How YouTubers Earn Money: 7 Powerful Ways to Boost Income

January 16, 2025
how youtubers earn money
Quick Summary

Quick Summary

    • Diverse Revenue Streams: YouTubers earn through ads, channel memberships, sponsorships, merchandise sales, and affiliate marketing.
    • Top-Earning Indian YouTubers: Learn from successful creators like CarryMinati and Amit Bhadana, who generate millions through their content and engagement.
    • Monetization Tips: Master strategies like the YouTube Partner Program, creating viral content, and leveraging sponsorships to maximize earnings and grow your channel.
     

Table of Contents

In today’s digital world, YouTube has evolved from being just an entertainment platform to a thriving business for millions of creators globally. Many people wonder how YouTubers earn money. Have you ever thought about how to make money on YouTube? What are the YouTube earning systems and criteria? With over 2.49 billion YouTube subscribers worldwide and more than 500 hours of video uploaded every minute, it’s clear that YouTube presents a huge opportunity to earn money. While advertising revenue is the most common way to make money on video platforms, it’s not the only way.

In this post, we’ll explore how YouTubers earn money and provide tips on how new creators can successfully monetize their channels.

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Earnings of Highest-Paying YouTubers

If you are wondering how YouTubers earn money and how much they earn from the leading video platform. Then, here is the list of the top 10 YouTubers and their earnings.

Name Of the Channel

Youtuber’s name

Subscribers

Average Views

Monthly Earning (INR)

Channel Type

Channel Started

CarryMinati

Ajey Nagar

37.4 M

3.4 M

16 Lakhs +

Roasting, comedy and gaming, songs

2009

Total Gaming

Ajay

34 M

578.1K

8 to 15 lakhs +

PC and mobile gaming

2018

Round 2 hell

Nazim Ahmed, Zayn Saifi, and Wasim Ahmad

28.1 M

291K

10 to 15 Lakhs

Comedy

2015

BB ki Vines

Bhuvan Bham

25.6 M

489.3k

25 Lakhs +

Comedy

2015

Amit Bhadana

Amit Bhadana

24.3 M

13.4 M

47 crores

Comedy

2012

Technical Guruji

 

Gaurav Chaudhary

22.7 M

121.7K

326 crores

Technology

2015

Nisha Madhulika

Nisha Madhulika

13.2 M

8 M

33 crores

Food

2011

Ashish Chanchlani

Ashish Chanchlan

28.9 M

26.8 M

29 crores

Comedy

2014

Sandeep Maheshwari

Sandeep Maheshwari

26.3 M

2.4 M

22 crores

Motivational

2012

Harsh Beniwal

 

Harsh Beniwal

15.1 M

2.2 M

16 crores

Comedy

2015

Unlocking YouTube Income in India: How Creators Make Money

In the YouTube income calculator below, you can calculate how much you can earn from views.

Video Views

Estimated Daily Earnings

1K

INR 100-200

10K

INR 200-500

100K

INR 2000-5000

1M

INR 7000-30000

150M

INR 150000-600000

How to Earn Big from YouTube: A Step-by-Step Guide

If you’re interested in learning how YouTubers earn money, here are the key steps to get you started.

First, conduct research and choose a niche that aligns with your interests and expertise.

Next, understand your audience so you can tailor your content to meet their needs and preferences.

Once you have a clear idea of your audience, study your competition to create content that stands out from the crowd.

Finally, launch your YouTube channel, start producing high-quality content, and begin monetizing to earn money.

Related: 10 Ideas for YouTube Channel

How to Monetize a YouTube Channel

The first step is to create a YouTube channel. Once your channel is set up, the next question is how YouTubers earn money and how to monetize your channel.

Here are a few methods that can help you generate income from YouTube.

1. YouTube Partner Program

Those seeking special features on this social platform should join the YouTube Partner Program. Creating an Adsense account can lead to earnings via views from the video.

The perks of these features include access to multiple income streams, ads, super chats, and memberships. These are the many different sources and ways to earn a YouTube income.

