How I Make $5,000 A Month On YouTube
Are you curious about how much YouTubers make? Maybe you are looking to start your own YouTube channel, or you are just a curious person. Today I’m sharing my 7 Streams of Income From YouTube and how I make over $5,000 a month while still working a 9-5.
Importance of Multiple Streams of Income
I’ve learned that I need to bring in money from more than one source. What if we lose our jobs or get a considerable pay cut like we did in 2020? We don’t and cannot rely solely on our day jobs.
I’m learning about investing, and one of the biggest lessons is the importance of having a diversified portfolio. Just like having a diversified portfolio is critical with my investing, it’s just as important to diversify your income streams. In other words: ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!’
Active Income vs. Passive Income
Before we dig into the importance of multiple income streams, I want to talk about the two different types of income. They are active income and passive income.
Active income is income that you currently have to work for to get paid. In other words, if the work isn’t done, there is no paycheck.
Passive income is work that you complete once and continue to get paid months and sometimes years later over and over again.
For example: Creating one YouTube video takes me about 8-10 hours of work. I get paid through AdSense revenue. Initially, this is active income; however, I only create the video once. Years down the road, that video will still get views that I get paid for. This YouTube video then turns into passive income.
Now, let’s jump into multiple income streams!
Watch on YouTube!
1. Google AdSense
Google AdSense is how YouTube pays YouTubers for the ads that are placed on their video. At this time, to qualify for the YouTube Partner Program, you need to have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the last 365 days.
Every time an ad plays on my channel, I make 55% of the revenue, and Youtube takes 45%. I make an average of $1,200 per month in ad revenue. Some months, like April, my ad income can reach upwards of $1,700. Other months, my ad revenue can be under $1,000. I like to think of it as a ‘seasonal’ source of money. With Coronavirus, advisors have already dropped their rates on what they pay per view.
The main factor of ad revenue on YouTube is the number of views. You can have a million subscribers on your YouTube channel, but if you don’t get any views, you won’t make a penny off of AdSense. Once that ad starts, then you start getting paid, typically it’s a fraction of a penny, but it adds up over time. The type and length of an ad also play into how much you get paid and if the viewer interacts with the ad by clicking. If they click, they get paid more.
The last part of AdSense that factors into how much you get paid is what’s called CPM, which stands for Cost Per Mille, aka cost per a thousand. This equates to what they pay you for every 1,000 views on that video or your channel’s average. The CPM varies by your niche, channel, type of video, number or ads in the video, and even if there is offensive language.
One way that I have increased my views is to use the plugin, TubeBuddy, which helps me know how I will rank for that topic, suggested tags, and search terms. Try TubeBuddy for FREE here!
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you partner with a brand or company, and they offer your audience deals when they are interested in a product. Then, if your audience clicks on a link or purchases from the partnered company, you get a ‘kickback.’
With affiliate marketing, it is vital that you only partner with brands that you have personally vetted and trust. I am particularly with the brands that I recommend and turn down hundreds of brands a month because they do not align with my brand or values.
At Freedom In A Budget, I partner with companies like Amazon, Robinhood, Fetch Rewards, and more. If you, my audience member, are interested in what they’re doing and you are referred from a link on my website or YouTube channel, I get money! Here are some of my top affiliates:
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3. Sponsorships
The following stream of income on YouTube is Sponsorships; this is when you partner with a brand, and they pay you directly to mention their product or to do a dedicated video for them.
I’m extremely picky about what brands I partner with and do extensive research on the company before agreeing to do a sponsorship. I receive at least 20 emails a day from companies wanting me to do sponsorships. While this is also not a ‘guaranteed’ source of income, when I do agree to partner with a company and/or brand, I charge between $1500-$3000 a video.
4. Online Courses
Digital or Online Courses have become my favorite stream of income because it is a way to help and coach multiple people at once. Courses are also great passive income, you create the course once, and then you make money each time someone enrolls with limited customer support.
I have two courses, How To Save Money on Groceries and my signature entrepreneur course, Dreamer To Profitable. I had it on my goals list for two years to make my course on groceries, but to be honest, it felt like Mount Everest. It felt like something that would take SO much work, so I just kept putting it off.
If you want to create your own course, I dig in deep and walk you through step by step in Dreamer To Profitable.
Here is a quick step-by-step guide for creating an online course:
- Decide on a topic – If you need inspiration on topics, download 147 Online Business Ideas, which has an entire section on course topic ideas.
- Choose what platform you are going to host your course on; I use and recommend Teachable.
- Create an outline of your modules
- Script or bullet point your lessons
- Film, edit and upload your lessons to Teachable
- Launch your course and start promoting!
5. Digital Downloads
Digital downloads are another great passive income stream. Once you create the product, you list it and sell it over and over again. For example, I sell excel budget templates, savings trackers, debt pay-off trackers, and printables. The best part of digital downloads is the item is automatically sent to them or downloadable, so there is no shipping.
I host my digital downloads on my website, Freedom In A Budget, and on my Etsy Shop and make on average $150-$500 a month.
6. Coaching
I do one-on-one coaching for entrepreneur coaching, budget coaching, and a package that creates a budget for you. I average four to five coaching clients per month, and I genuinely enjoy doing this type of work. Helping people has always been a passion of mine, and when it comes to personal finances and spreading that message via YouTube, why wouldn’t I love collecting a paycheck? This work is the epitome of active income, but it is a source of money at the end of each month.
For more information on my packages, click here. I also offer calls using the platform Clarity. I love that the clients can schedule a time and only charged per minute that we are talking.
7. Patreon
Patreon is a monthly subscription to help support your favorite creators. On Patreon, you will find exclusive videos, like Budget Report Cards, personal videos, behind the scenes, live streams, as well as all of my budget templates and printables. Patreon is a great way to connect with your audience on a personal level without having to worry about YouTube’s restrictions or the YouTube algorithm.
Recommended tools & my equipment for YouTube and my online business:
- Dreamer To Profitable: Signature entrprenuer course
- TubeBuddy: Best and easiest plugin for SEO
- Teachable to host your course
- Canva: What I use to make my thumbnails and graphics
- Tutorials with Kelly Anne Smith: Tutorials for entrepreneurs
- My Camera
- My lens
- Lighting kit
- Microphone
- Flodesk: Email service – get 50% off for life
- Siteground: Website hosting $6.95/month
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