[0:00] I think there are three lies that
[0:02] potentially could keep you from moving
[0:05] closer to having a monetized channel on
[0:06] YouTube. Let me define what they are.
[0:09] Number one, you need a million
[0:11] subscribers to actually make real money.
[0:13] Well, that's false. Number two, you need
[0:17] to post a video every single day to get
[0:19] your channel monetized.
[0:22] Also false. And then lie number three is
[0:26] once your channel gets monetized, money
[0:27] just rolls in automatically.
[0:30] That one is definitely false. Now, I
[0:33] share those because I have gotten
[0:34] comments about all three of those things
[0:36] from my viewers multiple times. So, I
[0:40] thought, let's just confront those kind
[0:42] of things head-on and just explain
[0:44] exactly how this whole getting your
[0:46] channel monetized and what it means in a
[0:48] big picture works. There's an actual
[0:51] system that YouTube uses to decide who
[0:53] gets paid and how much for what kind of
[0:55] videos. By the end of this video, I want
[0:58] you to have a clearer picture of how
[1:00] YouTube monetization actually works and
[1:03] how you can build in that kind of system
[1:06] as you build your own channel. So, let's
[1:08] get into it. Hey, if we haven't met, my
[1:10] name is Diane. I'm in my mid-50s and
[1:12] I've started this YouTube channel to
[1:14] help my fellow folks who are over the
[1:15] age of 40 to have opportunities for more
[1:18] impact, influence, and hopefully more
[1:20] income online. And one of the best ways
[1:23] to do that is with a YouTube channel.
[1:27] So, YouTube monetization, let's get into
[1:30] the details. First things first, YouTube
[1:33] just does not hand out paychecks to
[1:35] anyone who uploads a video to YouTube.
[1:37] Wouldn't that be nice? There is a
[1:39] gatekeeper system that you have to rise
[1:42] to the established levels to be able to
[1:43] get into it and that's called the
[1:45] YouTube partner program. So you can
[1:48] think of the YouTube partner program
[1:50] sort of like a building with two doors
[1:52] into it. You have to unlock each door
[1:55] with specific keys before you can see
[1:58] what's behind those doors. So the first
[2:00] door you'll get to I'll refer to as the
[2:02] fan support door. That first door
[2:05] requires two keys. That's 500
[2:07] subscribers on your channel and 3,000
[2:10] accumulated watch hours that you've got
[2:12] in the last 12 months. If you're only
[2:14] making shorts, that's a little bit
[2:15] different, and I'll get to that in a
[2:17] minute. So, when you unlock door number
[2:20] one, we'll get to what we'll call
[2:22] fanpowered income. And fanpowered income
[2:25] would include things like super thanks.
[2:28] And this is a button that appears under
[2:30] your videos where viewers can like give
[2:33] you a tip on your videos of $2, $5, $10,
[2:36] $50 just to say thank you for the
[2:40] content that they enjoyed watching. So,
[2:43] think of it like a digital tip jar. Then
[2:45] you also have super chat and super
[2:47] stickers. If you live stream on YouTube,
[2:51] viewers have the opportunity to kind of
[2:53] highlight their message in the chat, and
[2:54] they can do that by paying some money
[2:56] through a super chat option. You might
[2:59] think of it as somebody who decides to
[3:00] buy a round of drinks at a party just
[3:02] because they kind of want to get
[3:03] everybody's attention.
[3:05] It's probably not that expensive,
[3:06] though. Door number one unlocks channel
[3:09] membership options, so viewers can pay
[3:12] like $4.99 a month to become a member of
[3:17] a channel. You can set that admission
[3:18] price of whatever number you want, but I
[3:20] I see $4.99 as kind of being the general
[3:22] choice. So, with that membership, people
[3:25] pay and you can give them access to
[3:26] exclusive content, to live streams with
[3:29] you, to early access to things. So,
[3:31] these initial things that you get by
[3:33] unlocking that door number one, it's
[3:35] actually real money. It may not add up
[3:37] really quickly, but it does give you
[3:39] your foot into the door into the YouTube
[3:41] partnership program. These options that
[3:43] come with door number one are real
[3:44] money. I don't want you to dismiss it,
[3:46] but the reality check is there's not a
[3:49] whole lot of income potential that comes
[3:50] from this. It really is kind of just
[3:52] your foot into the door into the first
[3:55] part of the YouTube partnership program.
