Contrary to what people might think, monetizing YouTube is not easy unless you’re using AdSense. However, AdSense only makes sense if you have a highly popular channel with thousands of subscribers.
If you don’t have the luxury of large-scale popularity, you might find yourself wondering, “How to earn money from YouTube without AdSense.”
Let’s explore some ways to earn money on YouTube without using AdSense!
How to Earn Money from YouTube without AdSense
You must find ways other than AdSense to make money from YouTube until you develop a well-established subscriber base.
Here are some monetization tactics you can use to make your YouTube channel and videos profitable:
Join an Affiliate Program
Joining an affiliate program is a great way to generate revenue on your YouTube channel. Put the links to your chosen products in the video description, channel bio, and comment section.
It encourages your subscribers to view and potentially purchase products through your link. Every time someone from the U.S. or elsewhere uses your link to make a purchase, you will receive a commission.
You will benefit from affiliate marketing if you have a large YouTube presence. Choose a product niche and think of products your audience would generally buy.
Then, join an affiliate marketing program to promote products in your niche. You can make videos to promote these products or mention them in your videos.
Ensure you pick products you have genuine knowledge of so that your recommendations don’t turn out to be duds. Otherwise, you run the risk of ruining your reputation.
The ethical thing to do is to disclose your use of affiliate links. The more honest and transparent you are, the more trust your audience will put in you.
Write & Sell E-Books
As a reputable YouTuber, you can choose a niche your subscribers will resonate with and write an e-book in that niche. Audiences love reading books in digital format due to their convenience.
You can also work with a transcriber who can transcribe your video content into e-books and sell them through your channel. Put direct links in your videos that can take your audience to your e-book site.
Typically, you can write on any topic, and your e-book can be short or long, depending on your chosen topic and style. You can then upload your e-book on Amazon via Kindle Direct Publishing.
Market Your Products
You can also earn money from YouTube by selling products and merchandise. If you are someone who produces products, you must sell them on your channel.
Alternatively, if you don’t have your products, you can get trusted products in bulk and sell them at a higher price. However, you must remember that selling products will be time-consuming.
You will have to tackle order placements, packaging, deliveries, and more. If you plan to sell on YouTube, you must also have the time to ensure customer satisfaction.
You will also need a space to store your products; the storage size will depend on your product dimensions.
If you’re selling a manufacturer’s product, start with a product that is hard to break, lightweight, and small. Source your products from somewhere with a low manufacturing fee.
If the sole purpose of creating a YouTube channel is to sell your products, you can do that by creating promotional and informative videos. The former will directly showcase your products.
Meanwhile, informative videos will help you discuss topics relevant to the product.
For instance, if you sell kids’ toys, your informative videos could talk about the type of toys appropriate for different age brackets and more.
You can optimize these videos for a higher SEO ranking to bring more traffic to your channel. You can slowly become an authority in your chosen niche.
Read How much does YouTube pay you for 1 million views?
Sell Courses
Many people visit YouTube to learn new skills and gain more knowledge on specific topics. As a YouTuber, you can generate income by creating and selling courses on your channel.
Advertise advanced courses and encourage your viewers and subscribers to register to access them. This way, you will also have a potential list of interested viewers for your future courses.
Creating courses and uploading them on your site will allow you to generate passive income. You will only have to focus on promoting your videos and using other promotional strategies.
However, it will be entirely up to you to invest your time in different strategies. You must create courses based on your existing knowledge or skills. They can be video courses, PDFs, e-books, or a mix of all.
Ensure the content is concise and clear. You can also create e-books out of the courses to market your product or sell them separately.
You can also create different sections for an elaborate course and sell them separately. Add promotional prices to encourage prospective readers to buy your course.
Lastly, make sure to license your courses to protect them from getting shared for free all over the internet.
Look into Brand Sponsorships
You can look into brand sponsorships if you’re wondering how to earn money from YouTube without AdSense in the U.S. Getting a brand sponsorship enables you to get paid for promoting a brand.
If your channel gets a lot of traction, you can use your subscriber count and engagement stats to get a good deal. You can choose to get paid monetarily or get free items.
If you want to go down this road, research brands that sell products your audience might be interested in. Define some ground rules so that you can negotiate with your chosen brands.
Present your pitch to the brands, highlighting why you are the right choice for a collaboration or sponsorship. Lastly, remember to promote products your audience will be keen on buying.
Do not promote products or services your subscribers will not be interested in. Otherwise, brands will not want to work with you due to the lack of engagement or results.
Read How To Earn From YouTube Automation
Offer Your Services
Another great way to make money from YouTube is to offer your subscribers consulting, content marketing, graphic designing, or other services.
Offering your services on YouTube allows you to tap into a worldwide prospective customer pool. It will enable you to spread your business globally.
