If you want to learn how to make money on YouTube, here are 7 easy ways to earn money from your channel and your videos.

Ad revenue is the most common way to make money on YouTube, but it’s not the only or the best way.

(Spoiler: the best way to make money on YouTube is to use many different methods.)

YouTube has 1.9 billion users logging in every month. But every minute, 500 hours of video are uploaded.

This article will not tell you that it’s easy to get rich from YouTube ad revenue. (Although, if you get millions of views, you might make some good money.)

Read on, and we’ll lay out 7 ways to earn income from your YouTube channel, complete with step-by-step instructions.

How to make money on YouTube

1. Join the YouTube Partner Program

The YouTube Partner Program gives regular YouTubers access to special features on the platform.

You don’t need to be a partner to make money on YouTube. Just set up an AdSense account and get views. But being a Partner makes it easier.

YouTube Partners can earn money in many ways: not just from video ads, but also from YouTube Premium fees, Super Chat, channel memberships, and selling merchandise (more on these later).

Step 1: Start a YouTube channel

Don’t worry, we have a handy guide for this. It’s called ‘How to create a YouTube channel.’

Step 2: Make your channel successful enough that it meets the YouTube Partner Program requirements

To join the program, you need a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months.

Step 3: Set up an AdSense account

This is simple. Just follow YouTube’s official guide to AdSense accounts.

Step 4: Explore your new monetization features

Each way to make money on YouTube has its own rules. For example:

Ad revenue: You must be at least 18 years old and make videos that are suitable for advertisers. The less controversial your videos, the more ads you get, and the more money you can make.

YouTube Premium revenue: When a YouTube Premium member watches your video, you get part of their subscription fee. This happens automatically.

Channel memberships: To sell channel memberships (where fans pay extra to support you), you must be at least 18 years old and have more than 30,000 subscribers.

Merchandise shelf: To sell merchandise through YouTube, you need to be at least 18 years old and have at least 10,000 subscribers.

Super Chat payments: To allow fans to pay to highlight their messages in your live chats, you must be at least 18 years old and live in a country where this feature is available.

Step 5: Submit to ongoing reviews

As a YouTube Partner, your channel will be held to a higher standard, according to YouTube. You have to follow not just the YouTube Partner Program policies, but the Community Guidelines. Not to mention staying on the right side of copyright law.