YouTube is one of the most popular and most visited social networks worldwide. Every year, billions of videos are uploaded on this network, and there are as many viewers. Some YouTubers earn a lot of money from their channel, and YouTubers have become their primary job. What do you need to become a YouTuber? What skills should you acquire, and what should you do? In this article, we want to answer these questions. If you plan to create a YouTube channel or have just started one, stay with us until the end of this article.
Who is YouTuber
A YouTuber is someone who earns money by posting on YouTube. Some YouTubers have other jobs, but some have made YouTube their full-time job. Some YouTubers choose their name as their page name, and others use names related to their field of activity.
To succeed in their work, YouTubers need special skills such as video editing, storytelling, criticism, and communication skills with the audience. If the YouTuber is successful in his work, he can communicate with different companies and brands and earn money through advertising.
Youtuber income sources
YouTubers can earn money in 3 ways, each of which we have explained below.
1. YouTube’s ads
YouTube pays them if they reach a certain number of followers and viewers. This specific limit is a rate called Visits Per Thousand People (RPM). Based on its algorithms, YouTube estimates the number of views of each video (based on minutes) and the number of viewers. If each amount reaches a certain quorum (1000 followers or 4000 hours of watching videos), YouTube will pay you an amount by adding ads to each video. However, this payment will vary depending on the duration of the video, the type of ad, and the country you are in. In general, this amount is small at the beginning of the work and gradually increases with the identification of YouTube money-making ideas and the growth of the audience.
2. Sponsor
When your channel has a lot of followers, you can contract with different producers or service providers and produce content they support. Depending on the type of sponsorship and the amount of advertising you provide, the sponsor will pay you an amount. For example, you can place an ad in the middle of the video. More creative methods include blogging about products or services that bring you more income.
3. Selling products and promoting your services
For example, you can upgrade your business by making a video. This is similar to Instagram pages that sell your products, except that you need to use YouTube video techniques to create videos that promote your product.
How to become a YouTuber?
1. Determine your topic and target audience
Before starting a YouTube channel, you must choose the areas where you want to produce content to identify YouTube monetization ideas. It is better to focus on a specific topic and limit your field of activity. YouTube’s algorithms recommend your video content to viewers based on your chosen subject and hashtags. If you make videos about scattered and irrelevant issues every time, the chances of finding a follower will decrease.
Your goal for starting a YouTube channel will determine your approach. For example, many people produce videos not to make money but for other purposes such as education, social and cultural concerns, or even entertainment. To make money, you need to plan long-term from the beginning.
2. Create your channel
After setting your vision and goals, you need to build your channel. Creating a channel on YouTube is free and straightforward. After registering on the YouTube site, click the option to create a channel and complete the required items. You must upload a photo, a banner, and a teaser for your channel. Use taste in choosing or designing them and act based on the approach mentioned in the first step. If you plan to become a brand, you should create your name and design from now on.
3. Plan for content and design a roadmap
Now that you have launched your YouTube channel, you must continuously produce content. Posting videos whenever you have free time is not a good practice. If your goal is to generate income and grow the page, you should upload the video at specific times, For example, once a week or once a month. This regular schedule will teach your followers what times to expect to watch your videos, resulting in more views.
If you are not sure what topic you want to make a video about, you can use different sources for ideas, for example:
- Visit the YouTube Trends section and see what your audience has watched the most;
- Convert podcasts to video;
- Check social networks and hashtags in your field of activity to see what your audience is talking about;
- Investigate competitor and similar channels in your field of work and note down their strengths and weaknesses and things they have missed;
- Using the brainstorming technique, find topics and issues about which you can make a video.
Before launching YouTube, you can design a road map and specify the topics you want to make videos about. Suppose your topic is the history of Iran. In this case, you can start with ancient history and work your way up. Now, let’s assume you are a car mechanic; in this case, you can make several sequential videos of different parts and parts of the car.