[3:57] Now, door number two is what we'll call
[4:00] the ad revenue door. And this is the one
[4:02] where more opportunities really open up
[4:04] for you. And when somebody says or
[4:06] thinks, "I want to get my channel
[4:08] monetized," this is generally what
[4:10] they're referring to. To unlock door
[4:12] number two, you need 1,000 subscribers
[4:15] on your channel and you need an
[4:16] accumulated 4,000 hours of watch time in
[4:20] the last 365 days. Or if you're doing
[4:23] shorts, it's 10 million shorts in 90
[4:25] days. When you unlock door number two
[4:28] and get to this level of the program,
[4:30] this is when YouTube starts to share ad
[4:33] revenue money with you. We've all seen
[4:35] the ads that come up on videos. They're
[4:36] at the beginning, they could be in the
[4:38] middle, or they show up at the end, too.
[4:41] Thousands of companies of all different
[4:43] types pay YouTube for the option to show
[4:45] their ads on your videos. When that
[4:48] happens and you're part of the YouTube
[4:50] partner program, then YouTube will give
[4:52] you 55% of the money that they receive
[4:55] for those ads. So, let's talk about
[4:57] where that ad money actually comes from
[5:00] because I kind of think that that's
[5:01] where a lot of the confusion happens on
[5:03] this topic. Imagine your YouTube video
[5:06] is a billboard, but it's not a billboard
[5:08] on a country road. is actually a
[5:10] billboard on one of the busiest
[5:11] interstates that's in your community.
[5:14] You've created something that's valuable
[5:17] in your video. Maybe it's a tutorial or
[5:21] a pretty riveting story or really
[5:23] helpful advice or a recipe that
[5:25] everybody likes, whatever. And because
[5:28] it's good, people stop scrolling and
[5:29] they hit the video and they're watching
[5:31] it. And that is valuable to YouTube and
[5:34] to the companies that pay to advertise
[5:36] on it. Now, companies can see that
[5:38] people are watching your billboard or
[5:41] your video and they want to put their
[5:43] advertisement on it, but you don't have
[5:45] time to call all these companies and
[5:47] negotiate rates. So, YouTube in essence
[5:49] becomes your ad manager for this. That
[5:51] manager specifically is Google AdSense.
[5:54] The premise here is that Google AdSense
[5:56] goes out and finds advertisers. They're
[5:59] sort of saying, "Hey, we've got an
[6:01] amazing creator here who has a channel
[6:03] that people love to watch about home
[6:05] organization tips. you seem to have
[6:08] products that go along with home
[6:09] organization. Do you want to advertise
[6:10] on this channel? The advertiser says
[6:13] yes. They sign up with AdSense and they
[6:16] pay for the ads. Then Google AdSense
[6:18] takes their cut, which is 45% and then
[6:21] you, the video creator, are left with
[6:23] the 55% that comes from the payment for
[6:26] the ads. You didn't have to sell
[6:28] anything. You didn't have to negotiate
[6:30] any agreements. You just made the video
[6:32] and in essence created that billboard.
[6:35] Let me give you a simple example. Let's
[6:38] say a company pays $10 to show their ad
[6:42] on your video. If you get a,000 views on
[6:45] your video, then AdSense will keep $4.50
[6:49] of that $10 and you will get $5.50.
[6:53] Now multiply that by videos that might
[6:56] potentially get far more than 1,000
[6:58] views. That number is paid for every
[7:00] thousand views that comes on your video.
[7:03] You can see how that can start to build
[7:05] over time the more views and popular
[7:07] that your channel gets. Now, with
[7:09] anything that deals with advertising,
[7:12] you're not actually selling products
[7:14] with this. You're renting attention.
