How does YouTube monetization work in 2026?

[00:00] I think there are three lies that

[00:02] potentially could keep you from moving

[00:05] closer to having a monetized channel on

[00:06] YouTube. Let me define what they are.

[00:09] Number one, you need a million

[00:11] subscribers to actually make real money.

[00:13] Well, that's false. Number two, you need

[00:17] to post a video every single day to get

[00:19] your channel monetized.

[00:22] Also false. And then lie number three is

[00:26] once your channel gets monetized, money

[00:27] just rolls in automatically.

[00:30] That one is definitely false. Now, I

[00:33] share those because I have gotten

[00:34] comments about all three of those things

[00:36] from my viewers multiple times. So, I

[00:40] thought, let's just confront those kind

[00:42] of things head-on and just explain

[00:44] exactly how this whole getting your

[00:46] channel monetized and what it means in a

[00:48] big picture works. There's an actual

[00:51] system that YouTube uses to decide who

[00:53] gets paid and how much for what kind of

[00:55] videos. By the end of this video, I want

[00:58] you to have a clearer picture of how

[01:00] YouTube monetization actually works and

[01:03] how you can build in that kind of system

[01:06] as you build your own channel. So, let's

[01:08] get into it. Hey, if we haven't met, my

[01:10] name is Diane. I'm in my mid-50s and

[01:12] I've started this YouTube channel to

[01:14] help my fellow folks who are over the

[01:15] age of 40 to have opportunities for more

[01:18] impact, influence, and hopefully more

[01:20] income online. And one of the best ways

[01:23] to do that is with a YouTube channel.

[01:27] So, YouTube monetization, let's get into

[01:30] the details. First things first, YouTube

[01:33] just does not hand out paychecks to

[01:35] anyone who uploads a video to YouTube.

[01:37] Wouldn't that be nice? There is a

[01:39] gatekeeper system that you have to rise

[01:42] to the established levels to be able to

[01:43] get into it and that's called the

[01:45] YouTube partner program. So you can

[01:48] think of the YouTube partner program

[01:50] sort of like a building with two doors

[01:52] into it. You have to unlock each door

[01:55] with specific keys before you can see

[01:58] what's behind those doors. So the first

[02:00] door you'll get to I'll refer to as the

[02:02] fan support door. That first door

[02:05] requires two keys. That's 500

[02:07] subscribers on your channel and 3,000

[02:10] accumulated watch hours that you've got

[02:12] in the last 12 months. If you're only

[02:14] making shorts, that's a little bit

[02:15] different, and I'll get to that in a

[02:17] minute. So, when you unlock door number

[02:20] one, we'll get to what we'll call

[02:22] fanpowered income. And fanpowered income

[02:25] would include things like super thanks.

[02:28] And this is a button that appears under

[02:30] your videos where viewers can like give

[02:33] you a tip on your videos of $2, $5, $10,

[02:36] $50 just to say thank you for the

[02:40] content that they enjoyed watching. So,

[02:43] think of it like a digital tip jar. Then

[02:45] you also have super chat and super

[02:47] stickers. If you live stream on YouTube,

[02:51] viewers have the opportunity to kind of

[02:53] highlight their message in the chat, and

[02:54] they can do that by paying some money

[02:56] through a super chat option. You might

[02:59] think of it as somebody who decides to

[03:00] buy a round of drinks at a party just

[03:02] because they kind of want to get

[03:03] everybody's attention.

[03:05] It's probably not that expensive,

[03:06] though. Door number one unlocks channel

[03:09] membership options, so viewers can pay

[03:12] like $4.99 a month to become a member of

[03:17] a channel. You can set that admission

[03:18] price of whatever number you want, but I

[03:20] I see $4.99 as kind of being the general

[03:22] choice. So, with that membership, people

[03:25] pay and you can give them access to

[03:26] exclusive content, to live streams with

[03:29] you, to early access to things. So,

[03:31] these initial things that you get by

[03:33] unlocking that door number one, it's

[03:35] actually real money. It may not add up

[03:37] really quickly, but it does give you

[03:39] your foot into the door into the YouTube

[03:41] partnership program. These options that

[03:43] come with door number one are real

[03:44] money. I don't want you to dismiss it,

[03:46] but the reality check is there's not a

[03:49] whole lot of income potential that comes

[03:50] from this. It really is kind of just

[03:52] your foot into the door into the first

[03:55] part of the YouTube partnership program.

[03:57] Now, door number two is what we'll call

[04:00] the ad revenue door. And this is the one

[04:02] where more opportunities really open up

[04:04] for you. And when somebody says or

[04:06] thinks, "I want to get my channel

[04:08] monetized," this is generally what

[04:10] they're referring to. To unlock door

[04:12] number two, you need 1,000 subscribers

[04:15] on your channel and you need an

[04:16] accumulated 4,000 hours of watch time in

[04:20] the last 365 days. Or if you're doing

[04:23] shorts, it's 10 million shorts in 90

[04:25] days. When you unlock door number two

[04:28] and get to this level of the program,

[04:30] this is when YouTube starts to share ad

[04:33] revenue money with you. We've all seen

[04:35] the ads that come up on videos. They're

[04:36] at the beginning, they could be in the

[04:38] middle, or they show up at the end, too.

[04:41] Thousands of companies of all different

[04:43] types pay YouTube for the option to show

[04:45] their ads on your videos. When that

[04:48] happens and you're part of the YouTube

[04:50] partner program, then YouTube will give

[04:52] you 55% of the money that they receive

[04:55] for those ads. So, let's talk about

[04:57] where that ad money actually comes from

[05:00] because I kind of think that that's

[05:01] where a lot of the confusion happens on

[05:03] this topic. Imagine your YouTube video

[05:06] is a billboard, but it's not a billboard

[05:08] on a country road. is actually a

[05:10] billboard on one of the busiest

[05:11] interstates that's in your community.

