How to make money on YouTube in 2022

October 17, 2022

Learning how to make money on YouTube can be one of your best decisions. YouTube video contents vary from entertainment to teaching, reviewing, lifestyle, etc. Regardless of the content, you can still make money on YouTube.

Can I Make Money on YouTube?

YouTube has an audience of over 2 billion that consume over a billion hours of video daily. With this vast audience, you can be sure of making money from the platform if you learn how to.

According to Forbes, the highest-paid YouTuber earned as much as $54million in 2021. Although not every YouTuber can boast of this, most still earn enough to live comfortably. Making your first dollars on YouTube may be challenging, but once you achieve it, you will earn even more.

How to Make Money on YouTube

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Alt-text: Image showing a man spreading money over his face

To make money on YouTube, you first need to do some research. You need to research your intended niche and how the YouTube platform works. Knowledge in these areas can help to position you for success. Below are some ways you can make money on YouTube.

Partner with YouTube and earn ad revenue

Ad revenue is one of the quickest ways to earn on YouTube. To earn from this, you first need to create a YouTube channel. After creating your channel, you need to join the YouTube partner program.

The YouTube partner program gives you access to lots of monetization strategies through Google AdSense. To earn from ads on YouTube, you must be 18 years or more. Here are some steps to follow to make money on YouTube via ads.

Create a YouTube channel and grow it to a minimum of 1,000 subscribers. Your videos should have generated 4,000 watching hours over the last 12 months.
Enable monetization on your YouTube account and agree to the terms of the YouTube partner program.
Set up or connect your existing Google Adsense account to your YouTube channel.
Select your monetization preferences.

Sell merchandise

Merchandise could be physical or digital products. It ranges from caps to mugs, clothes, bracelets, T-shirts, e-books, e-courses, etc. You can earn revenue by selling merch. Your brand will also expand from online to offline audiences when you sell merch. Here’s how you can sell merchandise on your YouTube channel.

Get a product that represents your brand and that your audience feels connected to.
Create a website or use an existing one where your audience can buy your products.
Link your YouTube videos to your website. If you are a YouTube partner, you can enable the shelf feature for your products.
Promote your products in your videos. Videos can show you or your fans wearing or using your products.
Ensure you develop an effective social media strategy to help drive traffic to your YouTube channel and, consequently, your website.

Become a brand influencer

Becoming a brand influencer is one of the ways to earn money on YouTube. Here, all you have to do is to promote sponsored content on your channel. Brands are constantly looking for a way to reach more audiences. So, they continuously invest in advertising. Let the few tips below guide you on how to make money as a brand influencer.

Have a channel approved by YouTube.
Ensure you have a valid Google Adsense account.
Reach out to brands you intend to work with for sponsorship. You can use influencer marketing platforms, including Klear, Upfluence, and Grapevine village.
Negotiate your pricing and terms with the brand. Sponsored YouTube videos are one of the most expensive ads.
Check YouTube’s disclosure feature for sponsored content. The feature enables transparency and helps to abide by Google’s ad policies.

Become an affiliate marketer

Affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make money on YouTube. As an affiliate marketer, you promote a brand’s products or services. When prospective buyers click your affiliate link and purchase a product, you earn a commission. Below are some tips to help you make money as an affiliate marketer on YouTube.

Choose a niche and do thorough research about the niche.
Build a YouTube channel around this niche and grow your audience.
Partner with any of the available affiliate partnership programs for your niche
Recommend and promote your affiliate products to your audience through your videos.
Always include your affiliate link in the video description. This will direct buyers to where they can purchase the products you promoted.

License your videos to other media outlets

You can license your videos to other media outlets and get paid. Some of these media outlets may reach out to you for the right to use your video(s) if it’s viral. Even in cases where it’s not viral, they may still reach out to you if the content of the video is valuable and worth sharing. Do the following to make money on YouTube by licensing your videos to other channels.

Create quality and valuable video content. The likelihood of valuable video content getting viral is higher.
Update your contact details on your YouTube account profile.
Register with video content marketplaces. This enables the faster and legal purchase of your video content.
Consider reaching out to media channels for business deals.

Tips on How You Can Make Money on YouTube

To make money on YouTube, you need to have a good strategy. You also need to know the little and often overlooked things that guarantee your success on the platform. Below are some of them.

Understand your niche, audience, and YouTube.
Create quality videos and optimize them to rank using YouTube SEO tips.
Add a call to action in your videos.
Build a reliable and easily accessible website.
Add links in your video description, especially your website links.

To Wrap Up

Making money on YouTube is not as easy as it seems; it takes hard work and consistency. However, if you are ready to put in the necessary work, you can be sure of making good money from the platform.