4. Provide equipment and tools to become a YouTuber
Making a video and editing it requires tools such as a camera, microphone, and editing software, all available in the market. Computer or mobile versions of the software are also public. The important thing is to learn how to work with them; interestingly, many videos on YouTube teach how to work with this equipment and software.
Buying a separate camera or microphone is unnecessary if your budget is tight. Your mobile phone itself can be a video-making tool. You can gradually purchase specialized and better YouTube equipment as your page grows.
5. Make a high-quality video
Currently, there are various qualities on YouTube for uploading and playing videos. Most audiences are also attracted to high-quality videos. So, learn to work with editing programs. It is unlikely that your first video will be your best work; Video editing is a skill you will learn through trial and error.
6. Pay attention to video SEO
Making a video and uploading it is not the end. Like social networks, YouTube works based on algorithms. The description you write under the post and the hashtags you use play decisive roles in making your clip more visible. Adding keywords in the title and description, using suitable and popular hashtags, and correctly determining the video category are among the ways to optimize it. Whether the audience chooses your video in their searches depends more than anything else on these two factors:
- The title of the video that may attract the attention of the audience;
- The video’s cover is the first image before it is shown.
These two will make the content more visible if chosen correctly and smartly. In the same field, there are educational videos that you can watch on YouTube.
7. Engage with your audience
YouTube algorithms also pay attention to the level of interaction and audience return to your page. When you respond to your audience in the comments section, they will know they are dealing with a responsive person and will be more likely to return to your page. Techniques like asking questions in the video, inviting them to watch related videos, and inviting them to follow the page for future content can encourage them to provide more comments and return to the page. With this, you may even get ideas for YouTube.
8. Use the capacity of other social networks
Using SEO and relying on YouTube algorithms is a time-consuming approach. If you have a lot of followers on other social networks, invite them to follow your YouTube page. Every time you create new content, ask them to watch it. To encourage them, you can repost an attractive and short part of the video on that network and invite the audience to your YouTube page to watch the rest.
9. Take advantage of YouTube’s data analysis section
Like other social networks, YouTube has a section called data analysis, which provides essential and valuable information to the page’s owner. For example, in this section, you can see the statistics of visits and viewing of each piece of content, the number of clicks on each piece, the average viewing of each video, and other valuable data. This data, which is constantly updated, allows you to understand what has been successful and what needs to be done differently. By checking the graphs of topics, you can understand which topics the audience has recently paid attention to and which have been skipped. Based on this, you can identify your next content topic in your field and create content about it.
Final advice
Finding many followers and earning money from YouTube is not an overnight event. It cannot go the way of a hundred years overnight. Therefore, patience and persistence are perhaps the most essential skills for the success of YouTube activists. So, you must be patient and work on the same page for years to reach your desired position.
Common questions
1. Is it possible to earn money from YouTube?
Yes. It is possible to earn money from YouTube by reaching a certain level of followers, viewing rates, and sponsoring and advertising in videos.
2. Does it cost to register on YouTube?
No, creating a channel on YouTube is free. It is enough to click on the option to create a channel after the initial registration.
3. How many followers and watch time do I need to earn from YouTube?
To get to the point where YouTube adds ads to the video and pays you, you must have a thousand followers and 4 thousand hours of viewing. Of course, YouTube will not pay you until your earnings reach $100. For example, if your page earns $4 per thousand views, you will need 25,000 views to get $100.
4. What do I need to become a YouTuber?
To become a YouTuber, it is enough to have a smartphone. But if you have long-term plans, gradually and with the increase of the audience, you should also think about getting a professional camera and microphone. In addition, it is necessary to work with one of the video editing software.
5. Does video advertising make me money?
Unfortunately, YouTube pays you for its ad when the audience has watched at least 30 seconds of the ad. Some ads cannot be dismissed before 30 seconds, but most can be rejected. Advertisements that appear next to or below your video and contain only a link will generate revenue if the audience clicks on them.
What is your experience?
If you are a YouTuber or just starting on YouTube, share your experiences with us in the comments section.
