Introduction
Did you know that people watch 5 billion videos on YouTube every day? In fact, 300 hundred hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute!
This might not even surprise you, as YouTube is the leading service that made it possible to easily put videos online in 2005. Flash forward to 2017 and if your marketing strategy does not have a video component tied to it, your visibility and business growth potential will suffer. Video should become a critical piece of the marketing puzzle because of how much video content your audience is consuming.
But, with many other companies knowing this, it’s becoming harder and harder to stand out amongst your competition. This is why advertising spend does need to be allocated to services like YouTube in order to gain visibility from your target audience
Although similar to paid search spend, the world of YouTube advertising can seem a bit overwhelming and complicated to navigate at first/
Hence, this guide will walk you through the several aspects of running a successful YouTube channel and make a killing using these tips
Chapter 4
How to monetize your YouTube Channel
How does YouTube monetization work?
With over a billion users, YouTube is the largest video hosting website in the world. In fact…
• People watch hundreds of millions of hours every single day on YouTube.
• Around 300 hours of video are uploaded every single minute.
• There are over a million companies advertising on YouTube.
• Partner revenue is up 50% year-over-year. So there’s lots of opportunity to make money on YouTube.
How Does YouTube Monetization Work?
YouTube monetization is fairly straightforward. Companies create advertisements that get placed at the beginning of your videos. These are called pre-roll ads. Each time a viewer watches an ad all the way through, you get paid.
To monetize your videos, you need to follow a few basic steps:
1. Verify your YouTube account.
Until you do so, you won’t be able to take advantage of YouTube live, hangouts on air, or upload videos longer than 15 minutes. It’s very easy to do, and doesn’t take very long
2. Join the YouTube Partner Program
Once you’re in the YouTube Partner Program you’ll be eligible for pre-roll ads. There are a few more criteria for this program, but nothing too difficult
Mainly, YouTube wants to ensure that you are uploading only original content, content that is advertiser-friendly, and so on. Beyond advertising, benefits include advanced product features, strategic and technical support, as well as access to advanced programs, such as YouTube Space and development programs.
For more information on what it takes to become a YouTube Partner, visit YouTube’s
A Few More Ways to Monetize Your Videos
Becoming a YouTube Partner is the most basic way to earn money as a YouTuber. But preroll ads aren’t the only way to make money from YouTube. Here are a few other ways to monetize your YouTube channel:
• Sign up your own sponsor
If you’re really passionate about what you do, you’ll be able to build a YouTube following. And the more people you get on board your channel, the easier it will be to get your own sponsors.
There are plenty of successful YouTubers who take time in their videos to promote other products and services – and each time they do, they earn money
• Promote your own products and services
This is where the real money is at, because you don’t have to split revenue with anyone else. When you create and sell your own products, you keep the vast majority of the revenue.vWhen you use videos this way, your videos are simply a form of free advertising
• Build an affiliate relationship
Affiliate marketers are like advertisers. But instead of earning a flat fee for advertising, affiliates earn a commission for each sale. This can be much more profitable, especially since there are so many high-paying products out there
To create affiliate relationships, you can either sign up with a major affiliate network, such as Clickbank or Rakuten Linkshare, or you can work out an individual relationship with a business.
• Create a separate paid video stream
Locking some premium videos behind a paywall can be another way to earn more money than you’d get from advertising alone. YouTube has experimented with this feature in the past, with mixed results.
Vimeo offers this type of program. And other vendors, such as Amazon and PayLoadz, allow you to upload and sell downloadable video content.
• Create a Patreon account.
Patreon is a service that allows your fans to become your patrons. Each time you release a new piece of content, your followers donate money to your cause
As you can see, advertising is only one way to make money online. You can sell your own products, become an affiliate, or turn your fans into patrons. However you choose to make money, make sure you put lots of effort into marketing – the more you self-promote, the more money you’ll be making.
How to Monetize YouTube Videos With AdSense?
One of the easiest ways to monetize YouTube videos is to enable the monetization option for your YouTube account and link your channel with your Google AdSense Account. Google AdSense is a Google program that helps publishers make money from their content. As a YouTube creator, you can join the publisher program to start making money from your videos.
