How to Start Making Money with YouTube

One of the oft-written about topics on financial blogs involves ways to save money. Saving money is certainly one piece of the ‘earn more and/or spend less’ mantra. Supplementing one’s primary income with part-time gigs/ventures can provide a fillip to stretched budgets and/or offer additional contribution to savings/investment accounts.

With the ubiquity of the Internet, content creation and monetization is a path that may provide some additional income for people who can create and display their craft. One popular channel (pun intended) for posting and monetizing content is YouTube. But how does one get started with monetizing their videos?

Content Production and Display on YouTube

The type of content that will make money also needs to be one that the creator is knowledgeable and passionate about. It is easy to fall prey to creating content that will yield maximum page views. From a monetary standpoint, this may provide the best return but it could become tough to sustain the channel after the initial excitement wears off.

It is essential to find a topic/area that balances the knowledge level of the creator with possible cash flow from the video site. Posted content could be a video blog promoting merchandise (e.g., a person making stained glassware and selling them on websites such as Etsy and eBay could use YouTube to show off their products and lead viewers to their page on those sites), beauty-oriented (makeup, hair, etc.) tips, sneak peek into a music single/album that a relatively new artist/band has come out with, etc.

As with writing blogs, uploading videos regularly will help build an audience, which, in turn, will (hopefully) lead to a subscriber base. It is important to create a presence on other social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to spread the word. Irrespective of content, viewers connect better when the content producer is responsive to relevant comments and takes requests.

The Monetization Piece

Once a subscriber base has been established, the content producer can monetize through YouTube or simply use the video as a channel leading to their online store elsewhere.

If a producer is interested in making money through YouTube, then participating in the YouTube Partner Program is a good place to start. The YouTube Partner Program offers content producers the tools and programs to develop their skills, grow their audience and monetize their videos. Becoming a partner would allow YouTube to display ads in the posted video that would bring in revenue. Earning money and receiving payments through this program requires the creator to link an AdSense account to their YouTube account. In addition, the producer will have to agree to not click on their own ads to boost revenue and not post another creator’s copyrighted material. Comprehensive details and support can be found on the YouTube Creators page.

Have you used YouTube as a tool to make money on the side? If so, do you have any tips for fellow readers who might be interested in (or starting out with) a business venture? Are there other tools that they can employ to boost their online presence?

About the Author: Clark works in Saskatchewan and has been working to build his (DIY) investment portfolio, structured for an early retirement. He loves reading (and using the lessons learned) about personal finance, technology and minimalism. You can read his other articles here.