[05:14] You've created something that's valuable

[05:17] in your video. Maybe it's a tutorial or

[05:21] a pretty riveting story or really

[05:23] helpful advice or a recipe that

[05:25] everybody likes, whatever. And because

[05:28] it's good, people stop scrolling and

[05:29] they hit the video and they're watching

[05:31] it. And that is valuable to YouTube and

[05:34] to the companies that pay to advertise

[05:36] on it. Now, companies can see that

[05:38] people are watching your billboard or

[05:41] your video and they want to put their

[05:43] advertisement on it, but you don't have

[05:45] time to call all these companies and

[05:47] negotiate rates. So, YouTube in essence

[05:49] becomes your ad manager for this. That

[05:51] manager specifically is Google AdSense.

[05:54] The premise here is that Google AdSense

[05:56] goes out and finds advertisers. They're

[05:59] sort of saying, "Hey, we've got an

[06:01] amazing creator here who has a channel

[06:03] that people love to watch about home

[06:05] organization tips. you seem to have

[06:08] products that go along with home

[06:09] organization. Do you want to advertise

[06:10] on this channel? The advertiser says

[06:13] yes. They sign up with AdSense and they

[06:16] pay for the ads. Then Google AdSense

[06:18] takes their cut, which is 45% and then

[06:21] you, the video creator, are left with

[06:23] the 55% that comes from the payment for

[06:26] the ads. You didn't have to sell

[06:28] anything. You didn't have to negotiate

[06:30] any agreements. You just made the video

[06:32] and in essence created that billboard.

[06:35] Let me give you a simple example. Let's

[06:38] say a company pays $10 to show their ad

[06:42] on your video. If you get a,000 views on

[06:45] your video, then AdSense will keep $4.50

[06:49] of that $10 and you will get $5.50.

[06:53] Now multiply that by videos that might

[06:56] potentially get far more than 1,000

[06:58] views. That number is paid for every

[07:00] thousand views that comes on your video.

[07:03] You can see how that can start to build

[07:05] over time the more views and popular

[07:07] that your channel gets. Now, with

[07:09] anything that deals with advertising,

[07:12] you're not actually selling products

[07:14] with this. You're renting attention.

[07:17] And the beautiful part about having a

[07:19] monetized YouTube channel is that you do

[07:21] the work once and then that video has

[07:23] the capacity to keep pulling in views

[07:26] for months or even years while you sleep

[07:29] and travel and do all the things in your

[07:32] life because you made the video. You put

[07:34] it on YouTube and it has the capacity to

[07:36] keep earning for you. All right, I want

[07:38] to give a little adjustment as to how

[07:40] YouTube shorts work within all that

[07:42] because I know I have a lot of viewers

[07:44] that are concentrating on building a

[07:46] channel that's much more based on

[07:47] shorts. Now, anytime you're on YouTube,

[07:50] you see shorts everywhere. They're a big

[07:52] thing that they're pushing. They're a

[07:53] big thing that people are creating

[07:55] because vertical video is something that

[07:57] people really enjoy consuming. We see it

[08:00] on Tik Tok. We see it on Instagram,

[08:02] Facebook reels. It's becoming a thing

[08:04] that more people are moving toward, but

[08:06] it has very different elements from the

[08:08] long form or the horizontal videos like

[08:10] the one you're watching now. And with a

[08:13] short on YouTube, you might have the

[08:15] possibility to put up a 30 secondond

[08:17] clip and all of a sudden you wake up the

[08:18] next day and you see it has a 100,000

[08:20] views on it. It's more likely to happen

[08:22] with a short than it does with a

[08:24] horizontal long form video. And it might

[08:26] be, wow, that's a big boost. But I just

[08:29] want you to be aware that shorts and

[08:32] long form videos live in two very

[08:33] completely different worlds when it

[08:35] comes to monetizing your YouTube

[08:37] channel. All right, let's break it down.

[08:40] For long- form videos, and again,

[08:42] they're the ones that are horizontal and

[08:45] they're over 60 seconds long. You need

[08:47] 4,000 watch hours to monetize. Ads have

[08:50] the capacity to play before, during, and

[08:52] after your video. You earn 55% of the ad

[08:56] revenue. And the RPM, I'll define that

[08:58] term a little bit more later, but in

[09:00] short, it's the revenue per mill, which

[09:02] is a fancy way to say a,000. Your RPM

[09:06] can range from $3 to $30 depending on

[09:11] the niche and the topic of your video.

[09:14] Now, it's all different with YouTube

[09:16] Shorts. You need 10 million views on

[09:18] Shorts in 90 days to monetize. Yeah, you

[09:21] heard me right. 10 million views. Ads

[09:25] don't play on individual short videos.

[09:28] Instead, YouTube pulls all the ad

[09:30] revenue from the short stream that

[09:32] somebody might be watching and then

[09:33] splits it among the creators that showed

[09:35] up there. That's based on views and then

[09:38] also music licensing, which is a big

[09:39] deal with shorts often times. You

[09:42] typically earn much less per view

[09:44] compared to long form content. And your

[09:46] RPM might be anywhere from like 5 cents

[09:50] to 10 cents per 1,000 views. But here's

[09:53] something I really want you to be aware

[09:55] of. You can kind of get excited and get

[09:58] 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.