If you’re wondering how to make money from YouTube videos, in this article we’ll explain how it’s done and how you can turn your passion into a business.
Honestly, it’s not as difficult as it sounds. There’s no need to worry if YouTube will pay video creators; it will.
YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing website and it’s revenue-sharing system has created quite a few millionaires.
But the amount that they’ll pay depends on two things;
- The view count.
- And the type of ads on the video.
YouTube uses the Google Ad-sense revenue-sharing system where ad-revenue is shared with advertisers.
You can also use this program on your websites to earn extra cash, but I have found that it does not pay as much as other methods.
YouTube Video Equipment You’ll Need:
Before we begin, here are a list of things that you’ll need to start making YouTube videos:
- Video Capturing Software
- Video Editing Software
- Good Quality Microphone
- Decent Computer That Can Handle Video Processing
- Optional: Green screen
- Optional: Quality Webcam from Streams
That’s not so much. In fact, most people have the equipment required to start making YouTube videos.
Even your smartphone has the features needed to create standard YouTube videos.
The challenge is not finding the right equipment; it’s figuring out what to create videos about.
YouTube Video Niche Ideas:
There are three main types of videos on YouTube: funny, informative, and viral.
There are hundreds of thousands of people who are searching on YouTube for the solution to various problems.
Likewise, there’s a huge amount of people who are on YouTube for fun and only looking for entertainment.
Can you make funny or interesting videos? Do you have a unique idea that could be turned into an interesting video?
Before you start making videos, it’s a good idea to research ideas and niches.
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How to Make Money From YouTube Videos:
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Much like creating a website, niche research is required to create videos that are a hit, the main difference being that videos should be as entertaining as possible.
How do you find niches for videos that are not over-saturated?
A lot of famous YouTube celebrities found their niche on accident.
They simply continued to make videos and slowly built up an audience.
Speaking of an audience, who is your audience? Who do you want to target? 
There are a lot of internet marketing products out there that teach you how to make super-fast YouTube videos that are supposed to bring in thousands of dollars in no time.
But if you rush the process, most of the time, you’ll end up with a sub-par video, and sub-par videos don’t really do well on YouTube.
For example, nobody wants to watch slideshows with Microsoft’s robotic voice on YouTube, make it better.
The focus should not be on creating and uploading videos as fast as possible, it should be on creating well-made content that your audience will love and find entertaining!
And remember, one video won’t make you a millionaire, and it probably won’t even bring in one dollar.
The trick is to continue creating and uploading videos on a regular basis and build for the long-term.
More importantly, have fun with the videos.
It should be a fun experience for everyone involved, the content creator and the viewer!
Some of them will bring in a lot of views, some of them won’t.
Keep in mind, there are other ways to make money from YouTube too, not only from Google Ad-sense.
There’s a space in the description of your video where you can ad links to other websites or offers to earn even more cash.
In fact, once people build a solid channel they’ll start promoting their own merchandise or partner with companies; the possibilities are endless.
So How Do You Research Video Ideas?
I would start with keyword research.
Since Google owns YouTube, it will rank videos on YouTube higher in search engine results.
It’s a good idea to target a keyword phrase in the title of your video so people can also find it on Google.
I use Jaaxy for keyword research, and in this article I explain how I find hot keywords to target for traffic.
Does that keyword get a lot of traffic a month and is it low competition?
What you want to do is search for a key-phrase and then consider turning that into a list-style video.
There are other strategies that you can use too but I have found list-style videos do quite well.
For example, if I wanted to turn this article into a YouTube video, maybe the title would be, “Top 10 Best Ways to Make Money From YouTube” or something similar.
Once you picked a title for your video, it’s easier to make the content because you already have a basic idea what will be in the video.
The Next Step is Video Creation and Audio Work:
If you’re serious about your project, it’s a good idea to invest in a quality microphone for the best audio possible.
So now you want to make a script, and it doesn’t have to be anything fancy but make sure its detailed and informative.
Conversational-style scripts tend to work well.
Avoid introducing your channel or video for too long (unless it really requires an explanation) because people are in a hurry and want the meat of the video as soon as possible.
