For many YouTubers, having their channel monetized is a dream come true. The idea of making money from others watching your videos is tempting, and it’s by no means unrealistic. But to reach the stage where you’re earning sufficient income from ad revenue, you often need to persist for months—if not years.
If you haven’t yet reached the threshold for monetization on YouTube, don’t worry—you can still use your channel to generate additional income for your business. This article will give you several pointers to do so.
What Is the Monetization Threshold on YouTube?
You must have at least 1,000 subscribers to qualify for monetization on YouTube. On top of that, you need a minimum of 4,000 watch hours from viewers. Those watch hours can come from anyone.
In addition to the numerical requirements, you must follow YouTube’s Community Guidelines. Hate speech and content the platform deems harmful are two examples of videos you cannot monetize.
If you want to learn more about how much money YouTubers make and how much the platform pays users, this article explains it all.
How to Make Money With YouTube if Your Channel Isn’t Monetized
If you haven’t yet reached the threshold, the below tips will help you make money from your content.
1. Share Snippets of Your Videos on Social Media
The rise of TikTok has resulted in many social media platforms taking video content more seriously. And if you’re interested in growing your reach on other networks, sharing snippets of your videos is an excellent possible option. You can also make money on TikTok by doing this.
If you choose to use LinkedIn, you can upload videos up to 15 minutes in length. Meanwhile, Facebook allows you to share content that’s up to 240 minutes long.
Are you not interested in long-form content? Short-form videos could be the way to go. You can use TikTok, Instagram Reels, and various other platforms—such as Facebook Reels and YouTube Shorts.
When sharing snippets of your YouTube videos, ensure you don’t violate the platform’s copyright guidelines.
2. Repurpose Your Content Into Articles
While many people think that visual content has rendered blogging useless, that isn’t necessarily the case. When done correctly, sharing blog posts on your website is an excellent way to engage your audience and drive more clicks on YouTube.
When you publish on YouTube, consider sharing short posts about the video’s topic and embedding a link to the full video. Alternatively, you can take the opposite approach and go into significant depth.
Regardless of your choice, try not to copy what you say in your video word for word. Instead, think of ways that you can provide additional value.
3. Pitch Your Services as a Freelancer
If you’re self-employed and creating online content, you can often perform your work from anywhere. As such, you’ve got a significant pool of potential clients to work with and grow your income. Freelancing is profitable if you stick with it for the long run, and it’ll give you more freedom with your schedule to create YouTube videos.
You can find freelance work in several places; job boards, emailing, and networking are common tactics. You can also pitch your services through your YouTube content itself. And instead of trying to be too salesy, focus on what you can offer potential clients—make this crystal clear in your messaging.
4. Sell Products if You’ve Already Got a Loyal Audience
If you’ve published videos on YouTube for a long time, you probably have a loyal audience that loves what you do, even if it’s a small group of people. And you can grow your income by selling products.
When selling products, you must proceed with caution; many launches fail because people don’t test for demand beforehand. Moreover, you could tarnish your reputation—and hurt your chances of growth— if you sell something that doesn’t meet your audience’s expectations.
You can test for demand in several ways, including:
- Running polls on your social media accounts and the YouTube Community tab
- Creating paid advertisements to determine interest
- Monitoring social media platforms to identify problems that people are having and want a solution for
5. Connect With Your Target Audience on Social Media
Even if YouTube is the main priority for your business, you might want to consider building a presence on one or two other social media platforms. Doing so will help you diversify the traffic you receive, and you’ll probably find people that like your messaging and want to join your journey.
You can use several methods to connect with your target audience on social media. For example, starting conversations in the comments is an excellent way to engage users. You can also share your thoughts on current trends and topics and share other people’s content that you like.
6. Include Videos on Your Website
If you want to build a profitable business in the long run, learning about search engine optimization (SEO) is a good idea. Making sure that your website ranks on the first page of Google will get more eyes on what you do, and you can funnel them to your YouTube channel.
When thinking about how to optimize your website better, you might achieve your desired result by using a broad range of content types. In addition to written copy, your YouTube videos might help you become more visible for specific questions and keywords.
SEO isnt easy, and you’ll probably need to regularly update your site. Nonetheless, you’ll go a long way if you try lots of things and see what sticks.
Ad Revenue Isn’t the Only Way to Make Money With YouTube
Having ad revenue as a source of income can help you put more money back into your business, enabling it to grow in the long run. However, getting to that point on YouTube takes some time—and you shouldn’t solely rely on it for your company’s revenue.
Luckily, you can make money from YouTube without being eligible for monetization. If you can provide value to others, you will grow your income. That rings true regardless of whether you promote yourself on other platforms, sell products, or pitch your services as a freelancer.
