11 Creative Ways to Make Money Using YouTube

The next time your puppy chases your child’s pet frog, your baby has a funny look on their face, or you witness an unidentified flying object, you may be an upload away from YouTube fame and fortune.

“Thousands of people are cashing in on youtube“, reveals the Head of YouTube’s Partner Program, Bing Chen. Today, like never before, makeup enthusiasts, Pilates instructors, music DJ’s, and people from just about every walk of life are making money off of each viewing of their YouTube video.

What is so astonishing is that 99% of the most successful individuals on YouTube are the average everyday people who happened to have a bit of nerve, good timing, and talent thrown in for good measure.

So here’s our 11 Creative ways to make money online using YouTube.

How To Make Money Using YouTube

1 – Sell your own Products

The channel for fitness, Blogilates, and Pilates teacher Cassey Ho has 16 million views along with an e-commerce feature where she sells her own Pilate exercise clothing line and gym bags.

Cassey Ho says she makes a six-figure income now, all thanks to the #1 video sharing platform, “YouTube”.

2 – Tutorials

Michelle Phan is a 25 year old who creates makeup tutorials and teaches women how to purchase cosmetics. Miss Phan’s vivacious persona and sharp tutorials made her an instant sensation with over 3 million subscribers and more than 647 million video views.

Michelle Phan has been asked by Lancôme to become their authorized video makeup artist. She is just one of many that have made some serious cash from creating a successful tutorial youtube channel.

3 – Create a Series

Brother’s Benny and Raffi Fine made their You Tube “Kids React” series profitable. With over 360 million views, it is easy to see why. The videos show teens and children responding to pop-culture and other viral videos.

They have had so much success they can now afford to hire a team of ten employees to work with them.

4 – Reviewing affiliate programs

An easier, faster and probably the most effective method ofmaking money on YouTube is by promoting affiliate products and then linking them in your description field. To get guaranteed sales through this method, all you need is to show how the product is used to get results. This way you will be able to make a lot of sales.

5 – Create a Hit Single!

South Korean sensation Psy showcased his song “Gangnam Style” on YouTube and the rest is history. Not only has he clocked up more than 7 million likes and over 1 and a half billion views, Justin Bieber’s manager has added Psy to his roster, his single reached pole-position in the iTunes charts in at least nine countries, and he’s now a multi-millionaire just from google ads on his YouTube video!

Teen artist, Rebecca Black also cashed in on her millions when her single “Friday” went viral on YouTube. She can thank TV host Jimmy Fallon after he shared her “Friday” video clip on late night TV across America resulting in a domino effect of stardom.

6 – Let your voice be heard!

Ted Williams was homeless and down on his luck until a fortunate encounter with a videographer from the Columbus Dispatch. Ted’s speaking voice was so mesmerizing, hisYouTube video went viral. After more than 20 million YouTube views Ted has been on countless TV shows and offered voiceover work from well-known companies for TV commercials and radio.

So, if you have a voice with an interesting quality, tone, or twist to it, let it be heard!

7 – Become A YouTube Partner

Currently there are more than 15,000 YouTube partnersthroughout the world, and online video advertising has reached a staggering $3.4 Billion in 2012; it is expected to reach over $5 Billion in 2013. Most of them make a career out of their videos, with some managing to make 6 figures or more in a year. Partners in this program share income generated from rentals and InVideo overlay ads. They also get opportunities to participate in branded entertainment openings. The YouTube partners are usually featured on YouTube’s homepage, meaning that they enjoy more views and more chances of making money.

It is important to note that, to get into YouTube Partner Program is not easy and requires one to gain subscribers even before applying for the program.

8 - Start A YouTube Competition

Mariah Carey’s Fan Club Remix proposed a remix competition to market a new song. There were 45,000 views within two weeks. The winner’s video claimed the 1st spot from 1,200 entries. Now, this individual has a career as a DJ and video-mixer due to YouTube’s exposure and the competition from the singer’s fan club.

If you can make your competition fun, exciting and with a great reward, you will be able to generate enough exposure for your project or company, so hit the drawing board and come up with a great, legitimate competition out there that will be a win win for you and your contestants.

9 - Sell Links In Your Video Description

Primarily, this method focuses on directing or converting YouTube visitors to another webpage or source. Here, you do not have to make ads in your videos to make money, just a link placement in the description box below.

Your main target is the small percentage of visitors that convert to real customers.

10 – YouTube Rentals

This is one of the most recent ways of making money on YouTube. In this method, content creators are allowed to offer their content for rent and then share a portion of the profits made with YouTube. However, YouTube has not yet clarified whether the service will be available to all or just certain types of users.

This will definitely provide a whole new method of making money on YouTube, as users will be charging rental fees for their videos.

11 - Just Ask for It!

One good success deserves another, and exposure on YouTube helps to sanction start-ups, assisting them with raising the venture capital they need. In addition, YouTube has been assisting nonprofit organizations for fund-raising ventures as well.

The International Fund for Animal-Welfare and Greenpeace has worked with YouTube along with struggling filmmakers. If you are running a non for profit then this may be the platform for you, just make sure that the video is compelling and produced at a high enough quality to really present to the world your good cause.