[7:17] And the beautiful part about having a
[7:19] monetized YouTube channel is that you do
[7:21] the work once and then that video has
[7:23] the capacity to keep pulling in views
[7:26] for months or even years while you sleep
[7:29] and travel and do all the things in your
[7:32] life because you made the video. You put
[7:34] it on YouTube and it has the capacity to
[7:36] keep earning for you. All right, I want
[7:38] to give a little adjustment as to how
[7:40] YouTube shorts work within all that
[7:42] because I know I have a lot of viewers
[7:44] that are concentrating on building a
[7:46] channel that's much more based on
[7:47] shorts. Now, anytime you're on YouTube,
[7:50] you see shorts everywhere. They're a big
[7:52] thing that they're pushing. They're a
[7:53] big thing that people are creating
[7:55] because vertical video is something that
[7:57] people really enjoy consuming. We see it
[8:00] on Tik Tok. We see it on Instagram,
[8:02] Facebook reels. It's becoming a thing
[8:04] that more people are moving toward, but
[8:06] it has very different elements from the
[8:08] long form or the horizontal videos like
[8:10] the one you're watching now. And with a
[8:13] short on YouTube, you might have the
[8:15] possibility to put up a 30 secondond
[8:17] clip and all of a sudden you wake up the
[8:18] next day and you see it has a 100,000
[8:20] views on it. It's more likely to happen
[8:22] with a short than it does with a
[8:24] horizontal long form video. And it might
[8:26] be, wow, that's a big boost. But I just
[8:29] want you to be aware that shorts and
[8:32] long form videos live in two very
[8:33] completely different worlds when it
[8:35] comes to monetizing your YouTube
[8:37] channel. All right, let's break it down.
[8:40] For long- form videos, and again,
[8:42] they're the ones that are horizontal and
[8:45] they're over 60 seconds long. You need
[8:47] 4,000 watch hours to monetize. Ads have
[8:50] the capacity to play before, during, and
[8:52] after your video. You earn 55% of the ad
[8:56] revenue. And the RPM, I'll define that
[8:58] term a little bit more later, but in
[9:00] short, it's the revenue per mill, which
[9:02] is a fancy way to say a,000. Your RPM
[9:06] can range from $3 to $30 depending on
[9:11] the niche and the topic of your video.
[9:14] Now, it's all different with YouTube
[9:16] Shorts. You need 10 million views on
[9:18] Shorts in 90 days to monetize. Yeah, you
[9:21] heard me right. 10 million views. Ads
[9:25] don't play on individual short videos.
[9:28] Instead, YouTube pulls all the ad
[9:30] revenue from the short stream that
[9:32] somebody might be watching and then
[9:33] splits it among the creators that showed
[9:35] up there. That's based on views and then
[9:38] also music licensing, which is a big
[9:39] deal with shorts often times. You
[9:42] typically earn much less per view
[9:44] compared to long form content. And your
[9:46] RPM might be anywhere from like 5 cents
[9:50] to 10 cents per 1,000 views. But here's
[9:53] something I really want you to be aware
[9:55] of. You can kind of get excited and get
[9:58] somewhere like a a half a million views
[10:00] on your shorts and still be nowhere
[10:03] close to unlocking the ad revenue you
[10:05] need to get into the YouTube partner
[10:07] program that you've been building with
[10:08] your long form videos because those
[10:10] shorts do not count at all towards your
[10:13] 4,000 watch hours. That's a big thing to
[10:15] understand and I think it's a big thing
[10:16] that people had the potential of missing
[10:18] with this. So, what should you do if
[10:21] you're a little bit more focused on
[10:22] having the vertical shorter videos than
[10:24] the YouTube shorts? They do absolutely
[10:27] have their place. I think shorts are
[10:29] really good for introducing your content
[10:31] to different viewers than what your long
[10:33] form content might get to. I think
[10:36] they're good for teasing your long form
[10:38] content. You can make a short that's
[10:39] sort of like carved out of your longer
[10:41] form content, link that longer form
[10:43] video to it, and send the short out on
[10:45] its own. and shorts I think are helpful
[10:48] to build your subscriber number overall.