It’s always a bit irritating when you’re trying to find a solution to a problem on YouTube, and the video introduces the channel for a few minutes while barely explaining the solution.
Use a quick introduction is fine but keep it short.
Once the script is finished, it’s time to start making the actual video.
What Video Editing Software is Best?
Interestingly, YouTube does include a video editing software, but it’s an online platform.
It’s very basic and free, and if you’re not interested in fancy effects and you don’t have large files to upload, the YouTube editor could be the solution.
You have to upload all your separate clips to use the software though, so it’s a little inconvenient.
Windows also includes a basic video editing software, Windows Movie Maker, it’s also free.
But most professional video creators will use Adobe After Effects, it’s a little pricey and there is a learning curve, but it provides the most features.
I would start with a free video editing software and then move to the more advanced programs later on.
It’s hard to say which software is the best because each one is so different.
Recording Your Computer Screen:
Don’t video your screen with another camera, the quality is terrible.
There’s a cool free software I use called ScreenCastoMatic, and you can select the area of your screen that you want to record.
It’s awesome for making simple tutorial videos.
Snagit is another one I used, though the free version doesn’t offer many features. It’s not so expensive and, in my opinion, it’s worth the investment.
The quality is excellent too.
Another worth mentioning is FRAPS and a lot of people use this to record their video game clips.
There are others out there too, but I have found these three are the most popular and well-known.
These programs are mainly necessary for tutorials where you show someone how to do something on their computer.
Most of these programs will record audio too.
YouTube Video Prep Work:
What you can do is record your script, speak into the microphone, and record it with Microsoft’s Voice Recorder.
Do it a few times if necessary to “Warm up” your voice.
Or if you don’t want to record your own voice, there are plenty of people who you can hire to do the voice over work for you.
You can hire voice over artists on Fiverr.
Information videos are easier to create because all you need to do is record your screen and provide the voice over work.
No much editing is required.
I would recommend starting with those types of videos and then progress to the more edit-intensive videos later.
Uploading and Getting YouTube Views:
Creating videos is a challenge, and a lot of people give up on their dreams because they put a ton of effort into creating a video, only to have it receive negative ratings and very few views.
Well, there are a few things that you can do to guarantee some views.
It’s also important to know that YouTube also has it’s own ranking algorithm, and it’s mostly based on “Play Time”.
Play Time refers to the amount of times a video is played and the total viewing time from all the viewers.
If you upload a video, at it receives a bunch of views within a short time frame, it will rank higher in YouTube’s search results.
So, as a new video creator, the goal is to get as many views as possible as soon as your video has been uploaded.
How to Get YouTube Views?
Well, the same way that you get traffic to your website; market the video.
Take your YouTube link and share it on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media website that you can find.
The cool thing about YouTube videos is that you can embedded them into articles and other platforms. Click this post (How To Easily Embed YouTube Videos) to learn how..
So there are a lot of ways to share a video, and it wouldn’t hurt to ask your friends to share it too.
Videos tend to be shared a lot more often on social media, more often than pictures and articles.
And videos can go viral too if they’re funny and interesting!
So your job is not done once the video is uploaded. You still need to find people who want to watch it.
That means finding where your target audience hangs out and sharing the video with them.
When you have a lot of subscribers on YouTube you don’t really need to seek out more viewers, since whenever you upload a new video you already have a bunch of people who want to watch it.
But as a beginner starting from scratch, learning to market your videos is important.
YouTube Video Payments:
When does YouTube pay and how much can you expect to earn?
You’ll need to create an account with Google Ad-sense.
If you enable to Ad-Sense on your videos, YouTube will place advertisements on your video, and when someone views or clicks on the ad you will earn some cash.
Ad-sense will send you a check when you reach their $100 minimum payment threshold and they’ll pay once a month.
If you don’t reach $100 in that month, the unpaid earnings will be carried to next month.
So far Ad-Sense only allows payment via check which can be a nuisance for people who don’t live in United States because the check can take two to three weeks to arrive.
It’s difficult to say exactly how much you can earn with your videos, it depends on the interaction people have with the advertisements on your videos, and the total views.
Advise On Making Money with YouTube:
Generally, it’s best not to worry about the exact amount, focus your efforts on creating fun videos and marketing them as best as possible.
