Have you ever wondered how YouTubers turn their content into a source of income—and how you can do the same? Through YouTube monetization, creators have unlocked ways to profit from their videos, transforming hobbies into income streams and even full-time careers.

YouTube introduced its monetization program back in 2007, giving creators the opportunity to earn money by displaying ads on their videos and channels. The process is straightforward: companies pay YouTube to run advertisements, and YouTube, in turn, shares a portion of that revenue with the content creators.

In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about YouTube monetization, including how it works, eligibility requirements, and the various strategies creators use to maximize their earnings. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to enhance your monetization efforts, this guide will help you understand the ins and outs of earning money on YouTube.

What Is YouTube Monetizing?

YouTube monetization is the process through which creators earn money by displaying ads on their videos that they upload to the platform.

This is a unique opportunity to earn passive income, which is the income generated with minimal ongoing effort after the initial work is completed. Unlike traditional jobs that rely on active participation to earn, YouTube videos can continue to earn money long after they are uploaded.

Here’s how YouTube enables passive income:

• Evergreen Content: Videos with timeless value—such as tutorials, educational content, product reviews, and how-to guides—can attract views for years. Once these videos are monetized, they keep generating ad revenue without the need for constant updates.

• Global Reach: YouTube’s vast audience spans across countries and time zones, allowing creators to earn revenue 24/7 as viewers watch and engage with their videos. Even a single video that goes viral or remains highly ranked on search engines can provide consistent income for months or even years.

• Multiple Monetization Streams: Beyond ad revenue, YouTube offers additional monetization options like memberships, Super Chats, and merchandise. These allow creators to diversify their income and establish recurring revenue streams.

For example, a fitness creator can post a series of workout videos that remain relevant for years, earning ad revenue each time someone watches or a tech reviewer’s video on a popular smartphone can attract views for months as users search for reviews before purchasing.

Successful YouTubers Earning Revenue

YouTube has created numerous success stories where creators have turned their channels into full-fledged careers, businesses, and even empires. These examples highlight the platform’s potential to change lives and inspire others to start creating content.

MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson)

One of the highest-earning and most influential YouTubers is MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, known for his viral challenge videos, philanthropy, and high-budget content. In 2021 alone, he reportedly earned $54 million, primarily through YouTube ad revenue, sponsorships, and merchandise sales.

MrBeast’s success stems from his unique approach of reinvesting his earnings back into his videos, enabling him to create larger, more elaborate projects that captivate millions of viewers worldwide. His content, which often includes massive giveaways and charitable acts, has not only earned him a loyal fanbase but also positioned him as a pioneer in redefining what’s possible on the YouTube platform.

Ryan Kaji (Ryan’s World)

Ryan Kaji, the young star behind Ryan’s World, has become one of the top-earning YouTubers, reportedly earning over $27 million in 2021.

Focusing on toy reviews, kids’ content, and educational videos, Ryan’s engaging toy unboxing videos quickly turned into a global phenomenon. His success extends far beyond YouTube, with his brand expanding into merchandise, books, and a popular line of toys sold in major retail stores. Ryan’s journey highlights the immense power of YouTube monetization in building a personal brand and creating opportunities that transcend the platform.

Marques Brownlee (MKBHD)

Marques Brownlee, known as MKBHD, has built a successful YouTube career centered on tech reviews and product testing. While his exact earnings remain undisclosed, he generates millions through ad revenue, sponsorships, and collaborations with major brands.

Marques’ passion for technology, combined with his high-quality, in-depth product reviews, has earned him a massive audience and positioned him as a trusted authority in the tech industry. His dedication to producing insightful, polished content has not only set a high standard for tech reviewers but also solidified his influence in the digital space.

Why These Examples Matter

These real-life success stories highlight how diverse niches—whether gaming, tech, or kids’ entertainment—can succeed on YouTube. The platform doesn’t limit opportunities to one type of creator; it rewards those who consistently produce valuable, engaging content for their audience.

