Seven ways in which YouTubers make money

Idea concept featured image

Published: March 16, 2021 at 11:23 am

Last Updated on October 1, 2023 at 9:19 pm

Ask a random person, “how YouTubers make money,” and they are likely to say, “from ads”, and by this, they refer to Adsense insertions at the start and middle/bottom of the video. However, Adsense income is only one of many ways in which YouTubers earn money. In fact, with experience, one learns that there are better ways to make money on YouTube. A listing and discussion of YouTube monetization methods.

Adsense Revenue

The current eligibility is 1000 subscribers and 4000 public watch hours (The Freefincal Youtube Channel got Adsense approval before this rule kicked in). Many new YouTubers get discouraged by these limits. The problem is that Adsense Ad revenue heavily depends on how active you are in producing video content and quality.

Quality in social media only means how long the video is watched, how often they are chosen when recommended in the notification feed of a subscriber or the video feed of a non-subscriber, the engagement level (comments, likes, dislikes) etc. This is why content creators spend time creating catchy thumbnails and titles. Of course, the content also matters, but obviously, “five stocks to buy in 2021” will do better than “how to value a stock”.

Assuming you know how to create “quality” content, ad revenue depends on video production regularity. Rain or shine, you have to push out videos at least once a week (they may take hours of shooting, editing or outsourcing costs).


Join over 32,000 readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email!
🔥Enjoy massive discounts on our robo-advisory tool & courses! 🔥

A few videos might go viral (high ad revenue for a few days) or even provide consistent revenue. However, if you wish to scale the income, then the watch time of videos should increase, not just subscribers.

I know of channels with a few lakhs of subscribers but not even 2000 views per video. “Binging with Babish” clocks in a minimum of one million views per video, and this with about 8.7 million subs! So only about 10-12% of subs would watch the videos! (In my case, it is about 3-5%).

The point is, we should think beyond Adsense revenue while starting a YouTube channel. The effort per dollar earned is too much.

Other forms of advertisement revenue on YouTube

The main enemy for Adsense revenue is ad-blocking – primarily from desktops. There are other forms of advertising which circumvent this.

2. direct ads: get ad clips from advertisers or agencies and insert them within the ad. Only reasonably established channels can pull this off.

3. paid promotions: The YouTuber introduces a product as the “sponsor of the video” with a discounted (affiliate) link in the video description. There are media agencies that can get such deals. These can get funny or weird at times (Adam Ragusea introducing men’s briefs while cooking a sausage dish).

4. paid reviews of a product with affiliate links, aka “influencer campaigns”.

5. Good old affiliate marketing: Many YouTubers add Amazon buy links for the mike, light, camera they use etc., in every video description. The difference between 5 and 4 is, in 4, agencies contact the channel owner. In 5, the channel owner researches products that pay the highest commissions and are high-ticket (e.g., cruise trips) and review them independently.

6. All of the above means of promotion can also be done (or re-done) by posting on the channels community page or via “Youtube Shorts”. Listing this as a separate item as it not something people realise.

There is one key difference between Adsense revenue and the above methods (except 5). Adsense pay only if the ads are watched. I have explained how Adsense advertising works in this video.

The content creator can negotiate significant upfront payment for the other methods. For example, Rs. 5000 deal on a product promotion (this is on the lower end, celebrities can demand a lot more) would mean we can turn off Adsense ads on that video! (Some product manufacturers may even demand this). It is revenue before a single view is registered!

The problem with product-promotion or affiliate income is a conflict of interest. If your audience has no sense of community around you, it is fine, but once you have a brand established, it may put off many viewers – I am not referring to losers who post long hate comments.

I get daily emails for product promotion (particularly demat account opening!), but that is not my cup of tea. If you do not mind affiliate marketing (promoting other’s products), then take the plunge when your channel (or blog) is new.

Promoting our own products/skills

All the six methods of monetization discussed above involve advertising products manufactured by others. A less-discussed but extremely profitable method is to promote our own brand or own products/services – often indirectly.

For example, I don’t have to explicitly mention the robo advisory template in every third video posted. Just the mention of the site name or posting in the community tab results in traffic here to respective product pages and conversions.  Videos offer an excellent way to discuss the features of a product.

There are some caveats in this method, though. The content creator must focus on community building and not views or even subscribers! This works well for technical content, explanations, webinars etc.

Many digital marketers will significant web traffic to their sites, or channel views take the bold step of disabling Adsense. This helps them to promote their own services in a distraction-free way.

If you are interested in starting a YouTube channel or a growing one, we recommend providing engaging content. Adsense (or direct ads) can always be turned off or on at any time or per video. The main issue is with expectations. Many expect to make 1000s of dollars each month but only can pull this off and require consistent content creation: YouTube recommends creating about a month’s content in advance at any point in time.

At the start of the content creation journey, many people may not even think of their own products. So this need not be an immediate consideration for most. However, this income can quickly overtake ad income in the long run, requiring less regular content creation.

In the earn from skills course, we discuss how to lay the foundations for this and build a community that trusts you and buys from you. More than 550 members are part of our exclusive Facebook group working on their skills. We are on the verge of creating 1000 videos on YouTube. To celebrate the occasion, you can join the earn from skills course at a 40% discount (Rs. 3000 only instead of Rs. 5000) via this link.

Do share this article with your friends using the buttons below.

🔥Enjoy massive discounts on our courses, robo-advisory tool and exclusive investor circle! 🔥& join our community of 5000+ users!
Use our Robo-advisory Tool for a start-to-finish financial plan! More than 1,000 investors and advisors use this!
New Tool! => Track your mutual funds and stock investments with this Google Sheet!
Follow Freefincal on Google News
Follow Freefincal on Google News
Subscribe to the freefincal Youtube Channel. Subscribe button courtesy: Vecteezy.
Subscribe to the freefincal Youtube Channel.
Follow freefincal on WhatsApp Channel
Follow freefincal on WhatsApp
Podcast: Let's Get RICH With PATTU! Every single Indian CAN grow their wealth! 
Listen to the Lets Get Rich with Pattu Podcast
Listen to the Let's Get Rich with Pattu Podcast
You can watch podcast episodes on the OfSpin Media Friends YouTube Channel.
Lets Get RICH With PATTU podcast on YouTube
Let's Get RICH With PATTU podcast on YouTube.

  • Do you have a comment about the above article? Reach out to us on Twitter: @freefincal or @pattufreefincal
  • Have a question? Subscribe to our newsletter with the form below.
  • Hit 'reply' to any email from us! We do not offer personalized investment advice. We can write a detailed article without mentioning your name if you have a generic question.

Join over 32,000 readers and get free money management solutions delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to get posts via email!

Explore the site! Search among our 2000+ articles for information and insight!

About The Author

Pattabiraman editor freefincalDr. M. Pattabiraman(PhD) is the founder, managing editor and primary author of freefincal. He is an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He has over ten years of experience publishing news analysis, research and financial product development. Connect with him via Twitter, Linkedin, or YouTube. Pattabiraman has co-authored three print books: (1) You can be rich too with goal-based investing (CNBC TV18) for DIY investors. (2) Gamechanger for young earners. (3) Chinchu Gets a Superpower! for kids. He has also written seven other free e-books on various money management topics. He is a patron and co-founder of “Fee-only India,” an organisation promoting unbiased, commission-free investment advice.
Our flagship course! Learn to manage your portfolio like a pro to achieve your goals regardless of market conditions! More than 3,000 investors and advisors are part of our exclusive community! Get clarity on how to plan for your goals and achieve the necessary corpus no matter what the market condition is!! Watch the first lecture for free!  One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos! Reduce fear, uncertainty and doubt while investing! Learn how to plan for your goals before and after retirement with confidence.
Our new course!  Increase your income by getting people to pay for your skills! More than 700 salaried employees, entrepreneurs and financial advisors are part of our exclusive community! Learn how to get people to pay for your skills! Whether you are a professional or small business owner who wants more clients via online visibility or a salaried person wanting a side income or passive income, we will show you how to achieve this by showcasing your skills and building a community that trusts you and pays you! (watch 1st lecture for free). One-time payment! No recurring fees! Life-long access to videos!   
Our new book for kids: “Chinchu gets a superpower!” is now available!
Both boy and girl version covers of Chinchu gets a superpower
Both the boy and girl version covers of Chinchu gets a superpower.
Most investor problems can be traced to a lack of informed decision-making. We have all made bad decisions and money mistakes when we started earning and spent years undoing these mistakes. Why should our children go through the same pain? What is this book about? As parents, what would it be if we had to groom one ability in our children that is key not only to money management and investing but to any aspect of life? My answer: Sound Decision Making. So in this book, we meet Chinchu, who is about to turn 10. What he wants for his birthday and how his parents plan for it and teach him several key ideas of decision-making and money management is the narrative. What readers say!
Feedback from a young reader after reading Chinchu gets a Superpower (small version)
Feedback from a young reader after reading Chinchu gets a Superpower!
Must-read book even for adults! This is something that every parent should teach their kids right from their young age. The importance of money management and decision making based on their wants and needs. Very nicely written in simple terms. - Arun.
Buy the book: Chinchu gets a superpower for your child!
How to profit from content writing: Our new ebook is for those interested in getting side income via content writing. It is available at a 50% discount for Rs. 500 only!
Want to check if the market is overvalued or undervalued? Use our market valuation tool (it will work with any index!), or get the Tactical Buy/Sell timing tool!
We publish monthly mutual fund screeners and momentum, low-volatility stock screeners.
About freefincal & it's content policy. Freefincal is a News Media Organization dedicated to providing original analysis, reports, reviews and insights on mutual funds, stocks, investing, retirement and personal finance developments. We do so without conflict of interest and bias. Follow us on Google News. Freefincal serves more than three million readers a year (5 million page views) with articles based only on factual information and detailed analysis by its authors. All statements made will be verified with credible and knowledgeable sources before publication. Freefincal does not publish paid articles, promotions, PR, satire or opinions without data. All opinions will be inferences backed by verifiable, reproducible evidence/data. Contact information: letters {at} freefincal {dot} com (sponsored posts or paid collaborations will not be entertained)
Connect with us on social media
Our publications

You Can Be Rich Too with Goal-Based Investing

You can be rich too with goal based investingPublished by CNBC TV18, this book is meant to help you ask the right questions and seek the correct answers, and since it comes with nine online calculators, you can also create custom solutions for your lifestyle! Get it now.
Gamechanger: Forget Startups, Join Corporate & Still Live the Rich Life You Want Gamechanger: Forget Start-ups, Join Corporate and Still Live the Rich Life you wantThis book is meant for young earners to get their basics right from day one! It will also help you travel to exotic places at a low cost! Get it or gift it to a young earner.

Your Ultimate Guide to Travel

Travel-Training-Kit-Cover-new This is an in-depth dive analysis into vacation planning, finding cheap flights, budget accommodation, what to do when travelling, and how travelling slowly is better financially and psychologically, with links to the web pages and hand-holding at every step. Get the pdf for Rs 300 (instant download)