How to Make Money on YouTube in 2024: 5 Ways to Get Paid
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The growing creator economy has turned up some diverse ways to make money on YouTube. And while some methods offer a lower barrier to entry than earning through ads, there’s no substitute for quality content and an engaged audience.
If you can tap into your creative side, and are willing to put in a lot of effort, you might be able to make money on YouTube, too. Here are a few monetization methods to explore.
How to get paid on YouTube
- How to complete the FAFSA if:
- How to maximize your rewards
- 1. Earn with ads as a YouTube Partner Program member
- 1. Select an online stockbroker
- 1. Buy REITs (real estate investment trusts)
- Evaluate whether a card is still a good fit
- 1. Figure out if you are eligible
- Investment-based passive income ideas
- 1. Pick up freelance work online
- 1. Ibotta
- Average monthly expenses for one person:
- 1. Roll your debts onto a balance transfer credit card
- Coverage eligibility
- Example 1. Start at $0 and save at your own pace
- Monthly after-tax income
- Average monthly expenses for a family of 2:
- By chat
- 1. Dividend stocks
- 2. Research the stocks you want to buy
- More income is sheltered
- 1. Donate to a qualifying organization
- Cheap auto insurance from large companies
- 50% of your income: needs
- Positive Rent Payment pilot program
- Average monthly expenses for a family of 3:
- 2. Decide what type of investor you are
- Concorde Room
- 2. Use an online real estate investing platform
- Look into lowering interest rates
- Alliant: Best for fast funding
- Average monthly expenses for a family of 4:
- By email
- Example 2. Start with $10,000 and make $400 in interest in one year
- First class lounges
- Review credit reports
- Advantages of a lady bird deed
- 2. Rakuten
- 2. Apply for a credit card consolidation loan
- 2. Test websites and apps
- 30% of your income: wants
- Free rent-reporting services tenants can use on their own
- Average monthly expenses for a family of 5 or more:
- 2. Dividend index funds and exchange-traded funds
- Business class lounges
- Cheap car insurance from midsize companies
- 3. Think about investing in rental properties
- First Tech: Best for co-sign and joint loan options
- Required payment is cut in half
- Booking an all-inclusive stay using cash
- By mail
- Services provided by landlords
- 3. Choose how much you want to invest
- Disadvantages of a lady bird deed
- 20% of your income: savings and debt
- 2. Document your charitable contributions
- Booking an all-inclusive stay using hotel points
- Arrivals lounges
- 3. Decide how many shares to buy
- AAA non-member rates
- 3. Learn to use AI tools
- PenFed: Best for a seamless application process
- Services that charge renters
- 2. Take a cut with affiliate marketing
- Forgiveness comes sooner
- 3. Swagbucks
- AAA member rates
- 4. Select a provider to open your Roth IRA
- Booking an all-inclusive stay using travel portals
- 3. Bonds and bond index funds
- Cheap car insurance after a speeding ticket
- Average annual full coverage car insurance premium by company
- Navy Federal: Best for military members
- 3. Don’t miss out on tax deductions for volunteering
- 4. Buy stocks using the right order type for you
- 4. Consider flipping investment properties
- 3. Tap your home equity for a loan or line of credit
- Average annual full coverage car insurance premium by age
- Unpaid interest is cancelled
- 4. Fiverr
- 4. Keep the deadline in mind
- 3. Land a brand deal and make sponsored content
- 4. Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- 4. Take surveys for money
- Cheap auto insurance after an accident
- 5. Gather your paperwork
- Market orders
- Booking an all-inclusive stay using cash
- How to contact AAA
- 5. Rent out a room
- 4. Sell some merch
- 4. Borrow from your 401(k)
- Booking an all-inclusive stay using hotel points
- 5. Money market funds
- 5. Make money from your blog with affiliate links
- 5. Upwork
- 6. Pick your investments
- Cheapest car insurance after a DUI
- 5. Offer memberships
- Which credit cards to use for primary coverage
- Limit orders
- Booking an all-inclusive stay using travel portals
- 6. Sell your wares on Etsy
- Solar panel incentives by state
- 6. High-yield savings accounts
- 6. OfferUp
- 5. Enter a debt management plan
- Utility-based clean energy incentives