To start with YouTube Partner Program, you need to follow these steps:

  • Create an Adsense account for the content creator (YouTube provides guidelines for doing so).
  • Every monetization has its own rules and requirements. Meet all the YouTube Partner Program requirements. To join the program, creators need 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours annually.
  • To obtain ad revenue on YouTube, you must follow the earning criteria. One must be 18 years old, and the content should be user—and advertiser-friendly.

2. Channel Memberships

You can also sell subscriptions to your channel to your subscribers as a YouTuber. When selling channel memberships, subscribers pay the content creator an additional fee to view exclusive content.

However, you can sell channel membership only if you are 18 or 18+ and have 30000 subscribers on your channel.

On YouTube, you can find a membership tab under monetization from where you can control:

  • Total number of subscribed members, including canceled members.
  • An active and inactive number of subscribed members.
  • Income generated from the previous billing period.
  • Cancellation feedback that users provide.

3. YouTube Premium Revenue

Creators can now earn a share of the revenue when users watch videos from their channel under YouTube’s premium policy. If the user has a YouTube Premium membership, creators will automatically be entitled to a portion of the subscriber’s subscription fee.

Here are some facts about YouTube’s premium revenue:

  • All videos from content creators will also be available on YouTube Premium without any ads.
  • The content creator does not need to make any additional payment to get YouTube premium revenue.
  • Downloaded videos are also eligible for watch time revenue generation which will increase views and ultimately increase revenue.
earn in six figures

4. Sell Your Merchandise

If you doubt how to monetize your YouTube channel, here’s the answer. One can sell merchandise using this platform. Many Youtubers are making money by selling their T-shirts and other goodies.

The influencers make their product, and with the help of YouTube, they can easily promote the products they want to sell.

If you are also thinking about how YouTubers earn money, these are some ways by which one can easily promote the products.

  • Creators determined to sell merch must devise a unique presentation before designing their products. Many YouTubers like MrBeast promote their drinks via YouTube.
  • Creating an online shop allows one to easily paste the shop link in posted videos.
  • After creating the online web page, one should enable the YouTube partner merchandise shelf. This feature allows creators to sell their desired merchandise through YouTube.
  • Whenever a creator uploads a new video, they must ensure they are promoting their merchandise. When promoting the merchandise, the company should mention the name of its shop and website. Creators can also make YouTube groups to share product information and receive orders in one place.
  • Always add a ‘thank you’ note and describe the positive aspects of the products.

5. Create Sponsored Content

Are you looking for an easy way how youtubers earn money? Here is the answer: you can do it by creating sponsored content. You can contact the brand directly and ask them to advertise their product. If the channel has videos with a target audience similar to the brand, they will ask the creator to do the branding.

If you want to target such a branding partner, then these pointers can help you:

  • The initial task is to find a suitable brand partner who is suitable for the channel. This sounds easy, but they will thoroughly check the YouTube content and check for any disturbing videos. If the videos are in their interest, then they will accept.
  • Sign a contract and make a deal with them.
  • Now, the creator should be transparent about the advertising. It should comply with the AdSense guidelines and YouTube guidelines.

6. Become an Affiliate Partner

If you are still thinking about how YouTubers earn money, here is another easy and trending way. If the creator believes in their audience, they should become an affiliate partner.

In an affiliate partnership, the partner hosts a link to products on a website on their channel. If anyone clicks that link and purchases the product, the partner earns a part of the revenue. The link is intended to encourage subscribers to check it out.

Many sites invest in affiliate marketing. Some of these include Amazon and Rei.

Related: Affiliate Marketing in India

7. Live stream

One of the best ways how YouTubers earn money these days is by live streaming on YouTube. A creator can host live streaming or shows, and the viewers can transfer money to them in real-time using the super chat feature on YouTube (a replaced version of Fan Funding).

  • This feature is only eligible for YouTube partners.
  • Each super chat, along with the amount and the sender’s name, gets highlighted in the chat section.

8. Crowdfunding

Creators can also use crowdfunding, known as sponsorships.