YouTube Monetization with AdSense
Monetizing your YouTube videos with Google AdSense is one of the most common and easy
Once you have associated your YouTube channel with an AdSense account, you will have the option to submit your videos for monetization.
Your video will be approved for monetization if it passes YouTube monetization requirements. General criteria of meeting such requirements include provisions that your videos to be advertiser-friendly and that you own the rights to the content to use it commercially.
In this chapter, we will walk you through steps that you need to complete to monetize YouTube videos and start making money from your videos.
YouTube Monetization Update: YouTube has introduced some changes to its Partner program limiting only channel over 10k views to enable ads on their videos. For new YouTube channels, you will need to fulfill the minimum threshold of 10,000 lifetime views to apply for the YouTube partner program and enable monetization.
Summary of Steps – YouTube with AdSense
Here’s the summary of steps to associate YouTube account with AdSense for monetization if you know your way around both YouTube and AdSense
1. Go to your YouTube dashboard by clicking on your YouTube account icon and Creator Studio.
2. From your Creator Studio dashboard, go to the Monetisation page under Channel Menu on your left sidebar (Channel > Monetisation)
3. Under the “Guidelines and Information” section, you will see information about FAQ – “How will I be paid?”.
4. Click on the AdSense Association page and follow the next step that directs you to AdSense and YouTube association page.
5. Sign in with the Google Account that has AdSense enabled and the one that you want to associate with your channel.
6. Once you have logged in, click to accept the association on the page.
7. You will now be redirected to your YouTube account and soon receive message and notifications to enable monetizations for your videos.
Follow the detailed guide below with all the steps that are involved in the YouTube monetization process with AdSense.
Link YouTube Account to Google AdSense
Follow the steps below to enable monetization on your YouTube account and link your YouTube account with Google Adsense
Step 1: First, you will need to go to your YouTube Creator Studio dashboard. When you are on YouTube, click on your icon on the top left, and click on the Creator Studio button that takes you to your creator studio dashboard
Step 2: When in Creator Studio, navigate to Channel > Monetization and here you should see an option to enable Monetization. Click on the Enable button and you will be guided to complete a monetization agreement.
Additional note: Your channel needs to be verified to complete this step. Getting verified status for your channel involves associating your phone number with your account
You should be able to see your channel status as Partner Verified before you proceed with other steps.
Step 3: Once you enable the monetization for your account and complete the YouTube monetization agreement, there’s one more step left to do
You now have the option to monetize your videos, but you will need to link your YouTube account to an Adsense account.
Step 4: At this point, check to see that your account is enabled for Monetization under the
Account Status.
You should immediately receive an email outlining the steps that you need to take forward to be paid by YouTube.
Step 5: The email as you can see in the screenshot urges you to link to an AdSense account and provides you with a link that you can click and start the process
Alternatively, you should get a notification bar on top of your dashboard urging you to link your channel to an AdSense account.
“Almost there! Don’t forget to link your channel to an AdSense account to earn money and get paid for your monetized videos
Step 6: Proceed by clicking on the link by using any of the methods above and you should see this “Welcome to AdSense” screen
If you already have an AdSense account, you can simply sign in with the Google account that you have used to sign up for Adsense. If you are signed into AdSense already, you should see a screen that asks you if you want to sign in using the same address
Creating an AdSense account is another big topic but if you need to signup for an account – Sign in with your Google account first, and you will be guided to apply for an Adsense account.
You should obviously have used a Google account to setup a YouTube account but if you want your AdSense account to be on a different account you can click on “Create Account” and it’s easy to follow along
Step 7: Assuming you have an AdSense account already, click on sign in and it will now take you to Step 2 in the process where it will simply list your YouTube channel under my website.
(The YouTube URL shown here is ID-based URL of your YouTube Channel. Learn how to claim custom YouTube URL here.
Accept the Association with your Adsense account and it will redirect you back to YouTube Confirming all the details
That’s all you need to do to link your YouTube account to AdSense account! You should now see options for AdSense settings and to review and change your AdSense association.
