Data aktualizacji: 28.03.2022

High earnings on YouTube have not been a pipe dream for many years now. Monetization of YouTube is a viable way to do business on your own terms.

Thanks to this platform, many people could turn their hobby into a profitable business. It made the profession of Youtuber very popular. What exactly is YouTube? Where did the fascination with this platform come from? Can you get a monthly, steady income from it? Stay with us if you want to know if you can become the second Friz or Karolina Ziętek. We have a handful of verified information about monetization of YouTube.

Monetization of YouTube – What is the YouTube platform?

YouTube is owned by Google, was founded in 2005 and is used to upload video content for free. It is enough to create an account on YouTube (called a YouTube channel) to be able to upload any movie there, on any subject. Of course, it is forbidden to publish videos that exclude us from the community and violate YouTube’s rules. Those are for ex. videos inciting aggression, promoting racist views or films protected by copyright. You can learn more about what content is not allowed to be published on YouTube here https://www.youtube.com/intl/pl/about/policies/#community-guidelines

In order to create a YouTube channel, i.e., to publish your own videos, you do not need to have super expensive and professional recording equipment. On YouTube, the most important thing is the idea.

So, if you have something to share with others and you want to do it through video – YouTube is the perfect place for you.

YouTube is not only a place for video content creators, but also, and above all, for users who want to watch this content. You do not need to be a registered user to view, rate or comment on videos. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world after Google. The website is visited by well over a billion users a month. Website users can also create their own channels and playlists. Thanks to the built-in search engine, YouTube also allows positioning of videos (vSEO).

Monetization of YouTube – What is YouTube Music and how does it work? Is YouTube Music monetized differently?

YouTube Music is an application that was created in response to the needs of users who mainly use the website to listen to music. Many people wonder where the idea for its creation came from, since Google Play Music already exists and belongs to the same owner. Well, it’s about competition.

In terms of music content, Google has no chance against such giants as Apple Music or Spotify.

It may be different with the YouTube brand, which has always been associated with music. The developers focused primarily on an intuitive interface that facilitates the use of the application and high responsiveness. It is worth mentioning that YouTube Music does not consist of all the sounds that can be found on the platform. There are only licensed songs and audio versions of music videos and videos related to the musical performances (concerts, acoustic versions, covers). YouTube Music’s biggest advantage? You can play music in the background, which is not possible with the classic version of the platform.

Monetization of YouTube – Why do we need YouTube Premium? Earnings on YouTube Premium

YouTube Premium is the latest concept of the internet giant. It is a combination of all the legs of this platform into one (YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, Google Play Music). However, in this case it is a paid service. So, what is so special about it that users choose a monthly subscription?

• Watching videos without ads
• Ability to download movies and watch them offline
• Ability to play videos in the background
• Full access to YouTube Music
• The ability to download music and listen offline
• Watching movies without ads and offline on the YouTube Kids platform

You can try YouTube Premium for 30 days completely free of charge. Later, the cost per month of use is PLN 23.99. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

When it comes to monetization, YouTube Premium is the only place where subscriptions matter, because that’s where you can generate earnings. You get a share of the total revenue from all YouTube Premium subscriptions. It’s calculated based on the time users spend viewing your content.

Monetization of YouTube – What is a YouTube channel and what channels generate earnings on YouTube?

A YouTube channel is nothing else than an account on the YouTube platform. There you add your videos and information about yourself, i.e., you build your profile. Today, however, it has a much deeper meaning than a few years ago, when Internet access was not so common. This is because communities, smaller and larger, gather around YouTube channels.

The largest channels are multi-million communities on which the creators of these channels have a real influence through the content they post. The most popular channels generate the highest earnings. So, they allow the creators to develop their passions, discuss issues that are important to them, show their way of perceiving the world. Above all, they can stay in constant contact with their viewers who share the same or closely similar views on world.