- Cheapest auto insurance for poor credit
- 7. Self-publish an e-book
- Dollar-cost averaging
- SAVE benefits available by October 2023
- 7. CDs
- SAVE benefit starting in February 2024
- 7. Poshmark
- Property-based passive income ideas
- 8. Get advertising revenue from your blog or YouTube channel
- SAVE benefits available by July 2024
- 8. Buy a rental property
- 5. Optimize your stock portfolio
- Cheapest car insurance for young drivers
- 9. Rent out your own house
- 9. Become an Instagram influencer
- 6. Know when to sell stocks — and when not to
- 10. Get a roommate
- Alternative investment passive income ideas
- 10. Monetize your Twitch channel
- Cheapest auto insurance for senior drivers
- 11. Peer-to-peer lending
- 11. Sell your photography
- 12. Private equity
- 13. Crypto staking
- 12. Become a dog walker with Rover or Wag
- Product creation passive income ideas
- 13. Sell unused gift cards
- 14. Write content
- 14. List your spare bedroom on Airbnb
- 15. Publish a digital course
- Car-related passive income ideas
- 15. Sell your gently used clothes
- 16. Wrap your car with ads
- 17. Rent out a parking space
- 16. Trade in old phones, electronics for cash
- 17. Get a babysitting gig
- 18. Rent out your car
- 19. Sign up for TaskRabbit
- 20. Become a private tutor
- 21. Drive for Uber, Lyft
- 22. Make deliveries for Amazon, Uber Eats
- 23. Find work as a housesitter
- 24. Sign up to be a mystery shopper
- 25. Put your drone to work
1. Earn with ads as a YouTube Partner Program member
Let’s get this one out of the way first. You must join the YouTube Partner Program to earn money from advertisements. And you can’t become a YouTube partner who includes ads on your channel until it surpasses the 1,000-subscriber threshold. You’ll also need a collective 4,000 hours of watch time on long-form videos within the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views within the past 90 days. (See No. 5 for how to join the Partner Program with reduced eligibility requirements.) Check those big boxes and it opens the door to ad revenue.
A few additional requirements apply before you can become a partner:
Your videos must abide by YouTube’s monetization policies.
You must live in an eligible area.
You need to link a Google AdSense account.
Click the “earn” section in YouTube Studio to apply. YouTube says it typically gets back to you within one month of reviewing your application to let you know if you’re approved or not.
As a YouTube partner, you can earn money through ads, chat features and from YouTube Premium subscribers who watch your content. The platform also allows YouTube partners to earn ad revenue on Shorts, which are YouTube’s version of short-form TikTok-like videos.
How many views on YouTube does it take to make money?
You don’t get paid per video view. Rather, you’re paid for the times when someone watches or clicks on an ad shown on your video.
Influencer Marketing Hub says that while payment varies, the average YouTube channel can expect to make about $18 per 1,000 ad views. That translates to $3 to $5 per 1,000 video views when you factor in the rate of ads actually viewed. The site has a YouTube calculator to gauge how much revenue you might make.
So when do you start making money on YouTube?
You'll be paid once your balance reaches $100. Say it takes approximately 1,000 video views to earn $4 from those viewers who saw ads. You would need 25,000 video views to make $100 through those ads.
If you have a small channel, you might get paid only every few months. You'll also want to be familiar with how Google, which issues AdSense payments, handles taxes.
Sound like a long road ahead?
Below are alternative ways to earn before you hit 1,000 subscribers.
2. Take a cut with affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing might be the most beginner-friendly way to monetize your YouTube traffic, especially if you plan to make product review videos. It works like this:
You find a company or seller with an affiliate program, such as Amazon Associates, and apply to join.
Once accepted, you’ll use their process to create custom links to products you plan to feature in your videos.
Demo, review or make reference to the products in your YouTube videos, and paste your custom affiliate marketing link(s) in the description field when you upload.
As an affiliate of a brand, you’ll earn a commission when a viewer clicks your custom link and purchases the product.
