Is YouTube Really a Good Source of Income?
And is it really possible to earn something from it
Nowadays, We all can see people making these videos saying HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON YOUTUBE AND BECOME RICH. And they also share their own success stories on how they made so much of money from YouTube. But there are also many people who share their story of struggle on YouTube for making money. And so, there is also much confusion about whether one can make a good amount of money from YouTube or not.
There are many people who are leaving their jobs to become a full time YouTuber and many teenagers and kids are aspiring to make YouTube videos as a job to earn when they grow up.
YouTube is surely a great place to even make a living. While some creators are just able to scratch the surface, but there are also many content creators out there who are able to make seven and eight figure incomes every year and create incredibly successful digital real estate assets. But to really understand how people earn money from YouTube, we need to know how it all actually works.
First off, you can create a YouTube channel. And then you need to join the YouTube partner program. But here’s the thing, there are some eligibility requirements to join this program.
First is that your channel needs to have at least 4000 watch hours, and you also need to have over 1000 subscribers for your channel to be able to begin earning from the different YouTube monetization features. And once you’ve met the eligibility requirements, you can then apply for an AdSense account.
Now, in order to begin making ad revenue, you need to turn on ads. Youtube monetizes via pre roll, display and other advertising formats. Advertisers pay based on clicks and impressions. YouTube gives the content creator 55% of this revenue and takes 45% for itself.
After joining the partner program, a person can start configuring the newly available monetization methods like launching a merchandise, using super chat and super sticker and a lot more.
So, these were the steps of getting monetized and then actually start earning a few bucks. And, you’ll see that the platform’s name rise to the top in articles about making money from home. Yet, while you can certainly make money on YouTube, that objective is not usually achieved in the traditional manner everyone wants you to believe.
So, the YouTube myth goes like this: Post some videos, attract viewers and get some cash in on revenue generated from ads. It sounds simple and effortless, so that’s the story everyone regurgitates and used to sell get rich quick schemes. But the reality is quite different. And even if the advertisers are paying a descent amount to promote their products through video ads, then too only a portion of their expenditures ever make it into the content creators’ pockets. For example, if advertisers are paying an average of $20 per 1000 ad impressions, the videos where those ads are being shown may only generate $2 or $3 per 1000 views.
In other words, you’re only going to make a couple thousand for every million views. And make no mistake about it, getting millions of views is very challenging. Well, making money on YouTube is not that easy. And if someone is expecting to become a millionaire and to get success overnight, then it is almost impossible.
Many creators on YouTube has struggled for so many years to actually start earning something. And there are also many youtubers who are earning millions and are one of the richest youtubers in the world, but it didn’t happen in a month or even a year but it took almost a decade or two to reach where they are today.
Another thing that people don’t really think about before starting their own channel is what topic to make their videos on. YouTube is an open platform and almost anyone can start making videos and post it on YouTube on almost any topic of their choice. People can make videos on what they like. people can make vidoes on anything, from gaming videos to lifestyle vlogs.
Now the main question that arise is, How much does it cost to start and run a YouTube channel. This thing also depends on what kind of videos a person decides to make, but still it does cost a lot.
As anyone can guess, that camera is the most important gear to make YouTube videos, but that’s not it, there are many more Equipments and Gadgets that are needed for this. And many new youtubers who just get started on YouTube, prefers to shoot their videos on their phones, but most of the time it’s not worth it. Even if your phone has the best camera, still it cannot beat the quality of an actual camera. However, a cheap camera can do the work.
Other equipments like Microphone, Lighting, Tripod, SD cards, Editing apps, etc. all these things can cost over thousands of dollars.
And both the audience and YouTube wants their creators to focus more on the quality and content of their videos. But this might also consume a lot of time. This is also a huge drawback of creating YouTube videos, that it consumes a lot of time to think about different ideas on making making a video, then to film it, and then finally editing it. This is the reason why most of the youtubers prefer to become a full time YouTuber, as it is very difficult to do a job along with handling a YouTube channel.
So, is it really worth it to actually become a full time youtuber? Well, the answer really depends on each individual. If a person is really passionate about YouTube and is ready to invest some time and money in making YouTube videos and can be consistent in it, then the answer is yes. But it is still going to take a long time to make a living from YouTube, and no one can guarantee how much time it is going to take to earn the desired amount of money. As YouTube is very unpredictable, sometimes you might earn millions from just a single video and sometimes you might not even a earn a few thousand dollars even after millions of views.
