Chapter 10. YouTube Monetization
For some YouTubers, creating a successful YouTube channel is an exercise
in popularity. Their main intent is to become famous and achieve celebrity
status.
For others, a successful YouTube channel is all about the opportunity to
monetize it.
In short, monetization refers to the act of producing an income from a
YouTube channel.
Some of the most successful YouTubers have become millionaires in the
blink of an eye. Many of these new Internet celebrities are just ordinary folks
who found a niche and made it their own. In time, these celebrities are
flooded with endorsement offers in addition to advertiser dollars finding their
way into their accounts.
The true metric of success on YouTube is the number of subscribers a
channel has. The most successful channels have tens of millions of
subscribers. Even if the majority of those subscribers are not diehard fans,
they are, nonetheless, exposed to their contents. Besides, this is what
advertisers crave.
Brands whose core customers live in the digital world may find YouTube as
an excellent means of engaging them. This engagement can be augmented by
piggybacking on those successful channels which have proven to draw a
brand’s target audience.
Indeed, those channels which are able to monetize their content might not
only be able to make a decent income but might even catapult individual
YouTubers into millionaire status.
That being said, a channel does not need to have 35 million subscribers in
order to become monetized. Also, a regular brand and channel may be able to
generate significant income for its owners.
This is the reason why YouTube has become so popular among average
individuals. It’s not only free but it is also a means of making money. When
done right, YouTube can become a gold mine and a great way to earn a living
without actually having to hold down a full-time job.