From Passive Watchers To Profit: YouTube Monetization

How To Make Money on YouTube

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Not many YouTubers begin making videos with the aim to get rich. For most, it’s a way to scratch a creative itch, to enjoy being in front of an audience and as an outlet for their talents and opinions. However, the potential to make money on YouTube is huge, and eventually any busy channel is going to start asking itself, how do YouTubers make money?

This subject is less about ‘if’ you can make money and more about how to make money on YouTube. It’s been proven time and again that the potential is there, with popular stars like Lily Singh and Roman Atwood generating around $8 million a year. And, of course, everyone’s heard of PewDiePie and his whopping $15 million income.

You don’t need to have a following of millions to earn money on YouTube though; even small channels have a variety of methods available to them to start making their hard work pay. If you’d like to learn how to make money on YouTube, we’re going to look at eight ways of generating an income via your videos. Let’s get started.

How to make money on YouTube

• Make money on YouTube with ads
• Make money on YouTube without ads

We’ve discovered that making money on YouTube can be split into two main categories; making money through advertising or making money without ads involved. We’ve split our article into these two categories to make it easier for you to see what your options are.

Make money on YouTube with ads

By far the easiest way to start earning money on YouTube is to monetize your channel using ads. Until relatively recently, anyone could enable monetization on their YouTube channel and start earning for every watch of their video. But that all changed in January this year, when Google announced they would be raising the standards required to have ads shown on your channel.

Now, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which means you need to have met certain minimum criteria before you can start benefitting from ads. These include:

• Having 4,000 or more watch hours
• Securing 1,000 or more subscribers in the last 12 months

This means that, before you can even consider being a part of the YPP, you’ll need to knuckle down and grow your subscribers. There’s lots of helpful tips out there on increasing subscriber numbers, but it all boils down to creating excellent content. As they say, ‘if you build it, they will come’, so work on creating new and exciting content for your channel to get where you need to be.

Should you join YouTube partner or not?

Meeting the minimum requirements of the YPP is crucial to starting to host ads, but even when you’ve hit the 1k subscribers and 4k hours viewed, should you be monetizing your channel right away? Put it this way; in order to make any money from ads, you’re going to need a lot of views and loyal subscribers, which means your focus needs to be firmly on creating content rather than complying with advertising rules.

Sometimes it’s actually better to hold off for a while when you’re early on in your YouTube journey. This will mean that, rather than being distracted by the question of how to earn money from YouTube, your energy is targeted at what matters most, which is building up a library of awesome videos instead.

How to Join the YouTube Partner Platform?

1. Go to your Account Settings and, under Channel, select Status and features.

2. Click on Enable next to Monetization.

3. In the next screen, click the blue Enable my Account button.

4. The YouTube Partner Program Terms will pop up. Compared to a lot of the “Terms” you are asked to read and agree to when signing up for things online the Partner Terms are fairly short and readable.

5. After reading the terms there are three boxes you will need to check to proceed. The first is to confirm that you read the Terms. The second box is a promise not to click on the ads in your own videos to try to create profits artificially.

The third box requires you to promise not monetize content that you do not own. The most extreme version of this would be stealing somebody else’s video and trying to monetize it on your channel. However, using a song or sound effect in your video you do not have the rights to also counts. There are a lot of places you can get free music to use in your monetized videos, and YouTube’s own Audio Library is one of them.

6. After you have checked all the boxes and moved on you will see a pop up explaining how to monetize your individual videos.

Your channel is now monetized, but you will not be able to earn money until you have linked your channel to your AdSense account.

7. There will be a reminder to link your channel and your AdSense account in the next screen. Click on the Link my account button. Or, go to Google.com/adsense and click Sign Up Now. Either method will take you to the Welcome to AdSense page.

8. Click Sign In to sign in to your Google account, which is the same as your YouTube account.

9. After you have signed in it will show you your channel url next to My website and give you a chance to change your language. Click Continue.

10. The last step is to fill out all your contact information before you submit your application. Your approval should come within two days.

11. Go to your Video Manager and check the boxes next to all the videos you want to enable ads for.

12. Click on Actions and then select Monetize.

13. In the window that pops up you will be given a chance to choose what kinds of ads you want to allow in your videos. You must also specify here if you have included paid product placement in your video.

14. Wait for the review process to finish and ads to start appearing in your videos. If you are using any licensed, royalty free, content (like a music track) then YouTube may ask you to prove you have the rights to it.