  • First, the creator should set their goals. YouTube provides a complete list of pre-approved crowdfunding sites.
  • Explain the campaign in detail, let the audience know, and create an atmosphere of suspense. Ask the viewers to help the creator by donating whatever they can.
  • YouTube is not the only place where creators can crowdfund. One can take this to another level by going outdoors to spread awareness about the campaign offline.

9. Licensing

If a video goes viral, then every social media outlet and every other creator will want the video to be shown to their subscriber. Nowadays, creators can license their videos. So, the original creator can benefit from the revenue if anyone else shares their video.

It is one of the best YouTube income sources. Here are some best practices:

  • Always keep your profile updated. You never know who may reach out to you to collaborate.
  • Check for the current trend and make videos accordingly. One can easily make a lot of money if a video becomes viral.

YouTube Partner Program

YouTube primarily pays its creators through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which allows eligible creators to monetize their content and gain access to various resources, features, and programs provided by YouTube. This program opens the door to monetization, helping YouTubers turn their channels into potential income sources. Through the YPP, creators can earn money in several ways, including advertising, subscriptions, donations, live-streaming features, and YouTube Premium revenue.

The YPP is designed to help content creators monetize their videos on the platform. By participating in the program, YouTubers can earn money from ads displayed on their videos, take advantage of different monetization features, and explore other revenue streams offered by YouTube, highlighting how YouTubers earn money.

1. Follow all of YouTube’s Policies and Guidelines: Adherence to YouTube’s community guidelines, terms of service, copyright laws, and all other policies is crucial. Violations of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the YPP.

2. Live in a Country or Region Where the YouTube Partner Program is Available: The YouTube Partner Program must be available in your country or region. YouTube periodically expands the availability of the program to additional locations.

3. Comply with AdSense Policies: You must have an AdSense account linked to your YouTube account. AdSense is the program through which YouTube pays content creators. Ensure that your AdSense account complies with all of AdSense’s policies.

4. Have More Than 4,000 Valid Public Watch Hours in the Last 12 Months: Your videos must have accumulated at least 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months. Valid watch hours exclude private, unlisted, and deleted videos.

5. Have More Than 1,000 Subscribers: Your YouTube channel must have more than 1,000 subscribers.

How Creators can Track their Revenue in YPP?

As a content creator, you should focus on maximizing RPM (Revenue Per Mille) while monitoring CPM (Cost Per Mille) to ensure ad quality and user experience.

Revenue Per Mille:

RPM is a comprehensive metric that represents the estimated revenue a content creator earns per 1,000 video views. It includes not only ads but also channel memberships, Super Chats, and even YouTube Premium revenue. This gives creators a clear understanding of how much money they make on YouTube after YouTube takes its share. RPM is a creator-focused metric that helps YouTubers better understand how youtubers earn money for every 1,000 views on their content.

Cost Per Mille:

CPM is an advertiser-focused metric and is solely focused on ad revenue. Cost per mille refers to the money an advertiser pays for every 1,000 times their advertisement is displayed. An ad impression is recorded each time the ad is shown to a user. Advertisers use CPM to calculate the cost of running an ad campaign.

How to Create Viral Content on YouTube

If you are thinking about how YouTubers earn money, the answer is by creating viral videos.

Here are a few tips for creating viral content and earning money through it:

How to create viral content on YouTube

1. Do the Research

The first thing required is a solid plan. To get started, set a clear goal. Once you have your goal, research your audience’s preferences and identify the type of content they enjoy. Analyze the viral content from your competitors and use these insights to shape your campaign. This approach will help you understand how YouTubers earn money and create content that resonates with viewers, increasing your potential for revenue generation.

2. Know your Audience

The key to creating great content is understanding your audience’s tastes and preferences. You should also research the demographics of your viewers and stay updated on what they are looking for. By aligning your content with these insights, you’ll not only engage your audience but also enhance how YouTubers earn money by attracting more views and potential revenue streams.

3. Be Different

The reason people enjoy viral content is because it is unique and original in some way. To make your content go viral and increase how YouTubers earn money, you need to ensure that it is both authentic and entertaining, as this will capture the audience’s attention and drive engagement.