[10:50] But if your goal is to make consistent
[10:53] monthly income from your YouTube
[10:55] channel, it's going to be a whole lot
[10:57] harder to get to the place where you can
[10:59] start doing that with shorts than it
[11:00] will be with long form content. You
[11:03] might want to think that your long- form
[11:04] videos are actually your money makers,
[11:06] but your shorts are kind [clears throat]
[11:07] of like your marketing team. Make sense?
[11:11] All right. Right now, we're going to get
[11:12] to the part of YouTube monetization,
[11:14] which I think is probably has the
[11:16] highest potential to be the most
[11:17] confusing. So, I'm going to do my best
[11:18] to try and just explain this to you. If
[11:21] you've watched any videos about YouTube
[11:23] monetization, you're often going to see
[11:25] a creator that's kind of like bellowing
[11:27] about the kind of money that they're
[11:28] making with their kind of channel. And
[11:30] you might see a creator who says that he
[11:32] has 50,000 views on a on a video and he
[11:35] made $2,000 from it. then you might
[11:38] eventually get into the program and have
[11:40] a video that takes off and it gets
[11:41] 50,000 views and you might make $125
[11:45] from it. What happened? Did YouTube scam
[11:47] you? Nope. It's just kind of how it
[11:51] works. It comes down to two acronyms.
[11:54] The RPM, like I described a little while
[11:57] ago, and CPM.
[11:59] So, what do these mean? CPM is the cost
[12:02] per mill. And again, mill just means
[12:05] a,000 views. The CPM is what advertisers
[12:08] are willing to pay you when your video
[12:11] is shown to your audience. The RPM is
[12:14] the revenue per mill, and that's the
[12:15] amount that you actually take home after
[12:18] YouTube takes their cut out of it.
[12:20] Here's what I need you to really
[12:21] understand.
[12:23] Not all videos have the capacity to make
[12:26] the same amount of money. So, let me try
[12:28] and explain this with a couple different
[12:30] examples.
[12:31] Say your YouTube video is a finance and
[12:35] career-based channel. You make videos
[12:38] about retirement planning, about
[12:40] investment for beginners, about smart
[12:42] home budgeting. Your viewers are
[12:44] probably have a higher chance of being
[12:46] financially stable, of being decision
[12:49] makers who put some research into things
[12:51] before they do it. And there's probably
[12:52] a good chance that a lot of them are
[12:54] homeowners. Advertisers in the financial
[12:58] industries or real estate or insurance
[13:00] might be willing to pay somewhere
[13:03] between $20, $30, even up to $50 to get
[13:08] in front of your audience. That means
[13:11] your RPM, your revenue per mill might
[13:14] end up being like between $15 and $25.
[13:18] Now, let's look at the other side of the
[13:19] spectrum and say that you have a YouTube
[13:21] video that is a lot of videos of your
[13:24] cat doing what you think is very funny
[13:25] things. Your viewers are there for the
[13:29] entertainment and there's absolutely
[13:30] nothing wrong with that. But advertisers
[13:33] who might be willing to pay to get on a
[13:35] funny cat video might be a little bit
[13:38] more towards mobile game and gambling
[13:41] companies or their snack brands or
[13:43] they're pretty low ticket impulse buys
[13:46] as somebody might have. That means they
[13:48] might only pay between $2 and $5 for
[13:53] a,000 views. your RPM, your take-home
[13:56] pay per,000 views might be between $1
[13:59] and $3.
[14:01] Same number of views, wildly different
[14:04] YouTube paychecks.
[14:06] So, if your channel is monetized, you
[14:08] can go on every one of your videos and
[14:10] see what the CPM and the RPM are. Let me
[14:12] just show you quickly how to do that.
[14:14] Just once you're in YouTube analytics,
[14:16] you go to content, you choose a
[14:18] particular video. You go to that video's
[14:21] analytics, and then you go to the
[14:23] revenue tab. Here's a look at one of my
[14:25] videos that I posted in mid January of
[14:28] this year. The CPM, how much advertisers
[14:31] pay for a,000 views on it, is $1542.