Slowly, you will build your reputation as an expert in your chosen field. Your YouTube videos will help you demonstrate your skills and knowledge, allowing you to establish yourself as an authority.
If you make videos around your services and promote them, your subscribers will grow. More and more people will seek your services organically.
Don’t think that people will not hire you just because you will share information about how to become more skilled at what you do. Yes, your videos will get engagement from those wanting to learn your skill.
With that said, your channel will also come across people wanting to hire you. These people might not have the time to learn your skills. They would much rather hire a professional to do the job.
Your videos and reputation will help them choose you for the services they require. You can also post genuine video testimonials of your clients to generate more business.
License Your YouTube Videos
If you are creating niche-specific, well-researched videos, make sure to license them. It will keep others from copying your content or stealing your video for their benefit.
Licensing will also allow you to charge others if they wish to use your content. For instance, media publications might want to use your content if you post well-articulated and meticulously researched videos.
You can also create specific videos for companies or private individuals who can then pay you a fee for complete ownership of them.
It’s the ideal way to earn money from YouTube for people who create niche-specific content. That said, it can be challenging to create marketable content. You will also need to research extensively.
Alternatively, you can create short humorous clips that have the potential to go viral. You can submit these video links to a licensing site.
They will upload your videos, and people will license them, enabling you to earn passive income. You might not make a lot from licensing if you don’t develop an understanding of your target audience.
You will need to know what people are willing to buy and create similar content to earn from these videos.
Read How to Make Money on YouTube Without Making Videos?
Market Your Digital Products
Digital products are one of the most profitable things to sell online. These are essentially products you create on your computer, and you can sell them online.
Digital goods can include stock photos, e-books, sound clips, logos, graphic paintings, templates, or even videos. Since these products will be your creations, you can take 100% of the profit.
You also don’t have to worry about distribution or manufacturing costs. Programmers, Tech enthusiasts, and graphic designers can truly benefit from selling their digital products through YouTube.
Simply create a product your audience will be interested in and promote it in your videos. For instance, if you sell digital artwork, mention it on your channel, or show sneak peeks of it in your videos.
Since it’s digital, you will not have to worry about physical logistics, such as delivery or storage. Your product will be much more manageable. You can essentially sell it to buyers from all over the world.
Think of how you can market your digital product. For instance, if you sell an app, create its beta version and receive feedback. Determine if people will be interested in buying it.
Make your creation as resourceful as possible. You might need to include some freebies with your product offerings to attract potential buyers, especially when starting out.
But once you have established a community of buyers, creating promotional videos for your products will be easier. They will generate the right buzz to attract more buyers.
Set Up a Workshop or Retreat
Depending on your niche, you can plan a workshop or a retreat for your subscribers. For instance, if your niche is tech or programming related, you can set up a workshop that your subscribers can attend.
Yes, it will take time and effort, but you can start small. Keep limited slots and put ticket links in your video descriptions. Show sneak peeks of your workshop plans in your videos to generate interest.
Your workshop can focus on a specific skill or a subject of particular interest for your audience. It will allow you to interact with your subscribers directly.
Always have a plan and goals for your workshop. Decide what you want people to learn from it and plan something that suits your current skill level.
You must also calculate the expense of the workshop and keep the ticket price accordingly. If you don’t feel comfortable interacting with strangers on a physical premise, you can start a Zoom workshop.
Add the ticket link in your channel bio and video description. You can send the link directly to people who buy the tickets.
Similarly, you can plan a retreat for people following you for a long time. You can collaborate with other YouTubers for it.
Sell a product or merchandise, and the highest bidders can get to spend the day with you, head on a retreat, or chat with you directly.
The Bottom Line
While there is no one-size-fits-all formula to making money from YouTube, you certainly don’t have to use AdSense, especially if your follower count is low.
In fact, there are multiple ways to earn money from YouTube without AdSense. You need to understand the methods mentioned above to earn passive income.
If you have a service or product that sells well, you can use your channel to sell it. At the end of the day, you will need to grow your subscriber count and increase your engagement for more profits.
Make sure to upload top-quality videos, focus on developing a niche for yourself, establish your expertise, and optimize your videos.
Once you get some much-needed traction, you can earn money from YouTube without AdSense. However, make sure not to do everything simultaneously.
Instead, start small and pick one way to earn money. Understand how it works, and then grow your channel from there.
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I am Steven Martinez, an online entrepreneur based in New York, United States. As the founder of several successful niche websites, I got the expertise in areas such as making money online, blogging, YouTube, affiliate marketing, and more. Through this website and blog posts, I am trying to provide insightful and actionable tips to help aspiring entrepreneurs, find ways to make money online. Read more.