How to Get YouTube Monetization (in 5 Minutes)

[00:00] So, you want to get monetized on

[00:01] YouTube, but you got a 5minute attention

[00:03] span. Well, time is money. So, let's get

[00:04] on with it, shall we? First things

[00:06] first, monetization lives inside the

[00:08] YouTube studio, not your imagination.

[00:10] So, jump in there and before you do

[00:11] anything else, switch it all to dark

[00:13] mode. It'll help you get monetized

[00:15] faster because your eyes will still work

[00:16] this time next year. On the lefth hand

[00:18] menu bar, click earn. If you see this

[00:20] message, you'll need to update your

[00:22] country of residence in the settings,

[00:23] which are down here under the channel

[00:25] section. Country of residence is where

[00:27] you actually live, not where you were

[00:28] born. YouTube needs this for eligibility

[00:30] requirements. And no, setting your

[00:32] location to a luxury tax haven won't

[00:34] magically upgrade your channel. Once

[00:36] you've done that, the earn screen will

[00:37] look a lot more useful as it will show

[00:39] you your progress to monetization, which

[00:41] basically looks like this. First up,

[00:43] you'll need 1,000 subscribers. The good

[00:45] news with this requirement is that there

[00:46] is no time limit. Just keep creating and

[00:48] over time, viewers will keep clicking

[00:50] that button. Although, to be honest, I

[00:52] preferred it when it looked like this.

[00:55] The next requirement is more

[00:56] challenging. You will need 4,000 public

[00:58] watch hours over a 12-month period.

[01:00] Public watch hours basically means the

[01:02] videos must remain public, not unlisted,

[01:04] not private, and certainly not deleted.

[01:06] Also, any watch hours gained from

[01:07] YouTube shorts will not count either,

[01:09] which is damn annoying. As for 4,000

[01:12] watch hours over a 12-month period, this

[01:14] means that from today's date, whatever

[01:16] date that is, go back 12 months, any

[01:19] watch time earned will be counted, even

[01:21] if the videos themselves were published

[01:23] more than 12 months ago. I know, I know

[01:25] you probably still have questions about

[01:26] this, and I've tried to explain this

[01:28] rule a million times before, but you

[01:30] said you only had 5 minutes, so I'm

[01:31] moving on. The alternative requirement

[01:32] for 4,000 watch hours on long form

[01:34] videos is 10 million public shorts views

[01:37] over 90 days. Wow,

[01:40] that's a lot of views. I can't think of

[01:43] a joke for this bit. Uh, good luck.

[01:46] Essentially, these same rules apply in

[01:48] terms of shorts needing to remain

[01:50] public. All shorts views over the last

[01:52] 90 days counting towards the

[01:54] monetization requirements. But this

[01:56] time, no long- form YouTube video views

[01:59] will count towards this requirement,

[02:01] which again is just damn annoying. The

[02:04] requirements are set up in such a way

[02:05] that you're either a long- form content

[02:07] creator gunning for those 4,000 watch

[02:08] hours or a shorts creator taking on 10

[02:10] million views plus the 1,000 subscribers

[02:13] every creator needs. I appreciate these

[02:15] numbers sound pretty daunting,

[02:17] especially on day one when you're

[02:19] starting with a big fat zero. So, try to

[02:21] break down these numbers into more

[02:23] manageable chunks. For a long form

[02:24] creator over one year, you would need to

[02:26] average three subscribers and 11 hours

[02:28] of watch time per day. For a shorts

[02:30] creator over 90 days, that's 11

[02:32] subscribers per day and 34,000 shorts

[02:35] views per day to meet the requirements.

[02:37] And YouTube is all about compounding

[02:38] returns, stacking constantly on top of

[02:40] each other. In your first week with one

[02:42] video, you might not be hitting these

[02:43] numbers, but give it time. 50 videos and

[02:46] some viral moments, and you'll be

[02:48] smashing these averages. Now, on top of

[02:49] these channel performance requirements,

[02:51] you'll also need to follow YouTube's

[02:52] monetization policies. Yes, the boring

[02:55] bit, but stay with me. You'll need to

[02:56] turn on a two-step verification for your

[02:58] channel as well, which you can do right

[03:00] now, regardless of where you are in your

[03:02] monetization journey. It is annoying,

[03:05] but so is losing your channel to a

[03:07] hacker called CryptoLord 6 and 7. Your

[03:10] channel also needs to be free of

[03:11] community guideline strikes. If you do

[03:13] have one, you'll need to wait at least

[03:14] 90 days for that to expire before you

[03:17] can apply for monetization. And finally,

[03:19] you'll need to activate advanced

[03:20] features on your channel. This starts by

[03:22] verifying your account with a phone

[03:24] number to unlock intermediate features.

[03:26] Yes, another code. Yes, another text

[03:29] message. After that, with a bit of

[03:31] channel history and behaving yourself,

[03:33] advanced features should automatically

[03:35] unlock. Think of it like YouTube slowly

[03:38] deciding it trusts you, but not that

[03:41] much. Oh, and I almost forgot to

[03:42] mention, you'll need to set up an

[03:44] AdSense account attached to your YouTube

[03:46] channel, which is how you'll get paid.

[03:47] Now, I'll be honest with you, I haven't

[03:49] got time to explain how all of this

[03:50] works now because remember, I've only

[03:53] got 5 minutes. But YouTube will help you

[03:55] set all of this up when you're ready to

[03:57] apply for the YouTube Partner Program.

[03:58] In case you've not heard that phrase

[03:59] before, the YouTube Partner Program is

[04:01] the official term for channel

[04:03] monetization. And if you wanted to, you

[04:05] would only need to visit this page once,

[04:07] turn on the notification for when you're

[04:09] eligible, and just start creating

[04:10] content. Now then, when you do meet all

[04:12] of the monetization requirements, while

[04:13] you are eligible for monetization,

[04:15] you're not automatically enrolled and

[04:17] accepted. First, you need to agree to

[04:19] the monetization terms of service. Then,

[04:21] set up the AdSense account we mentioned

[04:22] earlier and wait for your channel to be

[04:24] reviewed. The monetization review

[04:26] process can take up to a month, but it's

[04:28] often done a lot faster than that,

[04:29] typically within a few days. If you're

[04:31] rejected, you can appeal the decision

[04:33] within 21 days or wait 30 days to make a

[04:36] fresh monetization application. But if

[04:38] you get rejected for a second time,

[04:40] you'll need to wait 90 days before you

[04:42] can apply again. So, it's really

[04:44] important to swat up on the monetization

[04:46] policies to make sure your content fits

[04:48] YouTube's guidelines. All right,

[04:50] congratulations on getting monetized.

[04:51] Here's your first paycheck

[04:55] in the mix. Stats on the rise. Views

[04:57] climbing high. No surprise. Monetize.