[14:35] The RPM, how much I actually earn from
[14:38] a,000 views on it, is $8.81.
[14:42] Honestly, this might be a little bit
[14:43] below average for me. Generally, the CPM
[14:46] for my videos, which is usually on
[14:49] YouTube or tech or AI tutorials or
[14:51] something like that, is usually a little
[14:53] closer to the $20 range. But I'm going
[14:55] to tell you a secret. The amount of
[14:57] money that I make through the YouTube
[14:58] partner program is one of the smallest
[15:00] income streams that I have with my
[15:02] channel. Honestly, I think it could be
[15:04] the same way for you, too. Hey, I'm
[15:07] jumping in here while I'm editing this
[15:08] video because I want to encourage you.
[15:12] Monetizing your channel through the
[15:13] YouTube Partner Program is an awesome
[15:15] goal, and I know it's one that so many
[15:17] of my viewers have met and they're doing
[15:18] well. But I want to encourage you that
[15:21] there are so many ways to be able to
[15:23] earn with an a YouTube channel.
[15:24] Honestly, for me, YouTube monetization
[15:26] is pretty low on the list of the options
[15:28] that I'm pursuing right now with the
[15:30] actual income that's coming in. So,
[15:33] because I wanted to just be clear and
[15:35] provide a lot of good information for
[15:36] you, I wrote an ebook on this topic.
[15:38] It's called The YouTube Plan That
[15:40] Finally Clicked. My subtitle is a
[15:42] step-by-step guide to turning consistent
[15:44] content into opportunity because that's
[15:47] what I've tried to do with this channel,
[15:48] and I'm really kind of seeing some fair
[15:50] amount of success with. So, I talk about
[15:52] lots of different ways you can do it
[15:54] with uh brand sponsorships, with
[15:56] affiliate marketing, with digital
[15:57] products, and several other ones. And
[15:59] then I go into lots of different niche
[16:02] examples too of lots of different topics
[16:04] that your your content might be about
[16:06] and then ways that you can tie those
[16:08] income generating opportunities into
[16:10] them. So I really want to encourage you
[16:12] not to get stuck in the idea of wow okay
[16:16] I want to monetize my channel and and
[16:18] that's it because you'd really be
[16:20] missing out on so many opportunities. I
[16:21] have a QR code on the screen if you're
[16:23] watching on a TV. It's easy to just scan
[16:25] that and take a look or I have it linked
[16:28] actually in two places below. I'd love
[16:30] for you to take a look because I think
[16:31] it could benefit if you have on your
[16:33] mind that you want to earn with your
[16:34] YouTube channel. Don't be locked in to
[16:36] just this YouTube partner program. It's
[16:39] great, but it is so small compared to
[16:41] all the opportunities that exist. I hope
[16:43] you take a look. So, the main point I
[16:45] want to make with all this is to help
[16:46] you understand that what you choose as a
[16:50] niche for your videos and even the
[16:51] specific topics that you'll choose with
[16:54] your videos really affect the amount
[16:56] that you'll get paid through the YouTube
[16:58] partner program. But the niche is kind
[17:00] of what makes the biggest difference in
[17:01] it. A channel about budgeting, about
[17:05] home management, about health care,
[17:08] career development or investing. All of
[17:10] those kind of things are always going to
[17:12] earn pretty big amount more per view
[17:16] than a channel that is about your cats
[17:19] or gaming or just kind of general
[17:22] entertainment and you sitting and just
[17:23] shooting the breeze. It is not about
[17:26] being boring. It's not about being the
[17:28] topics that maybe people are going to be
[17:30] the most drawn to. It's really
[17:32] understanding what advertisers value the
[17:34] most and the topics that they're going
[17:36] to be able to pay and drawing in an
[17:38] audience that these advertisers think
[17:40] are ready to pull out their credit card
[17:41] and buy the services that are in the
[17:43] ads. So, just to help your big picture
[17:45] understanding of this, here's what
[17:47] drives high RPMs. Topics related to