For aspiring creators, these examples prove that:

• Monetization is attainable for anyone with dedication, creativity, and consistency.
• Earning potential is limitless with the right content strategy, niche focus, and audience growth.
• YouTube can become a full-time career or an additional income stream, depending on the creator’s goals.

YouTube Partner Program (YPP)

In the past, YouTube had a lenient approach to monetization, allowing many creators to start earning revenue relatively easily. However, In 2017, the platform introduced a threshold for monetizing videos to combat the creation of fake accounts and misleading content aimed solely at profit and ensure that users who monetize content are genuinely engaging with the platform in an ethical manner.

This can be done through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

The YPP connects content creators with advertisers, sharing ad revenue based on video performance and audience engagement. Joining the program is a significant milestone for YouTubers, as it unlocks various monetization tools and additional resources to support channel growth.

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), creators must meet specific eligibility criteria to ensure they produce high-quality, consistent, and valuable content that complies with YouTube’s policies. The requirements are:

• 1,000 Subscribers: Creators need to build an engaged audience of at least 1,000 subscribers. This ensures that the channel has a solid foundation and a growing community interested in the content.

• 4,000 Watch Hours in the Past 12 Months: To demonstrate consistent viewer interest and engagement, creators must accumulate 4,000 valid public watch hours on their long-form videos within the last 12 months. This criterion ensures that creators are regularly producing content that retains viewers over time. OR

• 10 Million Shorts Views in 90 Days: For those focusing on short-form content, creators can qualify by achieving 10 million valid public Shorts views in a 90-day period. This addition reflects the growing popularity of YouTube Shorts and allows creators to monetize their content even if they don’t prioritize long-form videos.

• Comply with YouTube’s Policies: Channels must adhere to YouTube’s monetization policies, including community guidelines, copyright rules, and advertiser-friendly content standards. This ensures content is safe, appropriate, and suitable for monetization.

• Have a Linked Google AdSense Account: Creators must set up and link a Google AdSense account to their YouTube channel, as this is the payment platform through which they’ll receive earnings.

How to Apply for the Program

Once a channel meets the eligibility criteria, applying to the YouTube Partner Program is a straightforward process.

Start by signing in to YouTube Studio and accessing the monetization settings. Navigate to the “Monetization” tab on the left-hand menu. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you will see an option to apply. Afterward, review and accept the YouTube Partner Program terms to confirm that you understand and agree to YouTube’s policies for monetized creators.

Then, you need to set up a Google AdSense account if you haven’t already done so, and link it to your channel. This account is crucial as it allows YouTube to pay you for the revenue generated by ads and other monetization tools.

Once these steps are completed, submit your application for review. YouTube will analyze your channel to ensure it meets all policies and guidelines. The review process may take a few days to a few weeks. Once approved, you’ll gain access to monetization features and can begin earning revenue from your content.

How to Ensure Your Videos Get Approved

There are a couple of things YouTube looks at to make should your account is eligible to monetise YouTube videos.

First of all is Copyright. Your videos must be completely yours and you must own commercial rights to everything in the video. For example, if your video features a Justin Bieber song in the background, and you are not Justin Bieber, you will not eligible for YouTube monetizing. To learn more about copyright and YouTube’s commercial rights policies visit YouTube’s Copyright Center.

Secondly, make sure that your videos abide by YouTube’s Terms of Service, Advertiser Policies and Community Guidelines. Keep in mind that things like impersonation, threats, spam, scams, and violent or graphic content are not permitted by YouTube community rules and regulations.

Also, don’t overlook the lengthy Terms of Service document as it is rather long, you should take a look at it to make sure that your videos are eligible for YouTube monetizing. That way, you can ensure that your channel and your videos will be approved by YouTube for monetizing.

Other Ways to Monetize YouTube Videos

The YouTube monetizing option is not the only way you can make money through the platform. Running a YouTube channel means that you are exposing yourself and your channel as an advertising space for many brands to recognize you and use you as an platform to advertise their products.