A common misconception people have with YouTube earnings is that the amount of views determines how much you earn.
But that’s not necessarily true.
The level of interaction that people have with your ads is more important.
In other words, to earn more, more people need to click on the ads.
You can earn money when someone only watches an advertisement too, but only if they watch for more than 30 seconds.
But remember, this revenue-sharing system is not the only way to make money with YouTube – it’s just the most common.
You can also include affiliate links to your other projects or your affiliate websites to earn more cash. In the comments section you can add your affiliate link and a comment recommending a product or service.
Conclusion on Earning with YouTube Videos:
Hopefully now you know how to make money from YouTube videos.
To close this article, I would like to provide a final tip:
Have fun.
People like to watch fun and interesting videos and they always will.
Find an interesting subject to create videos about and upload videos on a regular basis and soon you’ll start to make money.
Learning from experience is also the best way to learn so I want you to go out there and start making videos.
Videos are also an awesome addition to your website, and if you want to learn how to build an online business from scratch…
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Good luck and thanks for reading this article about how to make money from YouTube videos!
Please socially share it or comment below.
Hey there, thanks for this video on making money with YouTube.
I’m looking into importing and selling on Amazon. You you have any info on that or know where I can get some really good training.
I see a lot of programs offered, but it’s tough to weed through which program is good and which isn’t.
Thanks,
Louis
Hey Louis,
I’ve worked a good amount selling on Amazon and I fee that the best program is provided by Amazing Selling Machine.
I was really critical of this company at first but have been pleasantly surprised at their training platform.
I had a person family friend who killed it using these guys. Took him 3 months to go through the program (working a full time job) and by his 5th and 6th month he made 17K/month.
Check out our review I linked, I think you’ll be happy with the training program.
Todd
I’m so confused at how to make money online. Do you have a guide or something?
Hey Jack,
I get it. It can be a challenge to find honest online training these days. Get signed up to our free internet marketing training program.
You’ll get all the tools and resources you need for online success.
Best,
Todd
Thanks for the useful article. I have heard that youtube videos help with the rankings on your blog. But my question is: Is necessary the videos you use on your blog to be yours or you can embed some other user’s videos on your blog? Would that help with the ranking on your blog as well?
Hi Sam,
You can use any YouTube video on your blog. To embed them, check out this how to post I made.
It’s better if you can use your own videos because you can add a link (which will be a positive back link) to you post, so that will boost the Google Juice a bit.
If you add someone else’s video to your blog, that will be a positive back link for that persons video, not for you.
If the video is useful to your post, that will still be a good user experience, so I’d encourage it as if it enhances the user’s experience.
Thanks,
Todd
Thank you so much for writing this post! I started blogging recently and I’m really interested in eventually making YouTube videos. It does seem overwhelming though if you have no experience making them! Your post takes it step by step and makes it feel much less overwhelming. I’ll definitely be referring back to your post!
Thanks Jenna and you are right. Blogging and YouTube videos can be overwhelming, but if you take it one step at a time and you have the right knowledge, it’s just a matter of taking action and making it happen.
It’s frustrating when you have to repeat a process because you didn’t do the correct steps the first time.
That’s why I recommend getting a solid education in whatever you’re doing, and that includes making YouTube videos in the hopes of making money online.
Check out Wealthy Affiliates webinars library. Here’s one that’s exactly about ranking on YouTube.
Cheers,
Todd
This was a great read. I have wondered how you could monetize your YouTube channel. I am new to the online marketing world so this is great information. I have a self help niche, and I tend to do a lot of content with “how to” and “my top” list kind of layouts. Sounds like my way of creating would fit well with YouTube. This was very informational, I shared it on social!
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the social share and your feedback, much appreciated. YouTube is a massive source of traffic like Google and I think you niche would be great to combine focusing on both sources of traffic.
You definitely have the right ideas on how to approach your content, if you take it one step further and do some videos that compliment your content, you’ll increase your traffic to your site while developing your YouTube channel.
If you can gain some momentum over time, you’ll have two sources to earn online, from your website and your YouTube channel.
Thanks,
Todd
A very interesting post Todd!
