How To Get Monetized on YouTube and Start Making Money

If you want to make content creation a profitable side hustle or full time job, you’re likely looking for the best ways to earn compensation. Getting monetized on YouTube is crucial to turning your passion into profit. 

YouTube offers numerous ways to earn money, from advertising revenue to merchandising. Learn how to get monetized on YouTube and start profiting from your content. 

What’s YouTube Monetization?

YouTube monetization refers to the income generated from your channel’s videos. To monetize your content, you must first join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). 

Joining allows you to enable monetization features such as ad revenue sharing, paid memberships, and merchandising. The YPP also grants access to advanced audience data, as well as:

• Copyright Match Tool, which protects your content from copyright infringement.
• Creator Support Team, which helps solve technical issues, answer account management questions, and improve your experience using YouTube features.

Let’s examine how to become a YouTube partner and monetize your content.

YouTube Monetization Requirements

Before joining the YPP, you must meet one of two eligibility criteria: Original or Expanded. YouTube launched the Expanded criteria in 2022, making it easier for creators in certain regions to join. Here are the requirements for each option: 

• Original — You must have 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months or 10 million valid public Short views in the last 90 days.
• Expanded — You must have 500 subscribers and three valid public uploads in the last 90 days, plus either 3,000 valid public watch hours in the past year or three million public Shorts views in the last 90 days. 

You can apply for the YPP once you meet the above eligibility criteria. To register, you must: 

• Adhere to YouTube monetization policies, including its Community Guidelines, Terms of Service, and copyright rules
• Live in a YPP-eligible country/region
• Have no active Community Guidelines strikes on your channel
• Enable two-step verification on your Google account
• Connect an AdSense for YouTube account to your channel

How To Turn on Monetization on YouTube

The more monetization features you leverage, the greater your earning potential. Here’s how to enable monetization on your YouTube channel:

1. Navigate to YouTube and sign in to the account you want to monetize. 
2. Click on your profile picture in the top-right and select “YouTube Studio.”
3. Tap “Earn” in the left-side menu. 
4. Click “Memberships” to turn on channel memberships. 
5. Click “Supers” to turn on Super Chat, Stickers, and Thanks. 
6. Click “Shopping” to enable the Merchandise Shelf and promote other brands’ products. 
7. Click “Watch Page Ads” and accept the Watch Page Monetization Module to earn ad revenue from your long-form content and YouTube Premium subscribers. 
8. Click “Short Feed Ads” and accept the Shorts Feed Monetization Module to earn ad revenue from your Shorts content and YouTube Premium subscribers. 

10 Ways to Monetize on YouTube

Depending on your content type and target audience, you can determine the most appropriate route to earning through YouTube. Here are 10 ways to consider monetizing your videos.

1. Ad Revenue

The most basic way to generate income on YouTube is through ads. YouTube offers several ad formats, including skippable and non-skippable promotions you can place before or during your videos. Leverage different types across your content to maximize ad revenue. 

To qualify for ad revenue, videos must comply with YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines, which include avoiding excessive inappropriate language, violence, and firearm use.

2. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing involves generating traffic or leads for another brand’s services. When you advertise third-party products on your channel, you earn a commission every time a viewer purchases a product through your link. Popular affiliate programs on YouTube include Amazon Associates, ClickBank, and CJ Affiliate. 

3. Channel Memberships

A YouTube channel membership is a paid monthly subscription. Members can access unique perks, such as custom badges and emojis, early access privileges, and exclusive content. 

You can offer your viewers up to six membership levels at different prices, each containing a maximum of five perks. YouTube keeps 30% of the income generated from each subscription — the rest is yours to keep.

4. Paid Sponsorships

Paid sponsorships involve a brand or business paying you to promote their products in your videos. While challenging to secure — you need a more established platform and following — sponsorships rank among YouTube’s most lucrative monetization options. 

5. YouTube Premium

Formerly known as YouTube Red, Premium is a paid subscription service that offers ad-free viewing, offline playback, and exclusive content from popular creators. 

When a subscriber watches your videos, you earn a share of the viewer’s subscription payment. The more Premium members watch your content, the more income you receive. 

Like ad payments, YouTube distributes subscription revenue payments at the start of each month. 

6. YouTube Shorts Monetization

YouTube launched revenue sharing on Shorts to replace the YouTube Shorts Funds. To qualify for monetization, Shorts must contain original content and comply with YouTube’s advertiser-friendly guidelines. 

Each month, YouTube pools revenue from ads running between videos in the Shorts Feed. They then distribute the earned ad revenue based on your share of total views. YouTube keeps 45% of the allocated revenue, and you receive the rest.

7. YouTube BrandConnect

BrandConnect helps you find partners who’ll pay you to make product recommendations in your videos. Currently, this feature is only available if you live in Canada, the U.K., or the U.S.

8. Super Features

Features include Super Chats, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks. These fan funding monetization options invite your audience to express their appreciation for your content in exchange for greater visibility.

To enable these features, you must live in an eligible country/region and your content can’t be age-restricted, unlisted, or private. Here’s how each feature works:

• Super Chats allow fans to donate money and have their messages featured in your livestream chats and video premieres. 
• Super Stickers let fans buy digital stickers that are pinned to the top of the chat stream.
• Super Thanks means fans can donate money in exchange for a featured comment and animated GIF on any uploaded video.
  

9. Merchandising

If you have more than 10,000 subscribers, you can enable the YouTube Merchandise Shelf on your videos. This lets you sell merchandise, such as clothing and artwork, to your fans. 

You can post links to your store in comments, the video description box, and Community posts. Tag and arrange up to 30 items per video or Short and customize which products display for specific content. 

10. Patronage

Third-party patronage platforms like Patreon allow fans to financially support your content creation. These platforms function similarly to channel memberships, letting you offer exclusive benefits to patrons for a monthly subscription fee. Encourage your viewers to become patrons by linking your third-party patronage page on your videos and channel. 

Elevate Your YouTube Game With Captions

To succeed as a content creator, you’ll want to consistently create high-quality videos — and even better if you can profit on that hard work. Captions reduces this workload, making it easier to enhance your content and increase monetization opportunities. 

Use Captions’ creative studio to automatically add text to your videos, remove background noise, and fix eye contact. Editing videos with the Captions app frees up time to upload more often and grow your channel.

‍Try Captions today and elevate your YouTube presence.