Generating Revenue on YouTube – Do’s and Don’ts

YouTube is without doubt the biggest online video sharing website in the world. For many years it was seen as a way just to share videos but in the last couple of years, with the introduction of the YouTube Partner program, YouTube has grown to become a major revenue generator for savvy internet users.  Obviously as with any internet venture, the system is up for abuse especially as the partner program is only open to YouTube users with lots of subscribers; however the following are legal and proven techniques for generating an income.

• Increase viewership of your videos to increase your chances of being accepted into the program
• Use YouTube as a tool to generate revenue by means of Google’s Adsense program
• Enrich your sales using YouTube videos
• Run affiliate ads on YouTube videos.
• Accept direct ads on your YouTube content.

The YouTube Partner program was designed to make it possible for top YouTubers to make money from their contributions. The YouTube Partner program doesn’t accept just anyone, they call out individuals who have a large user base of subscribers and simply split the revenue with the publisher. The problem is that in most cases, people do not have the huge following required to be accepted into the program, but if you provide regular quality content then your chances increase dramatically. If you have a video which goes viral, this can be an extremely profitable means of making money from YouTube although getting to that stage can be a slow process.

An easier option is to join the Google Adsense program and for that all you need is your own website or blog. Once you have joined, you display your website link to direct viewers from YouTube to your site where you can display advertisements from the Google Adsense program to make money. The problem with this method is that the earning potential can be quite low in the beginning whilst you build up your subscriber base.

YouTube can also be a complimentary method to building sales. If your business is selling items on an online shop and you are able to compliment your listings with YouTube videos by linking your sales page on to your YouTube page, you not only bring video viewers to visit your sales page, but you increase your visibility on YouTube itself.

Another way to generate income from YouTube is to run affiliate ads on your YouTube videos. Basically you send your YouTube traffic to CPA offers and generate the revenue associated with that.

The last method that I suggest for generating an income from YouTube is accepting direct advertising. This method will provide a regular and pre-agreed income. If you provide useful, regular YouTube videos with relevant content you can approach or be approached by advertisers wanting space on your page.

For all of the methods above there are do’s and don’ts to guarantee success.

Do’s:

• Provide regular quality video content
• Start a video blog or website that feature various YouTube content
• Be active on YouTube – comment on other YouTube videos (but don’t spam)
• Post videos which will appeal to current trends
• Add links and promotions to your videos
• Make sure your video titles are comprehensive
• Direct viewers of your blog to your YouTube links and vice versa
• Never copyright any audio or video content. YouTube has very strict rules in place about this and will delete your video.
• Annoy other YouTube users by spamming them with your website link in every comment
• Don’t be afraid to try new videos if the ones you are making are not getting high viewership numbers
• Don’t panic if you are not generating high income from advertising or the partner program, if you keep on providing interesting content, the numbers will improve.
• Don’t post your videos in the wrong section or with misleading titles.

Don’ts

• Never copyright any audio or video content. YouTube has very strict rules in place about this and will delete your video.
• Annoy other YouTube users by spamming them with your website link in every comment
• Don’t be afraid to try new videos if the ones you are making are not getting high viewership numbers
• Don’t panic if you are not generating high income from advertising or the partner program, if you keep on providing interesting content, the numbers will improve.
• Don’t post your videos in the wrong section or with misleading titles.

Generating money with YouTube is still a new concept but with a good understanding of how to go about it and the patience to implement regular contributions, the potential rewards can be very large indeed.