Video is something I’ve hardly tried due to lack of time but I know I should set some time aside to do this. I’ve used the Screen-O-Matic software and it’s very easy to use. Having a good micro is probably the most important thing when doing screen videos.
Strangely I hadn’t even considered how to make money from YouTube videos, so your post was really useful. I also had no idea about YouTube’s ranking algorithm.
I have read before and you say the same thing in this post that you should post videos regularly. Now I suppose that’s to attract new viewers and to keep the people signed up to your YouTube channel coming back.
A little like posting regularly on a blog. You’re building for the long term!
Thanks for the post Todd I’ve learned a lot!
Peter
Thanks for your feedback Peter. I’m bad at it too and it’s something that I will get more consistent with in the future.
You can also think of those YouTube videos as Google juice for rankings, when you post a video, post a link to your site or post for a solid back link.
You’ll also notice that in many situation, YouTube videos get top rankings in Google when searching various keyword phrases.
Thanks again for your feedback, glad the post helped.
Todd
I have recently been looking into other various methods to create an income stream online and YouTube has popped up as a popular option.
I have briefly looked into monetizing strategies such as adsense and related product promotions and this article has been very informative and easy for me to relate to.
This is a great post, I’ve bookmarked this site so keep up the good work.
Awesome Ben, happy to help and thanks for the awesome feedback. Use these methods and I think you’ll be on the right track to a career with YouTube vids.
If you are going to be focusing on YouTube videos, then I’d definitely get dialed in on how to research keyword phrases and write content to target those phrases.
Many people overlook this and lose out on lots of traffic. If this is you, get my free eBook guide to targeting traffic.
It’s a simple 5 minute read and I use it as a guide for every targeted piece of content I create.
Best,
Todd
What you mention throughout your article makes a lot of sense on what it takes to make a video and then see about marketing your videos.
I have had websites for over a decade now and know the importance of using videos, so I think I need to get started with your recommendations and see how they work out for me.
Hi Travis,
I hear ya. Video marketing should be explored and enjoyed, but you will have to work at the learning curve for a while unless you pay someone for your youtube video ideas.
I’m in the same boat with a few projects, you just got to set aside a specific amount of time to add this into your marketing efforts.
If you need training on how to SEO your YouTube videos, check out this webinar..
Best,
Todd
Youtube is great and seems like a lot of fun to create videos. I would like to give it a try but I do need to figure out what to make videos about first.
What about using videos for promoting products and services? Do you have any experience about that or are you planning to write a post about it?
Thank you for a great post.
You bet Jojo, I’m not as big as a video marketer as I’d like to be. Maybe in the future.
If you go on youtube and look for a product, or even google it, you can find there are many marketers out there using YouTube to make money.
How so, just as I mention in this post, through advertising with a Google Adsense account or by adding affiliate links in the videos or in the written section you can have below the post.
With written or video content, the key is reaching your niche audience and then helping them solve something. So it’s essentially the same thing.
Keyword research to rank content and then getting more traffic to that traffic. Then it’s just a matter of making affiliate commissions or selling adverting.
If all this is way over your head. I’d encourage you to get working with the Wealthy Affiliate training center. They’ve got detailed training’s to guide you through every online business aspect, and YouTube is one of them.
Hope this helps,
Todd
I am a relatively new blogger and I’ve wondered for a while about how people make money on YouTube. I have my own channel with a couple of videos, nothing special, and I see those ads pop up and wonder why I don’t get paid if someone clicks on that since it’s on my video. I appreciate your in-depth review of making money with YouTube but after reading it I think I’ll stick with my blog and focus on this one area for now.
Hey Matthew, you should still set up your google adwords account and get paid if someone should click on your YouTube video.
Don’t leave money on the table.
That being said, I’m a bit poor at posting new YouTube videos, but would like to do so in the future for other sites. So if you feel content is your thing, go with it, master it.
Then in another year, take on YouTube videos. I have a webmaster friend that makes 5K/mo off of a simple site s/u with Google adwords, and he figured that for every 1,000 likes your YouTube channel has, you earn a dollar per month.
He made this decision based off a YouTube millionaire that was making over 250K/year off of his 250 million followers.
