One exciting way to make money online is by creating quality and unique video content on YouTube. Just think about the last time you scrolled Facebook and how many videos you saw on your timeline in a single day. The truth is that people love to watch and engage with quality video content on social media (this is the main reason why Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social networks today.).
Founded in 2005, YouTube is one of the most popular video sites on the Web today. According to the 2018 YouTube stats published by Ominicore, over five billion YouTube videos are watched around the world daily. YouTube has active monthly users of a 1.9billion, which makes it the second most popular social network after Facebook, which has over 2.27 billion monthly active users.
YouTube is a really interesting way to make money, and when it’s done right, it can be a very lucrative business idea. In this post, we shared some basic tips and strategies on how you can double your income just by creating video content and monetizing them on YouTube.
1. Monetize your videos for Ads on YouTube.
Youtube monetization works based on the platform provided by Google, known as Google Adsense. It is Google Adsense that pays you for your videos, not YouTube. Adsense is responsible for placing Ads on your videos.
First, to qualify for monetization, your channel has to have at least 4,000 hours of watch time within the last year and at least 1,000 subscribers. This policy went into effect at the beginning of 2020 and is another way for YouTube to prioritize watch time (as opposed to view count, which was the platform’s previous focus).
4 steps to enable monetization on YouTube.
Once your channel has achieved the total number of required YouTube hours and the number of subscribers, then you are ready to enable monetization on your videos.
- Click on My Channel in the drop-down after you click on your icon in the top right corner of the screen.
- From this screen, click on YouTube Studio.
- On the bottom left-hand side of your screen, click the option for Creator Studio Classic.
- Once you’re in the Creator Studio, click on Channel > Status and Features. Finally, in the box that says Monetization, click Enable.
After you’ve enabled monetization on your YouTube channel, your videos can be submitted and approved for monetization. To earn the revenue generated from these ads, you will need to associate a Google AdSense account with your YouTube account.
Also Read: How To Make Money From Blogging In Nigeria.
2. Sell & market affiliate products on YouTube.
Affiliate marketing means selling products in exchange for a commission. Hundreds of thousands of companies offer attractive deals to affiliate marketers who promote their products, including huge companies like Amazon and eBay, as well as smaller companies.
Affiliate marketing is obviously a hugely popular way to make money online from home. Instead of relying on static blogs to drive people to affiliate links, try creating a lively YouTube channel and using it as the primary catalyst for driving traffic and generating sales for affiliate websites.
The top 5 affiliate marketing programs in Nigeria today include:
- Jumia Affiliate Program.
- Konga Affiliate Program.
- Amazon Affiliate Program.
- Aliexpress Affiliate Program
- Bet9ja Affiliate Program.
To make money from YouTube as an affiliate marketer, review affiliate products such as mobile phones, laptops, and cars or create “how to use this product” tutorials. Don’t forget to link to your products in your YouTube descriptions – make sure you’re using your affiliate link, or you won’t get credit for sales.
Also Read: How To Make Money Online With Google AdSense In Nigeria.
3. Get sponsorships for your video content.
If you study some of the most successful YouTubers, you’ll notice the sponsorships and advertisements they have in their video recordings. Lots of companies nowadays provide sponsorship to YouTube channels for direct advertisement.
To reach for a sponsorship, you might need to work on a detailed proposal about the things you are able to provide. Make sure you know well about your audience and the brand you are approaching. The great thing about sponsorships is that you don’t have to give YouTube a cut.
In most cases, the amount of revenue you generate from sponsorships is substantially more than YouTube ad revenue. If you want to get a brand deal and become an influencer on YouTube, then you will have to put yourself out there to be discovered.
Steps to getting a brand deal or sponsorship:
- Find brands and campaigns that match your audience.
- Pitch your creative ideas and present the proposal to the brand within their parameters (product review, 30-60 shoutout, etc.)
- If accepted, you are hired and will begin collaboration with the brand to produce the project.
- Build out content and seek brand approval.
- Get Paid.
4. Sell your own products or service
Learn what your viewers need and sell them something of value. If you want to make 100 percent of the revenue and have full control of the money coming in? To do this, you need to sell your own products or service.
For example, you create a mini online training program that you sell for $250. If you can convert just one viewer in every 1,000 views to your $250 video course, you’ll have made $0.25 per view…more than 59 times what you would make with YouTube ads.
You can sell your products on popular e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, Jumia, or Konga. These platforms provide an online store for you to sell your products. By mentioning or linking your products in your videos, you can direct traffic to your e-commerce spot on any platform and make some extra cash.
Conclusion
It doesn’t happen overnight! YouTube is a great way to make extra income for your business, but it certainly isn’t easy. To make a noticeable amount of money, you’ll need to attract thousands of viewers to each video. Know that you’ll need to build trust for your channel by creating consistent, quality content that entertains, informs, and delights.
Making money on YouTube doesn’t have to depend on advertising, and it certainly doesn’t mean being held back by new YouTube advertiser policies. The good thing is that you can combine two or more ways of making money on YouTube to boost your monthly earnings.
However, ensure your video contents are of good quality for your target audience. If you have a bit extra money to spend on equipment, opt for a good digital camera to do the job instead of using your phone’s camera.