Strategy
YouTube Monthly Payment Guide: How To Increase Your Monthly Earnings
You knew the competition was going to be stiff the moment your 7-year-old neighbor (and his grandma!) figured out how to create a YouTube channel and started calling himself a YouTuber. Creating and publishing content has never been easier, and well, making money off of it has naturally become harder.
But while it now takes a lot more effort to earn from the platform, more opportunities have also opened up for creators. In this article, we find out what YouTube monthly payments are like, how users typically get paid, and how you can increase your earnings as a YouTuber.
How do YouTubers Get Paid?
YouTube earns the bulk of its revenue through ads一yes, the ones that shamelessly interrupt your K-Pop binge, mid-fanchant. The profit generated from those ads, in turn, is what YouTube shares with creators who are part of its YouTube Partner Program (YPP), an initiative that gives YouTubers the opportunity to share in the platform’s advertising revenue.
There are two types of advertisements from which creators can make money: CPC (cost per click), where you get paid according to how many viewers click on an ad served on your content; and CPM, which is the amount of money you get per 1,000 views longer than 30 seconds.
Additionally, revenue from YouTube Premium membership fees is also distributed to creators based on how much of their content viewers watch. They can also earn profits from other YouTube tools like Super Chat, Merch Shelf, and channel memberships, as well as from other profit-driving methods.
Youtube Monthly Payment Guide
We know finally earning from your videos is absolutely exhilarating. But before you get too excited, here’s the deal: the first couple of dollars you make won’t be paid until your total earnings reach the payment threshold, which, for the US, is $100.
Once you cross that line, though, you can start enjoying the fruits of your labor. At this point, you should already have your AdSense account set up. Since your eligibility to receive payments is dependent on AdSense, and AdSense’s payment cycle is monthly, YouTubers can expect monthly payouts, typically between the 21st and the 26th of the month.
Here’s what YouTube monthly payment looks like, assuming you’ve reached the $100-threshold:
By the 3rd of every month, your earnings from the previous month are calculated and finalized. This will be reflected on your Payments page, which includes other details, such as deductions related to adjustments and other fees. You have until the 20th of that same month to make changes to the payment information like payment method and removal of payment holds. Payment will then be processed and issued to your bank between the 21st and 26th.
While YouTube’s monthly payment cycle is pretty standard, the pay rates for each creator vary, depending on a number of factors, including how popular your channel is, what niche you cover, and the actual profits that Youtube makes from specific advertisers. To give you an idea, here’s a picture of different YouTube creators’ monthly earnings:
American YouTuber Tiffany Ma, who posts lifestyle videos on her channel for her 1.8M subscribers, makes between $4,500 and $11,500 per month. Meanwhile, Nate O’brien who has 800K fewer subscribers than Ma, earns as much as $54,600 in a month from his personal finance channel.
While YouTubers with more viewers naturally rake in more profits, it’s not to say that creators with a few thousand subscribers cannot make money off of their channels. Jen Lauren, for instance, a nano-influencer who films health and fitness videos, was earning up to $195/month with less than 2,000 subscribers.
What are the Youtube Partner Program Requirements?
Sure, anyone with access to a computer or a smartphone and at least a 2-Mbps internet connection can set up their own channel on YouTube. However, it takes a lot more than that to earn money from it.
The first step toward your first dollar is the YouTube Partner Program. But of course, as with everything else in life, there are boxes to be ticked and requirements to be met. Minimum eligibility requirements to join YPP include compliance with YouTube’s channel monetization policies; residence in a country or region where the YPP is available; compliance with YouTube’s Guidelines, with the channel having zero active strikes; at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the last year; and a linked AdSense account.
To clarify, these qualifications only determine if you’re eligible for the program. Meeting the threshold just means your application will be put into queue for the review process, but it doesn’t guarantee approval. Often, the reason anyone gets rejected is if reviewers found that a significant portion of your channel doesn’t meet YouTube’s policies and guidelines. The good news is, you can re-apply 30 days after your rejection, so there’s always hope!
Does Youtube pay for views or subscribers?
The number of views your videos get and the number of subscribers your channel has are definitely factors that determine how much you earn as a YouTuber. However, YouTube does not pay creators based on these alone. You also throw in the popularity of your channel, the level of engagement your channel generates, and the niche your channel is built around, among others, into the mix. Ultimately, you’re paid according to how many users viewed and clicked on the ads placed on your content.
Here’s a simple way to look at it: Youtube earnings directly depend on ad views. As a YouTube creator, you share in these earnings. Now, on average, advertisers pay $.018/view. If your video gets 1,000 views, it’s worth $18. YouTube keeps the 32% while creators get 68% of the revenue generated from ads on their content. This means you earn $12.24 per 1,000 views.
So the quick answer is: no, YouTube neither pays per view nor per subscriber. However, they influence your pay rate and indirectly increase the number of views your videos receive through shares and other forms of engagement. And well, the more views you get, the more money you’re paid!
Ways to increase your YouTube channel monthly earnings
Clearly, ads are still the main source of income for a lot of YouTubers. However, it’s not the easiest way to make money through the platform. It’s more complicated than simply uploading a video of your cat being cute. Fortunately, while you’re building your audience and streaming your way to 1M subscribers, you can explore other revenue streams and use your channel as a business tool. Here are a few creative ways you can go beyond ads for revenue.
1. Affiliate Marketing
You don’t have to have a huge following for this strategy to work. You only need an engaged audience and companies that offer an affiliate program. With affiliate marketing, you receive a percentage of a company’s sales by promoting its products or services. For YouTubers, an easy way to do this is to feature products or services (that would ideally be relevant to your channel’s niche) on their videos, and lead viewers to the brand’s e-commerce site and/or encourage them to purchase specific products or services, through affiliate links.
2. Sell Your Own Products
You’ve already got potential customers: your viewers. Take advantage of the attention and use it to introduce your own brand. Whether it’s t-shirts, baseball caps, or homemade beer you’re brewing in your basement, selling your own merch is a good way to bring in profits. But wait一there’s more! This strategy goes beyond generating revenue. It also increases your visibility, both online and offline, and presents an opportunity for you to deepen your connection with your fans.
3. Create Sponsored Content
The best thing about this strategy is that you get to keep 100% of your profit to yourself. The keys to sponsored content are finding the right brand to partner with (probably not the best idea to collaborate with Coca-Cola if you make fitness videos); maintaining authenticity, which means your opinions reflect your beliefs and values; and honesty一always make your audience aware that you’re advertising to them.
Conclusion
When it comes to YouTube monthly payments, there’s no one single formula to compute for different creators’ earnings. YouTube fame一and pay一depends on a variety of factors. The two most important things, however, regardless of the size of your following or the strategy you choose to earn, are creativity and hard work. If you have a good combination of both, it can get you somewhere, someday.
Let us know what you think一leave us a comment; and if you liked what you just read, don’t forget to share this article on your feed.
