Being the second most popular search engine behind Google, YouTube is an immensely useful tool for small business when it comes to making money. The idea centers around business owners and marketers embracing vlogging and building up some following (YouTube subscribers) which ultimately allows them to make money.
This article will deal with everything related to YouTube and making money on YouTube. This piece will be broken into two pieces, the first one shedding light on what YouTube is all about and why you need to be on this platform. In part II of this series we’ll take a look at how you can use YouTube to make money and promote your business.
What You Need to Do – A Step By Step Guide to Make Money Via YouTube
Create an Account and Build Your YouTube Channel
Like any other networking site, the first step you should take is to create an online presence for your brand on the said website or platform. YouTube is easy and free to join. You will need a Gmail account to be able to have an account on YouTube. You can make your Google or Gmail account here and then go to YouTube Signup page to join this platform. Simply put your Google Account credentials and you will get your own YouTube account. Once you have set up the account, it is time to get started on your YouTube channel.
Return to the site, sign in and set up your YouTube channel. You should add targeted keywords to your channel that are relevant to your content in order to ensure that your targeted audience is able to find your channel easily. By navigating advanced channel settings, you can easily come up with keywords that are relevant.
Also, when you make a channel you will have to tell YouTube what category your channel falls in. This is an important point and you must choose the right category to be able to reach to the maximum number of viewers. If you are confused about the category, look around YouTube and see what categories are huge and what your competitors are doing. This will greatly help you.
There are several tools that can help you find keywords specifically designed for YouTube. Since YouTube is pretty much a search engine containing videos, it works just like Google and other such search engines. However, optimizing videos here is much easier than optimizing your website. Nonetheless, it is still recommended that you turn to a professional for help and who better than AOK Marketing. We can guide you through the process and help you create quality content that is also fully optimized so you can make money using YouTube while also promoting what you have to offer.
Further, as a business entity, you should set your username same as the company name. This will help give your channel authenticity and others will also be able to find you easily on the website.
Why Choose YouTube
A huge number of users wonder why they should be on YouTube. If you are also not sure of the potential YouTube holds, here are some stats.
- Over 1 billion people all around the globe use YouTube. That’s a huge number and all of of these users or visitors are your target audience and can help you make big money.
- The company’s revenue has been above 4 billion (per year) the last few years, and the same is the number of visits per day. Yes, you read it right!
- Competition on the website is huge with over 300 hours of new video content being uploaded every minute. This shows the power of YouTube and why you need to be the best to be able to leave a mark.
- Currently, only 9% of US small business are using YouTube as a way to promote their business. However, scope is there and you can utilize the platform in a big way.
- YouTube Mobile is also big and generates over one billion views per day.
- Around 80% of the US adult population is on the website browsing millions of videos. This shows that YouTube is the best and in some way the cheapest platform to reach your target audience.
- about 80% of the visitors come from countries other than the US, and the platform has already launched 85 local versions of the website to monetize traffic. This means that you can make money from this platform even if you live in a country other than the US.
These stats are enough to show the power of the brand called YouTube. This Google baby is one of the biggest sites today and there is no reason why you should not be on YouTube and enjoying its benefits.
What Kind of Content is A Success
On YouTube you will find all kind of content, from tips to future tech to animated video and even complete television shows and movies. However, the kind of content that attracts the maximum attention is music.
One of the main reasons why such a huge number of people use YouTube to listen to music is the fact that it is free and the availability of playlists also make it easy to enjoy music nonstop. Some of the most search items on YouTube include:
- Music – Justin Bieber is the most popular celebrity on YouTube. The top 10 music videos in 2015 scored over 66 million subscribers. Not just music, videos related to movies and television shows, such as trailers, are also very popular.
- MineCraft– The popular game is hugely searched for on YouTube. Some of the most famous videos include players showing their skills. However, Call of Duty ended up being the most popular game in 2015.
- Animal Videos– The YouTube population loves pets. Videos that show cats and dogs indulging in stunts or simply acting cute often go viral.
- Sports– Sports are searched for like crazy on YouTube. WWE is one of the biggest channels and generate a huge amount of revenue through YouTube. Other sports include football, cricket etc.
