Different Ways to Monetize
Basically, there are three popular ways to monetize your YouTube channel:
- Advertisements
- Affiliate Links
- Sell your own product/service/course
All three are good opportunities and present their own pros and cons.
1. Advertisements
Ad revenue is the most common way of monetizing a YouTube channel.
The popular method is to create an account with Google Adsense and simply link your YouTube channel to enable ads.
Another way to advertise is getting paid by companies to review their product or mention their company in some form.
For example, if your channel is about basketball, you can review sneakers or add sponsors at the end of your video.
Once you have an established audience you can contact brands about sponsorships or product reviews and so on.
2. Affiliate Links
The benefit of affiliate links is you do not need to keep inventory. You sign up with a brand, they give you a custom link, and you earn commission for every sale you get them.
Here
are popular affiliate websites:
- Amazon
- Clickbank
- Offervault
- Shopify
- Spreadshirt
- And many more
When signing up for affiliates it's important to sell products you believe in.
The commission you make varies greatly on every business. But when you make good ads and offer good products this can be a reliable income source.
3. Create a Product, Service, or Course
With affiliate links you only get a small commission... But with your own product you keep all the profit!
It is much harder to create a product or service but it's doable. If you create something that provides lots of value to people you will reap the rewards.
The most popular things you see on YouTube are clothing and merch.
If you build a successful product, it can generate income for years to come. You only need to build it once and then you can just worry about selling it.