First off, you will need to find a sponsor. At the end of the day, they’re your source of income and you need them as much as they need you. However, the tricky part is that brands don’t just sponsor anyone. YouTube monetizing options are available to those who really deserve them. This means that you should have a strong and dedicated follower and viewer base, so that brands can see that by sponsoring you, they will be reaching out to their target audience.

Bear in mind that this sponsor should fit with the aesthetic of your YouTube channel and the nature of your videos. For example, if you’re a make-up blogger, teaming up with a company for skin products makes a lot of sense. That way you can easily incorporate the product into your regular videos.

Now, it’s time to start thinking about how exactly you’re going to incorporate the products into your videos. Here are a few examples you can revert to:

Introduce It

Sometimes advertising a product can be as blunt as titling your video with the name of the product itself.

If you already have a set of dedicated viewers, they’ll be interested in what you have to say about the product and for the sake of maintaining your sponsorship they should be going things. Talk about what attracted you to the product, what’s special about it and why you love it. Your viewers will enjoy you sharing what you personally think of the product.

Haul Time!

Many bloggers make use of this technique to showcase a specific product or a certain brand. A haul is basically when bloggers record a video showing what they came out with after a shopping spree at the mall or their trip to a certain store. This is type of YouTube monetizing is very popular amongst the fashionistas and makeup bloggers.

Through your shopping haul, you ideally want to reveal products subtly, and specially highlight the sponsored product as subliminally as you can.

Selling

If you have some ideas for mugs, t-shirts or hoodies, get them done and start selling them on your social media accounts and through your YouTube channel. The ways of how to monetize YouTube videos do not always come from external business investing in you. Start investing in yourself by creating your own brand and generating your own revenue.

Implement Into A Routine

This is where the relevance of your sponsor to your content really plays a part. You can choose to create a video of a routine you take part of and the sponsored product should be naturally embedded into your daily routine.

For example, a sports blogger could post a video of their daily morning workout, highlighting the sponsored protein shake they drink every morning.

Product Reviews

Your followers ideally look to you for support and views on things and life. Your job is to humbly show them what you think of a product and let psychology plays its part. Product reviews are when you lay out a set of products somehow related and point out the benefits and limitations of each, and which your personal favorites are.

If you’re sponsored by a brand, you want it to seem the best out of the rest, so by comparing it to other products within the same category you’re telling your viewers exactly what to do and why they should do it.

YouTube Creator Academy

YouTube Creator Academy is an online resource and learning platform designed to help content creators succeed on YouTube. It offers free courses, training videos, and guides that cover various aspects of content creation, video optimization, audience engagement, and monetization strategies. The Creator Academy provides practical tips, best practices, and expert advice from YouTube themselves, aimed at empowering creators to grow their channels and build a sustainable business.

The courses are structured in a way that accommodates creators of all experience levels—from beginners to advanced users. Topics range from video production basics, audience building, and content strategy to more specific subjects like ad revenue generation, channel growth, and leveraging YouTube tools effectively. The aim is to educate creators on how to maximize their potential, attract viewers, and ultimately turn their YouTube channels into successful ventures.

Here are examples of two important courses available on YouTube Creator Academy:

Create Great Content

This course is designed to help creators produce high-quality videos that attract and retain viewers. It covers fundamental aspects of content creation, from planning and shooting to editing and publishing. The course includes lessons such as setting a creative strategy, finding your passion, vlogging like a pro, shooting on mobile, and collaboration.

These lessons provide practical tips and tricks for making the most of your resources, improving your video production skills, and building a loyal audience.

Get Discovered

This course focuses on strategies to increase the visibility of your YouTube content and attract potential sponsors. It includes lessons on optimizing video metadata (titles, tags, descriptions), creating effective thumbnails and titles, using YouTube cards for promotion, maintaining a fresh channel with consistent uploads, and understanding YouTube search and discovery algorithms.

The goal is to help creators maximize their channel’s reach and effectively monetize their content by engaging with a wider audience.

YouTube Red

YouTube Red was a subscription service offered by YouTube that provided an ad-free experience for viewers, access to YouTube Originals (exclusive original content created for the platform), and the ability to download videos for offline viewing. It also included a subscription to Google Play Music, which allowed users to stream music in addition to videos.