While Amazon Associates is a great way to make money on Amazon, endless other opportunities exist. Search on affiliate marketing sites such as ShareASale and ClickBank for possible corporate partners and products to feature. You can also search your favorite brands’ websites for information on how to become an affiliate.
If your channel eventually reaches more than 15,000 subscribers and you meet other eligibility requirements, you can explore the YouTube Shopping Affiliate program as a way to boost your earnings.
Don’t forget to properly notify your viewers about your affiliation with the brand or brands featured, and be sure to point them to the “link in description” when you shoot your video.
3. Land a brand deal and make sponsored content
Companies interested in your channel’s audience might sponsor your videos or offer you product placement deals in exchange for a shoutout, called brand deals in the biz.
The operative word here is “audience,” which means these types of deals are more likely to present themselves when you develop a following. As your channel grows, you can contact the brands you’d like to work with directly, or use resources like the aforementioned affiliate marketing sites to find corporate partners that complement your style of content.
With brand deals, you can receive lump sum payments, earn commission on a per-sale basis or get the product or service for free.
Keep in mind: If you do have an endorsement or use product placement in a video, you must notify YouTube by ticking a box in your video details.
4. Sell some merch
If you have merchandise or offer a service that’s relevant to your audience, let them know about it and provide links in your videos. For example, creator Marques Brownlee, of popular tech review channel MKBHD, leaves a link to his own line of T-shirts and accessories in every video he posts.
Selling a physical product might require you to buy materials or find a manufacturer, but you can also sell downloadables such as e-books, art prints or virtual classes. Have a secure payment system in place before you advertise your goods.
Incentive to sell: While creating your own products can be a lot harder than pitching those of other companies, you could stand to make more money this way, since you’ll keep the bulk of your proceeds as the product owner.
5. Offer memberships
A membership model is another way to monetize viewership. With this method, fans of the channel pay a small subscription fee for perks and/or an exclusive tier of access.
Patreon is a popular third-party membership platform. YouTube has been rolling out its own channel memberships feature, but you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program to be eligible.
For channel memberships, you can join the Partner Program with 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 public watch hours on long-form video in the last 365 days or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. That’s as opposed to the higher Partner Program eligibility requirements if you want to earn revenue through ads on your channel.
As always, more viewers can lead to more revenue. Incentives such as members-only livestreams, chats or other perks may entice viewers to become paying members.
How much money can you make on YouTube?
Breakout YouTube stars with millions of followers stand to make the most money, easily reaching seven figures. But even lesser-known content creators with a modest following can make some solid income on the side, or even full time.
According to Forbes, creator Jimmy Donaldson of the hugely popular channel MrBeast earned $54 million in 2023, in large part from the 237 million subscribers he’s racked up on YouTube. That kind of success is more the exception than the rule.
On the more modest side, Cinquanta Cox-Smith, a YouTuber focused on print-on-demand content with 11,900 subscribers, brings in about $120,000 in annual revenue, according to Career Ahead, a career-focused educational magazine.
Matt Par, a YouTube sensation who became successful as a teenager with a Top 10 list channel and now runs multiple channels including on how to make money on YouTube, tells viewers that the platform's Partner Program can be a good income-building source. He says he earns $30,000 per month in ad revenue through the program.
Earn an audience, and earn more in the long run
YouTube offers opportunity for all, but it’s not a get-rich-quick platform. It takes time, effort and an engaged audience to make money on YouTube. The good news is, with a little motivation and a lot of practice, you can find ways to earn before the coveted 1,000-subscriber threshold.
Keep these tips in mind as you get started:
The more videos you make and upload, the easier it is to reach the viewing-hours threshold.
The better you target your content to a specific audience or niche (e.g., film photography), the more likely your viewers will be to subscribe for more.
Thoughtful, entertaining videos are more likely to get views, so it pays to put effort into planning and production.
Don’t discount the power of a targeted title and standout thumbnail to attract viewer attention.
Other ways to make money
If making money on YouTube isn’t for you, consider these alternative routes:
Want to try another video platform? Learn how to make money on TikTok or get paid on Instagram.
If you’re crafty, learn how to make money on Etsy.
Looking to clean house? Try to sell stuff online or make money on eBay.