In this blog post, I am going to teach you what I believe is the most effective way that small channels can build income streams on YouTube.
At the end of this blog post, I will give you a real-life example which could be a huge opportunity for some of you, if your willing to put the work in.
If you would prefer to watch the video, and learn exactly how to earn money on YouTube with a small channel, then here it is:
Can Anyone Earn Money On YouTube?
It’s easy to look at your youtube feed and see all of the big influencers, with millions of subscribers, living in dream houses, fast cars, and designer pets… telling us how easy it is to earn money on YouTube.
Bragging about earning 20 grand whilst they take a nap.
Well for them it is easier, they’ve already grown their channel and are now in the momentum phase.
This is where their fortune builds and they have the resources to employ people to improve their videos and publish them quicker.
These YouTubers can now buy all the shiny things that people like to see in order to leverage even more success. Hence the cheesy photos with the background Lamborghini!
It’s human nature to see someone stood in front of a sports car and think wow they must really be successful so I will follow exactly what they are doing!
Each one of their monetized videos is earning passive income through adverts – often with accompanying courses, affiliate links and more ways that they earn money on YouTube.
Who is the highest-paid YouTuber?
Would you believe me if I told you that the highest-paid YouTuber is just 8 years old. Yup – hard to believe eh.
In fact, quite a few kids make the list when it comes to highest-earning YouTubers.
Ryan Kaji (of Ryans World) is top of the pops.
Earning a cool $26 million annually from YouTube, which is probably just the icing on the cake given how much commercial power he has for sponsorship agreements.
But what about us! the smaller, unsung YouTubers, grinding away trying to hit much lesser milestones like our first 100 subs!
Well, this post is for you, so keep reading.
READ MORE – How To Start Your Own YouTube Channel
Do you get paid for uploading videos on YouTube?
Most people earn money on YouTube by enabling adverts that play before and during your videos. But here is the catch…monetization isn’t something you can just switch on from the beginning.
You need to jump through some serious hoops to get to the point where you can earn money on YouTube using adverts.
Which is exactly why people often ask how to earn money on YouTube with a small channel – 1,000 subscribers isn’t small.
What happens is that when you reach a certain amount of subscribers (1000), and a number of hours watched by your viewers (4000), over a 12 month period, then youtube allows you to apply for Adsense.
If successful then you can choose to run adverts on your videos and generate passive income.
The amounts you can earn vary – it largely depends on your niche and your audience. For example, adverts that run on a make money online niche will earn more than a cat grooming channel.
In general, videos watched by Americans and Canadians will earn more than videos watched by people in Madagascar
This is down to the fact that advertisers are more competitive and pay higher fees to audiences more likely to buy their products.
You will generate revenue based on CPC (Cost Per Click) and also CPM (Cost Per Mile) which is based on every 1000 views.
Is it hard to earn money on YouTube with a small channel?
The problem is that its a lot of work to get to this point. 4000 watched hours is a huge achievement in itself.
This number used to be much lower but since there are more youtube creators (31 MILLION channels) they increased it.
Unfortunately, many creators will have given up before they reach the monetization targets – it’s disheartening at times when you are pouring your soul into content creation, and there are no financial rewards to keep you motivated.
But in a moment, I am going to show you how to earn money on youtube with a small channel and not rely on adverts.
Why shouldn’t you be rewarded in the same way the big creators are? But first, let’s just cover what you need to do when you DO find yourself in the position to enable adverts.
How to enable monetization on YouTube
Let’s just say that you have reached the elusive 4000 watch hours and 1000 subscribers and now you can enable monetization on YouTube, here is what you need to do.
- Login to your YouTube account and open YouTube Studio.
- On the left-hand side click on Features > Monetization.
- You now need to accept the terms for the YouTuber Partner Program (make sure you read them!).
- If you already have an AdSense account then you can connect it, or if not, now is where you would create a new one. (You need an AdSense account to get paid.)
- Choose your preferences for monetization – such as what type of ads to apply, and whether you want to automatically set them for your back catalog.
Once you have been accepted and monetization is enabled, you will be able to use the revenue section under analytics to determine how much money you earnt from YouTube.
What Other Ways Can I Earn Money On YouTube As A Small Channel?
Lets keep this brief, as really there is one main way of earning money on YouTube that stands head and shoulders above the others. But for the sake of completeness lets talk about some methods.
Merch Design – this is where you create your own designs and brands, upload them to sites such as Redbubble, Society6 or TeeSpring.
You can add the links to these designs into your description box and encourage people to “Go BUY the latest merch”.
If someone does buy, then you get a cut of the action
Patreon – is a site where you can build a loyal following and community. You can charge membership rates and in exchange offer some additional content.
For me, it’s a place for your super fans to feel closer and more connected and willing to contribute financially for that pleasure.
Build a Digital Course – This is a great option for those of you that create tutorials.
You have the option to build your own course and sell it for decent money, but at this stage, you may want to start smaller whilst you focus on your channel (and build your audience).
I would recommend uploading small tutorials and mini-courses to sites like Skillshare who will reward you financially with every minute watched.
SIGN UP for SkillShare today and get 2 months FREE using my link
What Is The Best Way To Earn Money On YouTube With Less Than 1000 Subscribers?
The number one way for me, is a little thing called affiliate marketing.