4. Make Engaging Video

Your content should be engaging from start to finish, delivering a clear message that keeps viewers interested. By creating content that encourages viewers to return for future videos, you’ll increase engagement, which in turn boosts how YouTubers earn money through views, subscriptions, and other monetization opportunities.

5. Get the Best Visuals

Visual content is more appealing because it’s easily consumable and captures attention quickly. Along with delivering your message, it’s crucial to keep viewers engaged. By being creative with visuals, you can increase engagement and views, which in turn enhances how YouTubers earn money through higher ad revenue and other monetization options.

6. Make Promotional Plan

To maximize how YouTubers earn money, you need a solid plan for promoting your video or content. Creating a strategic approach or hiring a professional firm can help boost your video’s visibility, leading to more views, engagement, and ultimately, higher earnings through ads, sponsorships, and other revenue streams.

7. Measure your Success

Tracking your progress is essential to understanding how YouTubers earn money and improving future content. By monitoring metrics such as video shares, likes, and the optimal times to post, you can refine your strategy to increase engagement and views, leading to higher ad revenue, sponsorships, and other monetization opportunities.

Choosing a popular niche will help you to get more views. The table below shows the categories that get more views on YouTube.

Category

CPM Rates Approx.

Comedy

INR 750

Educational

INR 800

Technology

INR 600

Roasting

INR 750

Cooking

INR 200

Gaming

INR 120

Music

INR 800

Lifestyle

INR 300

Travel

INR 200

Tutorials

INR 500

Also Read : Passive Income Ideas in India

When Will You See Success with YouTube Earnings?

Success in how YouTubers earn money can vary significantly based on factors like content niche, consistency, and audience engagement. Typically, creators begin to see substantial earnings once they build a large subscriber base and consistently produce high-quality content. Setting realistic goals and understanding that growth and earnings take time is crucial. By continuously refining strategies and adapting to trends, you can improve your chances of increasing your revenue through YouTube.

Conclusion

This concludes our discussion on some of the best YouTubers, their earnings, and how the YouTube earning system works. There are various ways for YouTubers to earn money, and the key is to find the right niche, create unique content, and ensure it resonates with your target audience. In the beginning, dedication and patience are essential, but with time, you can unlock significant earnings as you grow your channel and master how YouTubers earn money.

Another easy way to make money online is to become a Chegg expert. Here, you can earn money helping students from all over the world with their doubts. The best part is that you can work whenever and wherever is most convenient for you and choose your own working hours.

Looking to add a few bucks to your monthly income? Learn how to do that with our guide on Passive Income.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How many views do you need on YouTube to make money?

Ans. To become eligible for the YouTube Partner Program, one should have at least 1000 subscribers and around 4000 watch hours in the last 12 months. So, this is the first step in how YouTubers earn money.

Q2. How do the YouTubers get paid?

Ans. First, to receive money, one should have an Adsense account; when your account reaches a threshold value of 100$, the creator will receive their money. Also, as mentioned above, you should first fulfill their eligibility criteria to make money.
Once you meet the eligibility criterion, you get paid for the views and the clicks per ad on your account through a bank deposit every month.

Q3. Does YouTube pay monthly?

Ans. Yes, YouTubers are paid monthly. Usually, YouTubers are paid through a monthly direct deposit monthly on the 21st of every month. If the 21st falls on a weekend or holiday, the payment will be made on the first business day following the 21st of that month. So, you expect a monthly payment from your YouTube earnings.

Q4. How much does a YouTuber with 1 million subscribers make?

Ans. The average YouTube Income for those with a minimum of 1 million subscribers is $60,000 annually. The best thing is that if one has a video with one or more advertisements and 1 million views, it can pay a YouTuber around $2,000-$3,000. But your money will be transferred to the account only after it reaches INR 7000.

Q5. Can a beginner make money on YouTube?

Ans. Suppose you are wondering how YouTubers earn money and what a beginner earns on YouTube. So yes, a beginner can make money on YouTube.
But as a beginner content creator, you need to put in a lot of effort. You can upload multiple videos and get minimum views on each of your videos. The more views and subscribers, the more your earnings will increase.

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