There are more monetization opportunities than ever on YouTube.

As of August 2024, successful YouTube content creators (aka "YouTubers") are earning around $120,000 per year (according to Influencer Marketing Hub).

So even at much lower levels, there's still plenty of income to be made on YouTube, using everything from channel memberships and Super Chats to affiliate marketing, sponsorships, custom merch you can sell on YouTube Shopping through sites like Fourthwall, and of course, YouTube ad revenue.

But how exactly do you get started making money on YouTube? 

Let's explore how YouTubers do just that, from YouTube's benefits to how to set up your YouTube channel, monetize it, qualify for the YouTube Partner Program, and build your audience, so that you can earn money on YouTube and keep creating great content!

Why YouTube is So Great for Earning Money Online

YouTube is one of the best platforms for creators to make money due in large part to its massive user base! As of Fall 2024, YouTube has more than 2.7 billion monthly active users (via GlobalMediaInsight), and among the over 5 billion people worldwide who use social media, over 50% access YouTube.

On top of these impressive stats, YouTube also offers a set of versatile features that make finding videos easy, even for niche content.

Viewers can search for any type of video they'd like, compile them into playlists, "Thumbs Up" videos they want, and subscribe to their favorite YouTubers' channels.

On the content creator side, creators have a complete dashboard to use called YouTube Studio, which helps YouTubers upload videos, customize their YouTube channel, create titles and subtitles, respond to comments, and dig into their YouTube analytics.

And, of course (the reason we're in this article!), you can make money on YouTube! Content creators can monetize their YouTube content through affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and YouTube channel memberships, offering exclusive content to paying subscribers.

You can also unlock Super Chats and Super Stickers, which let your fans tip you to highlight their messages.

And (once you're in the YouTube Partner Program), ad revenue, where you can run ads on your videos as a primary source of your YouTube income.

Virtually any content (barring copyright restrictions) can be monetized on YouTube, whether you're a beginning YouTuber or a full-fledged YouTube Partner - so let's look at some of the ways you can monetize YouTube:

YouTube Channel Monetization Breakdown!

Ad Revenue

How It Works: Earn money on YouTube by running ads on your videos via YouTube monetization or Google AdSense; these generally include pre-roll, mid-roll, and display ads.

Tip: To maximize AdSense and YouTube ad revenue, create longer videos (over 8 minutes) so they have room for more ads while disrupting the viewer experience a little less.

YouTube Channel Memberships 

How It Works: After you've achieved YouTube Partnership, you can set up and monetize channel memberships at different price points (you can create up to six different membership levels), to earn money by offering subscriber-only perks like badges, emojis, and exclusive content.

Tip: Create your Channel Membership level perks carefully, with interesting and fun bonuses, so you're offering content that will really encourage your viewers to become YouTube members.

Super Chats and Super Stickers 

How It Works: During YouTuber live streams, viewers can pay to highlight their messages (Super Chats) or send stickers (Super Stickers). These monetized interactions boost engagement and increase your income, too!

Tip: Acknowledge Super Chat contributors during the stream to encourage more participation - if you get hyped about seeing the highlighted messages and stickers in chat, so will your viewers!

Affiliate Marketing 

How It Works: Promote products through affiliate programs, including affiliate links in your video descriptions; you'll make money by earning commissions through sales made through those links.

Tip: Choose products that align with your content to build trust and drive more conversions; your viewers can generally tell whether you're being sincere, and you'll make more money on YouTube if your product choices make sense for your audience.

Sponsorships and Brand Deals 

How It Works: Partner with brands to earn money by creating sponsored content. Having a media kit that highlights your channel's metrics and audience demographics can help attract sponsors, as can reaching out to sponsors you believe will be an excellent fit for your content.

Tip: Integrate sponsored content in line with your personality and brand to maintain authenticity and make it interesting; creative, fun sponsored segments can keep viewers watching, even though they're technically ads.

Merchandise Sales 

How It Works: Design and sell branded merchandise like t-shirts, mugs, and stickers! Use platforms like Fourthwall to easily set up your own customized merchandise store, and promote your Fourthwall products through YouTube Shopping’s merchandise shelf.

Tip: Create merchandise that really shows off your brand and leans into distinctive things about you and your content; if you've got design skills, great! If not, consider hiring pro artists to really make your merch stand out so you can promote your brand and earn money.