Monetization of YouTube – Earnings on YouTube vs subscribers

YouTube subscriber is a very important feature. This is the person who clicks the so-called red button with the inscription “subscribe” and thus adds a specific creator to the list of constantly watched channels by them. By being a subscriber, you can get notifications about new videos. Also, you have an overview of all the latest videos from your favorite Youtubers in one place.

As for the creators themselves, the number of subscriptions does not translate directly into the earnings generated on YouTube (e.g., from Google ads). However, it has a huge indirect impact, as it is a sign of recognition of a particular channel. It allows you to build an engaged community. Also, it allows you to get more views, which translates into income. Besides, the number of subscriptions is a great ace up the sleeve when negotiating with companies about cooperation.

Subscriptions are also needed to start earning money on YouTube at all. It is not possible to run AdSense if the channel has less than 1000 subscriptions. We will expand on that in this article, but you should know that getting the community together is essential in the beginning. So, is 1000 subscriptions a big channel? No, it is a channel that started to just crawl.

Whether we can call someone a “big creator” depends on many different factors, such as the subject matter of the films.

For example, channels for young people based on challenges and vlogs are big when they have over a million subscriptions. An example is AbstrachujeTV – 3.48 million or Karol Friz Wiśniewski – 4.08 million. In the case of channels for a slightly more mature audience, eg with educational content, interviews or reportages, a “big channel” can be called one that will attract hundreds of thousands of people. For example, Paulina Mikuła – 466 thousand, Polimaty – 696 thousand.

So, let us encourage your audience to leave the “sub”. How to do it? You can, among others:

• Encourage subscribing in your videos but remember not to overdo it. One reminder per movie is enough.
• Arrange deals only for subscribers.
• Inform about having a channel on your Social Media profiles.
• Create different series of videos, playlists.
• Organize live broadcasts.

Monetization of YouTube – What topics do you cover to generate earnings on YouTube?

Are you wondering what areas your YouTube channels may appear in? There are actually no limits. Sport, fashion, beauty, health, politics, interviews, lifestyles, music, arts, psychology, business, comedy… It is just a drop in the ocean of possibilities! However, even the best idea has no chance of success (in terms of monetizing YouTube) if you do not build a community. Therefore, an interesting idea + engaged users is something that allows you to generate income at the appropriate level from the activity on this platform.

Monetization of YouTube – Features of a good channel in terms of engagement and earning

Many people would like to achieve success similar to the Imponderabilia, StylizacjeTV or Martin Stankiewicz channels. If you do not know these creators, nothing is lost. You can get to know them at any time if you are interested in the world of YouTube business. The only thing you need to know at this stage is the fact that these are communities with – respectively – 183,000, 957,000, and 1.3 million subscribers, i.e., people watching movies. This means that huge numbers of people watch most of the videos that are released on the platform by these influencers. For them, earnings on YouTube are just an everyday life.

How do you make your channel encouraging enough to earn an income from video recording?

• The basis of a good channel is an idea. Watching any movie in which Youtubers talk about the reasons for their success, you can hear that the most important thing was that they had a specific idea developed. They knew that there was something they could offer to others. Their immediate environment though was not necessarily as interested in the subject as themselves. That is why they decided to go a step further and use the platform to create a community of people who are also willing to exchange experiences on a given topic.
  

  Many Youtubers who are now very successful started a long time ago, when earning on the platform was not even in the realm of dreams. It was simply a place for them to talk about their interests and meet people who are also enthusiasts of the topic.

  The older channels are mainly those coming from the creators of the beauty and lifestyle industry. This trend came to Poland from America and has been very well received. Flagship influencers from this area that operate on the Internet and generate really high earnings on YouTube, include the aforementioned Karolina Gołębiewska from the StylizacjeTV channel, Joanna Cymbalista (PannaJoanna), Karolina Ziętek (Karolina Ziętek), Ewa Grzelakowska-Kostoglu (RedLipsickMonster) and Joanna Ferdynus-Gołuszko (Maxineczka).

