Video / Animation
How Much YouTubers Make
Every individual who enjoys YouTube or has a YouTube channel with content usually dreams of the ultimate way of working from home: Becoming a YouTuber. YouTube has grown in popularity over the years, and an increasing amount of people are turning to YouTube as a way of making money. In the past decade, popular YouTubers have been able to quit their “day job” and make enough revenue from YouTube to live comfortably.
However, it’s important to understand that making money from your YouTube videos is not something that can happen overnight. It sometimes takes months, even years, to have a big enough following to create a steady income. If your YouTube videos typically reach over 1000 views, you are eligible to monetize your videos. YouTubers that have a large US or UK audience will earn more than YouTubers whose audience is based in developing countries.
YouTubers can make money in two ways. One way is through YouTube’s own monetizing system, which uses a combination of views per video, video category, and source country to calculate how much a YouTuber will earn per 1000 views. The other is through sponsored content. Once a popular YouTube has a large enough audience, they will start getting contacted by various brands asking to sponsor them.
YouTube’s monetizing system is run through AdSense, which is a program run by Google that allows companies linked to Google to add automatic text, images, video, or media advertisements targeted to the company’s website and target audience. Once a YouTuber links Google AdSense to their channel, they make 68% of their advertisement’s revenue. YouTube charges advertisers only when a viewer watches 30 seconds of the ad or more. Skipped ads don’t count.
As an example, if you have 1000 views on your video, and 10% of your viewers watch the whole ad on your video, then you have 100 paid views. YouTube typically charges around $0.18 per view, which equates to $18 per 100 views. As the creator, you get 68% of that, meaning a pay-out of $12.24 per 100 paid views.
Here’s a list of some of the current highest paid YouTubers:
- PewDiePie – over 60 million subscribers. Estimated earnings in 2017: $12 million.
- Smosh – over 22 million subscribers. Estimated earnings in 2017: $11 million.
- VanossGaming – over 22 million subscribers. Estimated earnings in 2017: $15.5 million.
- Markiplier – over 19 million subscribers. Estimated earnings in 2017: $12.5 million.
- DanTDM – over 17 million subscribers. Estimated earnings in 2017: $16.5 million.
Popular YouTubers won’t only have content on YouTube. It’s easier for them to gain a following if they utilize multiple forms of social media and capitalize on their own brand name. They can do this by creating a following on Instagram and Facebook and monetizing their posts for product endorsements. Instagram, in particular, is awash with companies looking for brand promoters.
YouTube videos are more than just uploading some content and hoping for the best. Some popular YouTubers have gone as far as to hire video editors for their content, and the majority of them use some kind of YouTube video maker, or at least a intro creator and an outro maker for their content.