YouTube Premium Revenue 

How It Works: If a viewer who is subscribed to YouTube Premium watches your content, YouTube pays you, as the creator, a share of the revenue generated (as long as your post meets YouTube community guidelines). Make sure to accept the monetization modules on YouTube for both your long-form videos and YouTube Shorts.

Tip: Focus on creating high-quality content to attract YouTube Premium viewers, as they contribute directly to your earnings.

Sooo, When Exactly Can You Start Making Money on YouTube?

Technically speaking, you can start making money on YouTube any time if you have an external agreement!

For instance, if you strike a sponsorship deal with a brand, you can create your own advertising plugs within your stream and earn money getting paid externally by that brand, regardless of whether or not you're already using Google AdSense or YouTube monetization.

But to officially monetize your YouTube channel to earn YouTube revenue sharing from ads, you'll need to meet the current requirements for the YouTube Partner Program. As of late 2024, those requirements include:

• 1,000 YouTube subscribers plus either
• 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past year, or
• 10M valid public YouTube Shorts views in the past 90 days
• Plus compliance with YouTube's community guidelines and monetization policies

While the timeline varies, these requirements are reachable for many creators within several months of consistent effort.

Post regularly to keep your audience engaged and attract more viewers and subscribers to your YouTube channel; add YouTube Shorts to get even more eyes on your content!

Also, make sure to use relevant keywords in your titles, descriptions, and tags to help make your videos more discoverable.

Keeping an eye on trends and popular trending search terms can attract even more viewers, helping you hit your YouTube Partner Program goals sooner.

Set Up Your YouTube Channel for Successful Monetization 

Having a well-designed YouTube channel helps YouTubers attract more viewers and potential sponsors!

Making your channel the best it can be allows you to get the most out of your monetization efforts and can also help you meet the YouTube Partner Program requirements for your channel much earlier.

Create a Professional Look

Design or commission high-quality banners and profile pictures to establish a cohesive brand identity for your YouTube channel.

A well-designed channel page can draw new viewers in to subscribe and engage with your content!

When uploading your videos, create pro-looking thumbnails that follow a similar theme to maintain a cohesive look throughout your YouTube channel.

This helps solidify your brand and makes your videos more easily recognizable when they pop up in search results.

Focus on Quality Content

We've said it a million times: content is king! You can have the best-looking YouTube channel on the platform, but you also need great content to back it up.

While the answer can vary depending on the type of YouTuber content, it's generally thought that posting a regular video once a week is optimal.

If you also want to add to YouTube Shorts, 3 per week is a great goal to aim for. But always go for quality over quantity, even if it takes you longer to create a well-crafted video, that's okay too!

Understand YouTube's Monetization Policies

YouTube has specific guidelines regarding content, copyright, and community standards, so make sure you're up to date on those, as violating them can lead to demonetization.

Keep your content clean, original, positive, and advertiser-friendly to maintain eligibility for monetization and that YouTube ad revenue; these content traits also help your content and channel look more professional, so it's a win-win!

Set Up AdSense

Start earning ad revenue from AdSense by getting your YouTube account correctly linked with AdSense, which is necessary for YouTube to pay you.

To do this, sign in to YouTube Studio, click the "Earn" tab on the left, then click "Start" on the "Sign Up for AdSense for YouTube" card.

You'll need to choose which Google account you'll be using for AdSense for YouTube, and reauthenticate your YouTube account password and contact info.

YouTube should email you once your account has been approved for AdSense, which can take a few days.

The Best Types of Content to Make Money on YouTube

Certain types of content can be more effective for monetization than others - let's check out some of the more profitable YouTube content niches and styles to get you making money on YouTube!

How Do I...?

How-to videos and tutorials attract a broad audience searching for solutions to specific problems.

Whether you're showing off how to beat a particular level in a game, build something, share a recipe, or style your hair, the broad appeal in this category makes it an excellent choice for YouTubers to earn money by drawing in high numbers of viewers looking for answers.

The Great Unboxing

Product unboxings and reviews are ideal for affiliate marketing and sponsorships.

By reviewing niche products, you can earn commissions through affiliate links in your video descriptions and provide your viewers with inside looks at products they're interested in.

Join Me!

Personal vlogs (video blogs), GRWM (get-ready-with-me) fashion/beauty videos, lifestyle content, and IRL (in real life) videos help YouTubers connect with their audience on a deeper level.

Take your viewers along as you travel, sit down with them for a catch-up chat, or even share the behind-the-scenes process of creating your YouTube videos to build loyalty and encourage subscribers to support your channel through memberships.

