Youtube passive income channels

The internet has changed the world in countless ways, particularly when it comes to creating extra streams of income. It has never been easier to make money from the comfort of your own home. And you can make an excellent income with a monetized YouTube channel if you are willing to put in the work required to build such a passive income stream.

Can you make passive income as a YouTuber? Yes, you can make passive income as a YouTuber. Instead of being paid to create videos for an hourly rate, you can create videos on a monetized channel you own and get paid allowing ads to be shown on your videos based on variables including number of monetized views, viewer location, seasons, target market, and industry.

But ads are just one way to monetize a YouTube channel. There are many other ways to monetize a YouTube channel which we will cover in this article. For this to work out for you, you need a strong strategy that details your vision for your venture. With that, here is what it takes to make money with a YouTube Channel.

1. Choosing The Right Niche

This YouTuber is making $1,000/Month on YouTube gaming. Some people are making millions of dollars off their channels sharing videos of themselves doing what they love to do most. This includes makeup artists, electronic product reviewers, dare devil bike riders, pranksters and so forth. So, you can also make a killing showing off your skills or sharing your knowledge through your YouTube channel. Quite literally, your possibilities are limitless here, but you still have to pick one theme and make sure you are really good at it to stand out from all other people offering the same kind of content. Learn more about how to choose a niche for your YouTube channel in the video above.

2. Choosing The Right Format

You should also decide on what types of videos you would like to make. For instance, some people have the skills to make great humor videos, while others can make incredible science videos. Some prefer the DIY niche, while others are into vlogging. Whichever way you would like to express yourself, make sure you have the right kind of passion for the topic, and a unique way to express yourself. Don’t copy other vloggers, or YouTubers. Create your own style or you will just be another Casey Neistat wannabe. Be yourself and you will find a tribe of people who will follow you for your unique qualities as a YouTuber.

Learn More in Project 24

Project 24 contains a full YouTube course about how to make passive income with video content uploaded to this service. Ricky and Jim teach a very specific technique they used to grow and monetize their channel very quickly. Learn more in Project 24.

3. Serving The Right Demographic

If you have decided what niche to base your channel on, congratulations, that’s an important first step. But before you go any further, you should also understand what your audience will be like. Each kind of content has its demographics. Some programmers like to subscribe to channels about improving their code, music lovers like music channels, and makeup videos are overwhelmingly watched by female viewers.

The point is that each channel on YouTube will attract interest from a particular demographic. Sometimes, the audience could even vary based on location; and that group will exhibit unique characteristics based on the amount of time it spends watching YouTube videos and so forth. That being said, make sure that your channel offers diverse and interesting content in the same niche. You will build a following interested in a specific topic, but if you go too far off course you may lose subscribers in the long run.

4. Creating a YouTube Channel

Passive Income YouTube-min
After you have decided on the concept you are going to make videos about, it will be time to open a YouTube channel where you can post this content. While at it, make a brief description of what your channel will be all about. For instance, if you are offering fitness advice, make this apparent in your channel description. Make sure to use words people search for so that potential fans can find you easily in YouTube search. Also, be sure to include any links to your website or social media pages.

5. Following a Proven Strategy

After you have made a channel, it will be time to start posting videos. Posting a batch of about 10 videos in the first couple weeks to launch your channel is a great idea to allow people to better understand your content overall, and entice them to subscribe early on. After that, create a regular posting schedule, between 2 to 3 times per week depending on the content is a good start for the first few months. You will be able to slow down to 1 video every week or few weeks depending on your content schedule once you have built up your channel.

Over time, you will have built a fair collection of videos that viewers will likely binge watch. This will keep them on your channel, and on YouTube much longer, which is excellent for your channel. YouTube’s goal is to keep people on the platform. A regular posting schedule will keep people in the know of when you post videos so they can get notified and jump on to check your content a couple minutes after you post it. This is also an excellent way to boost your channel.

Project 24 contains a full YouTube course about how to make passive income with video content uploaded to this service. Ricky and Jim teach a very specific technique they used to grow their channel very quickly. Learn more in Project 24.


Learn More in Project 24

6. And Following The Rules

Among many things, you have to abide by some rules in order to post monetized content on YouTube. Obviously, having your videos banned would seriously undermine your ability to get paid for your work. Some rules to observe include:

  • Not using vulgar language that gets you reported by users
  • Not showing extreme violence in your videos
  • Not posting any content that would be considered pornographic
  • Not promoting harmful behaviors such as drinking or drug use in your videos
  • Not advertising illegal or regulated products
  • Not promoting controversial or sensitive ideas
  • Not infringing on anyone else’s copyrights

7. Promoting Your Videos

YouTube has gotten quite competitive today, and you may have to promote your content in order to grow it enough to money. Some ways you can promote your channel is having a regular posting schedule, reminding your viewers to subscribe and accept notifications from your channel, in addition to posting comments, and community polls, which will increase user engagement and improve the visibility of your videos on this video sharing platform.

An excellent way to promote your videos consists in collaborating with other YouTubers. You can also create a blog that supports your content and can help get your channel found. The cool thing is, the blog can also be an extra source of income. Learn more about how to create a successful blog in our Blogging Guide.

The idea is to get many people to view the video content you are posting since a greater number of views is what helps you get started with the monetization process in the first place. Let’s talk more about what it takes to make money from YouTube ads.

8. Monetizing Your Content

YouTube requires that you meet certain thresholds with regard to the number of views and subscriptions before you can sign up for their partner program. At the moment, you have to have 1,000 subscribers and 4k hours of watch time within the last 365 days to be able to have your channel be put under review for monetization. If you do not violate any policies or have any issues with your content, YouTube will accept your channel in their program within a couple weeks of achieving those targess, and you will have a monetized channel!

