How Much Do YouTubers Earn?
To get a broader idea of some possible variations to the case I’m absolutely sure about, I posed a question in a Facebook group for Digital Nomads, asking if there was anyone in the group who was making their full-time income as a YouTuber. I deliberately didn’t ask how much they were making, although that was what I really wanted to know, because I wanted them to discuss all the other dynamics around the monthly figure they’re managing to pull in.
So how much do YouTubers earn?
Taking into account the one case I’m sure about, which of course is that of a friend of mine and a follower of this blog, we’re looking at figures of around $400 to $600 per month. These are earnings from YouTube alone, i.e. from having enabled monetization via those ads you see before, during or after the videos you might be watching on YouTube.
So it’s basically like what used to be Google’s AdSense program, except with video ads money is generated even if there are no click-throughs. Basically you earn ad revenue from the ads merely being shown in relation to your video, much like how traditional television media still works today.
The $400 to $600 range puts things into a bit of perspective, doesn’t it? Bear in mind that these are some of the most successful YouTubers, with subscriber numbers that have since surpassed the 50k mark and are rapidly chasing down 100k subs. My YouTuber friend, who runs a channel about health and life hacks, recently received his famous YouTube plaque to celebrate 100k subs and his videos generate around 1k-2k views within the first hour of being uploaded. He uploads about six videos per week.
So this kind of puts into perspective just how much work you’d need to put in just to make up to $600 per month, which brings into focus some of the other things YouTubers do to consolidate their earnings. If you’re living in Southeast Asia then maybe $600 in passive income might be enough for the month, but you’d naturally be looking to make more than that.
YouTuber Enrichment
Do yourself a favour and check out this app called Callmart, which up until now has made for somewhat of a secret way YouTubers are supplementing their ad revenue-sharing income. Basically the app allows you to make money online by partnering with the developer to share the earnings generated from users calling in to communicate with you. You set the price that the callers will have to pay and this functions as sort of a consultation fee collection mechanism. Basically you determine how much you’ll be earning per minute.
Another very popular way YouTubers are extending their income is via affiliate marketing in conjunction with selling their very own products. My vlogger friend uses some of his originally created music in his videos, some of which is really good, so he sells that music as well by marketing it via the links placed in the description box.