  All the people who watch YouTube videos for many years have known that it was these ladies who started when the platform was only a place to express their passion and build a community, not to generate income. Everything is different today. The films are more professional, thoughtful, and consistent with the theme of the channel, but there is no doubt that everything is still based on an idea that has guided them for a long time. Of course, it is not that only very old channels can make money on YouTube. Relatively new productions are also doing great. For example, places such as MarKa or Ula Pedantula are successful, despite the fact that they have only been in the YouTube sphere for several years.

• Another extremely important issue when creating a YouTube channel is, of course, building an engaged community.

  Subscriptions are important, but not the most important. It is also worth paying attention to each video’s views and comments. Even if you collect 10, 20 or 100,000 fans at the beginning, but they will not be active (i.e., they will not comment, rate, or watch your videos), unfortunately high earnings on YouTube will not be available.

  An engaged community is an absolute must-have for every Social Media profile. That is why it is so often noticeable that many Youtubers not only work on the platform, but also contact their followers via Instagram or Facebook. This is because thanks to these additional resources, they can give users the feeling of “being up to date”. Involvement can also be built through discount codes (e.g., generated in partner programs), discounts or deals for viewers. This is important because then the recipients feel that the creator thinks about them and wants to give them something.

• Now, the approach to film quality has also changed.

  Until a few years ago, an ordinary smartphone with a good camera was enough to create a video that was liked by the viewers. At present, the matter is much more complicated. Most Youtubers, even those who are just starting out, invest heavily in equipment (i.e., cameras, microphones, lighting, etc.) and editing. An example is Magdalena Mołek, known to us from television so far, which opened the channel this year as a gift for her 44th birthday. She created a place to replace her TV shows in which she participated but could not fully do what was playing in her soul. That was her motivation to start her adventure on the platform. However, as she herself states, she is still far from generating earnings on YouTube, and so far, she mainly puts her own money into the development of the channel.

• Regular publishing is an absolute must.

  Many people recording on the platform for many years believe that one of the factors that allowed them to develop their channels and monetize YouTube was their commitment and constant publication of videos, even if they were received by a dozen people at the beginning. Perseverance and pursuit of the goal meant that more and more viewers appeared by accident and stayed for longer, because they were shown the next movies added systematically by the creator.

• The last point is honesty and naturalness.

  It is about letting viewers know that they can trust you and that you recommend products that really work for you. For example, if you enter the affiliate program and start advertising cycling accessories on your beauty channel, it may turn out that viewers find it to be an intrusive form of promotion. That is why it is worth choosing all cooperation according to the channel characteristics. Referring also to the first point on our list, it is worth making the channel idea really consistent with you as the creator. If you see fitness vloggers are popular and you suddenly want to become one of them, but know you have little to do with sport, you can be sure that viewers will notice it. Currently, recipients are very perceptive and smart, so there is no chance to sell them a false image.

Monetization of YouTube – High-earning channels on YouTube

So, let’s study three channels that have achieved tremendous success but each is a completely different industry.

RedLipstickMonster

She started out as a girl who liked makeup, piercings, and tattoos. She founded her channel in 2008 and is still active on the platform today. At the beginning, she presented herself as an average twenty-year-old girl living in Wrocław, working in a piercing salon. Today she is a frequent visitor to Warsaw salons, she has published three books, and recently also a new e-book. In addition, she is invited to television and videos of many other Youtubers. She is also the creator of a very broad content; she is an influential and recognizable person.

What has not changed though, is that Ewa Grzelakowska-Kostoglu has a strong community behind her, which over the past twelve years has matured and changed with her. She currently has 1.46 million subscribers, and viewers love her for being natural, honest, and always being herself. In terms of business, she generates huge earnings on YouTube, which is why she can treat running the channel as a full-time job. It was not always so, and her example shows that thanks to hard work, regular publishing and, above all, the ability to win over people, you can gain a lot.

