5 steps to monetize with YouTube

I'm going to go straight to the point 🎯 here:

When growing a YouTube channel, you are leaving money on the table by relying on the YouTube Partner Program alone.

I'm going to share some insights into another income stream I've created (thanks to my reach on YouTube) and that is digital products.

In the beginning of my YouTube journey, I was solely focused on Adsense money from the YouTube Partner Program.

At that time, you needed 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watchtime (in the last 365 days) before you could apply to the YouTube Partner Program.

It took me 8 years to reach that.

(I actually made 2-3$ before the YouTube Partner Program existed. Yes, I've been around for that long.) 😂

If I knew what I know now, I could have made money from my YouTube channel (and my social media channels as well) way earlier.

In the image below you can see a screenshot of my channel growth over the last 12 years. (The purple curve are my views and the green curve are income.) 

That is 8 years of not making any money, despite reaching a lot of people.

Now (2024), you have 2 ways to reach the YouTube Partner Program:

1️⃣ Get 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months

or...

2️⃣ Get 1,000 subscribers with 10 million valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days.

(You can read more about it here.)

I spent 12 hours creating my iPhone Mockup Animation back in 2022.
By putting it on Gumroad and making a video about it on my YouTube channel (where I link to the product) It has now generated:
 
$120 from YouTube Adsense

and...

$960 in sales on Gumroad

That is $1080 from ONE product. 
(Or an hourly rate of 90$ for those 12 hours I spent creating the product.)

But the best thing is:
I have barely touched that product (nor the video) in 2 years and that amount is growing every day. 📈

Are you starting to see the potential with digital products? :)

So, how did I do this?

If you want ALL the details and guidance on how you can set this up for yourself (and learn about all the mistakes I did on the way, so you don't repeat them) I highly recommend you to sign up for my program Streamlined Creator (that you can read more about below) but I will also share a quick step-by-step walkthrough right here 👇

1️⃣ Create a digital product (that you would find valuable yourself)

2️⃣ Price it below what it’s worth (to quickly get downloads and positive reviews and increase the price later once you have enough data to justify it.)

3️⃣ Make a tutorial on your channel about why people need the product or how you created it (and mention the product at the end)

4️⃣ Link to the product in the comment section and pin that comment

5️⃣ Redirect traffic from your other videos to this video using cards, end screens and playlists

➕ Bonus:
Let Gumroad get a bigger cut of your income by recommending your product for you. This is automated traffic and you can always decrease this cut (and thereby also the extra reach) later.

➕ Bonus 2:
Ask for feedback on the product and create an upgraded version that can be displayed as an option at checkout (maybe with a discount), to increase the chances of upselling.

DISCLAIMER:
The key to make this work is volume, patience, and iteration. You don’t need 100 products but you need a relevant and good product and an optimized video about it.

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MY NEW ONLINE PROGRAM:

"Streamlined Creator" launching July 1, 2024 🥳

If you want to jumpstart your YouTube journey, set the foundation for your channel, and get the systems in place to grow (rather than fumbling around in the dark for years without direction), consider joining "Streamlined Creator".

I've finally decided on a starting date (1st of July) and that is when I will close enrollment (or as soon as I fill up the 8 spots for this launch, whatever happens first).

If this sounds interesting, book a 30-min Discovery Call and I'll share all the details with you!

The call is completely free and you will get insights into my own channel growth and be presented with a launch price at the end that you won't find anywhere else (and it is the lowest price it will ever be since I'm opening enrollment for the first time, so take advantage of this one-time-opportunity).