If you want to make money online, YouTube is one of the best ways to do it. If you think that you have a unique talent or just stories and experiences you want to share with the rest of us, then YouTube is the right way to go. The platform hosts more than 2 billion users every month. It isn’t easy to build an audience and start making money, but we have researched and will talk to you about the steps you can follow to achieve it.
In this article, we are going to dive into the reasons why YouTube is such a popular platform and what the advantages and disadvantages of creating a YouTube channel are. We’ll also share some tips for the creation of your channel, and at the end, analyze how to promote and monetize your YouTube channel correctly.
Why is it so popular to have a YouTube Channel?
As of 2019, Daniel Middleton earned almost 20 million US dollars with his gaming channel on YouTube, and Jake Paul made more than 21 million vlogging. Those two channels are two of the reasons why YouTube channels are considered one of the best ways to make money online.
But, what are the keys that make certain YouTube stars shine, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of creating a YouTube channel?
YouTube For Business: Advantages and Disadvantages
Let’s have a look at why starting your business, with the creation of a channel, on YouTube can be profitable by diving deeper into the advantages:
Free to start: Starting your business on YouTube is completely free, and there is no reason for unnecessary expenses, at least at the beginning of your YouTube career.
YouTube’s popularity: As mentioned, 1 billion people will be seen as a potential audience for your channel. The only thing you have to do is to attract those of them with the same interests as you.
Uploading Videos to YouTube: It is very simple and easy to upload your content on YouTube.
Censorship: YouTube isn’t a platform that limits its users’ creativity or thoughts.
Regular Audience: YouTube is also one of the most popular search engines used right now, which is very suitable for you when you start a new channel, as more people can visit your channel and interact with it every day.
Following the stars: The success story of other YouTubers will show you the way to create an audience and earn money.
On the other hand, there are some reasons why YouTube might not be the perfect match for you. Let’s have a look at the disadvantages:
Needs a lot of work and time: If you think that you can make millions of dollars quickly or without putting hours and hours of your life working, well, that’s not the case. Every successful YouTuber works many hours daily to upload content and keep a relationship with his/her audience.
Competition: You have to be smart, creative, and choose the right niche for your channel to be successful, as there are many competitors. However, that’s not a bad thing as it will always force you to develop, evolve, and create better content.
No Guarantee of success: Meaning you could invest time, money, and effort to create a channel that matches your expectations and wind up having 100 views. On the other hand, we believe that luck has nothing to do with it, meaning that if you put in a great effort, you will have great outcomes.
Tips for Creating Your Channel
You will need to follow three fundamental steps to create a successful YouTube channel that will provide you a stable income: research, inspiration, and tools. Research is vital, as it will provide you the knowledge, and knowledge is power. If you have concluded the niche of your channel, reading YouTube economics, articles and books will help you understand your audience and guide you for the creation of high-quality content.
Inspiration is very important, and learning from the best YouTubers in your niche is a very good idea to have an initial idea of what you should do and how you should do it.
Useful Tools for YouTube
Finally, having the right tools for your video production is crucial. Choosing the right video editor, for example, can save you time and money. Here are a few useful tools that you can use for your YouTube channel:
VidIQ is a Google Chrome extension that allows you to track tags of your competitors and find new trends. These steps will let you increase views on your videos and make your channel more popular.
The Fastreel is our software recommendation, as it is an online, self-explanatory video editor that will make your life easier. It allows you to adjust clip duration, use different transmissions, add music with a free music library, and edit videos fast with a simple interface.
SocialBlade is a tool that gives you the ability to see statistics of your competitors on YouTube and Instagram. You can use it when you audit other channels.
Canva is an online image editor with tons of different pre-made templates. You can find numerous templates of YouTube channel art or video covers. Design any graphics in minutes with a simple-to-use online interface.
Tips for Promoting and Monetizing your YouTube Channel
We have created a list that will provide you several ways to promote your new or existing YouTube channel. Following all or some of these steps will help you get traffic and earn money on YouTube:
YouTube SEO: As mentioned, YouTube is a search engine, and you should invest some time to learn how to climb to the top of the relevant searches’ list by utilizing the correct keywords.
Collaborate with other channels: This is a great way to gain traffic through other people. You don’t need to be in one room with another Youtuber in order to create collaboration content. For example, you can agree with a blogger that you both will create a video about similar events in your life and then direct your viewers to check videos of each other.
Interact with your audience (through comments, Q&As, giveaways, etc.) and promote on other Social Media (like Facebook, Instagram, etc.). It’s very important to promote your YouTube channel on other social media accounts, like Instagram and Facebook. Every time you release a new video on YouTube, ensure to share a post on Instagram letting your audience know about it.
Optimize your channel: You don’t want your channel to be chaotic. Make sure to add proper icon and channel art that reflects your personality and tone of voice.
Playlists on YouTube: it’s an underutilized yet powerful tool for bloggers. Creating playlists is a simple way to get more views on your videos. Make people keep watching your videos by collecting similar content in one playlist.
Trailer: You might notice that one video is highlighted at the top of YouTube channels. That video is the trailer. It is a video created to introduce a new audience to your channel.
Create high-quality, interesting videos: As growing your audience will always have to do with your content. Get inspired watching videos of other bloggers on YouTube and create your own content, but make it better.
How to Monetize Your YouTube Channel
Getting more and more views by promoting your videos is crucial, but so is making some money for all of your efforts. For that reason, we have created a list of ideas that prove to be useful ways to monetize a YouTube channel:
YouTube Partner Program: All YouTube stars have joined the Partner Program to get paid for every thousand views of their videos. This is the most basic way to earn money directly from the platform.
Sign up for AdSense: AdSense is a platform of Google that will pay your channel to include ads in your content. We suggest you choose the most relevant ads to your channel’s niche.
Read YouTube monetization rules and policies: You should do that to avoid the Yellow dollar sign, which is a way for YouTube to tell advertisers that your videos may not be suitable for all people.
Affiliate marketing: One of the best ways to make money not only on YouTube but also on blogs and websites is to promote products in exchange for a commission. Amazon, eBay, and other enormous and smaller companies have affiliate programs that you can join as a YouTuber and start earning immediately.
Seek sponsorship: There are lots of companies nowadays that offer sponsorship to YouTubers for advertisement. Work on a proposal for companies relevant to your channel’s niche, writing why a company should trust you and what you are able to provide.
Conclusion
Over the past few years, video marketing was on the rise, and YouTube growth proves this fact. People spend millions of hours watching YouTube videos every day that makes this platform a perfect place for advertising and monetization. Now you know how to create a YouTube channel, optimize it, and start making money on YouTube.
Author’s Bio: Alexandra Khilova has worked in SEO for over five years. She is an SEO consultant and guest contributor, helping digital businesses to open new markets and boost their rankings.