5 ways to…

A channel that wins primarily with an idea. It was created in 2013 by five “boys next door” who wanted to share their patents with others on various life topics. Each of them knows something different, so you can always find something for yourself among other options. Currently, the group has collected 2.26 million subscriptions and is still growing rapidly. It is worth noting that the channel is only Polish! Among the boys’ content you will find e.g., 5 ways to prepare a party snack, 5 ways to make a mask or 5 ways to live your student life. Currently, their subject matter has slightly expanded. They perform challenges or interesting projects, e.g., a spade guitar. The earnings they generate on YouTube are enough for each of them to be able to treat this channel as profitable work.

ReZigiusz

The young, 24-year-old Remigiusz Wierzgoń began his career on YouTube in 2008. So, he was only 12 years old then! He did not even dream then that this platform could in the future become the source of most of his income, which would allow him to live at a very high level. The channel was founded out of passion for computer games and attracted both young people of the creator’s age and older viewers who were impressed by his gaming skills.

Today the channel profile has changed significantly. It is mainly ruled by challenges and vlogs. You can find a video titled “I spent a night in jail” or “I pay my friend 10 zlotys for every 1000 views of the movie”. Even though ReZigiusz completely changed what his channel does, he still maintained the engagement and loyalty of his viewers, thanks to which he can create and generate very high earnings on YouTube. Currently, his channel has over 4 million subscribers.

As you can see, each of these people had a different idea and chose a different way of monetizing YouTube. Nevertheless, when creating their channels, they followed the above-mentioned principles, which resulted in the fact that today working on the platform has become their profession.

Monetization of YouTube – How to generate earnings on YouTube?

Some time ago Robert Nawrowski, who runs a channel about new technologies, shared his ways of monetizing YouTube with us. Earning money on the platform is very common now. Even the creators of small channels can count on a monthly injection of cash, although these are not staggering amounts. You can generate earnings on YouTube from several sources. The first is to enter the YouTube partner program, thanks to which we have at our disposal:

• Ads, i.e., by displaying display and video creatives as well as overlays.
  This is done by using Google AdSense, which is Google’s advertising platform. This tool gives you the opportunity to receive earnings from YouTube without the need to search for advertisers on your own, because the system constantly provides them. Importantly, this option is not only for Youtubers, but also for bloggers and other websites. Remember, however, that AdSens does not always work, because many people (in Poland, half of Internet users) have AdBlock enabled, and then ads of this type are not displayed. So, the earnings here depend on the traffic.
• Merchandise shelves – Your audience can purchase the products you offer that appear on the watched pages. This option is available from 10,000. subscription.
• Channel support – interested persons make a monthly payment in return for the bonuses offered to them. Here you need to collect mines. 30 thousand subscriptions.
• Super Chat and Super Stickers – the recipient pays a fee to make their messages stand out.
• YouTube Premium – You get a portion of subscription fees if viewers watch your videos. However, they must be in the Premium system.

Of course, that is not the only way. How else can you generate earnings on YouTube?

• Joining the affiliate network and participating in partner programs (affiliate programs) of any brands.
  We will develop a bit more on this topic later in this article.
• Cooperation with brands (Influencer marketing).
  Many companies are looking for ambassadors for their products or simply offer one-off cooperation with Youtubers who create content that suits them. In this way, hauls with Renee often appear on the StylizacjeTV channel, and films with Coca-Cola appear at Martin Stankiewicz or Rezigiusz. Entering into cooperation with brands is not easy because someone has to notice you and find your channel interesting. This is especially difficult nowadays when you can find a huge number of profiles on the platform. Therefore, it is worth to stand out and remind brands about themselves, e.g., by marking them on Social Media and showing their products in companies, even if these are not paid for.

Monetization of YouTube – Formalities related to generating earnings in the YouTube affiliate program

When it comes to the formalities related to earning money on YouTube, there are not many of them, but there are some rules that you must follow.