- Makeup Tips– YouTube helps make several men and women earn money simply by being popular on YouTube. If you have a talent you can promote it on YouTube by giving free makeup tips and becoming a makeup artist. If you have beauty products you can upload videos of users of experts using your products and providing tips.
- Cooking and Health Tips – The world is changing and today’s Internet users are interested in tasty yet healthy meals. This is why channels promoting healthy cooking and health tips are extremely famous. Several fitness experts are also earning big moolah by providing workout and diet tips.
All these type of videos are extremely famous on YouTube and you can also make money by uploading such content. However, remember that only original content will get you hits. If you steal content from others you will not only run the risk of being banned by the community, but will not also be able to enjoy the benefits the platform has to offer.
YouTube and Myths
For some reasons there are several myths surrounding YouTube and its ability to help you make money. Without much ado, let’s bust these today.
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You Can Only Earn Money If You Are In The US
This is a myth that is believed by many but is totally false. You do not have to be an American national or resident to make money via YouTube. While it’s true that hits from certain regions will help you make more money, but you can be anywhere and start to make money for as long as YouTube is available in your region.
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Nobody Checks The Content
This is another myth that a lot of people tend to believe and hence suffer from. While it is true that not every video uploaded is checked, yet YouTube has community guidelines are videos are scanned time to time. Plus, the option to report a video is always there and if a video receives a certain number of complaints YouTube ends up removing it or taking action. Some actions that it strongly condemns include uploading copyrighted content (even using music in the background) and uploading pornographic material.
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I Need a Business to Make Money
Do not let anyone fool you. You do not need a business or a website to make money via YouTube. All that you need to make money is a YouTube account and content that is attractive. While it is true that business accounts are making big money on YouTube, as per stats some of the biggest earners are individual YouTube celebrities. Yes, you can be one too!
To sum it up, YouTube is available for everybody and anybody. It is one of the biggest platforms offering you a huge number of opportunities. If you have any more questions please get in touch with us at AOK Marketing or continue reading this article.
What Kind of Content Should I Upload?
Now that it is clear that YouTube holds potential, it is time to look at the kind of content you can upload. Let’s take a look:
- If you are a big organization: If you’re an organization it is very important that you upload content that is relevant to your niche. Imagine how stupid it would look if UFC starts to upload cricket videos, even if they have the potential to be big. However, you can be creative like WWE and come up with unique videos. WWE’s channel shows its superstars do different activities including singing, working out etc. This way they are able to get attention of not just those that enjoy wrestling but others as well. This is a very wise move and must be done properly otherwise it may backfire.
- If you are a small business: You have more options if you have a small business. For example, if you are a business selling products you can post content related to its reviews, use and features etc. Again, it is very important to post content that is relevant to what you have to offer.
- If you are an individual: Here you have all the options in the world. You can do everything from posting random videos to videos of your kids playing to your pets doing funny things. However, it is still recommended that you give your channel or profile an identity. You cannot post things out of the blue. Your channel should be known for something specific. Hence it is important to stick to one kind of a niche. You should know what you do the best and how you can break the Internet. Also, if you want to do multiple things you can have multiple accounts. Yes, that’s possible as well!
How YouTube Can Be a Money Making Opportunity
You can make money via YouTube in three different ways. Let’s talk a bit about each of these:
- Monetize Your Video: YouTube earns its revenue with the help of advertisement and it is willing to share a small fraction of its earning with you. You will be able to know more about this option in part II of this blog.
- Advertise Using Videos: You can advertise your own products with the help of YouTube. This will help bring in potential customers and you can earn profit thanks to more sales. In addition to this, you can advertise other businesses as well and charge them for the same.
- Affiliate Marketing:Affiliate marketing is big today, all you have to do is sell a product using your own affiliate link and enjoy a share of profit.
The right option depends on a number of things including your strong points and what you enjoy doing the most.
And this is it for today. However, there is a lot more you need to know about YouTube and its potential. Conversely, you do not need to worry because this article will continue to part II. Keep checking this space for more on YouTube as we’ll be guiding you through posting on YouTube in the next batch of this article.
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