YouTube stars are today’s self-made celebrities—people who have earned an audience by creating video content geared toward teaching, entertaining, reviewing, and being awesome on the web.
Making money on YouTube might not be your reason for starting a channel, but the opportunities to earn are a pleasant surprise once you realize how many of them there are. Luckily, there are some creative ways to make money on YouTube.
Your audience might unlock your YouTube channel’s earning potential, as is often the case with Instagram influencers or bloggers, but it’s the creation of multiple revenue streams, through side hustles or businesses, that helps you make money.
Join the YouTube Partner Program
The first revenue stream you’ll likely explore is ads. Whether you want to earn money on YouTube without creating videos or as a content creator, joining the YouTube Partner Program and setting up monetization is a vital step. You’ll have to agree to follow all of YouTube’s monetization policies and live in a country or region where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
Then you can apply for monetization once you’ve hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours over the past year. Here’s how to enable monetization on YouTube: Sign in to the YouTube account you want to monetize.
Click the icon for your account in the top right corner. Click YouTube Studio. In the left menu, select Other Features Monetization. Read and agree to the YouTuber Partner Program terms and eligibility requirements. Create a new Google AdSense account or connect an existing one to your channel. (You need an AdSense account to get paid.) Set your monetization preferences. Once that’s done, head back to the dashboard and click the Analytics tab on the left side. From there, you’ll need to choose Revenue from the tabs at the top, then scroll down to the chart Monthly Estimated Revenue to get an idea of your predicted YouTube revenue.
