You are a YouTuber? This is how you earn money with your videos!

It’s almost funny what this small page for videos has become. Only a handful of years ago one simply uploaded small videos for fun. Some time afterwards short films and skits followed and over time all now established genres came into existence like let’s plays or tutorials.

Then there was the turning point: It was possible to earn money. The dream of making money with YouTube videos was born, but anything but tangible yet. Fast forward to the present and it’s almost part of our daily life that people make videos as their job or at least earn good money with them. Real shooting stars are now born on the internet.
A lot of people wish to walk the same path and want to make videos as their day job. You won’t become a YouTube superstar with a massive income in only one day, but with a little luck, and most of all work, you definitely can earn some extra cash!
There are certainly more ways besides advertising. Today you’ll learn how you can earn money with YOUR videos!

1.) The classic – Advertising
We start off with the most common way, which is also the easiest to do. To earn money with ads, you need views. And we mean lots of views. You can show ads before the start or after your video and even during its playtime. Those commercials vary from only a few seconds to several minutes. The most common ones end after five or 30 seconds. To (metaphorically speaking) get a slice of the pie, it’s important that your viewers watch the whole clip or even better click on the embedded links. Sadly, it’s almost not worth it for small channels as you really need a LOT of views to reach the payout-minimum. Your videos should get at least a few thousand views or it will take you months to finally see some cash.
The advantage of advertising is that you are basically good to go with registering a Google AdSense account. Quickly link that account with your YouTube channel, set your videos to “monetise” and just wait for your new wealth. Just keep on creating new content that is advertiser friendly and your income will grow with each new viewer.
The disadvantage of advertising is that most viewers really DON’T want to see commercials. Be honest here, do like and choose to watch commercials? A fitting product and an entertaining is necessary for that, but you don’t have a choice. Most of the time you’d just rather watch the videos of your choice with no interruption. Adblockers also get in your way of getting rich. Lucky you, as advertising is not your only possibility.

2.) For the true fans – Merchandise
Let’s go on with something that is less in your face and that can also boost your reach! If you already have a solid fan-base, it certainly makes sense to offer merchandise. Right now there are countless services that make it quick and easy to design and sell your own products for free. You basically just upload the picture of your choice, for example your logo. Apply your uploaded design for a product that your fan’s hearts desire and within minutes you’ll have a fan-shop up and running. Shirts, mouse pads, smartphone cases and even soap dispensers are possible. The complete production and the selling processes are none of your worries and it doesn’t cost you a penny. Instead, you get a small commission rate.
BUT KEEP IN MIND to make sure that every design that you use IS YOUR OWN WORK. You must NOT use graphics that you have not created or not licensed. Sooner or later someone will find and sue you for copyright infringement. And that won’t be cheap.
If you’ve got someone to design you cool stuff or if you can do it on your own, then merchandise is a great way to earn some money and even to be better known. Just imagine yourself walking through the city. Suddenly you see that rad shirt. As you are totally into the design you look up the name that is also printed on it. “Hey, it’s a YouTube channel. Why should I not check out one of the videos…?” And boom, someone has reached a new viewer! With your own merchandise that could be YOUR viewer and potential customer for merchandise too.

3.) The silent sponsor – referral links
Did you ever ask yourself why there are always links to reviewed products or to the used equipment in the video descriptions? Or why a service or shop gets recommended together with a fitting coupon code? The probability is very high, that those are referral links. It kinda works the same way as advertising and merchandise does. In fact, you don’t have to do much to earn some money. Unlike a “real” sponsorship you simply use a feature that many internet shops have. You generate a special link to a product or a coupon code. If your viewer clicks on your link AND buys that product (or uses your coupon code) you get a small commission rate. Your viewer won’t even notice it, as the price won’t change. Well, it might change, but for the better as a coupon code might get them a free trial or something similar. But please keep in mind to keep your viewers informed that you use referral links, you don’t want your fan-base to feel tricked.
You can be as in for your face with those referral links as you want. Maybe you only want to add them to your video description? A hardcore fan will check out your products and equipment anyway and will click on your links, if he or she is interested. Of course you can always talk about your cool coupon code in your videos too. “Hey guys, if you use my coupon code you get a free trial month! It also helps out the channel a lot.” That way you can fit the advertising to your content with almost no work and absolutely no financial risk.