There’re few more steps that you need to do to start making money from your videos.
Enabling Monetization for YouTube Videos
Step 8: Like mentioned in the email that you receive after enabling monetization, you will need to go to your Video Manager and enable monetization on all of your videos published already on your channelClick on monetize my videos to enable monetization on videos that you have already published on your YouTube Channel
You should also receive an email saying that your AdSense account association with
If you have many videos uploaded on your YouTube channel, you can monetize all your videos at once by navigating to Channel > Monetization. You will see your videos left to monetize on this page. Click on “Monetize Videos” (see screenshot).
Step 9: For videos that you upload after associating with an AdSense account, you will see an option to enable monetization for each of them directly in your upload manager. When you upload your videos, go to your Monetization tab and flip the switch button for Monetize with Ads.
You will also be asked to agree with the terms that you own the rights for the video and its content
Ad Formats to Monetize YouTube Video
As you can see above, you can choose from all the available Ad formats that will decide the type of Ads that will appear in your YouTube videos. Here’s the list of all available Ad formats for YouTube videos that can help you decide to choose from. Select all Ad formats so that YouTube can choose and decide itself to display the most relevant Ads to your viewers
▪ Display Ads – Ad sizes of 300×250 or 300×60 appearing on the right side of the videos on desktop devices.
▪ Overlay Ads – Ad sizes of 468×60 or 728×90 appearing on the lower end of the videos on desktop devices.
▪ Skippable Video Ads – Full sized video ads that play before your video in the player and can be skipped after 5 seconds. The Ad play on several devices and can be inserted before, during, or after the main video.
▪ Sponsored Cards – Displays cards with related products featured in your video, on desktop and mobile devices.
You don’t see in the screenshot above under Ad formats options but depending on your account, you might also see options for Bumper Ads (6 seconds long, Non-skippable video ads) and Non-skippable video ads up to 30 seconds long, available to monetize Youtube videos that you upload.
Chapter 5
Tips to Promote Merchandise on Your YouTube Channel
How YouTubers Can Make Good Merchandise For Their Channel?
You probably already know that selling cool branded merchandise is one of the most popular ways to make money with your YouTube channel, right? It’s not only a great way to bring in some revenue, but it’s also a great way to increase brand recognition and grow your overall reach.
When people see their friends wearing fun t-shirts with your logo on them, they’re going to wonder what your brand is all about, and you’re going to get more recognition. Of course, to make this strategy work, you have to create products that really stands out, so let’s talk about a few tips on how to make merchandise for your YouTube channel that will rock
Making Merchandise for Your YouTube Channel/
First of all, you don’t have to be super crafty or a professional graphic designer to make YouTube merch. If you have a cool logo and brand colors, you really have the essential components to get started, and you don’t even have to worry about physical inventory or shipping and handling, either.
Making your merchandise can actually be as simple as a few swipes and clicks. Just find a print on demand (PoD) site that you like, such as Spreadshirt or District Lines, upload your designs, experiment with additional design options (wording, photo art, etc.), and choose your merchandise. Then you can set up your online store, embed it in your website, and/or link to it from YouTube. It’s really that simple
Of course, you’ll want to make merchandise for your YouTube channel that viewers will want to buy, but that’s actually pretty simple, too. Just ask them. In your videos, blog posts, and social media posts, ask your viewers for feedback about the kinds of merchandise they’d like to see from you. Poll them on which designs they like best. You could even run a design contest with your viewers, too.
Make Merchandise That Interest People
As you decide which items to sell and which designs to use, keep in mind that you want to create merchandise that your viewers will really want to wear and use. Create really attractive designs, and use engaging wording that is relatable, funny and/or insightful, and make sure that it’s in line with your brand voice and the persona that you present on YouTube.
Use Your YouTube Channel’s Brand Colors Unless it really goes with your channel’s branding, you don’t just have to go with a simple.black print of your design on a white t-shirt or a white mug. Why? Because it can seem too generic and doesn’t really have that “stand out” factor.