[17:51] money, finance, real estate, business,
[17:53] investing. Topics related to major life
[17:56] decisions, health, parenting, and career
[17:58] type things. topics with an audience
[18:00] that has purchasing power and topics in
[18:04] regulated industries like legal,
[18:06] medical, and insurance. Here are the
[18:09] channel niches that typically have lower
[18:11] RPMs,
[18:13] pure entertainment content,
[18:16] gaming, unless it's gaming, hardware
[18:18] reviews,
[18:20] general vlogs, and here's what I do in a
[18:22] day, music covers,
[18:26] and then just compiling a whole bunch of
[18:27] memes that you think are funny. So, the
[18:29] good news about this is that you get to
[18:31] choose. You can go into it eyes wide
[18:33] open and have a channel that's maybe a
[18:35] little bit more hobby and you don't care
[18:37] if you make a lot of money through the
[18:38] YouTube partner program, but you enjoy
[18:41] doing it and it's really a bright spot
[18:42] in your day to work on your YouTube
[18:44] channel. There is absolutely nothing
[18:46] wrong with that. But if you are wanting
[18:47] to build and develop a channel that has
[18:49] the potential to earn more through the
[18:51] YouTube partner program, you kind of
[18:53] have to make some strategic choices
[18:54] about a niche. If you have experience
[18:58] and knowledge in one of those higher
[19:00] value topics, then get yourself set for
[19:03] success and talk about that a little bit
[19:05] more and hopefully be reaching some of
[19:07] those higher paid niches. All right. If
[19:09] you're nosy about what somebody might be
[19:11] earning from a YouTube channel, there
[19:13] are a couple places online where you can
[19:15] at least get a ballpark idea of how much
[19:18] they might be earning per month in the
[19:19] YouTube partner program. I can't vouch
[19:22] for exactly how accurate they are. And
[19:24] when I look at the numbers that are
[19:25] associated with my channel, I think I
[19:28] don't really think that's right. But I
[19:30] will say, okay, if we're talking general
[19:31] ballpark, it's close enough. Here's
[19:33] those two sites. One is socialblade.com
[19:37] and the other is viewstats.com.
[19:40] All right, let's talk about general
[19:43] timelines that it might take you to get
[19:45] to the part where your channel is
[19:47] monetized by the YouTube partner
[19:49] program. I want to be encouraging. I
[19:51] want to be honest and give you a
[19:53] paradigm that I think could be
[19:55] realistic.
[19:56] If you are starting from absolute zero,
[20:00] here's a timeline that might be what
[20:02] your future looks like with YouTube.
[20:03] Months one through three is 100% the
[20:07] learning curve. You are figuring out
[20:11] your setup, how you want to have your
[20:13] camera, the natural light that you want
[20:15] to get from the window that you sit in
[20:17] front of to talk. you are kind of
[20:19] figuring out the topics that come
[20:21] naturally to you, the topics that you
[20:23] don't have to think about to talk about,
[20:25] and you're getting more comfortable with
[20:26] just being on camera and how you want to
[20:28] talk in general. You might be getting
[20:32] 15 views a video up to like maybe a
[20:35] 100red views a video. You might have 10
[20:38] subscribers. And let me encourage you
[20:40] that this is 100% normal and you
[20:43] shouldn't feel bad about any of those
[20:45] numbers. You are not failing. you are
[20:47] building the foundation that everything
[20:49] else will then get built on top of. So
[20:52] months four through eight, you're moving
[20:54] more a little bit more into the momentum
[20:57] phase. You are starting to get a little
[20:59] bit more comfortable with figuring out
[21:01] how this whole YouTube thing works and
[21:03] you're getting a little bit more
[21:04] comfortable being on camera. you have
[21:06] posted enough consistent videos and
[21:09] you've narrowed down your topic
[21:10] selection and you're sort of landing
[21:12] into a niche and YouTube's algorithm is
[21:14] starting to figure out a little bit more
