Update 01/01/2022
OK, a few updates since this article was written.
Youtube has a few categories – news and politics being two that ‘established content’ is promoted versus others – so if you are in these categories you may have trouble with any growth.
Youtube’s ever changing terms and conditions can be a burden for creators – the appeal system and vague copyright rules can be a particular pain for creators.
Youtube shorts was introduced – to counter the growth of TikTok, this can lead to some decent views but all videos being under 1 minute can also mean that getting view time up is still difficult – subscriber growth doesn’t seem to be any better. We tested this on a new channel.
Youtube seems to be way more difficult to make a living off – it can be done and no doubt ‘gurus’ will show you their methods but monetization is harder to achieve, money seems to be less and unless you promote products (sponsors) in your videos then it can be really hard now.
There are alternatives – these might be profitable, a lot use crypto tokens. W ewil take a look at these.
Anyway on to the article – just be aware this revenue stream seems to be getting trickier from our experiences.
Article
Youtube is another popular method of making passive income that is frequently mentioned by various marketers, lets look at this in detail.
The basic concept is in creating a channel and uploading some videos on a topic or topics to that channel. Once you get enough views and subscribers you can apply to put adverts on your channel.
As you have probably worked out already this is a numbers game, the more videos, views, length of video and subscribers the more chance of getting revenue. Very occasionaly someone will create a video that goes viral and gets masses of traffic but quite often these will be promoted via other social media sources.
There are other factors, depending on your channel content in that advertisers may reach out to you. For example, you may make videos about a specific digital camera and that manufacturer may target you for ads. Again this is more likely to be only if you had a lot of subscribers and views.
You can also make videos promoting affiliate products but filling a channel with this content is not recommended although if you review products and add value then that would be useful. If you have other business ideas like courses, apps, ebooks and websites you can of course use Youtube to drive traffic to them.
Youtube getting started
First of all you need to signup with Youtube and create a channel – basic one that. You will also need a google adsense account which can be created by visiting . Do not get too excited yet as you cannot earn money yet, that comes later, this is only an initial step.
What are the requirements to get accepted.
There are two requirements before you can get your channel reviewed and hopefully accepted for monetization. These are
4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months
1,000 subscribers
If you have enough content the hours is not an issue usually depending on video quantity and length of videos, subscribers can be a trickier one
Content ideas
Here are some ideas, you may need a games console, pc or a piece of software to do these but this is just a couple of examples of easy video creation ideas.
You can record Xbox , PC and PS4 game content and upload it, this is a tough niche though. There are many huge channels that record videos (DanTDM) so this can be tough to get established. What you would ideally need is a specific game, an early game release, focus on a platform, focus on a gaming niche (strategy, sports, puzzle etc). Dont just pick the top game, look at the amount of Fortnite and Minecraft content for example.
You need to do something interesting and unique, don’t just copy what otehrs do.
You can record your iPad using various utilities on a PC and Mac. Test some games and apps, speak about them or just just the user experience.
You can perform some Operating system tasks, app usage on Windows 10 or other operating system. For example you couls record how to perform a task in excel, show some Windows 10 tips, photoshop tips and techniques and review and use apps. If its on a PC you can technically record it and then upload the video
You can download an Android emulator and record apps and games, again show gameplay or features.
You can use powerpoint or a similar spreadsheet application and output as an mp4 video. Upload this to your channel. You could create a few basic videos, say tips, quotes, favourite images, recipes with pictures and so on
Equipment that you may need
For more professional videos there are a few things that you may need to purchase
Microphone : Again a stand-alone microphone may be required, if you are recording audio of yourself at a computer then this can be the best option, sometimes the built in microphones aren’t too good. Headsets taht you use when playing video games are another option.
Video camera : You can use a mobile phone but this usually looks amateurish, usually a decent camera and a tripod are required. There are some better webcans that have good quality that you can get for under $100, that is if you want yourself on the video, you may just want to record your voice.
Software editing : You may need to edit your video for a more professional touch there are many options out there, visit google and search for Best Video Editing Software for YouTube. I personally use the Adobe range of products but these can be quite costly.
Promoting the channel and videos
As stated earlier this is the key area, you need to get word out there and promote your content. There are several obvious ways of doing this and social media is a good start.
Remember these methods also need social media accounts with many fans and followers. Its in the numbers.
Facebook : share your videos on facebook (if you have an account), if you have a niche for the videos create a facebook page on taht niche
Twitter : Post the videos on twitter
Tumblr : You can post on tumblr as well
Pinterest : Craete a board and screen capture your video and pin the screen capture
Fiverr : If you have a little cash then there are people on fiverr willing to promote your channel or videos. I’ve never tried this personally so far so cannot vouch for the results.
Also remember that google will pick up these videos eventually so a good direct title may hit the front page of the search engine. An example of this is to go to Google – switch to videos and enter search terms – how many of the results are youtube videos. These also hit the main page of the primary search engine sometimes.
Youtube dos and donts
There are a few things I dont recommend that can get you banned and demonitized
Don’t use copyrighted material, this will lead to a ban
Dont rip off other peoples video – similar to above.
Be careful of politics – i wont go into the politics of Youtube and Google but I would steer clear at the moment
No porn (this is obvious surely)
Youtube summary
Yes, you can make money on Youtube but for every person that succeeds there are thousands that do not. Do not pin all of your passive income hopes on this source, you may strike gold and come up with the viral video taht gets millions of views but realistically this probably not happen and yopur channel will just slowly grow.
Youtube like blogging is a slow process.
