- Pretty straightforward one, this.
You want to know how to monetize your channel
and start making money on YouTube.
We've got a lot to get through, so let's get started.
- [Voiceover 1] vidIQ.
- [Voiceover 2] vidIQ.
- [Voiceover 3] vidIQ.com.
(upbeat music)
- Hello, everyone.
I am Rob, and welcome to vidIQ, the YouTube tool
and channel that aims to educate you
on your YouTube journey.
And today we're gonna tell you all about
how you can monetize your content on YouTube
to start making money.
Let's go through the fundamentals first.
Commonly known as the YouTube Partner Program,
or YPP for short, there are four requirements
needed to start monetizing your YouTube content.
The first is 1,000 subscribers.
And this one is pretty straightforward,
it doesn't matter how long it takes you
to get to 1,000 subscribers, once you hit that milestone,
you've reached that requirement.
And if you need a bit of help getting there,
we've got a guide over here.
As well as 1,000 subscribers, you also need 4,000 hours
of watch time on your videos over the last 12 months.
Now, there are already a couple of confusions
with this one, so let me try and clarify them.
First of all, this is not about how much
video content you, the YouTube creator, watch.
Yeah, I've actually had some people get confused about that.
This is all about how much video content is watched
on your channel from people all across the world.
And what it means by the last 12 months is simply this:
whatever today's date is, whether it's Christmas Day,
New Year's Day, or the day I'm recording this on,
which is Friday the 13th.
(dramatic scary music)
It is all those hours of video that people have watched
on your channel back 12 months from that date.
So it could well be that over the course of your channel's
entire life, be it four, fix, six years,
you could have well over 4,000 hours of watch time,
but it's only the last 12 months that count
for YouTube Partner Program requirements.
Another couple of things to tell you about watch time.
Live streams do count towards that total.
Unlisted videos also count towards that total.
But if you delete any videos, that watch time
will be removed from your channel watch time hours.
And one more final thing, if you are already
in the YouTube Partner Program, and if your channel
falls below 4,000 hours of watch time,
YouTube won't automatically remove you
from the partner program, but they can do it
at their discretion.
If you want a much more detailed video on the topic
of 4,000 hours specifically, check out the video over here.
If you want to check the progress of these two requirements,
you can do so by clicking on your logo
in the top right-hand corner of most YouTube pages,
and then clicking on YouTube Studio Beta.
You can view all of your analytics here,
but to quickly check progress on monetization,
hover your mouse over "Other features",
and then click on "Status and features".
On this screen, you should see a monetization box,
and if you click "Learn more", it will tell you
exactly where you currently stand with subscribers
and watch time hours.
But if all of that sounds like too much hard work,
then we've got a free tool that will do all of this
much quicker and more efficiently.
If you download and install the vidIQ software
on pretty much every YouTube screen,
you will see this collection of real-time stats
all about your channel.
It will show you your channel's views per hour,
views over the last 48 hours, and your subscriber count.
But the really cool thing is that it will track
your progress to 4,000 hours of watch time too,
as shown by this yellow figure.
Once you hit 4,000 hours, that number will turn green
to show you you've reached that monetization requirement.
So if you want this free tool along with dozens more
that will help you research YouTube,
analyze every single video on the platform,
audit your own channel, and take actual steps
that will help you grow your channel,
get to 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 hours of watch time,
then make sure to grab the vidIQ Chrome extension.
It is free to download, link in the description.
Next on the list is the rule book.
If you want to monetize your content,
you need to make sure you stick to it,
as YouTube state, "When you apply
"for the YouTube Partner Program, you'll go through
"a standard review process to see whether your channel
"meets YouTube's policy and guidelines.
"Only channels that meet them will be accepted
"into the program.
"YouTube also constantly check channels in the program
"to see whether they continue to meet YouTube's
"policies and guidelines."
I will leave a link in the video description
to these policies and guidelines that are very
comprehensive now, given all of the growing pains
YouTube have had of finding the right balance
between creators, viewers, and advertisers.
I highly recommend familiarizing yourself
with these policies and guidelines if you want
to monetize your content in the future.
However, if you are in a TLDR mood, to summarize,
apply common sense.
If you think a video might be inappropriate,
chances are it is, and you make such content
at your own risk.
Now, in and amongst YouTube's policies and guidelines
is the huge topic of copyrighted material.
Essentially, if you use other people's work,
then you could be using copyrighted material
without their permission, and YouTube does not
want you to do that.
It will almost certainly get you demonetized
or prevent you from entering the YouTube Partner Program.
Let's look at this in a little more detail.
Again, YouTube has some pretty beefy documentation on this,
so I will leave a link to this support page,
but for most of you, this is the most important
monetization policy.
