How to Make Money on YouTube with Minimal Investment

If you want to learn how to make money on YouTube, there are several procedures that allow you to create a passive income. The average time a user spends is about 11 minutes on YouTube each day. So if you want to increase your earning potential, you must create great content that is teachable yet entertaining.

Creators can become the most successful when starting a channel with the right strategy in mind. The opportunities are endless when making money on YouTube.

However, these are the best approaches you can take if you want to start monetizing your channel.

1. Affiliate Marketing

You can use your YouTube channel as an opportunity to promote your affiliate links and earn a sustainable income. If you can offer helpful tutorials and product reviews, YouTube is the place for it.

For example, you can create several types of video content around a product you think your audience would find beneficial. After you upload the content, you can link the product for users to buy, and earn a commission off of it.

The best strategy to make money on YouTube is to start joining affiliate programs. Build a trusting relationship with your viewers by solving their problems and providing tutorials. Once you gain a substantial subscriber amount, you can advertise your affiliate links to keep earning more income. 

Remember that viewers will only follow through the links if they find you as a trusted resource.

2. Join YouTube’s Partner Program

For many content creators, ads are the most effective way to make money on YouTube. Before enabling monetization, you must join YouTube Partner and meet the following requirements:

• You must reach 1,000 subscribers to start
• Plus, you’ll have to have at least 4,000 watch hours within the last 12 months

Once you meet these prerequisites and follow YouTube’s ad rules, you can generate revenue with ads. However, advertising alone may not always be the best determinant for earning income. You have other ways to solidify your earning potential, such as live streaming.

People love real-time streaming and will invest their time watching your videos, which is how you can create a loyal fan base.

Once you achieve a loyal subscriber base, you can use super chat and super stickers for premium subscribers to buy chat messages. After a subscriber makes a purchase, they can place their messages at the top of the discussion.

Overall, these strategies are a great way to earn money from fans and remain profitable in the future.

3. Make Money Through Fan Funding

Similar to crowdfunding, you can earn money through your most loyal fans. “Fan funding” gives your audience the ability to make donations to your streams. When seeking ways to get paid while creating good content, your audience might feel obliged to support your efforts.

Many crowdfunding platforms, like Patreon, offer you a seamless form of payment when creating content. With a tiny investment, your fans can pay to subscribe to your channel and walk away with some of the most exclusive rewards. Remember, the most enticing bonuses are more likely to give you higher donations.

Although, it’s crucial to understand who your audience is when determining how to ask for donations.

4. Work as an Influencer 

Becoming an influencer is another viable way to make money on YouTube. More brands are making investments in influencer marketing. Typically, they’ll spend a considerable amount on advertising budgets through influencers who’ve created a loyal audience.

Fortunately for you, this is a significant opportunity for maximizing your earnings on YouTube. When creating brand-sponsored content, there are a few factors that can help you leverage your partnerships:

• Always negotiate a better deal if you find the brand is a good fit
• Avoid endorsing products you may not honestly believe in
• Be transparent and let your audience know why you’re promoting the product

Popular influencer marketplaces like Grapevine Logic or Channel Pages allow you to partner with brands and other YouTubers. Some influencer marketplaces also will enable you to receive free products and get paid more from big-name brands.

To capitalize on this opportunity, get your name out there in as many places as possible. This will ensure your channel achieves the maximum boost for traffic and visibility.

5. Discover the Potentials with YouTube Red

YouTube Red lets users pay a monthly subscription for a better viewing experience with zero advertisements. Based on your view time, you can make a significantly higher revenue than YouTube ads alone.

Keep in mind, though, your watch time matters. So, check your YouTube analytics regularly and keep an eye on watch time and video engagement statistics.

How To Make Money on YouTube Without Being “Salesy”

Many of the strategies included here involve promoting your channel and products. Being too “salesy” is one of the main concerns that content creators have. However, if you want to take advantage of the possibilities, you must be straightforward and ask.

There are many actions you can choose to promote your channel and products without turning off your subscribers.

One simplest form is by creating a call to action. Somewhere in your video, you can always ask your viewers to subscribe so they can keep up with new content. By suggesting they take action, your audience is more likely to move forward through your intentions.

Another easy route is to add links to your descriptions. This offers viewers a means to make purchases on products while allowing you to generate revenue.

Lastly, you can use YouTube Cards, which allows you to promote products without creating a distraction. YouTube Cards can link to the product within your video and will pop up at the right moment to capture viewers’ attention.

Becoming a YouTuber

Some people think they can get paid on YouTube by creating any content. However, you have to think strategically to make the most of your investment on this platform. The easiest way to attract more viewers is to start with the content you feel most passionate towards.

In general, YouTubers make more money when they create content they enjoy making.

So start exploring ideas today and get creative so you can increase your potential to make money on YouTube.