How Do Bloggers Make Money on YouTube?

I was sitting at a brunch with a bunch of bloggers.  There were bloggers there from all levels.  Super bloggers who were designers for companies, mid sized but established bloggers. and some that were just starting out.  It’s always fun to talk with and meet bloggers with different perspectives on ever changing world of blogging.  A newbie blogger in the group found out that I do video and asked me some questions since they were going to get started on YouTube.  Her question was simple and valid. “How do bloggers make money on YouTube?”

Making videos is work.  It takes time and money doing it right – so how do get a return on your investment?  There are basically 3 ways to make money on YouTube, and they are not all equal.

How Bloggers Make Money on YouTube:
Adsense

Adsense is certainly the easiest and the fastest way to start making money on YouTube.  Just connect your Adsense account to your YouTube channel  and you can watch those pennies roll in.  So unless you are a super popular channel from the get go it’s not going to pay that much.  Even if you are a super popular channel there are better ways to make money.  However a buck is a buck so even though I don’t think this should be your main source of revenue, it is revenue so be sure to have Adsense ads on your videos.

Pro: Dead simple to set up and get going

Con: Doesn’t pay a whole lot.

Affiliate Links/ Personal Sale Items

This is kind of a mixed bag when it comes to working with video.  While it doesn’t guarantee a sale or a profit every time a video is watched, there is the potential to make more money than Adsense.  by having affiliate links in the description box below the video (which they point out and mention in the video) they can drive sales.  You can also embed the video into a post and have links in the links there.  You can also link out from your video to YouTube approved affiliates.  There are multiple options and ways you can drive affiliate sales.

Several YouTubers will promote their ebooks, courses, Etsy items, online store, etc. on their channel.  It’s a great way to find a new audience for your online enterprise.

Pros: A lot more money can be made

Cons: There is no guarantee that your audience will convert to a customer

Sponsored content

This is the big one.  The big fish.  This is the way to go.  Having your videos sponsored is what can make the big money in video.  Sponsored content can be anything from provided items to actual cash to promote and use an item in your video.  How much you can make varies and depends on your audience, subscribers, production value and what your channel is about.  Sponsored content is such a huge money make that YouTube has forced it’s way into being the middleman for the larger YouTube channels, insisting that it get’s a piece of the action.  They even purchased a company that was connecting smaller channels to sponsors (FameBit).  So needless to say while you can do sponsored videos there are some rules that you need to follow, like not posting the logo to the screen… to name a funky one.  Just make sure that you and your sponsor are up to date on YouTube’s Policies so you aren’t in violation.  As a matter of fact now you can add a “Paid Product Placement” disclosure to the video.

Pro: Has the potential to be the biggest money maker

Cons: It’s not turn key. You have to find a sponsor, the pay can vary wildly and you need to make sure you follow the rules

So that is how you can make money on YouTube.  Do you have a YouTube channel?  Tell me about it in the comments below!