4.) Bezahlt von den Fans – Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding ist wie auch YouTube-Karrieren mittlerweile fast Alltag geworden. Jeder hat die Möglichkeit mit einer Crowdfunding-Kampagne Geld zu sammeln. Die eine Möglichkeit ist Geld für einen festen Zweck zu sammeln. Zum Beispiel könntest du eine Kampagne erstellen, in der Du erklärst warum man Dir den neuen Camcorder oder das neue Notebook finanzieren sollte. Deine Unterstützer, die sogenannten Backer, können unterschiedliche Beträge auswählen. Für jeden Beitrag können sie eine andere Belohnung bekommen. Beispielsweise ist 1€ ein Trinkgeld, deine Backer geben nicht viel aus und bekommen außer deinem Dank nichts dafür im Gegenzug. Für 10€ könntest Du vielleicht eine persönliche Videonachricht aufnehmen. Das Ganze lässt sich natürlich nach Lust und Laune weiterspinnen. Ein kleines „aber“ bietet das Crowdfunding leider! Wenn Du es nämlich nicht in einem bestimmten Zeitraum schaffst, dein angestrebtes finanzielles Ziel zu erreichen, dann gilt deine Kampagne als gescheitert und du siehst keinen Cent. Das ist zumindest die übliche Variante, mittlerweile gibt es auch Anbieter, bei denen Du den geschafften Anteil ausgezahlt bekommst.
Möglichkeit zwei für ein Crowdfunding bietet die Plattform „Patreon“ an. Das Grundprinzip ist das Gleiche. Du erstellst einen Account und präsentierst Dich und Deine Inhalte. Deine Zuschauer können Dich, anders als beim normalen Crowdfunding, monatlich unterstützen. Es ist wie ein Abo, das man jederzeit kündigen kann. Auch hier werden verschiedenen Stufen angeboten, für die du vom freudigen Gedanken, über exklusive Inhalte bis zum Abendessen zu Zweit im Grunde alles als Dankeschön anbieten kannst. Patreon kostet Dich nichts und es gibt auch keine Möglichkeit zu scheitern. Ab dem ersten Euro bist Du dabei!

4.) Funded by the fans – Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding has become mainstream, just like YouTube careers did before. Everybody has the tools to start a crowdfunding campaign to collect money. One way is to fund one project in particular. You could for example set up a campaign in which you explain why your backers should fund your new camcorder or notebook. Willing backers can chose how much money they are willing to give. Every amount unlocks a special reward or perk. For example 1$ is the tip perk. Your backers don’t spend much and only get your gratitude. If they spend 10$ you could send them a custom shout out video. You can play around with that concept to your hearts content. But sadly, there is something to keep in mind. If you don’t manage to achieve your funding goals within the given time limit, you will fail your campaign and with that not see any money. Well at least that’s the usual way, there are some sites that handle things differently.
Another way to get funded by fans is “Patreon”, a different crowdfunding site. The basics are the

same, you register an account to present yourself and your content. Your backers can then chose the amount they are willing to give you every month. It works like a subscription which your backers can cancel at any time. You can offer different perks again, from a warm thought to a dinner for two. Patreon is a free service and without any danger of failing for you. You are in from the first backer!

5.) The active sponsor – advertising partnerships
Last, but not least, you’ll learn about your best bet in earning money with social media. Well, in our honest opinion it is having advertising partners. That’s why we have chosen to build Adfluencer around it.
You are not into irritating commercials from companies you can’t choose? Your fan base is not the right one for merchandising or everybody has already bought at least every item – three times? Affiliate links are nice but they are not enough?
Don’t worry, the best way is yet to come!
An advertising partner can be or may want to have many different things. Maybe you always wear caps by one special brand as you favorite accessoire. Just be brave and sent that brand a mail, tell them who you are and what you do on social networks. Be sure to include that you always use their products and ask them if they would be interested in a sponsorship. This could lead to a paid product placement or to the latest stuff sent to your home for a paid review! By the way, product placements mean that you wear or use a product (or even just have it in your shot). Just make sure that you tell your audience about it, otherwise you could get in trouble. And writing “sponsored by…” is not a lot of work, right?
If you run a bigger channel or social media account, it’s also possible that companies get in contact with you first. They could ask for a shout out or maybe they want you to wear their clothes or hang up a poster from them and so on. Things like that mostly get paid per video and means a bigger income for a bigger reach. The bigger you get on the internet, the more you earn. If you have a lot of viewers, you are more interesting to a company because, they reach a bigger audience too. It’s a win-win-situation for the Serviceh of you. Even payments of several thousand dollars to a social influencer can be cheaper for a big company in comparison to traditional commercials. Advertising partners reach just who they want to reach in the first place and they don’t become just another irritating company with stupid commercials in front of a video. And of course, YOU earn the most money in comparison and/or get cool new stuff!
You can show yourself and tell companies about your work here on Adfluencer and be sure to be found more likely than “in the wild”.