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How To Make Money On YouTube: 5 Ways to Monetize Your Channel

Do you have a YouTube channel and you are looking for ways on how to make money from it?

There are many ways Filipinos can make money on YouTube. You can get paid from advertisements, brand deals, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, fan donations, and so much more. Some of these monetization methods are possible even if you are just starting as a YouTuber but most require some qualifications.

I have been managing a LOT of YouTube channels (clients-owned) that are both new and have been on the platform for years. And from those management experiences, I think I am qualified enough to share the 5 ways we use to monetize the YouTube channels.

How To Make Money On YouTube

1. YouTube Advertisements

If you tried watching YouTube videos, which I know you do, you probably noticed advertisements that appear usually before, in-between, at the end of the video, and/or on the sidebars of YouTube. The ads can be in a video format or text banner ads.

Skippable Ads Sample
Overlay Ads Sample

Maybe for you as a viewer, the ads are annoying but for YouTubers, these advertisements are one of the main sources of their income on YouTube.

Now, how do content creators make money from advertisements?

If a video advertisement is not skipped by a viewer or someone clicked on the banners or overlay ads, YouTube will give an amount to the YouTuber who owns the video. According to Investopedia, YouTube or Google follows a 45/55 split for all content creators, Google keeps 45 percent of all YouTube advertising on each video while the creator gets the remaining 55 percent.

So for example, if an advertiser pays $1 for a video advertisement, the YouTuber will get $0.55 while Google will get $0.45.

Earnings of One of The Channel I Manage

Youtube does not pay based on the number of subscribers, likes, or shares. Even if there are millions of views, subscribers, likes, and shares of a channel or video if no ads are placed or every viewer skips and/or didn’t click the advertisements, the content creator will not receive any amount.

Note: A YouTube Channel must meet the requirements of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours before being eligible for monetization.

2. Brand Deals or Sponsorships

Have you ever watched a YouTube video where a product was featured or a YouTuber mentioned that the video was sponsored? 

Well, YouTubers do that in exchange for money and/or free products depending on what the brand and creator agreed upon.

An example of this is a video by Alex Gonzaga and Mimiyuuuh, two of the most influential vloggers in the Philippines, where they mention and advertise an Oppo phone even though their channel or video is not about gadgets. Do you think they did that for free? Nahhh…

There are two ways you can get brand deals or sponsors. 

First, a brand or company may contact you. If your channel is popular enough or has a decent amount of engagements, brands will definitely send you a message for partnership.

One of the channels I manage does reviews on beddings or any product used in sleeping. The channel has 7,000 subscribers, which is small compared to some competitors, but it constantly receives brand deals from companies in that niche.

Second, you can contact them yourself and ask if they are interested to sign a brand deal with you. If you have a product you love and you want to mention it to your viewers, it might be a good idea to contact the owner of the company for possible collaboration.

With brand deals and/or sponsorships, the pay depends on many factors but usually, it is based on the number of engagements on the channel such as the number of views and subscribers.

Note: If your channel isn’t established yet, meaning you don’t have many viewers and subscribers yet, you might receive a lot of rejections from brands. However, I still recommend you constantly look for opportunities concerning this monetization method. 🙂

3. Sell Your Own Product and or Services

If your channel has thousands of loyal subscribers and viewers, you can convert them into customers of your product.

An example of this is Anne Clutz, a well-known beauty and mommy vlogger in the country. When her channel grew to a few hundred thousand subscribers, she made her own beauty products and promoted them in her YouTube videos. And because her channel is focused on the beauty niche, it is easier to market and get sales on her products.

Anne Clutz Shopee Store

You don’t have a physical product? You can also sell your services.

For example, if you are good at photoshop or editing photos, you can mention it to your viewers. You might receive job contracts from those people who need Photoshop services.

One of my clients is a video production company. They receive a LOT of job inquiries from people who watched their YouTube videos. So if they can, you definitely can.

Note: It’s best if your products and/or services are related to your channel’s content or niche. If you are a beauty vlogger, your product can be anything related to beauty. If you are a food vlogger, either you promote your restaurant or you can make a recipe e-book that you can sell.

4. Affiliate Marketing

This method is quite similar to Sponsorships. All you have to do here is promote a product, mention where you sold it and if someone buys the same product from the store link you mentioned or added, you will receive a commission.

Some websites or companies that offer it (that are available in SouthEast Asia) are Lazada, Involve Asia, and Clickbank. The commission you get depends on a lot of factors such as the brand and the product. Usually, you’ll see the percentage you’ll get for every purchase and/or clicks from your affiliate links.

If you are interested in this method, I recommend you to join the companies mentioned above as an affiliate. Find a product you want to promote, which again I suggest something related to your niche or topic. Then, copy that product link and paste it into the description of your YouTube video where you featured or mentioned the product. Of course, you should encourage your viewers to purchase the product using the link in your description box. And finally, wait for someone sales to come.

How do you know that a sale was made using your affiliate link?

As far as I know, affiliate websites will assign a unique link that will track everything – clicks and sales made. You can easily find the data or analytics on your dashboard inside the website of the affiliate company.

Involve Asia Dashboard Sample

This method is usually implemented by vloggers who make clothing hauls and product reviews.  But you can still apply this method even if you are in a different niche.

5. Channel Memberships

This method is for YouTubers with at least 1000 subscribers and a member of the YouTube Partner Program.

A YouTuber I saw doing this was Lloyd Cafe Cadena. If you see next to the subscriber button on his channel it has a Join option. This join tab is for fans and subscribers who want to become a member of the channel. A viewer can have a loyalty badge, specialized emoji, and many more offers in exchange for a monthly payment. It depends on the channel how much they will charge their subscribers. For Lloyd, about 100+ pesos per month.

If you have thousands of loyal subscribers, this method can be very profitable. But then, of course, you have to do and give what you promised to your viewers in exchange for their subscriptions.

SIDE NOTE: 

Today is August 15, 2021, and I wrote this article last June 3, 2020, just a few months before the unfortunate death of Lloyd Cadena. I am one of his long-time subscribers and supporters. I am thinking of removing his name from this blog because it might not be appropriate, but I just couldn’t.

Lloyd is a legend in the vlogging industry. As far as I know, he is one of the first influencers who introduced vlogging in the Philippines. He is also one of the most successful, passionate, and funniest YouTubers in the country.

He mentioned in a few of his videos that the funds he used for his expenses and for helping other people are from YouTube. And because of that, I think it is worth mentioning him in this article.

If you haven’t checked his YouTube channel, you better do so. You can also show your support to his mother (Kween Mother) by subscribing to her channel.

Final Thoughts:

Being a YouTuber is now a profession.

In fact, many YouTubers earn more compared to those who are working in offices, hospitals, and those with their own businesses.

If you want to make money on YouTube, you can do one or all of the above ways on how you can earn money on YouTube. But just like I mentioned, most of it is for established channels.

If you’re just starting out, just keep going. Don’t focus too much on how you can monetize your Youtube channel, instead, think first about how you can grow your subscribers and viewers.

Jomel is the founder and writer of The EarnCredibles, a blog about personal finance.