[21:16] about who they should be showing your
[21:17] videos to. You might start getting
[21:20] somewhere between like 200 and 500 views
[21:22] a video and subscribers are going to
[21:24] trickle in a little bit more steadily in
[21:25] this phase and you might be up to like
[21:28] the 300 400 subscriber point. Again,
[21:31] this is all completely theoretical. I'm
[21:33] just kind of maybe showing an examples
[21:35] to give you an idea what to expect. Your
[21:38] results will probably not be exactly
[21:41] like this. So, now we get up to like the
[21:44] 9month to the 18month period. And we're
[21:47] going to call this the breakthrough
[21:49] window. Why? Because this is where I
[21:52] think a whole lot of people decide I'm
[21:55] out or this is kind of work. I'm going
[21:58] to keep giving it some more time and
[22:00] effort. If you've stayed consistent, if
[22:04] you have worked on trying to improve one
[22:06] thing in every video so you get a little
[22:07] bit better with how you're doing it,
[22:10] this is the time that you might likely
[22:12] hit that 1,000 subscriber mark. And
[22:15] somewhere in that 9mon to 18month
[22:17] window, hopefully you're going to hit
[22:18] the 4,000 watch hour mark. And remember,
[22:20] those 4,000 watch hours have to be
[22:22] accumulated in the last 365 days. You
[22:26] might hit those kind of things in the
[22:27] ninth month. You might hit those kind of
[22:28] things in the 16th month. None of those
[22:31] numbers are wrong. All those things are
[22:32] completely normal. Now, let's say you're
[22:35] at month 18. You're a year and a half
[22:36] into this. So, let's give this the name
[22:39] of the paycheck phase. Your channel has
[22:42] reached the levels where you are fully
[22:45] monetized in the YouTube partner
[22:46] program. You are seeing deposits into
[22:49] your bank account. It might be $50 a
[22:52] month. It might be $150 a month. It
[22:55] might be more than that if you're doing
[22:57] well. that stays consistent because
[23:00] hopefully you're staying consistent in
[23:02] your posting, which is really key in
[23:03] that. But you're also starting to glean
[23:07] the premiums that come from having a
[23:09] good library of videos that's underneath
[23:11] of you. Because once you get monetized,
[23:12] you have the capacity to go back and
[23:14] earn from all of those videos that are
[23:16] already on your channel. Now, can you do
[23:20] all this faster? Absolutely. And I've
[23:21] seen people do it. If you if you nail
[23:24] what you know your niche is going to be
[23:26] and you are consistent in posting and
[23:29] you're really working on improving so
[23:31] that your video quality consistently
[23:33] improves. Sure. I think it can be done
[23:34] quicker than that. Can it take longer?
[23:37] Absolutely. And it can take longer if
[23:40] you post pretty sporadically. Or maybe
[23:44] you pick a topic that is overly
[23:46] saturated and you didn't do anything to
[23:48] kind of set yourself apart with like a
[23:50] specific avenue within that topic. Or
[23:54] honestly, maybe your videos could just
[23:56] use a little help and you're not really
[23:57] paying attention to what you can do to
[23:59] get better each time you post.
[24:02] Then it could definitely take longer.
[24:04] But here's what I want you to
[24:06] understand. YouTube, like investing, is
[24:09] all about compound interest. every video
[24:12] that you post is building on your asset.
[24:15] Your videos don't disappear in 24 hours
[24:17] like something like posting on Instagram
[24:19] has the likelihood of doing. They sit
[24:22] there and they keep accumulating views.
[24:24] People keep searching for topics that
[24:25] they might be about and they hopefully
[24:27] show up as a potential answer for them
[24:30] and these views can keep accumulating
[24:31] for years. I have videos that I posted
[24:34] in 2019 on this channel that I can see
[24:37] are still getting views every single day
[24:39] and that means they are building into my
[24:42] earnings every single day. I did the
[24:45] work six or seven years ago at this
[24:46] point and I'm still getting paid for it.