• First of all, you must be at least 18 years old to be able to join the affiliate program yourself. It is also necessary to link your account with AdSens. Of course, depending on which of the YouTube affiliate program services you want to use, you have to follow different rules. For example, supporting a channel requires 30,000 subscriptions.
• When it comes to your earnings on YouTube, they are taxed just like any other income and must be accounted for. So, if you want to get into this business seriously, setting up a business and using accounting services will certainly be a good step. Of course, this is not a requirement, but it makes it much easier, especially since many brands want to issue a VAT invoice.

Monetization of YouTube – Earnings on YouTube in affiliate programs

As you can see, what we described above gives a chance for income mainly to large channels that collect huge amounts of views under their videos. Small profiles don’t generate that many earnings on YouTube to make a living from it. For smaller channels that still have an engaged community, affiliate activities that allow you to monetize your activities on the platform are much better.

Making money on YouTube is very simple. Thus, creators are using this platform more and more often to recommend specific products in their videos (belonging to Advertisers from selected partner programs). How do they benefit from it? Each completed transaction (i.e., purchase, picking up the parcel and keeping it) that was made from an affiliate link assigned to a specific person generates a commission, which the creator receives as part of remuneration. Importantly, affiliate cooperation gives a great deal of freedom to every Youtuber who can create advertising creations in line with their aesthetics. An additional advantage of this type of cooperation is the fact that the creators do not sign any additional agreements with the brands whose products they recommend. There is no bureaucracy and cooperation can end at any time without giving any reason.

Monetization of YouTube – The biggest advantages of generating earnings thanks to affiliate cooperation

• This is an opportunity for small channels.

• The developers recommend only those products and services that they consider worthy of such recommendation.

• Youtuber does not have to do any formalities in cooperation with brands.

• The creators are not bound by any contract, so they can terminate their cooperation at any time.

• Youtuber decides how to recommend a product.

In the description of films, which are e.g., product reviews, you can include any number of affiliate links. The user not only receives a comprehensive product summary, but also its price and a verified place on the web where the product can be purchased.

Find out more about earning money on YouTube with affiliate in this article How to earn money on YouTube – monetize even a small channel

YouTube is one of the many social media where you can publish affiliate links and earn money. Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Pinterest also offer such possibilities. If you want to learn how to monetize traffic in other social media, we have a free e-book for you “How to make money in social media”. You will find there practical examples of publishing affiliate links to monetize your activity.

Monetization of YouTube – What earnings on YouTube can be made on a monthly basis?

You already know how to generate earnings on YouTube, so this is the best time to tell you how much you can earn. These are of course only examples as each situation is treated individually.

When it comes to the ads themselves, we are dealing with GoogleAds, thanks to which we can display visual or video ads. The breakdown of the amount obtained from such ads is as follows: x of the total goes to Youtuber, and y remains in the hands of Google. How much is one ad impression? As much as the advertiser is willing to pay for them!

Sometimes it is PLN 0.5 and sometimes PLN 5. The average rate is about PLN 2. So, if there are 100,000 views under the video, Youtuber will earn 200 PLN.

Another issue is the rates offered for product placement, appearance during a brand event or creation of a sponsored post. Such activities are much more generously paid, but they are also not commonplace. The profit generated on YouTube in this way is difficult to define within a rigid framework, because it all depends on the recognition, popularity, and reputation of a particular Youtuber. The difference is really huge. The smallest creators can receive several thousand zlotys (6-8) for a single placement, and the most recognizable people can count on several hundred thousand (even 160!).

In the case of affiliate programs, the rates also vary. Here it largely depends on the involvement of both the influencer presenting the product and their followers who use the affiliate links. The amount of earnings depends on the amount of the commission imposed by the Advertiser. Additionally, much higher rates are awarded to Publishers participating in premium programs.

Of course, keep in mind that this is only the gross income that Youtubers get. Before making it a salary, you must deduct all expenses related to the professional preparation of the film. Nevertheless, it can be safely said that owners of big channels can safely treat this occupation as their only source of income.