from their affiliate links.
Say you were about to buy a laptop, and I say that if you use this link, you will get 2% off. What would you do?
You can join any affiliate program like Amazon Affiliate program to sell stuff and get paid.
Sponsored Content
The third best way to earn from your YouTube channel is to upload sponsored content.
Once you have some audience on your channel, companies will reach you to share and promote their products on your channel.
Companies pay for such promotions.
For instance, you have a fashion vlog.
And you have attracted some sound local audiences.
Many beauty products-related companies will reach you to share their products, and they will offer you something extraordinary in return. It could be gifts or cash.
You can even mention that the video is sponsored content.
Offer Exclusive Content
Offering exclusive content is one of the best ways to earn from your channel.
Say you are an expert in any field, and you have some great tactics that you can share with your audience.
It can bring you huge incomes, and you don’t even need any company to pay you.
It’s all yours.
The first important step is to convince people that you are an expert in the field and that you can help them.
Then tell them that you have exclusive content that you can share with them if they pay you a little money.
If they trust you, they will surely pay you.
I had also subscribed to some services for exclusive content via YouTube – so it indeed works. I had subscribed to someone who was speaking about cryptocurrency.
People usually use Patreon.com to get paid. You can also use this platform to share your private content and get paid for it.
A Coffee Request
It’s another best technique to get paid for your efforts.
Suppose you are sharing life-changing or problem-solving content on your vlog or blog. You can get paid for your efforts without any other struggle.
There are always some very kind viewers and readers around the web.
If you could help them, you have the right to request them to buy you a coffee or get you lunch. A few of them will surely help you.
It’s not wrong to make requests.
You are making efforts in research, creating content, and even investing money in it. If today or by tomorrow, your efforts are not yielding enough, it will disappoint you, and the world will lose some excellent content for life.
If you ask to sponsor your efforts, there is nothing wrong with it.
Even Wikipedia, and Web Archive, are alive because of such kind users on the internet.
You can use Patreon again to get paid by such kind users. I have seen many vloggers and bloggers using Patron for such requests.
Money-Making YouTube Channel FAQ
How many views do you need to get paid on YouTube?
There is no ‘views’ conditions on YouTube to get paid. If you have 1000 subscribers and 4000 yearly watch time. You can apply for Adsense.
After that, you are paid for all of your views. Say $1 to $4 for every 1000 views.
How many subscribers do you need to get paid on YouTube?
Any YouTuber needs at least 1000 subscribers to apply for Adsense and get paid for the efforts.
However, if someone uses the other four income streams, anyone can earn money on YouTube without the 1000 subscribers condition.
Is it profitable to start a YouTube channel?
Starting a YouTube channel is a highly profitable business. One can make money by just sharing videos on YouTube.