However, advertisements are not the only way you can make money from YouTube. This is usually the least profitable way to make money from a YouTube channel, although ad revenue itself can be significant. Let’s explore other ways you can monetize your YouTube channel.

Other Ways to Make Money Off Your YouTube Channel

Some channels only have a couple thousand subscribers, but they are making way more money than very large channels because they have diversified their monetization strategies. Learn more in this video from Rick and Jim from Income School. They teach how to make money on YouTube in Project 24.

Learn More in Project 24

Selling Products (eCommerce)

You can promote your products through your YouTube channel and redirect customers to your website where they can make a purchase. eCommerce isn’t just about physical products. Many YouTubers make excellent passive income selling eBooks and courses. You can easily promote info-products on YouTube. We have tons of resources about this. Learn more about eCommerce in our eCommerce guide. Learn more about eBooks in our guide here. And learn about how to create info-products in Project 24!


Learn More in Project 24

Selling Merch

You can promote your own merch through your YouTube channel and redirect customers to your website where they can make a purchase. Most often, YouTubers don’t even explicitly sell their merch and just wear it in their videos. People just go to their store and buy it because they see it being worn and want one too. Learn more in our Print on Demand guide on our site.


Learn More in Our Print on Demand Guide

Affiliate Marketing

Being the second-largest search engine after Google, YouTube is also a good place to post product reviews with affiliate links to sites where viewers can make a purchase. Affiliate marketing is a brilliant way to make money passively, and YouTube is one of the most effective ways to promote your affiliate marketing products. Learn more in our Affiliate Marketing guide on our site.


Learn More in Our Affiliate Marketing Guide

Endorsements

If you have made yourself into a celebrity by being an awesome YouTuber with lots of fans, then you might be in a good position to make money as an influencer. This means your videos can feature certain products from popular brands, which can then pay you. Make sure to only accept deals from brands that align with your values, and your audience. Otherwise endorsements will be unnatural and can cause more harm than good.

Donations (Patreon)

Your audience can support your work financially with donations. This works best when you can provide your viewers very valuable, exclusive information. Some YouTubers create VIP videos for their Patreon donors. Others use YouTube’s new Membership features to be able to offer members exclusive video content and live streams directly on YouTube.

Royalties

You might create viral content that everyone wants a piece of. Mainstream media will obviously want to do things right and ensure that they use such content with your permission, and they can pay you for a chance to use your video. In that case you can request to make royalties, which are a form of passive income.

Sponsored Ads

You can also improve your profits by posting ads from sponsors within your videos. In this case, you seek out companies or people who would be willing to advertise their products or services through your YouTube videos for a price. The best thing about such advertising deals is that you don’t have to share your profits with YouTube. Additionally, you get to set the price for the ads that are then displayed in your videos. Just like for endorsements, make sure the brands that you reach out to, or that reach out to you, align with your values, and your audience.

How Passive is Running a YouTube Channel?

Making passive income from YouTube is very possible. People are still making money from videos they made years ago! And if you have your own monetized YouTube channel, you won’t be trading your time for money. A five minute video can rake in hundreds of thousands of dollars if it goes viral. You may have to create hundreds of quality videos to launch your channel, but once things are rolling, you can create a less intense schedule to continue to increase your revenue and keep your channel relevant.

Startup Costs

It does not cost a dime to set up a YouTube channel – you only need a gmail address and you are good to go. At most, what you need is the device you can use to upload the videos to the site, but this is something you can do even on your phone or tablet. So, as far as starting a YouTube channel goes, there are negligible demands with regard to costs.

Difficulty

Creating an income stream off your YouTube channel is pretty easy. The steps are very simple, as you just need to create a channel, upload content, promote it, and monetize the channel to start making money off the traffic you get. That is why even children and teenagers are managing to make money off their popular YouTube channels.

Time

Making passive income from YouTube will take LOTS of time. Meaning months, even years of persistent, consistent content! You may have to upload hundreds of quality videos until your channel actually takes off. Do not give up and stay consistent. You can learn more about how to build a successful YouTube channel more quickly in the course Project 24.

Risks

Even if your YouTube idea does not work out and make you the money you desire, you will not have lost much. After all, starting a channel is free, and creating video content is easy since you can even take the videos with your phone or webcam. So, there is very little risk associated with this money making method, which is part of the reason many people give it a shot. Either you stay consistent, persist and make money, or you just waste a lot of time.

Seasonality

People are on YouTube all the time, therefore, the issue of seasons does not really come up here. However, if the content you post has seasonal significance, then that is a different issue altogether. Obviously, you cannot expect your Easter-themed videos will continue to draw much interest once that holiday is gone.

Return on Investment

Making money from a YouTube channel can offer good ROI. To make greater amounts of money off your channel, use some of the monetization methods we talked about at the end of this guide. You might also have to invest more time and even some cash into your channel, which makes it a bit less passive.

Related Questions

How do you earn money on YouTube? The most classic way to earn money on YouTube is from ads. However, you can make far more money by referring products such as eBooks and courses, selling merch, affiliate marketing, with endorsements, donations, and sponsored ads. Some very small channels are making far more money than large channels with such a diversified strategy.

How much money do you make per 1,000 views on YouTube? How much money do you make per thousand views on YouTube depends on a couple variables including number of monetized views, viewer location, seasons, target market, and industry. The CPM or cost per mille (thousand) monetized views can go from .25 cents all the way up past $50.

Who are the richest YouTubers? The richest YouTubers are all making over $10M/year in ad revenue alone from their YouTube channels. The richest YouTubers include Jacksepticeye, VanossGaming, Markiplier, Jeffree Star, DanTDM, Jake Paul, Ryan ToysReview and, of course, PiewDiePie. They also make income from brand deals and more.