This business model is actually a 12 billion dollar industry, that works in secret, behind most websites that sell products and services – even the big retailers.
Click To LEARN Affiliate Marketing – FREE TrainingBy recommending products and services through your content (blog posts, videos, social media), if someone buys using your special link, you receive a commission as a reward.
Its a referral system that is used to reward digital marketers, content creators, influencers…. old people, young people, big people, little people, from all around the world.
Affiliate Marketing Examples On YouTube
It doesn’t matter what your channel is about there is likely a product, service, course, software, device that you use that makes life easier.
Your job is to show how that particular thing genuinely helps you and can help others.
For example, if I tell you all about these new shoes I bought, and how I can jump higher, run faster, and all the girl’s heads turn when I where them….
You may think “Woah, gotta get myself some of those!”
This is when you click on my special affiliate link in the YouTube description box and BOOM – I get a commission
Or maybe, like the photo below, you run a dog channel. You work hard creating informative videos for dog owners everywhere – at the same time you encourage the audience to purchase an obedience training course.
A little like this one that pays $31 per sale.
There are tonnes of examples and in a moment I am going to tell you about one of the biggest OPPORTUNITIES I’ve seen recently, especially if your willing to learn some tech skills.
So, if you are still wondering how to earn money on YouTube with a small channel, then keep reading, as this is one example you could apply today.
What YouTube Content Makes The Most Money?
Bear in mind, for most products, you don’t need to be an expert or guru.
You just have to be you!
How do you do that and earn money on YouTube with a small channel?
Easy – just document your journey, that’s all I do on my channel, and it’s landed me some pretty sweet commissions over the last 12 months.
But what do I mean by documenting my journey?
Let’s say you want to earn money by promoting fitness products
You could have ZERO expertise on nutrition, diet, exercise, but you’re on a journey to lose weight and get fit yourself
You understand all of the pains and problems.
You know exactly what questions people are asking – because you are too.
So all you need to do is, document what you find: the most effective diets, best exercises, top fitness equipment.
Creating videos that help others, show them that they aren’t the only one struggling with their fitness … as you do you can link to a fitness program or product you offer, which makes money each time they buy through your link.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. Some courses and software will pay you hundreds and potentially thousands in commissions.
So if you’re a small channel with only 100 subscribers – you only need 1 buyer and potentially you could earn $100, $1000 for one sale.
Trust me on this because this is something I have been able to achieve myself over the last 12 months as I learn all about high ticket affiliate marketing.
Click To LEARN Affiliate Marketing – FREE TrainingWhat Is High Ticket Affiliate Marketing?
Commissions over let’s say $500 are called high ticket affiliate marketing. Which, really is exactly the same but with higher earnings to be made.
People can be scared of promoting high-value products because they are a harder sell – but you would be surprised. As long as the product has enough value to that person, then there will be buyers ready to spend.
In my opinion, it is how to earn money on YouTube with a small channel as you are maximising any potential income.
Now I promised to give you a real example of one particular product that is a great opportunity at the moment.
A lot of people ask me for specific products they should focus on and YouTube channel ideas – so here’s one for you.
One that I actually spent a significant amount of my own money on this week, as did many others,
In fact, they actually recorded an epic sales day of $1,736,356 and their affiliates were making 20-40% of each of those sales.
Not bad for a day’s work.
Make Money With GrooveFunnels On YouTube
The product is a new SAAS (Software As A Service) business, one of the best products to promote as they are often recurring earners or high ticket.
Its called GrooveFunnels and they are making a big splash in an established and hungry market, threatening to dislodge some of the big companies like clickfunnels and kartra.
Whilst the core product is building sales funnels (powerful websites that convert traffic into customers) they are also trying to make it an all in one marketing tool with products for:
- Webinars
- Blog
- Ecommerce
- Video hosting and analytics
- Email Marketing
- Digital Product Selling
- Managing affiliates
- Much much more
GrooveFunnels are currently in beta mode and developing their products fast – which makes it a great time to jump in. and is one reason why they have signed up thousands of people in a matter of months.
Because the software isn’t finalised and polished, a lot of the big affiliates haven’t gone near it yet, so its a great chance to jump in and become an early adopter.
It is a chance to establish an audience and grow your expertise from early on. There are only a few people doing this currently on YouTube and they are also leading affiliates making 5 figures from related sales.
I can tell you that even after a few days of learning the system there is a huge gap for knowledge, tutorials etc
It is software that can help so many different audiences – every imaginable group of business owners and entrepreneurs. Pick one audience and show how it can help them.
How To Get Started With GrooveFunnels
As I write this post, you can get a free GrooveFunnels account, which even entitles you to promote their software and earn 20% affiliate commission, whereas platinum members get an exclusive 40% (2.5 sales and your in profit!).
I doubt it will always be free, but if you want to learn more then you can check out both options below:
Learn more about GrooveFunnels Platinum and the 40% commission rate
Summary
Sales Funnels and tech tutorials may not be the niche that many of you will want to go into, but the principles are the same when it comes to how to earn money on YouTube with a small channel.
- Create content that helps people solve problems.
- Show them products and services that can help them achieve this.
- Earn commission.
If you want to know how to earn additional income, using social media and affiliate marketing then be sure to check out this training.
Click To LEARN Affiliate Marketing – FREE Training