How to Make Money with YouTube Videos

YouTube is becoming an incredibly popular venue for entrepreneurs. Everyone wants to be a star these days. People approach YouTube with visions of a huge following, big ol’ paychecks, and opportunities for expansion to bigger screens. Of course, most everybody fails at making big money off of their original video content. However, there are a ton of YouTube “rags to riches” success stories. So if you are looking to make a fortune, or just some extra cash, chin up! If you know the proper methods, you can squeeze income from YouTube in no time!

Methods for Monetization

1. Becoming a Partner – Partnering with YouTube is the most common way of making money from the site. By doing this you will split all of the money made from ads. This applies to both the advertisements that play before your videos, and the ads that are displayed to the right of your video. The reason that partnering with YouTube is the most common monetization technique is because it is convenient. It is easy to set-up and start earning revenue immediately. However, it is hard to make a fortune with this method.

2. Signing up Sponsors – If you are fortunate enough to accumulate a large audience, then you can sign up sponsors for your programming that wish to advertise to your demographic. This method is dependent on your audience, the potential sponsors, and their budgets.

3. Merchandising – If you are providing free video content, there is a huge opportunity for you to promote other products that are sources of revenue for yourself. If you manage to carve out popularity and a devoted fan-base, you can market your own products that your fans will be more than happy to pay for. Of course, this method will require you to build your own website. Keep in mind that inventory = risk.

4. Utilize a Paywall – A “freemium” business model is a good way to persuade your audience to purchase your paid product. Give away the bulk of your content for free on YouTube but hide some of your best stuff behind a paywall on your website. If you have a large audience, chances are some of them will be willing to pay for your exclusive videos.

5. Affiliate Deal – If you do not have your own product to sell, find somebody that does and collect commission on sales that you refer to them. An affiliate deal can be difficult if there is no obvious partner to your channel, but the opportunity is huge if you can effectively promote somebody else. Read my post on affiliate marketing for more information.

Beyond YouTube

If YouTube isn’t your thing, there are other options for generating revenue from your videos. These are some alternatives:

1. Dailymotion – Dailymotion is one of the more popular alternatives to YouTube. After you become a “Motionmaker,” you will be able to upload your videos and earn a portion of the ad revenue.

2. Vimeo – Instead of relying on ads, Vimeo utilizes a “tip jar” model. Viewers have the option of tipping a video from $1 to $500. Producers receive around 85% of the tips.

3. Break.com – If you manage to get a video onto Break.com’s homepage, you will be offered $400 for the video (or $200 to license the video).

4. Viddler – At Viddler you can sell access to your channel, either on a weekly or monthly basis. So if you do not wish to give away your content for free, Viddler can set-up a paid content model for you.

5. Blip.tv – This is another site that will allow you to generate revenue through advertisements.

Tools and Research

There are plenty of tools that will help you out with video production. If you want a successful income through video content, you would be wise to become familiar with these tools.

1. Content ID – If you are making legitimate money from YouTube, you need to defend your revenue stream against people who’d steal your content. Content ID allows you to identify your material and retain the earnings that would otherwise go to copycats.

2. YouTube Insight – This is an analytics tool that provides you with information on your audience.

3. YouTube Trends – Subscribing to YouTube Trends will allow you to stay “in the know” on trends, and it is a good place to look for inspiration for making more videos.

4. YouTube Playbook – This is designed to aid YouTube partners in building their audience and maximizing their earnings.

5. YouTube Keyword Tool – This is another tool that helps you determine what people are searching for within YouTube. It never hurts to be aware of current interests!

6. Official YouTube Blog – Another great way to stay up-to-date on all of the current YouTube trends!

7. Free YouTube Channel Report – SimplyMeasured will give you a free report on your YouTube channel. This report will detail which of your videos are working and why.

8. YouTube Charts – A site that provides information on the videos that are popular now, and the videos that have been successful in the past.

9. VidStatsX – Another site that collects data on what is popular on YouTube.

10. YTtalk – This is a HUGE YouTube community forum. It is a great place to go for inspiration or to ask any questions you may have.

Personally, I believe that YouTube is the wave of the future when it comes to making money online. If you wish to pursue this, I suggest you build your own website. If you have a website, you can direct your YouTube audience to it and generate further income. The income generated from your site can be invested back into your original video content which will allow you to make top of the line content and this will build your audience further. It’s a great symbiotic relationship if you can implement it effectively.

If you have never built a website, check out my review on Wealthy Affiliate. Wealthy Affiliate will teach you everything you need to know about monetizing a site. A monetized site will allow you the freedom to concentrate on making more videos!

As always, if you have any feedback or questions, leave them below!