[24:49] So, you can think of starting a YouTube
[24:51] channel like you're buying a lottery
[24:53] ticket. Like, well, maybe this will
[24:54] work. Maybe I'll win. Or you can look at
[24:57] YouTube as I'm going to build this. I'm
[25:00] going to be strategic about it. I'm
[25:02] going to think about where I want this
[25:03] channel to go and I'm going to think
[25:05] about building a channel that has the
[25:06] capacity to reach viewers and to earn
[25:08] money from it. So, I hope that has
[25:11] helped to give you maybe a clearer and
[25:14] more realistic expectation of what to
[25:17] have when you're pursuing the YouTube
[25:19] partnership program to earn money
[25:20] through what's most people refer to as a
[25:23] monetized channel. Now, again, this
[25:25] isn't the only way that you can earn
[25:27] with a YouTube channel. There's a lot of
[25:29] ways to do it and I would venture to say
[25:31] even from my own experience that there's
[25:33] a lot more ways that you have the
[25:34] capacity to earn more money from than
[25:36] the YouTube partner program. I just
[25:37] really want to encourage you not to get
[25:39] locked into this is the only way and
[25:41] this is the best way. So again, I do
[25:43] have uh an ebook down in the description
[25:46] that I think could help to open your
[25:49] eyes to the different ways that you can
[25:51] earn from it so that the work you're
[25:52] already putting into your channel has
[25:54] the option to pay you off in different
[25:55] ways. I really hope you'll take a look.
[25:58] And hey, if you are pursuing a YouTube
[26:00] channel because you enjoy it and it's a
[26:02] good hobby for you and a good creative
[26:04] outlet, wonderful. There are so many
[26:07] people that are doing that and they're
[26:09] they're enjoying the creativity. They're
[26:10] enjoying the option to be able to share
[26:12] their knowledge with people who can
[26:14] benefit from it. And the monetization
[26:16] goals aren't really as big of a thing
[26:18] for them. Good for you. But if you think
[26:22] I'm gonna put in this time and I want to
[26:23] see what I can earn from it, then you
[26:26] got to stay a little bit more fixed on
[26:27] that path. Either way, you do not need
[26:30] to be super techsavvy to succeed on
[26:33] YouTube. You don't have to have a film
[26:35] degree or intense knowledge about how to
[26:37] do all of this because really the only
[26:39] way you're going to get better is to
[26:41] learn as you go and try to improve one
[26:43] thing in every video that you post. You
[26:46] don't need the most expensive equipment.
[26:48] I'm doing it with an iPhone and I'm
[26:50] sitting in front of a window for natural
[26:51] light. You can do the same thing. What
[26:54] will help you to be able to succeed with
[26:57] YouTube and what will help you to
[26:59] achieve your goals within the YouTube
[27:01] partner program is to be consistent in
[27:04] posting and strategic in how you're
[27:06] going about doing that. I do have a uh
[27:10] playlist down below uh that is focused
[27:12] on how to succeed on YouTube, especially
[27:14] when you're over the age of 40 that if
[27:16] you want to pursue a little bit more of
[27:17] that strategic part, I do have some
[27:19] videos in there that I think might
[27:20] capture your attention and hopefully
[27:21] really be of help for you. So, it's time
[27:25] go build your billboard. Put it along
[27:27] that highway so those advertisers
[27:29] capture the attention and YouTube's
[27:30] like, "I've got somebody for you that's
[27:32] a good match with what you want to
[27:34] advertise for." Your videos are that
[27:36] key. Hey, thanks so much for watching. I
[27:39] hope this has explained some things. I
[27:41] hope it's brought some clarity and I
[27:42] hope it's encouraged you to see that if
[27:45] you want to have a channel that makes
[27:46] money, you've got a lot of ways to be
[27:47] able to do it. If you saw that video I
[27:50] played earlier with a sample of my video
[27:53] on a billboard and you thought, "Hey, I
[27:55] haven't seen that video yet." It's a
[27:56] good one to watch. I think it's called
[27:58] uh how I'd start a YouTube channel in
[28:00] 2026 if I had to start over. I have it
[28:02] linked here. I'd love if you'd watch
[28:04] that one next.