YouTube Red was rebranded as YouTube Premium in 2018. The new service retained all the original benefits of YouTube Red, including ad-free videos and access to YouTube Originals, but also expanded to include additional features like background play for mobile devices (listening to videos while using other apps) and a YouTube Music app, which focuses on music videos and audio streaming. YouTube Premium is available in various pricing tiers depending on the region.

Potential Earnings

Now, to the question everybody is asking even before they start a YouTube channel: how much money will we make?

Generally, don’t expect to make a lot of money in the short terms, the pricing for different types of sponsorships are not huge and the revenue you generate will not be as significant if you don’t have a huge viewer count. For that reason, it’s important to focus on the quality of your content and earning the loyalty of your viewers in order to make use of the YouTube monetizing options.

Starting out, don’t be afraid to take smaller deals to build a portfolio, try to focus on the appropriateness of the sponsorship to the nature of your videos rather than the money. In the long run, this will be greatly beneficial. Once you start getting the hang of it, and offers start coming at you left and right, you need to be able to negotiate your rate and learn how to monetize YouTube channels in the most efficient ways.

You will need to determine a cost per view (CPV) for yourself which ranges from $0.02 to $0.05 if you’re a smaller channel. As your viewership starts to increase, you can raise that rate up to $0.10 or even $0.25 for dedicated videos! Your rate is usually the number of views you get in 30 days multiplied by your CPV.

YouTube and SEO

YouTube is closely related to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) because it plays a significant role in how videos are discovered, ranked, and consumed on the platform.

More elaborately, YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google, so just like websites need SEO to rank on Google, videos need SEO to rank well on YouTube. YouTube’s algorithm takes various factors, such as watch time, likes, comments, and shares, into account when deciding where to place videos in search results and suggested video lists. To optimize your videos to rank well on YouTube, consider the following:

• Titles: Using relevant keywords in video titles is crucial. This helps YouTube understand the content and improve its visibility in search results.

• Descriptions: Crafting detailed video descriptions with relevant keywords can improve SEO by providing context to the video. It also includes links and timestamps that can help viewers navigate through the content.

• Tags: Tags are important for categorizing videos. They signal to YouTube what your video is about and can improve search visibility.

• Thumbnails: Custom, eye-catching thumbnails can increase click-through rates from search results and suggested videos, contributing to better SEO performance.

• Playlists: Organizing videos into playlists with relevant titles and descriptions can improve SEO by creating multiple entry points for viewers and enhancing searchability.

• Channels: Optimizing your channel’s name, description, and playlist structure can help improve the overall SEO for your content.

• Utilize Text: Including text in your YouTube videos where appropriate helps communicate your messaging and encourages users to continue watching your videos. For best practices, ensure to include text at the beginning of your video, through captions, and a call to action at the end of your video.

• Transitions: Transitions are a great way in the editing process of your YouTube content to break up the topics in your video and hold the user’s attention due to the creative aspects of your YouTube content.

• End Screens: When uploading and optimizing your YouTube video content, ensure to add end screens to generate recommended videos and playlists to view on your channel as well as a subscribe button to subscribe to your channel.

• Cards: Adding cards allows you to add a video, playlist, or link that you would like to direct your viewers to while they are watching your YouTube content. This increases the chances of extending the user’s journey as you guide them to similar YouTube content that they would be interested in.

Conclusion

YouTube monetization offers a dynamic way for content creators to turn their passion into a revenue stream. While it requires effort and a strategic approach—focusing on content quality, engagement, and SEO—many creators have successfully monetized their channels through a combination of ad revenue, memberships, sponsorships, and other methods.

By leveraging YouTube’s built-in tools and resources like the Creator Academy, creators can optimize their content, increase visibility, and maximize their earning potential. The journey to monetization on YouTube may be challenging, but with the right strategies and dedication, it can also be incredibly rewarding, providing creators with both financial and personal satisfaction.