YouTube Monetization Strategies
There are many ways in which to make money through YouTube. Many content creators make a full-time living from YouTube. If you are heading in that direction, I would suggest that you keep your current job as you are building your channel.
When you are consistently making a good sum of money from YouTube you can consider making it a full-time job. This is the smartest way to do it and it will allow you to learn and make mistakes as you grow your channel without stressing about finances. Below are the ways you can utilize YouTube to make money and eventually make it a full-time gig.
Partnerships and Promotions
The YouTube Partner Program that will allow you to have access to even more than a regular channel. You have to apply for this program and your application will be reviewed before being accepted. There are many different ways you can make money from becoming a YouTube partner, such as channel memberships, super chat and super stickers function, and revenue gained from YouTube Premium.
Your eligibility will be reviewed by the YouTube team and they can give you more or fewer features and benefits. Channels are constantly being reviewed and partner status may be revoked under certain conditions. It is best to apply on their site and follow their steps and guidelines.
Sell Merch
As your channel grows you will start getting loyal followers who would love to pay for your merch. You can get this designed and create an online store for it. Depending on the type of channel you have, you can tailor your merchandise to your subscribers. You can also get them involved in the creation of these things. Merch is often sold at higher prices than regular clothing items, so you will be able to make a really nice profit from this if you have many people buying from you.
Crowdfunding
This is when you set up an account with something like Patreon and ask your followers and subscribers to donate money to you. This has actually become a very normal way of making money on social media. Fans love to donate to people they consume content from. You can do this on a consistent basis or for certain events and items you need to raise money for.
Affiliate Links
An affiliate link is a unique link that is generated by a company that you post on your channel and everytime someone clicks on it and purchases something you will get a portion of the proceeds. You have to sign up for companies and firms that do this. There are many of them out there. You can check other channels that are in your niche to see what affiliate links they use and approach those companies. The affiliate links can be placed in your description box.
Sponsors
When you make sponsored content, you will be paid by a company to talk about their product or service. They will usually tell you how long you have to speak about their product and what you need to say. You might also get a discount code for your viewers. This is a great way to make money, because you do not have to go through YouTube and you do not owe them a portion of your earnings. You also have the ability to negotiate if you want to. Just make sure that you do not go overboard with sponsored videos because your viewers might get annoyed by it.
Choose to partner with companies who have something that your viewers would actually want to buy or use.
Taxes
Taxes are not something you might have considered when you started your YouTube channel, but it is important that you are compliant so that you do not get into trouble later on. Tax evasion is a crime, so you need to make sure that you are doing everything properly. Make sure that you understand the tax laws in your country and state. We are going to touch on taxes in the U.S. here.
If you are part of the YouTube Partner Program you will have to submit your tax information to Google and they will withhold taxes from the revenue you have generated. They only withhold taxes from views coming from the U.S., but if you are a U.S. creator they will not withhold any tax. This is because it is assumed that you will be doing your own tax returns and pay tax on a regular basis. If you do not submit your tax information to Google then you will be charged a percentage in tax and that means you will be losing money for no reason. It is better to just submit your tax information if you are a YouTube Partner.
In general, the more money you make on YouTube, the more tax you will be paying. Tax can often be a very complicated process so if you are not very clued up about it you should consider getting a tax practitioner's advice on it. Since they are professionals, they will know how to save you money on your tax and it will save you a lot of hassle as well. However you go about it, you should make sure that you are paying your taxes correctly.
Key Takeaways and Action Steps
● Pick one monetization strategy and work on that at first. You can grow into the other ones, but doing too much too quickly can be overwhelming. Plus some monetizing strategies will require you to have a good following. When you have built up your channel you will have leverage for monetizing in different ways.
● Do not forget about your taxes. Make sure you are compliant.