How Much Money Can You Really Make on YouTube?

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How much money can you make being a YouTube influencer? Sure, there are creators out there that generate millions of dollars per year from their YouTube channels, but it also helps to have a realistic view of how much you could make if you have a moderately successful channel -- not an absolute home run.

To be clear, I hope that you find tremendous success on your YouTube journey. But it's important to keep in mind that million-dollar success stories are a small minority, so don't adjust your budget just yet.

I'll use my own channel as an example. I have a YouTube channel that is a bit of a side project for me, where I post investment and personal finance videos (you can check it out at youtube.com/MattFrankelCFP ).

As of this writing, I have approximately 6,100 channel subscribers and the channel has generated 159,500 views over the past month. This is a reasonable level of success for a new creator to aim to achieve in a year or two, so here's a rundown of how it makes money, and other ways that it could make money.

YouTube advertising revenue

Once you've reached 1,000 subscribers and a certain amount of watch time, you can activate YouTube ads on your channel. If you regularly watch YouTube videos, I'm sure you're familiar with this -- these are the ads you see at the beginning and in the middle of many videos. Some are skippable after a few seconds, some aren't. But this is the basic way that creators can start to monetize their channel once they reach the 1,000-subscriber threshold.

When it comes to YouTube ad revenue, it's important to manage your expectations. For most creators (myself included), ad revenue isn't the biggest source of monetization . But since it's the first major monetization source most creators achieve, I'll share my numbers.

I mentioned earlier that my channel has generated 159,500 views over the past month. From this, it has produced $910.50 in ad revenue. Dividing the latter number by views shows that I get about $5.71 per 1,000 views from YouTube ads.

And it's worth noting that investing content like I create tends to get above-average ad rates. So, if I wanted to know what I could make if I scaled it to 1 million monthly views, some simple math could show me. If I make $5.71 for 1,000 views, multiplying it by 1,000 (to get to a million) shows that I could expect $5,710 in ad revenue for 1 million views.

Other ways of monetizing YouTube

Different creators monetize their channels in different ways, and some are very creator specific. For example, some travel agents make videos at certain resorts and attractions and use them to get people to call their agency for travel needs.

Having said that, one common way creators monetize their channels is by getting sponsors. This can take several forms. Some sponsors will ask you to read an advertisement during your videos, some want separate product review videos, and some might want you to wear their logo while you're recording.

Sponsorship revenue is highly dependent on the industry, the number of followers you have, and the average views of your video. You might get a flat rate, or you might get paid based on conversions. It's impossible to say how much you can get, but the short answer is that for successful creators, sponsorship revenue can be several times what YouTube pays you for ads. From personal experience, 5,000 subscribers is the threshold when you can expect to start hearing from potential sponsors.

In addition to sponsors, there are several other ways you can monetize a YouTube channel, including but not limited to:

• Channel memberships: YouTube allows creators to turn on premium memberships to their channel, where viewers can pay a monthly subscription fee in exchange for perks like members-only videos.
• Affiliate marketing: Using affiliate links to send your audience to a brand's landing page to generate sales.
• Merchandise sales: If you have a significant following, selling branded merchandise can be a great way to make extra money.
• Other YouTube sources: YouTube offers other monetization methods, such as Super Thanks, where your viewers can essentially give you a tip if they like your video.

The bottom line

There's certainly money to be made on YouTube. But it's important to realize that in the early stages of building your channel, the opportunities are quite limited. And while some YouTube channels make millions and millions of dollars, it's important to know what to expect when you achieve a more modest level of success.

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