Expert Tips for Getting Monetized on YouTube
It’s not hard to get monetized on YouTube and start turning your hobby into a full-fledged business. In this video, we’re going to give you tips for growing your channel to the point where it can be monetized, get there fast, and keep the momentum going. Cover photo by: Matt Moloney
What are the requirements for YouTube Partnership and monetization?
It’s not terribly difficult to get monetized on YouTube – the requirements are pretty attainable. It’s called the Partner Program, and your channel will have to be reviewed once reaching certain milestones. First, you need to reach 1000 subscribers. This is a fantastic milestone for your channel, and can cascade your channel into further success. You also must have 4000 hours of public watch hours on your videos in the last 12 months, but if you manage to rack up 1000 subscribers you will probably have also acquired that much watch time on your content.
In addition to those requirements, you must also follow YouTube policies, live in a country or region where the partner program is available, and have a linked AdSense account.
How to Get Your First 1000 Subscribers
Getting your first 1000 subscribers can be a long, slow journey unless you happen to go viral, but there are surefire ways to get there.
Your content is the first place to start. Your content can be anything you want, but it’s important to understand the audience you’re trying to target, create consistent content that they will enjoy, and have fun with the process. You can reach your first 1000 subscribers with a new channel by creating the right video at the right time. You can do a creative rendition of a popular internet trend or tackle a topic or question that no one else has made a good video about. There is also some success to be found in copying the video concepts of popular channels, but this can stunt your growth in the long term.
Photo: Alex Andrews
Once you start getting your first few views, there are some easy ways to encourage people to subscribe.
The first method is to simply ask. Research has shown that simply reminding viewers to like and subscribe can increase subscription rates. At the beginning and end of every video, just remind viewers to subscribe. No one is going to complain about you doing this, and you’ll probably get a few extra subscribers out of it.
Speaking of which, onscreen reminders help too. A simple animation that can play while you’re talking is a subtle reminder to anyone paying attention.
You can also use watermark branding in your videos. This lets you add a logo to the bottom right of the video player. It will link to your channel page. You could make this your channel icon, but you can also make it a subscribe button, or have the word subscribe in it. This can pop up part way through your video and serve as another distraction to get people thinking about subscribing.
The other video element you can add is an end screen, which lets you use the last 20 seconds of your video for suggestions on what to watch next. You can also add in a subscribe button, and this final reminder before the video ends may help remind people to subscribe. If you have an outro screen, it should also have a static reminder to subscribe.
Once your video is live, create a pinned comment on the video reminding people to subscribe. This is your chance to write something personal, so be sure to mention the next subscriber goal you’re trying to reach, and any other goals you have.
You can also add a subscription reminder in the description, and your link can be a special link that automatically prompts users to subscribe. Just add ?sub_confirmation=1 to the end of your channel URL.
Engaging with your existing and potential audiences is also critical to reaching those first 1000 subscribers. When you first start out, you should be able to reply to every single comment on your videos. Click the heart button on the best comments – it’s a free way to make commenters feel more appreciated. You can also make yourself known on other people’s channels by regularly leaving good comments on their videos. If you’re able to get in contact with another content creator, perhaps one that has slightly more subscribers than you, you may be able to work out a deal where you collaborate on some videos. This can be as simple as featuring each other in a single video on each channel, or an ongoing partnership where you create content together indefinitely. This will introduce both of you to a wider audience, and can really help build subscribers and loyalty in the early days of your channel.
YouTube professionals will also tell you that you need to stay consistent with your uploads. This has become less important as time has gone on. While it would be helpful to set a schedule and stick to it, it’s more important to your audience that you make content that is of high quality. Whether it’s every day, every week, every month, or a different schedule entirely, if your content is good then it will resonate with your subscribers.
We also mentioned that you need 4000 watch hours in the last 12 months. If you’re making good content that people are actually watching, then getting those hours long before reaching 1000 subscribers should be easy.
Once you reach these milestones, you can apply to the Partner Program. You will be automatically reviewed once you reach these milestones, although this process could take several weeks. To see your status, go to your YouTube studio, then click on Monetization.
Once you are invited into the Partner Program, you can add advertisements to your videos that are eligible for them. These ads come in various forms. Pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, overlay, and more. When viewers see these ads, you’ll get paid. Simple as that!
That’s all about monetization on YouTube, and how to get access to monetization in the first place. Thank you for watching this FilterGrade video, and we hope you’ll subscribe to see more YouTube growth advice from us. See you in the next one!