How much you can get from Ads

The ad revenue generated on YouTube is split between Google and you. You’ll get 55 per cent and Google / YouTube will take the remaining 45 per cent. This means that, if an advertiser spends $200 on your channel, you could be earning $110 directly. You’ll earn both for ‘impressions’, which is the number of views the ad received, and ‘click throughs’, which is when someone clicks on the ad for more information.

Be aware that, in order to get paid, your audience will need to have viewed at least 30 seconds of the ad, or to have clicked through to the advertiser. As a rule, around 15 per cent of viewers will convert into ad revenue, so you can start to calculate just how much your video could be worth.

To give you an example, if you enjoy daily video views in the region of 3,000 views per day and achieve click through / view rates of the average 15 per cent, you’d be earning $0.85 - $1.40 per day or $25 - $43 a month for that one video. If you could increase your views to 5,000 per day, your monthly earnings would rise to $41 - $70 per month.

When working out how to make money on YouTube, keep in mind that every single video has the potential to earn you money. Although one video might only make a dollar a day, imagine when you’ve got 10 videos performing to the same standard, or 100. As you build up your library of content, you have the potential to earn exponentially more as time goes on.

Want to know how much you can get from Ads? Check this YouTube Money Calculator

How to optimize your video to attract advertisers

There is, understandably, a good deal of competition for hosting advertisements on YouTube. In order to get more and better brands advertising in your space, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done all that you can to make your channel attractive to them.

1. Target a specific demographic

Your advertisers want to place their products in front of a very specific audience, so the more embedded in your niche your videos are, the more likely you are to attract investment. If you try to be all things to all people, advertisers are going to see that you’re a risky prospect and will move on to a channel that’s more targeted.

To check demographics, YouTube has everything already there for you. In the YouTube Studio, you’ll find the exact demographics of your audience profile, including age, country of origin and gender. You can see how appealing your videos are to the people you are targeting by checking the spread of representation here.

1. Pay attention to your video metadata

YouTube metadata is an often-overlooked element of content that is actually incredibly important, both for advertising revenue and for views in general. What we mean when we talk about metadata is your tags, title and description of your video, all of which should make use of high traffic keywords that you’ve researched as being relevant.

YouTube’s own keyword suggestion tool can be a great place to start finding those golden keywords that will get you noticed. Advertisers often use your metadata to locate videos that their customers are watching, so SEO is crucial here. Not only that, but when viewers are looking for new videos to watch, the SEO of your metadata will define where in the search results you fall, so putting some time and energy into this can get you more views too.

1. Avoid dodgy video content

There are some types of content which are just not a good idea for YouTube. In fact, the platform could exclude you from advertising altogether if your content is found to contain any of the following:

• Sexually suggestive content: This includes making jokes based around sexual topics, as well as partial nudity of anyone in the video.
• Violence: This ranges from topics of extremism to videos of people sustaining serious injuries, as well as threats and suggestions of violence.
• Inappropriate language: Even the most popular YouTubers have started bleeping out their profanities, so avoid vulgar language or anything that could be construed as being threatening.
• Drugs: Promotion of the use, sale or abuse of drugs and other controlled substances is forbidden.
• Sensitive subjects: This includes references to wars, race crimes, natural disasters, political conflicts, even if you don’t show images of the situation itself.

When you’re considering how do YouTubers make money, you should recognize that those who make the most money avoid creating content that breaches any of these rules. YouTube does notify you if it feels your video is in breach of ‘advertiser friendly’ policies, and you’ll have the chance to contest the ban, but if you steer clear of dodgy content in the first place you shouldn’t run into any issues.

Make money on YouTube without ads

Of course, life is not all about ads, and with YouTube continuing to tighten its criteria around advertising it can be a good idea not to have all your eggs in one basket. Add to this the huge viewership you’re going to need in order to make serious money, it’s worth investigating other methods of making money on YouTube. Here are some of the best ideas.

1. Work with brands

Influencer marketing is big business right now, and brands all over the world are investing in individuals who have secured the loyalty and trust of their target demographic. Sponsored videos might feature product placement, promoting a product from your sponsor, or you may be asked to produce a particular piece of content to support their campaign. Check out influencer marketplaces like Famebit, Grapevine Logic and Crowdtap to see what’s available to you. If you want to make work with brands, you can check out InflueNex , a powerful influencer marketing platform, which will help you to build good relationship with brands.

1. Selling products or merchandise

Selling ‘merch’ is a great way to discover how to earn money from YouTube. T-shirts, tote bags, mugs, hats…whatever fits with you and your brand can become an amazing source of revenue for your business. Not only does this increase your exposure as a brand by putting it out there into the non-YouTube world, it also gives your fans a way to literally buy into what you’re doing.

1. Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be hard work or complicated. Registering with big sales platforms such as Amazon is often as simple as filling out a couple of forms. Once registered, you can use your own special links to hook your viewers up with a product that you would recommend, and you’ll get a proportion of the final sale value. It’s not only Amazon who offer affiliate programs; most major brands will offer some kind of sales commission, so if you’re in a niche that calls for specialist products to promote, do contact brands directly to find out what they can offer.

1. Crowdfund

If you’ve got an amazingly creative idea but lack of funds is stopping you from putting it into action, crowdfunding could be the way to go. Crowdfunded projects can use the money they make to buy better production equipment, hire people to work on the project, pay for props, anything really. A good way to get started with crowdfunding a particular idea is to create a ‘trailer’ or sneak peek that gives people a better idea of what you want to do. Make sure it gets them so excited that they can’t help but donate to your cause!

1. Renting out your video

You have the ability to rent out individual videos for cold, hard cash, just like a pay per view service. The options for this are in the Creator Studio, where you can set the amount you want to rent it out for as well as creating an enticing trailer to encourage people to buy. Choose to either sell your video permanently, letting the person view it whenever they like, or rent for a limited time, usually 24 to 72 hours.

1. License your content to the media

If you’re lucky enough to make a video that goes viral, you can make serious bucks by licensing it to the wider media. From online news sites to TV shows, there are loads of other content creators out there willing to pay good money to use your amazing clip, and may will reach out to you directly with offers. You can also proactively offer your content for sale via sites like Juken Media, where others can find it and purchase it directly.

Now you know how to earn money from YouTube, what are you going to try? Let us know how you get on and which ways make money for you!

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

DIY GIF Creation: Extracting Motion From YouTube Videos

How to Create GIFs from YouTube Videos

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Who doesn’t love Gifs? They are one of the most entertaining means to communicate on the internet. But have you tried creating a GIF from YouTube videos? Generally, GIFs use humorous or relevant scenes from movies or shows to make them relatable to the situation. If you’re someone who wants to create GIFs from YouTube, this is for you.

The article below will show you how to create GIFs from YouTube videos on the desktop computers and mobile devices with some free online GIF makers and apps.

Part 1: How to Create GIFs from a YouTube Video on the Computer?

1. FreeGifMAKER.me

FreeGifMaker is a simple online tool that allows the creation of animated Gifs free of cost. A minimum of two pictures has to be uploaded out of ten. It’s super easy and takes a couple of minutes to make a GIF from a YouTube video.

Find out how to create GIFs using FreeGifMaker.me using these steps.

1. Open the website on your desktop by typing http://freegifmaker.me/youtube-to-gif/
2. Go to YouTube and copy the URL of the video you want to make a GIF. Paste it on the above-mentioned website.
3. Click on “Load YouTube Video” below the URL space and wait for a few seconds while the tool checks the video source.
4. After the YouTube video is loaded, finally enter the gif duration, start time and click on the “Make a GIF button” and it will redirect you to the result page.

2. VEED.IO

VEED is another easy way to make GIFs from YouTube videos. VEED allows you to copy a YouTube video link of your choice and paste it on VEED without any difficulty. VEED not only creates GIFs from YouTube videos but also gives few more facilities like trimming, adding text, cropping to the clip which helps in creating super-cool GIFs. VEED has both free and Pro versions and is a perfect browser software.

How to use VEED only in 3 steps, know about it below:

1. First, you need to copy the link to the YouTube video of your choice and paste it into VEED. From there the software will start importing the video into its project editor and you can start creating the GIF from there.
2. For the editing part, you need to trim the part of the video in which you want to make the GIF and crop the GIF. You can easily do that by choosing the canvas size menu available. After that, you can add text, font style, color, and size to your GIF.
3. In the last step, you just have to download the GIF which you have made in VEED.

3. Kapwing

Kapwing is a great stage for creating GIFs as well as videos and images. Kapwing is one of the most used and liked online video editors available. It provides one single step for all the things to do while creating a GIF – upload, editing, and sharing the file.

To create unique GIFs with Kapwing, follow these easy steps.

1. First, you need to open Kapwing video editor and copy the URL of the YouTube video of your choice and paste it on Kapwing to create your GIF from the video. Any video which is shorter than 30 minutes and less than 500 MB is supported by Kapwing.
2. Once you have uploaded the video, you will find the video appearing in the timeline. The section of the video that you want to make the GIF of needs to be cut with the sliders which are available at the end. A GIF can be usually of any length but to maintain good resolution, it is always advised to not make the segment more than 10 seconds.
3. You can preview the GIF you created after trimming the video which will allow you to see how the final output would be like. Other edits such as cropping, adding text, and experimenting with the speed can be done on Kapwing as well.
4. In the last and final step, you just need to export the GIF which you will find in the dropdown arrow available just beside the red “Export Video” button. Then click on the dropdown button and choose the option “Export as GIF”.

