There are tons of ways one can make money online. While the amount you make depends on the type of activity you do, we will talk about making some legitimate money through YouTube and compare it with Blogging.
YouTube Channel Monetization
YouTube channel monetization has been around for some time now. And you’ve probably watched a lot of YouTubers making good fortune through their video content.
It’s indeed a legitimate way to make some actual money. While adding contents that’s meaningful and helpful for others, you get to earn advertising revenue through your channel and videos.
YouTube Channel Requirements for Monetization
So how can you make money off YouTube? We’ll see some of the basic requirements you have to meet in order to start monetizing your YouTube channel.
- Channel subscription must be 1,000 minimum
- Channel watch time must be a minimum of 4000 hours over the preceding 365 days or
- Get 10 Million short videos views in the last 90 days and
- No copyrighted strike videos are eligible for monetization
These are the very basic eligibility for your YouTube channel to start monetization. You can “apply for monetization” only when you meet the above conditions.
Setting up and Preparing Your YT Channel for Monetization
YouTube accounts are not a separate account and free to create. You just need to have a Google account (a gmail, in other words). Go to YouTube and sign in (If not already signed in) with your gmail account.
On the top right side, you will see your initial. Click there and then click on “Your Channel”.
You will have the option to customize your channel from there, manage your videos etc.
Adding Videos to Your YouTube Channel
This is the main and most important part of your YouTube channel. Your channel will be like a shop with no inventory if you have no videos.
So feed your YouTube channel with interesting and unique, copyright free videos. Create and upload such videos which can have a large audience base. The number of views and the watch time you will get from your videos will be important.
With this in mind, try creating and uploading videos to a certain targeted group or in a certain niche to build a fan base.
You can choose any niche you have interest in, a niche that can have many videos in the long term.
For example, there are a host of YouTube Channels with Football Match Highlights, or gifting people, funny pranks, about certain fixes or guides and tips and tricks.
It could also be about your travel destinations – a vlogger or video blogger. The limits are endless.
Frequent and Regular Addition of Contents
In order to gain more subscribers and views, you will need to frequently and regularly add new videos to keep your audience engaged.
If you are not able to do this, you will slowly lose out on your subscriptions and views and will find it hard to grow your channels.
Organic growth is a way in which you naturally earn views and subscribers from people who show interest in your videos.
Paid advertisements and promotions are the opposite of organic growth. That’s not to say you can not promote your channel. But sure, it will cost you money.
Apply for Monetization and Start Making Money
Now this is the most thrilling part. Once you meet the criteria set out to apply for monetization, you can apply for it with a click of a button.
You may also choose to be emailed when you meet the criteria as above.
Your application will then be reviewed by a real human at Google (YouTube) and you will be notified once approved. The time taken may not be the same for all but sadly, the process is not automatic. Besides every application is not guaranteed to be accepted.
That’s some process to follow. But if it’s your passion, you should not be feeling demotivated in the process and rather enjoy them as your journey.
Blogging and Making Money from Blogging
Blogging is a way of creating websites or blogs on the internet such as this, for users to visit and get useful information from.
We will describe in short about how to get started creating a blog and the look into how you can make money blogging.
Investment Capital for Blogging
While creating a YouTube channel is completely free, you have both option of free and investing some actual money for blogging.
Of course there are platforms such as Blogger.com and WordPress.com etc to create free blogs, you may like to spend a few bucks to get things professional if you are serious.
Then there are various blogging platforms such as popular CMS (Content Management System) like WordPress or Blogger, Wix etc.
Starting a new Blog
Starting a new blog is easy if you have done before. But for people like me, it took few months to get started as I had to learn everything myself with the help of internet.
Get a domain, purchase a hosting plan and set up your new blog.
It’s important to choose a niche on which you will blog about – be it gardening, a hobby, fishing, travelling, tech tips and tricks etc.
Adding Blog Contents
Once your blog is up and running, it’s time to add contents – much like videos for YouTube channel.
Keep writing or maybe outsource them if you are not a writer yourself. Add your contents to your blog regularly – people love fresh contents.
Make sure you add valuable, informative and original contents as otherwise most people will only skim through and leave within 5 seconds.
Ensure that you give them the information they came looking for. By one way or another they have landed on your blog – give them what they are looking for.
That way you will get loyal visitors and more and more visitors will find out about your blog and its contents.
Monetizing your Blog
This is the interesting part – monetizing your hard work for some returns.
You can apply for various advertising platforms such as the popular Google Adsense. I have talked about in detail, how to apply for Adsense on your new blog on another post.
Adsense is a popular way to monetize your blog and definitely a good option.
Others like affiliate marketing can also be an option when you choose to expand.
Comparing YouTube and Blogging to Make Money
Google Adsense is the common way people make money through YouTube channel and Blogging.
Advertisers pay Google to get their products and services advertised and reach millions around the world. These get’s placed on your YouTube videos or Blog pages and posts and you as a publisher get your share of the revenue.
The big difference does come in here. YouTube earnings can be taxed directly by YouTube. Channel owners need to submit their US tax info for claim much reduced tax rates. if not, then upto 24% of total earnings will be deducted by YouTube before payout.
This is applicable only for Adsense for Videos (YouTube earnings)
Contrary to this, Adsense earnings from Blogging (Adsense for Content) are not directly taxed – meaning you will get paid the finalized amount of your earning.
Which is a better earning Platform? YouTube or Blogging?
There is no direct answer to this. While some people may have a knack to create and share wonderful videos, some may find writing and adding article contents to be more suitable to their hobby.
It totally depends on which mode of sharing information and entertainment you prefer to communicate with your audience.
But as on date, both YouTube and Blogging are one of the most reliable and legitimate ways to make some advertising revenue online.
Conclusion
Now that you have an idea on how to make money using YouTube (Free) and Blogging (Free or with some initial investment). It’s upto you to decide on which one to go for.
Making money off internet is not easy. However, there are advantages such as flexibility (time, place etc) as you don’t need an office or a specified time to work.
I hope you find this content helpful. Do let me know if you have any queries in the comments section below.