You have to make sure that you're adding value
to any third party content you monetize,
and that your content has significant original commentary,
educational value, or editorialized statement.
And let's be clear, that still might not be enough.
This does not give you a license to use
other people's content in your videos all the time,
because if you do, YouTube may use this as an argument
not to monetize your content.
In an FAQ on the subject on YouTube's support pages,
I'll leave a link in the description,
it says that if all or most of your channel
is dedicated to reused content, and you're not transforming
the original work by adding your own unique value,
then your channel is not eligible
for the YouTube Partner Program.
The spirit of this policy is to make sure that YouTube
are incentivizing unique and original content
into the YouTube Partner Program, and that YouTube
are protecting and rewarding the creators
who work hard on original content.
Now, some may see YouTube's spirit of a policy
as an excuse to demonetize channels they don't want
in the monetization program, but let's have a look at it
from this point of view.
You spent days, hours creating a magnificent
piece of content, and it goes viral on YouTube.
And then a dozen random video creators steal that content,
upload it, and then an hundreds of thousands of views,
profiting from it.
How would you feel if that happened?
And that's what YouTube is trying to protect.
Original content from video creators.
And admittedly, reused content, duplicate content,
copyright content, this is a broad gray area on YouTube,
and they don't always get it right.
And you may look at some channels on YouTube
and see that they're clearly flaunting these rules.
Well, you don't know what their individual
circumstances are, they may have permission
to use that content, they may get caught in the future,
and you don't want to follow the examples
of channels that are doing this.
It's just not a road to success.
Ultimately, with all of this, YouTube is a gatekeeper.
They hold all of the keys.
You are on rented ground, and if you flaunt these rules,
and break them, then don't be surprised
when YouTube comes after you.
Now, if you are going to earn money from your videos,
YouTube needs a way to pay you, and at least to begin with,
this will be done through an AdSense account.
A few things you need to know about this,
if you already have an AdSense account, you can use that.
You can connect multiple channels to one AdSense account,
and if you haven't got an AdSense account,
you can set one up during the YouTube Partner Program
application process.
Let's remind ourselves of those requirements one more time.
You need 1,000 subscribers on your YouTube channel,
4,000 watch time hours on your videos
over the last 12 months, comply with all YouTube's
policies and guidelines, and have an AdSense account.
Now, once you're ready to apply for the YouTube
Partner Program, it's not a case of simply clicking
one button, you've gotta go through a couple of steps,
and we'll show exactly how to do that over here
once we make the video.
When you've applied, this is what's going to happen next.
YouTube say that for a typical channel
it will take about a month for them to make a decision
because, and YouTube are keen to point this out,
humans will actually review your channel.
Some channels have been approved in days,
so it could be quicker.
However, if it does take longer than a month,
then your channel will usually be placed in further review.
When this happens, unfortunately, the wait times
can get very long.
Three, six, possibly even 12 months.
Although in some unfortunate cases,
YouTube never seems to come to a decision,
leaving the creator in monetization limbo.
We appreciate that this can be a very frustrating position
to find yourself in as a video creator,
as many of you have commented about this
on our videos here at vidIQ.
Unfortunately, we ourselves cannot help push the process
forward for you, so what we recommend you do
is kick up a stink publicly, talk to TeamYouTube on Twitter,
make sure that everybody knows that you have an issue
with your monetization decision.
YouTube say that this will never speed up the process,
but at least having some decision is the least you deserve
as a video creator.
Now let's say that you've applied for the YouTube
Partner Program, but you've been rejected.
What can you do?
When you are rejected from the YouTube Partner Program,
YouTube will give you a general reason why.
Unfortunately, they won't tell you specifically
what video or content is causing the issue,
so you may be left blindly adjusting your channel.
However, the good news is you can reapply for the program
in 30 days' time.
Again, this is where you will have to use your common sense.
If you think there are videos that are walking
the community guideline and policies tightrope,
then they most likely are and you need to adjust them.
If there are videos that have copyright content on them
then those are probably causing a problem
with YouTube as well, so you will need to delete them.
And people have asked when they apply
for the partner program, will having a community guideline
strike or a copyright strike against my channel
prevent me from getting into the program?
The answer is probably no, it definitely won't prevent you,
but it is going to have an impact.
There is a dedicated support page on what you should do
if you are rejected from the YouTube Partner Program,
as we've all the other pages on this video,
I will leave a link in the video description.
If you are still unclear about anything to do
with the YouTube Partner Program application process,
let us know in the comments below,
and I may do a follow up video answering
all of those questions.
Once you are in the partner program,
if you want to learn how to monetize your videos,
then we've got a guide over here,
and if you want to take your monetization a step further
by earning money from Super Chats, membership,
merchandise, we've got another video down there.
Thank you very much for watching, and of course,
enjoy the rest of your video making day.