As you make merchandise for your YouTube channel, it’s important to remember that you want to increase your brand recognition. Using your channel’s brand colors can do that while making your merchandise more attractive and fun
Go for High Quality When Creating Clothing
We cannot emphasize this enough. When choosing the materials for your YouTube channel’s merch, you’ll be given some options. Do not go with the cheapest t-shirts that you can find. They’ll be thin, weirdly sized, and they won’t make a good impression on your viewers.
You want them to fall in love with the way your merchandise fits so that they want to buy more just because they love wearing it.
Order Samples Before Promoting the Final Product
If you’re not sure about a t-shirt, mug, or other piece of merch, just order one for yourself before you start promoting it on your YouTube channel and on social media. This is an inexpensive way to make sure that you’ve made the right choice for your products, and it’s a great way to start promoting them, to
When you get the products in, if you love them, you can start wearing or using them in your
Most Print-on-Demand sites don’t have minimum orders, so you can get just one item to make sure you’re on the right track and to test out the customer experience on the site you’ve chosen, too. After all, you don’t want to go with a site that’s difficult to work with or your viewers won’t buy your merchandise, no matter how cool it is
Aim for Marketing Success with Your YouTube Merch
In the beginning stages, you want to think of your branded merchandise as more of a marketing effort than a revenue builder. This is an opportunity to get your merch in more people’s hands, so set a really reasonable price that your viewers won’t mind paying when you make your YouTube merch. It’s important to remember that in order to get people to buy something, you must give them great pricing and value
How Vloggers Can Promote and Sell YouTube Channel Merchandise?
So you’ve decided to make and sell merchandise for your YouTube channel. You have some really cool designs that feature your channel’s name, your logo, and/or a phrase you use a lot. You’ve chosen quality products that your community of viewers want to buy and will love using. Now how do you get the word out about your merch as a YouTuber?
Check out these tips for promoting your YouTube channel merch and see how much more you can sell.
• Show Viewers Merchandise in Your YouTube Videos
First of all, the easiest way to let people know that you have cool merch is to display it in your YouTube videos. Order one of each of your items, and then wear or use them during your videos
Wear that cool hoodie, hat, or t-shirt that you’re selling online, or put them up in the background. Place a branded coffee mug or water bottle next to you on your desk or table when you’re filming. Hang a branded poster behind you. There’s so many things you can do!
Then, at the end of your video when you get to your call to action, be sure to mention the YouTube channel merch you have made available for sale that is shown on screen. For example, you could say something like, “And if you like this shirt I’m wearing, check out the link in the description to get your own!” Or you could add an annotation link in the video itself that takes your viewers to your online store
• Link to Merch Store in Your Descriptions and About Page
Whether or not you mention the YouTube channel merch you wear or use in your video, be sure to include a link to your online store in your video description. If you want to make sure that your viewers see it (and, of course, you do), you’ll want to put it in the first three lines of the description so that it appears before the “Show More” link
• Showcase Products in Your Social Media Posts
Speaking of social media, you also want to post pictures and links to your products on all of your social media pages. Take photos wearing your new hat, t-shirt, or hoodie, and post it on social media with a link to where fans can buy theirs. Feature new products that have just become available. Repost and share pictures of your fans when they post photos of themselves wearing or using your YouTube channel’s merch.
The more you do this, the more recognition you’ll create. You can even create your own
Use YouTube Cards to Promote Your Channel’s Merc
YouTube cards are basically a way to take annotations to the next level. A card could be a link to a specific URL, a customized image, or a call to action.
When a card is added to a video, a teaser will appear in the video, and then after the teaser disappears, the viewer can access the card just by hitting the “i” button in the top right corner of the video for more information. Then they can scroll through the cards you’ve added to the video and click on them to go to your online store, check out a specific product page, etc.
Conclusion
There you go – six things to consider when you make merchandise for your YouTube channel so that you can effectively get your channel’s brand out there and make some money while you do it. Have fun with your designs. Don’t be afraid to get creative. And don’t forget to promote your cool new merch in your YouTube videos and on social media! Keep these tips in mind to get more people to see your store and buy your YouTube channel merch