The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the economy, and many businesses have reduced their ad spending.
YouTubers have felt the crunch as their ad revenue has been cut in half this March 2020.
There are many YouTube accounts with millions of subscribers who have reported that the coronavirus has cost their CPM(earnings per thousand video views) to drop by more than 50%.
Even if views are going up, CPM and revenue have gone down because many advertisers have cut their budget on ad spending or pulled out altogether.
On the flip side, starting a YouTube channel during this lockdown period is a good option for you to earn money if you lost your job due to the pandemic.
This crisis won’t last forever, and it is expected that once the pandemic is contained, ad revenues will go back to their previous level, and channels will recover from reduced CPMs.
We share some ways you can earn money from YouTube.
Ways to Grow Your Channel
You might think that making videos about the coronavirus outbreak is a good idea right now, especially if you want to grow your subscribers and views for monetization.
YouTube has decided that the current outbreak is a sensitive topic and has demonetized all videos related to the coronavirus.
Unless you are a reputable News Channel, you can’t post a video that mentions or references the virus and expect to earn revenue from the video.
If your channel is proven to be dedicated to covering sensitive subjects like the COVID-19 outbreak, then you should still be allowed to make videos about the outbreak and get paid in ad revenue.
There is a way for you to leverage the situation. You can start a channel without mentioning coronavirus but is related to the outbreak.
A good example is a channel on how to make homemade hand sanitizers. Four years ago, the WhatsUpMoms channel uploaded a video on DIY hand sanitizer, which got 50 views per hour, but now since the coronavirus struck, it has gained traction by receiving 1200 views per hour.
YouTube is the second most popular website on the planet, with over 2 billion people logging in monthly.
Experts have projected a $5.5 billion ad revenue for YouTube this 2020 in the US alone.
Wouldn’t it be great to get a slice of the pie?
Build Your Audience
Nothing that you post matters if no one is watching. You need to build an audience that would watch every video that you post without skipping ads.
Find a niche that you enjoy that people will find valuable.
Use descriptive titles and popular keywords so that search engines can find your video and know what it is all about. Adding tags will also help like if your video is about juicing, you can use words that relate to your videos like organic, health, recipe, diet, fruits, and vegetables.
Invite Guest YouTubers or Influencers on Your Channel
Channel owners can help each other out by appearing on each other’s channels to boost viewership.
It’s a win-win situation as other YouTubers have their own following who will now know about your channel and the content you provide.
Invest in Paid YouTube Ads
It may cost you, but you can get seen by directly targetting prospective viewers. If you target the topic essential oils, your video will appear before people who watch videos about essential oils.
Make Money From Your Channel
Now that you have built your audience, it’s time to make money from your channel. Here are some of the revenue streams you can enjoy from within and without YouTube.
Ads
Once you’ve grown your audience, it’s time to monetize your channel. The first step is to sign up for a Google AdSense account; you then connect it to your channel to enable monetization.
To join the YouTube Partner Program, you are required to have 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time within 365 days to start monetizing.
You can now turn on ads, and if your video meets the advertiser-friendly content guidelines, ads will appear on your videos, and you can make money.
As a YouTube Partner, you now have access to other income streams like YouTube Premium’s subscription fees and Super Chat.
SuperChat Donations
This is an alternative method of making money apart from running ads. You should be willing to go on a live stream with your content, and while viewers are watching your stream, they can donate to pin a comment at the top of the chat window.
Viewers can purchase colored chat messages that stand out and pin them at the top of the chat feed.
YouTube Premium
Viewers who want ad-free viewing sign up for YouTube Premium. As a content creator, you get a cut from subscription fees from any premium users who watch your videos.
Affiliate Marketing
If you have a regular following, you can make additional income from affiliate marketing sites.
You can promote a product that you believe would be useful to your audience, and at the end of your video, you can provide viewers a link to an online store where they can buy the product.
Once your followers click on the link and make a purchase, you get a commission for every closed sale.
You can weave offers into your usual videos as you continue to build trust and authority with your viewers.
Inform your viewers that your video is sponsored or that you earn a commission as an affiliate.
Sell Own Products
Working with affiliate sites may not be your cup of tea. If you have products of your own, you can pitch them to your audience.
As long as the products you offer are useful and valuable to your audience, they will support you by patronizing your products.
Crowdfunding
If your audience finds your content valuable, you can ask them to support your channel. In this way, they get to watch your videos while you get paid to make more.
You can attract donations by offering extras like exclusive videos or private Q and A sessions.
There are crowdfunding sites like Patreon that ask people to set up a subscription that charges them every month or every time you post a video.
