How Much Money Do YouTubers Make?

Most of the video content that is created now happens on YouTube. So how much money do YouTubers make? 

YouTube income, how much do Youtubers make

As long as you have an idea and a camera you should be able to make an impact on someone’s life. When you have enough support, you will eventually build a positive inflow of viewers. The biggest issue you will run into is trying to figure out what types of videos you want to post. Once that happens, you should be able to start monetizing your channel.

So, how much money do YouTubers make?

This question is very abstract when you factor in all the caveats of YouTube. Depending on the size of your channel and how much time and effort you put into your production, the amount of money you make will vary. A person that has 50,000 subscribers will not always make the same amount someone with 5 million subscribers. It could happen; however, these are usually videos that have gone “viral” and have been seen multiple times.

Most of the time when you see a YouTuber buying their mom a new home, or driving the latest supercar it is after years of hard work. Most of the time the money they make comes from outside sources as well, but we will get back to that later.

YouTube can be very secretive on how they pay YouTube creators.

 If you follow YouTube, it can be hard to find out how much money YouTubers make. For example, some creators will brush it off stating YouTube does not allow them to talk about how much they actually make while others talk freely about the money they bring in off their videos. The real money comes from the monetized videos. If the videos are not monetized the creator does not make any money.

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Take the famous YouTuber, Pewdipie, it is rumored that he makes about $8-10 million each year. With more subscribers than there are people in the state of Florida, you can see why his numbers are so high. His views are also in the billions, as well. While his video views are at a staggering level in a sense they do not matter.

Do views matter? Yes and no

As a creator, you want people to watch your videos, however, sometimes the content you may put out will not stick with some of your viewers. This is why monetization is so important. For those of you that think how much money a YouTubers make is based on throwing a video up are sadly mistaken.

YouTube uses an algorithm that calculates the number of monetized views advertisements get on the channel. This is a guarded secret of the company, but there is a ratio you can use to get a feel of how much you could potentially make. It is called the CPM, this stands for cost per thousand, YouTube uses this to figure out how much money YouTubers make. Yes, even the smaller channels.

CPM further explained

You see when you are watching videos on YouTube those advertisements you see usually have an assigned cost per thousand. Based on the content of the video you could get an advertisement for an upcoming movie, usually, these have a higher CPM since the companies pay more to have them shown.

This is how it works. Say you are a creator and you released a video that had about 2 million views, first you divide that by 1,000. This leaves you with 2,000 views. Now, hypothetically speaking, only half of those views are monetized; this leaves you with 1,000 views. Assuming the advertisement has a CPM of $10. After you multiply that with the views you have $10,000. Before you start jumping for joy, YouTube still needs to take its cut of the profits. This comes in at about 55 percent.

Yes, you multiply yet again leaving you with, $5,500 for that particular video. While this is a great number to hit often YouTubers will not get that much per video. This is where making people want to watch your content plays a huge factor.

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Take Casey Neistat for example, he seems to have a nose for viral videos. The most popular video on his channel follows his time spent flying first class on Emirates to Dubai. To date, the video has amassed over 37.4 million views. Now, Critical Financial does not know if he still gets paid from that video, but if he does the money he receives is most likely “up there”. Most YouTubers, however, do not get that many views from those videos of their trip to Miami for the weekend.

How much money do YouTubers make outside of YouTube?

As stated earlier, many YouTubers have to earn money from multiples streams of income. Most of the time this comes in the form of promotion. While many of us hate it, it happens frequently. Usually, after the video starts you will see your favorite YouTuber stop to tell you about this really fun mobile game they are playing that you just have to download. Most of the time they are being paid to promote the game or a specific product.

The Hodgetwins are two brothers who love two things: bodybuilding and cursing. However, there will be some videos when they are tamer than usual. Most of the time it is because they are trying to promote something.

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It also comes in the forms of partnerships. The YouTuber, Yolanda Renee, is a mom of two who consistently promotes natural hair care in the beauty community on YouTube. She recently partnered with Palmers to promote its coconut oil hair care line.

Some YouTubers work with networks to earn money, as well

DashieXP for example only has about 2 million subscribers, but he works with Machinima. A network that promotes his channel. Like the Hodgetwins, DashieXP uses an excess of foul language, but he looks as though he is doing well. That being said there is a double-edged sword when it comes to working with a network; they also take a cut. Depending on the network you are with it could be 10-30 percent.

Can you make money solely off YouTube? Yes, you can, but you have to make sure the content you are creating can catch the eye of potential advertisers that have a fairly high CPM. If the advertisement has a lower CPM you are going to have to work a little harder. That being said most of the popular YouTubers are in the financial position they are in because they started making content that they like. Forget the equipment, all the different bells, and whistles and just make amazing content. That is the key to making as much money as some YouTubers.