Making A Living From YouTube

padlock said:

YT has never been my sole income but, for a time, it was a huge chunk of it. The key with YT is that you have to offer something unique. The thing that pisses me off about a lot of BHW members on YT is that they simply upload these terrible (and I mean terrible) marketing videos for whatever stupid affiliate program they're involved with and then bitch and moan about how YouTube doesn't work for them. Yeah, well...that's because you don't know how to use it. {Rant Over}

Anyway, yes...it is possible to make a living off of YouTube but I find it best to use it as a supplemental income alongside other projects.

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Ha ha I think that those guys are just on YouTube for that reason. Spamming with affiliate links expecting serious results fast. I think YouTube is more for people who are really into it and upload good content to build up subscribers.

It must be nice to making money off of YouTube lol I would like to start myself but I don't have any unique talents and if I posted sports clip probably be taken down are something idk was always interested though

Cfuturistic said:

It must be nice to making money off of YouTube lol I would like to start myself but I don't have any unique talents and if I posted sports clip probably be taken down are something idk was always interested though

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You can always try comedy... Grab a few friends and create a funny vid

Don't slam the generic affiliate marketers. If you do a lot of volume, you can bank a lot of money.

YouTube has always been quality vs quantity.

florflor said:

Don't slam the generic affiliate marketers. If you do a lot of volume, you can bank a lot of money.

YouTube has always been quality vs quantity.

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Really? I'm not doubting you, I have just sincerely never seen this work. Maybe we're talking about two different things? I'm referring to shit videos that were clearly made with Windows Movie Maker (y'know - blue background, comic sans font that reads "Get Big Penis! Generic Viagera!! On sale NOWWWWWWWW! Click my affilete linkz!!").

I've seen some well-done affiliate marketing vids, don't get me wrong. But the best ones always feature interesting or helpful content without beating the viewer over the head with affiliate links/specific products. The best ones are always: "You have this problem? Here's something that can solve this problem. Here's how. Oh, and here's this particular product that might be of interest to you." They provide useful info and then direct the viewer to their site. Those I can see working.

It's just never been my thing, personally. And I hate to see the crap videos wasting space and jading viewers on YT.

Cfuturistic said:

It must be nice to making money off of YouTube lol I would like to start myself but I don't have any unique talents and if I posted sports clip probably be taken down are something idk was always interested though

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You dont have to be JUST unique. Can you draw? Speed drawing videos are excellent. Are you a pro at any software or games? Tutorials and walkthroughs are huge on Youtube. You could simply blog about things, movie reviews, album reviews, etc. If your interesting to listen to you get a lot of followers.

I think " How To " guides are best in todays Youtube market.

I have a lot of friends who make six figures off youtube a year. You really dont even need that many views to do so.
I make my living off of youtube now also.

Jane, Six Figures? Off of YT alone? I mean, I've done well with YT but never anything like that. Can you give us an idea of what you're doing? You don't have to get specific, of course, but are you talking about affiliate marketing promotion, etc?

Im a aspiring filmmaker so I go out and make videos which I upload. You can definitely make 6 figures a year off Youtube. Even Youtube recently announced over 1000 of their partners makes this.
People like Toby Turner and Jenna Marbles make over a million on just ad revenue.
I have over 200,000 subs and have about 2 million views a month. I make over $20,000 a month. I recently signed with a network and that helped raise my pay.

Well, yeah....but it sounds like you're producing the kind of content that I'm advocating (quality, entertaining videos). Toby Turner and Jenna Marbles do just that. Their videos are funny, helpful, etc.

What I was referring to are affiliate marketing videos that are just awful. So you and I are on the same page. As a filmmaker, you obviously know the difference between something cinematic and pure shit. I'm talking about terrible Camtasia videos (the ones that teach nothing and show us only that the video-maker is camera shy), Windows Movie Maker slide shows, that sort of thing.

So, yes...work in your category, I can certainly see making six figures per year.

At my peak, I was making around 5-6K per month at YT. I've backed off a bit since then as I've focused on other projects that surpassed my YouTube income. Still, I was making about the average American salary when things were going well.

For someone who hit the "big time" on YT, I'd love to see some tutorials from you. Is your income primarily from AdSense/partnership? I would assume so? How did you build your subscriber base, etc.