Get Focused

Niche-specific videos that target specific interests like fitness, tech, or gaming help attract an equally focused audience.

This is a great monetization tactic for securing sponsorships and affiliate marketing deals across distinct niches, as you can precisely show why the majority of your viewers are watching your videos.

That's Entertainment! 

Music, dancing, comedic sketches, and short films - all of the above have high potential for going viral, leading to high viewership and loads of buzz around your content.

These bigger numbers can easily translate to more ad revenue for YouTubers, as well as extra attention that can help you snag more monetizing opportunities like brand and sponsorship deals, or even in-person gigs.

Let's Play

Gaming content is huge on YouTube. Let's Plays, game reviews, and live gaming streams are all popular niches for YouTubers, and can be monetized through ads, Super Chats, Super Stickers, and channel memberships.

Team up with other gamer YouTubers to double or triple your audience draw and make money!

Back to School

YouTubers who create evergreen videos in the education and learning niche can keep attracting viewers indefinitely, generating even more membership income.

Historical deep dives, pronunciation guides, science experiments, astronomy explainers, nature and geography videos - all of these stay relevant over time, so are great for ad revenue longevity, as well.

Entertain More, Engage More, Get More Revenue! 

A loyal audience is key to maximizing your income on YouTube. Whether you're just getting started as a YouTuber or are well on your way to the YouTube Partner Program, here are some pro tips for turning your viewers into fans.

• Engage with Viewers - Respond to comments, host Q&A or AMA sessions, and ask for feedback. Audience feedback both boosts engagement and helps align your content with audience interests!
• Offer Exclusive Content - Once you start offering memberships, make sure you've got plenty of fun members-only perks set up to keep your members happy and attract new ones.
• Collaborate - Partner with other YouTubers in similar niches to yours to create content, helping you both cross-promote your work and bring in new audiences.
• Use CTAs - Make sure to include calls to action in your videos to encourage likes, comments, and shares, to announce any events you may have, and to remind viewers to subscribe to your YouTube channel.

YouTube x Fourthwall: A Money-Making Combo!

Fourthwall is the perfect business partner for your YouTube channel!

You can build a custom website, launch a branded merch store, and connect everything directly to YouTube Shopping so fans can buy while they watch.

Fourthwall also supports a wide range of global payment options, plus extras like video thank-you messages, social integrations, and fully customizable themes.

You can even offer exclusive memberships through Fourthwall to give your most loyal subscribers bonus content and perks—making it easier than ever to grow your revenue and your community.

Pair your YouTube channel with Fourthwall today!

FAQ: Making Money on YouTube

How do YouTubers actually make money on the platform?

YouTubers earn income through multiple monetization streams, including ad revenue, sponsorships, affiliate links, channel memberships, Super Chats, and selling merchandise.

Once creators join the YouTube Partner Program, they can unlock YouTube ads and Premium revenue, but many creators start earning earlier through external brand deals and merch sales.

The most successful channels combine several income streams to maximize their earnings.

How much money can a YouTuber make?

Earnings vary widely, but Influencer Marketing Hub reports that successful creators average around $120,000 per year, and many smaller channels still make meaningful income through niche content and diversified revenue streams.

How much you can make depends on niche CPM rates, audience engagement, content quality, and how effectively you monetize.

Channels that build loyal subscribers and offer multiple ways for fans to support them tend to earn more.

When can I start making money on YouTube?

You can start earning immediately through sponsorships, affiliate marketing, or merch sales—even before meeting YouTube’s official monetization requirements.

To earn directly from YouTube through ads, Premium revenue, and memberships, you must qualify for the YouTube Partner Program.

As of late 2024, that means having 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 watch hours or 10 million Shorts views.

What are the requirements to join the YouTube Partner Program?

To monetize through YouTube and Google AdSense, creators must have 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days.

You must also follow YouTube’s monetization and community guidelines and link an AdSense account. Once approved, you can enable ads, channel memberships, and YouTube Premium revenue.

How much does YouTube pay per 1,000 views? (What is CPM?)

CPM (cost per mille) is what advertisers pay for 1,000 ad impressions, and rates vary dramatically by niche.

High-value niches like personal finance, tech, and automotive typically earn higher CPMs, sometimes $10–$25+.

However, your actual earnings depend on watch time, viewer location, advertiser demand, and YouTube’s revenue share model.