Either way, Google owns YouTube and these two giants are going to be huge for online traffic and sales. So best to gear up and get ready to learn something new.
Thanks,
Todd
Thanks for your extensive information on making money with YouTube videos. I was not aware that earnings could be made in this online activity.
I appreciate all the information, particularly about what tools to use. Although I doubt that I would make a video myself, I was interested to learn that voice over can be done through Fiverr.
One other point that I have wondered about is the need for special lighting? I heard a while ago that when making videos there needs to be a particular type of lighting set up in the office or space being used. Are you able to comment on this please?
Hey Valerie,
You should have the right lighting when you’re shooting your YouTube videos. There’s a number of products out there that will work. Most believe you need a Stellar Ring Light. This light is used by many of the YouTube millionaires and highly recommended.
Lighting is a whole other topic that we could spend a good amount of time discussing. You can find tons of good sources online with a simple Google search. The general thought is to eliminate natural light (if working inside) and use LED lights versus incandescentes.
There’s various designs of how to place the lighting source in relationship to the subject, but again, a whole other topic.
Here’s a great source of lighting info from VideoMaker.com.
Thanks,
Todd
Hi Todd,
I stumbled across your website, thank you so much for sharing your expertise, I have learned so much just today.
In one of your posts, you mentioned you had a bit of experience with buying and selling domain names. What are your thoughts regarding the viability of using domain name transactions to make money?
Hi Don,
That’s a good question and I think it depends on how you market the domain names.
If you belong to a social group based on your niche, or if you specialized in finding niche based domain names, then this could be a valuable service.
Most people don’t understand domain names, brand-ability, or the SEO juice you get from keyword based/niche based domain names. I like it.
I’m not sure of your knowledge based on keyword research (if not check out my Jaaxy Review and my Alphabet Technique Post) to fully understand what I’m talking about.
Bottom line, I think you could find some great names based on keyword research, then it’s just how you get those names to your target audience.
If you found a good amount of 2-4 word keyword phrases that match your niche or other’s niches, then you just would have to explain the benefits of your niche based domain name.
I.e.. Focus on the keyword competition, search volume, and SEO score (all that can be found using Jaaxy), then you could easily sell the domain names once your niche audience has been educated.
Once someone realizes that they have a highly searched, low competition domain name and that directly effects their ability to rank for those keywords organically, they would want to have that domain name. Especially if it was somewhat brand-able. Check out this post on Branding Yourself from the Beginning..
I think you would do better setting up a niche site based on domain names where you then offer a source of various niche based domain names that you’ve bought and then resell. Many domain name companies even offer a service to sell the names and you could sell to them as well, but I think this could be a great niche business idea.
If you go for it, keep me updated. I’d love to feature your success here.
I just found some good names from time to time in various industries and advertised them on Facebook, Craigslist, and a few other online sources and have had some fun and made some great sales.
I thought about specializing in this as well, but just have too much on my plate. I’d love to see what happens if you go for it. You would become a keyword research ninja and have a ton of good names to sell.
How about NicheDomain.com to start off with. Ah, I just searched it, taken, but NicheDomain.org isn’t. You could always go with NicheDomainHelper.com.
That’s available right here for 13.99/year.
I think it’s an awesome idea and if you dig it, go for it. I’m sure you know the source, but follow the training at Wealthy Affiliate and you’ll build you site correctly from the start.
Hope this helps,
Todd
Great article on how to make money from youtube videos. It sounds easy enough, but I think you have to be talented and think up creative ideas in order for your video’s to be watched and viewed.
So far the video’s I have made suck, so I think I sill stick to writing for now.
I have enjoyed the movie maker on Apple, but I think I should try the windows one. I see it on my hard drive but never given it a go.
Hi Michel,
Thanks for your feedback. YouTube videos (unless just random silly stuff) take time and experience, just like putting up good blog posts, you get better with time.
I find that if you can follow a guide, laid out here in our post, you can make subtle improvements that over time will really help you improve.
In 2017, I want to focus on a couple of skill sets to improve on, and if putting up YouTube videos and making money with them is yours, just follow this plan and you’ll get better at it each time.
Cheers,
Todd