5 ways to start earning on YouTube

Key Concepts

• Affiliate Marketing: Earning commissions by promoting products and earning a share of the profit for each sale that you make.
• Digital Products: Products that are created and sold in a digital format, such as e-books, online courses, or coaching sessions.
• Brand Deals: Partnerships between content creators and brands, where creators promote products or services in exchange for payment.
• Video Production Services: Offering expertise in creating video content for businesses or individuals.
• YouTube Monetization: The process of earning revenue from a YouTube channel through various methods, including AdSense, channel memberships, and merchandise.

Monetizing a YouTube Channel with a Small Following

This summary outlines five distinct strategies for generating income from a YouTube channel, even with a limited subscriber base. The core principle across these methods is leveraging existing skills, products, or platforms to create revenue streams independent of a large audience.

1. Affiliate Links

• Mechanism: This method involves signing up for affiliate programs, such as Amazon Associates. When a creator mentions a product in their video, they can include an affiliate link in the video description.
• Personal Experience: The speaker shared their experience of using affiliate links from "day one" of their channel, even with as few as 20 subscribers and minimal views. They reported earning "a few pennies" through this method, which they found "quite motivating" as it validated the potential for income.
• Technical Detail: The Amazon Associates program allows creators to earn a commission on sales generated through their unique links.

2. Selling Your Own Digital Product

• Concept: Creators can offer their own digital products or services directly to their audience, regardless of size.
• Example: A prime example is offering one-on-one coaching calls. This can be for any skill the creator possesses or, ideally, related to the content of their channel. A link to book these calls can be placed in the video description.
• Application: This allows for direct monetization of expertise and time.

3. Joining Creator Platforms for Brand Deals

• Platform: Creator Grid is highlighted as a platform designed to facilitate flexible brand deals.
• Key Feature: The significant advantage of platforms like Creator Grid is the ability to secure brand deals "from day one without actually having any followers."
• Process: Creators can sign up and be matched with brands to promote, earning income even with zero subscribers. The website for this platform is creator.com.

4. Offering Video Production Services

• Skill Monetization: This strategy leverages the skill of video creation itself.
• Target Audience: Creators can offer their services to local businesses, online businesses, or individuals.
• Market Need: The rationale is that "every business needs some kind of video production" for social media, their own YouTube channels, or video advertisements. This provides a direct service-based income stream.

5. YouTube Monetization (AdSense)

• Accessibility: The speaker asserts that it is "a lot easier to get monetized these days than it ever ever has been before."
• Thresholds: The current threshold is stated as "only 500 subscribers and a certain number of like watch hours."
• Viral Potential: The argument is made that focusing on creating "even just like one video, that's actually very good" can lead to a video going "even vaguely viral." This can rapidly help creators "blitz through that subscriber and watchtime threshold," enabling them to earn revenue from YouTube AdSense.

Logical Connections and Synthesis

The five methods presented form a progression from immediate, low-barrier-to-entry income streams (affiliate links, digital products) to more structured opportunities (brand deals via platforms) and service-based income (video production). The final point emphasizes that the core YouTube monetization through AdSense is also more accessible than in the past, suggesting that even with a small but engaged audience, reaching monetization goals is achievable. The overarching theme is that a large follower count is not a prerequisite for earning money on YouTube; rather, strategic utilization of skills, products, and available platforms is key.

Conclusion

In summary, monetizing a YouTube channel with a small following is achievable through several avenues. Affiliate marketing, selling personal digital products, securing brand deals via specialized platforms like Creator Grid, offering video production services, and leveraging the increasingly accessible YouTube AdSense monetization thresholds are all viable strategies. The emphasis is on proactive engagement with these opportunities, utilizing existing skills, and understanding the current landscape of YouTube monetization.