How to Make Money on YouTube

My journey toward diversification in income has led me down many paths.  Since I began investing decades ago it has not always been a smooth transition from “Bricks and Mortar” type investing to social media investments.  However, it has accelerated my growth exponentially. 

Obviously blogging has been a big part, however it’s just a hobby.  I make relatively minimal income from it as it is more of a form of entertainment for me.

In addition to blogging I am on reach my audience through Twitter and Facebook @ MrWallStreet.com for both.  I have always purposely stayed away from YouTube as I perceived it as mindless videos of adolescent pre-planned stunts gone wrong.  A library for dumbass hardcore videos with “JackAss” and “Ridiculousness” themes. 

It wasn’t until a family member starting doing real business on it that I began to see the opportunity and power it can bring to my current businesses.  Now I use it consistently as an advertising platform.  Although I learn new tricks every day I would like to share some of my knowledge on how I make money on YouTube.

YouTube is an American video sharing website created in 2005 then purchased in 2006 by Google for $1.65 Billion.  What a steal!  YouTube allows users to upload, view, rate, share, add to favorites, comment on videos, report and subscribe to other users. 

Available content includes video clips, TV show clips, short and documentary films, movie trailers, video blogging, educational videos, audio recordings, and live streams.  Most are by individuals but there are an increasing number of large media corporations posting content.

YouTube traditionally earns advertising revenue from Google AdSense which targets ads according to content and audience.   However, YouTube has recently implemented many restrictions on their platform making it significantly more difficult to monetize content. 

Due to several problematic accounts many advertisers have pulled advertising dollars away from the site.  This has prompted them to require at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time on their account within the past 12 months.  

Personally I like what they have done here.  I want to watch and subscribe to quality content and I think it was a step in the right direction. 

Before I give my advice and share my personal experiences on YouTube, I’d like to run through the numbers.  The first table highlights the audience demographics for all users.  As you can see, it is heavily weighted toward males 18-34 years of age.

 

Viewer Age	Watch Time (minutes)	Male	Female
13 - 17 years	1.6%	75%	25%
18 - 24 years	25%	81%	19%
25 - 34 years	50%	84%	16%
35 - 44 years	13%	80%	20%
45 - 54 years	5%	65%	35%
55 - 64 years	2.4%	52%	48%
65+ years	2.2%	68%	32%

The table shows some random statistics but highlights the power of the platform and rate of growth.  The most prominent to be is that the average viewing session has increased by 50% YOY.  That is a business that I want to be part of!

Total number of monthly active users:		1.9 Billion
Total number of daily active users:		30+ Million
TV paying subscribers:		300,000
Number of videos shared to date		5 Billion
Average viewing session		40 minutes
Viewing session increase vs. last year		50%
Number of videos watched per day		5 Billion
Number of mobile videos watched per day		500 Million
Number of visitors from outside the US		80%
Number of small businesses on YouTube		9%
Millennials preference over traditional TV		2 to 1
Males most viewed content		Soccer
Females most viewed content		Beauty

Listed below are some of the successes of YouTube.  These are the top earners in 2018 with some insight into how they achieved their fortunes. 

1.  Ryan’s Worlds - $22 million 

This 8-year-old boy named Ryan earned $22 million last year for uploading YouTube videos of him playing with toys. About $21 million comes from pre-roll advertising on his channels, Forbes reported.  As the views mount, and Ryan has more than anyone else on Forbes' list, so do the automated ad dollars. 

2.  Jake Paul - $21.5 million

Jake Paul earned $21.5 million on YouTube, according to Forbes. Some people know him for his role as Dirk on the Disney Channel series "Bizaardvark." He is also well-known for his YouTube channel, which has over 17 million subscribers.

3. Dude Perfect - $20 Million

This five-man group (Coby and Cory Cotton, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones and Tyler Toney) has 36 million subscribers who tune in to watch their intricate trick shots and impossible maneuvers.

4. DanTDM - $18.5 million

British gamer Daniel Middleton was last year's top earner. He's been gaming on camera and selling merchandise such as backpacks, hoodies and hats for six years. He has a following of 20.7 million. 

5. Jeffree Star - $18 million

This 33-year-old makeup-artist-turned-beauty-mogul sells $100 million worth of Jeffree Star cosmetics, Forbes reported. 

6. Markiplier - $17.5 million

Hawaii native Mark Edward Fischbach signed seven figures worth of brand deals, according to Forbes, and recently launched Cloak, a high-end athleisure line for gamers. 

 

7. Vanoss Gaming- $17 million

Canadian gamer Evan Fong, 26, plays games like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed and has amassed 23 million subscribers.

8. Jacksepticeye - $16 million

Ireland's energetic Seán McLoughlin, 28, is a video game commentator with more than 20 million subscribers. Despite his foul mouth, he still managed to do a series with Disney and is developing content for live-streaming platform Twitch, Forbes reported.

9. PewDiePie - $15.5 million

The Swedish gamer commentator, Felix Kjellberg, weathered the criticism of making several anti-Semitic and racist videos in 2017 to remain one of YouTube's top earners. Advertisers returned, sponsoring up to $450,000 for a video, Forbes reported.

10. Logan Paul -$14.5 million

Despite scandal, Logan Paul still made the list of Forbes top 10 YouTube earners in 2018. 

Here's another top earner who's controversial. In early 2018, YouTube yanked Paul's channels from its Google Preferred ad program after he uploaded a video that showed an apparent suicide victim hanging from a tree in Japan. The YouTube prankster, 23, apologized, but the damage was done. He still ranks in the Top 10, however.

I am not a big fan of these channels but prefer podcasts such as Joe Rogan.   Many of the videos I enjoy are not form large platforms but rather videos I can relate to.  For example, I have a teenage daughter who struggles with her studies and found this video very funny. 

I Failed My Math Test

Now that I’ve given you some good sound data and stories about VLOGGERs going from rags to riches, I’d like to give you some of the platforms that are most commonly used on YouTube to earn income. 

1. Become a YouTube partner and make money from ads. 
2. Sell your products and merchandise.
3. Crowdfund your next creative project.
4. Fan funding
5. License content to the media
6. Work with brands as an influencer or affiliate

Although they are the most common, in my opinion these are often difficult and take many years to scale up.  For example, if you posted twice a week, every week, for years you could expect to reach over 1,000 subscribers in a couple years.  Obviously if one of your videos went viral, this could happen overnight, however it is very uncommon.  Once you reach 1,000, you will likely make less than $25 per month on average using the ads platform. 

That’s why being a professional Vlogger is very difficult and I don’t recommend it. 

I use YouTube to strictly build my brand.  As I mentioned in prior posts, building a brand is everything.  I can expose, promote, and drive customers to my brand through YouTube for virtually no cost.

Most of my posts are business and entrepreneur related videos that lead back to the MrWallStreet name brand.  From there I promote literature, subscriptions and merchandise. 

That’s the beauty of it!  With great content you can scale your brand at hyper-speed for nothing more than a little creativity and persistence.   

Try it….You may actually enjoy it. 

Copyright MrWallStreet.com 2019