After processing the GIF, you need to save it by downloading it.

4. File-converter-online.com

This online free video editor can convert videos into GIF without any watermark and the maximum length of the GIF from the video clip can be 20 seconds, which can be set by you as needed. It provides a simple and free GIF maker that again offers special effects as well such as setting up the speed of the video.

You can create your desirable GIF from YouTube video in 3 easy steps.

1. First, provide the specific link of the YouTube video which you want to create the GIF of in the space given.
2. Apply the start time of the video by sliding with the given slider and then set the desirable duration of the GIF which is available in the next “Duration (seconds)” by sliding the seconds.
3. Next, you can choose the speed of the video which is optional, and then set the resolution from higher to lower as per your choice.
4. The final step involves creating the GIF which you can do by clicking on the red button “Create GIF from the video” available below the resolution option and finally the downloading will start after a short waiting on the next page.

5. Clideo

Clideo is one of the most reliable video converters available online. It can create an animated GIF from YouTube videos without much complication.

You can make GIF on your own by following the 3 easy steps mentioned below.

1. First, you need to copy your YouTube video that you want to create a GIF with. Come back on Clideo and you will find a dropdown menu beside “Choose file”, there paste the link that you have copied earlier in the URL space. You can also select Google Drive or Dropbox for the same.
2. After pasting the URL, you have to choose the ‘infinity sign’ given on the right side which will create an endless GIF without sound. Click on the ‘loop’ button available just below the panel on the right side.
3. After completing the steps, you can watch the preview of the GIF and go back to editing if you need to change anything. Else save the output on your PC or Mobile phone.

Part 2: How to Make a GIF from a YouTube Video on the Android and iPhone?

1. GIF Toaster – GIF Maker

Gif Toaster is one of the video editing apps which makes the work of creating Gif from YouTube video super-easy. It can convert photos, panoramas and, videos into GIFs easily. You just need to download the app to make GIFs of your own choice.

You need to follow a few simple steps to create GIFs on your own.

1. It is accessible on the iOS App Store and the Google Play for free so you need to install GIF Toaster on your device. Once done, tap the “Make GIF” option available below, you can also click “Combine GIFs” to combine more than one video. After completing, scroll down the dropdown menu beside “Video>GIF” and select the video which you want to convert into GIF.
2. Once the selection is done, you will be provided with various options like “Basic Option”, “Direction Option”, “Effect Option” where you can control the playback speed, range along with other options available. You also get the option to choose “Filters” for making the GIF.
3. After selecting the options of your choice, you have to scroll back to the top again and press “Convert” to quickly convert the video into GIF.
4. Once the GIF is ready, you will be able to see the final result and you just need to ‘Save’ the file.

Part 3: Bonus: How to Create GIFS from YouTube video on iPhone without installing any app?

It is now possible to convert YouTube videos into GIFs by using the 5SecondsApp available for iOS. To make this possible you just require few things in your iPhone – the device should be iOS 11 or more, YouTube in the browser or app, and the 5SecondsApp already available in the App store.

First, you need to find a video that is not more than 10 seconds then begin the screen recording on the iOS recording feature and go back to YouTube to play the video and record the portion you need. To make the GIF you have to launch the app and tap the plus option there. Later, trim the video as you see fit. After you’re done, crop the video with the help of the crop tool and finally save it.

Part 4: Why Should You Use GIFs?

1. GIFs don’t prevent web pages from loading quickly

GIFs which are animated becomes more popular for any website as it gives meaning compacted in a small video the website uses to boost its chances of getting more views. While GIF does not make a website much slow but for better performance, it can be converted into lossy optimizations which do not make a huge difference in front of the human eyes or it can also be converted into HTML5 videos which makes the GIF 95% smaller in size.

2. GIF is an integral part of communicating on social media

Using GIFs makes any communication bright and friendly. It delivers great messages through short animated videos and has become the spotlight for communication in the past few years. Almost everyone using social media is using GIF for communicating with their friends and family.

Final Thoughts

There are many apps and video editors available today available free of cost. You can easily make GIFs from your most-liked video on YouTube. It is smooth to create GIFs on your own with the help of these editors mentioned above. Each one of them is having a free version and easy to handle so do not forget to try them next time you are making a GIF from YouTube videos.

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox