- 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 hours of watch time,
congratulations, you've met the requirements
to apply for the YouTube Partner Program
and monetize your channel.
And this is a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
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We know how long this journey can be
for a lot of you creators.
And we would love to know how long it's taking you
to get from absolutely nothing to this monumental milestone.
How long did it take you to get
to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time?
Let us know in the comments below.
So yes, to clarify this guide
does assume that you've already met the requirements
for YouTube monetization.
However, if you are still working towards 1,000 subscribers
or 4,000 hours of watch time,
we have massive video guides on the subject.
So check out the links in the video description,
just below the live button.
This is the channel we are going to monetize today,
the Russian vidIQ channel.
The first thing we need to do from the YouTube Studio
is head on over to the monetization link
down the left-hand navigation bar.
Until your channel is monetized,
this screen will show you your progress
to those two requirements of 1,000 subscribers
and 4,000 hours of watch time.
Once you've met the requirements,
you'll see this glorious blue Apply Now button.
By comparison, when you haven't yet met the requirements,
you can set YouTube to notify you
the moment you are eligible.
Back on the channel that is eligible.
When you click on the Apply Now button,
you'll be presented
with the following three steps
that you need to work through.
These include reviewing the partner program terms,
setting up a Google AdSense account,
and connect it to to your YouTube channel,
and waiting for the partner program team at YouTube
to review your channel and inform you of their decision.
Let's get started with step one.
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On the face of it, this all seems really simple.
You click a couple of buttons,
and you start getting money from YouTube.
But it's really important to know what you're agreeing to.
Essentially, this is a business contract
and YouTube has responsibilities, and so do you.
The first important step is to be sure your channel
is set to the right country when you apply for YPP.
In this example, because this is a Russian language channel,
we had set the country for the channel to Russia,
but obviously this doesn't apply
to the monetization aspects of the channel.
Plus I can't speak Russian.
So you can change your country from this link
if you need to.
Do bear in mind that this is one of the older pages
on YouTube right now, and it may change in the future.
As a side note, if you do need to change your country,
you can do it through the settings in a YouTube Studio,
and then going into the channeling from the pop-up screen.
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All right then, YouTube Partner Program terms.
First things first, if you are under 18,
get a parent or legal guardian to go through this with you.
Don't bother ignoring this.
If you do, you'll just get stuck at step two anyway.
Next up, be aware that it's not just this document
you are reading.
By extension, there are loads of YouTube policies
and guidelines you are agreeing to.
I cannot stress enough how important
it is to be at least familiar with all of what this entails.
YouTube has a lots of community guidelines
that they enforce more than they ever have done before.
And you are responsible for the content
you upload to YouTube.
There are also YouTube terms of service
which you should definitely check out.
And since you will be earning money through Google AdSense,
at least to begin with, you'll need
to give them their policies a once-over too.
All right then, let's get into the money side of things.
All of these facts and figures are correct
as of the time of recording,
but of course YouTube could change these at any moment.
When it comes to ad revenue,
the basic principle is this,
when an advertiser pays $1 to YouTube
to place an advert on one of your videos,
you earn 55% of that revenue,
while YouTube takes the other 45%.
So in this example, you would take home 55 cents
and YouTube would keep the other 45 cents,
but we're not often dealing with dollar amounts
when it comes to advertisements.
Usually they're bought for cents.
And so YouTube is just gonna split the difference
as and when it is 55% for you, 45% for YouTube.
Now of course you are entitled to your own opinions
as to whether you think that's a fair cut,
but consider this, until you monetize your channel,
you operate on YouTube for absolutely free.
And once you are monetized,
YouTube is your distribution platform
for on average 2 billion users every single month.
For me, I think that's a fair trade.
When it comes to reporting these numbers
in the YouTube Studio,
your estimated revenue is calculated
after YouTube takes its 45% cut.
So this number should be somewhere close
to the final figure you earn.
However, do know that your CPM figure
does not take into account YouTube cut.
The RPM figure does factor this in however.
When it comes to monetization,
RPMs and CPMs are all a bit next level,
but if you do want to know more,
we have a dedicated video, right over here.
I should also note that when it comes
to YouTube subscription service,
it's the same Cuts 55%, 45%,
but with things like super chats and memberships,
that cut is slightly different.
You get 70% and YouTube keeps 30%,
but those are things that again,
a bit next level when it comes to monetization.
The next thing you need to be prepared
for is the delay in payments.
If you earn $10 on Monday,
don't expect that money
to arrive in your bank account on Tuesday,
I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, not at all.
You must reach the minimum payment threshold
by the end of a calendar month
to trigger a payout from YouTube.
Currently that is set to $100
or the equivalent amount in your currency.
When that requirement is met, it can take up to 60 days
for that payment to arrive in your account.
If you don't meet the minimum threshold in one month,
don't worry, you don't lose the money,
it simply accumulates until you trigger a payout.
That is an expectation, many creators need to be accepting
of when they first monetize their channel.
It's likely that in your first month
as a monetized channel, you may earn $2,250
and it could be a few months before you trigger that payout.
And it could be up to three to six months
before you receive your first YouTube paycheck.
And that's actually a great question
to hand off to you creators again,
who've already been monetized.
How much did you earn on YouTube
in your first month as a monetized channel?
Comments, below please.
Along with all of the other terms that you should read,
be aware that YouTube is not responsible
for applying any local taxes
to the revenue you make from your channel.
In short, it likely is a taxable revenue
wherever you live in a world.
And I highly recommend consulting a tax expert
in your region for guidance.
Once you are ready, check the box and click
on Accept Terms to move on to step two.
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On the YouTube side of things,
first of all, let click on the start button,
at which point you'll be prompted
to log into your Google account again,
since this is quite an important update.
I'm afraid I can't really help you
with your username and password.
You either know it or you don't.
Next up, you'll be asked,
whether or not you have an AdSense account.
And this is where the information
I can provide you is a little limited.
And that's because we can't really
fake creating an AdSense account.
It's not really practical,
but there are two things you need to consider
with your AdSense account.
You have to be over the age of 18
to create an ad sense account,
which brings us back to step one.
When a parent or a legal guardian
should be walking through this YouTube monetization
setup with you.
Also ultimately, you'll be wanting to take this money
out of your AdSense account into a bank account.
And again, that's going to require some verification
which you should do at least with a parent or guardian.
So, if you are creating a brand new AdSense account,
make sure you are following all the instructions on-screen,
and we'll take you back to our application,
as we already have an AdSense account.
If you already have an AdSense account,
confirm that you do,
and then you'll be asked to sign into that account.
I'll apologize now for the excessive amount of blurring,
you're about to see on-screen.
This signup screen will show you
your current AdSense details along with the YouTube channel,
you're about to associate your AdSense account with.
All that's left to be done here,
is to click on Accept association.
You may temporarily end up on an AdSense screen,
but ultimately you now need to redirect yourself
back to the YouTube monetization screen at this point.
And that is it, you've successfully applied
for the YouTube Partner Program,
now comes the waiting game.
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There is no doubt about it.
Once you've applied for the YouTube partner program
your biggest question is, how long is this going to take?
Let's get the official YouTube answer first
On YouTube's own support page for monetization application,
they state that once your channel is under review,
it typically takes about a month to receive their decision.
Having said this, for most people,
the application process is a lot quicker,
and we ourselves can prove that.
Very recently, we submitted two channels for monetization.
We did that on a Friday afternoon,
and by Monday morning at 3:00 a.m,
we had been accepted into the YouTube Partner Program
for those two channels, a total of 60 hours.
Now if that type of story interests you,
we actually documented it over here on this video.
Well worth a look.
Also something else that's really important to note
is that while your application is in progress,
you won't earn any monetization.
You have to be accepted and actually monetize those videos
before you get any income.
There's no backdating on any of your videos.
And then you have to consider the worst case scenario.
Your application gets rejected.
Yep, it sucks,
but it often happens when creators
don't follow YouTube's guidelines
and policies from the start.
You will get some feedback from YouTube
as to why your channel was rejected,
but it's often vague and never specifically tells you
what videos you need to fix.
The good news is you're not permanently rejected
from the YouTube Partner Program.
You are allowed to reapply in 30 days
which should give you time to fix the problems
that are on your channel, if you know what they are.
If on the other hand you are accepted
into the YouTube Partner Program
you'll see a welcome message in the YouTube Studio,
and you'll be able to start monetizing videos immediately.
Your monetization screen will look more like this,
and you may gain access to the Copyright Matching Tool,
so that you can start protecting your content on YouTube.
If you wanna learn more about the basics
of monetizing your videos,
then we've got the beginner's guide over here.
And if you wanna learn more
about our Copyright Matching Tool,
we've got another video down here.
Congratulations,
welcome to the YouTube Partner Program,
enjoy the rest of your video making
and indeed money-making day.