How to Make Money with YouTube

How to Make Money with YouTube

YouTube is probably one of the best marketing platforms at your disposal – and it’s a lot of fun! Imagine every marketing strategy we’ve discussed to this point (SEO, website, blogs, etc.). Now combine their effectiveness. That should give you an idea of what YouTube can do. It’s powerful and video marketing speaks for itself.

In this chapter, you will learn:

- How to set up an effective YouTube channel.

- How to shoot your first video.

- How to get your video viewed by millions of people.

- How easy it is to rank your videos on Google (most important).

Why is YouTube so Great?

The answer to this question is very simple. More traffic equals more money. Ranking on Google is one of the absolute best methods of generating traffic. Google owns YouTube which means it has extremely high authority. Google wants videos on YouTube to be the first thing its audience sees. As a result, these videos get priority over all others. This is the kind of authority you want when marketing.

Video marketing is projected rise above all other forms of marketing in the coming years. Since marketing is headed toward this new venue, it’s a good idea to establish your presence now.

People tend to look at YouTube as simply a place to go to find music videos and other forms of entertainment. In reality, YouTube is used for so much more. In today’s world, it’s used more as a search engine than television channel – howbeit a very unique and advanced search engine. It is owned by Google after all. So keep that fact in the back of your mind when setting up your first video.  

Setting up a YouTube Account

Getting started with YouTube is very easy but for those who are new to this powerful platform, here are the steps.

Note: I will assume that you already have a Google account. If you don’t, then one is required in order to use YouTube.

I’m going to briefly show you how to get started with YouTube. It’s really easy.

Step 1

Visit www.youtube.co/create_account to begin.

Step 2

Fill in all required information. When writing your profile description, try to utilize keywords so that you get the best chance of exposure.

A photo will also make your profile come across as more professional.

Setting up a YouTube Channel

Once you have your initial YouTube account set up, it’s time to get to the fun stuff. Your channel will be the place where of your videos are placed. Showcasing your videos in a professional way will get multiple views from the same viewer, as well as subscribers. A YouTube channel can quickly become your most valuable marketing platform.

Step 1

Once logged into your YouTube account, click on the account name. This is located in the upper right corner of the screen. Select My Channel.

Step 2

Select Channel Settings. This is where you will customize your channel to make it your own. So get creative. Set up a custom background and organize it in a way you like. The four biggest factors that will make or break your channel are:

- Title

- Description

- Design

- Organization

Setting up your title will take the longest. You need a keyword rich title that immediately tells viewers what to expect. “Dave’s Video Channel” simply won’t cut it. Use Google Keyword Generator to find a list of possible keywords and then brainstorm through them.

Once you have a title, use that same keyword in the description. These are so important because you want to use YouTube’s authority to its fullest potential. Once your channel is set up, it will look bland without some awesome videos on it. Don’t worry. Now we are going to set up the first video.

Creating your First YouTube Video

Once you take the time to go through this process, you are guaranteed to start seeing positive results from your efforts – so long as it’s set up correctly and the video is exceptional. Just any random video will not convert. It must be outstanding. Again, don’t worry. It’s not as difficult as you might think.

Decide your Message

Unless you want to sputter along incoherently, annoying your viewers to the point of spam clicking the dislike button, sit down and decide what message you are planning to deliver. Do this before anything else. Remember that great marketing videos are short and to the point. Don’t drag on. The idea needs to be simple, yet effective. For example, if you’re promoting a new book, you wouldn’t promote the entire book in one video. You would choose a specific aspect.

It’s a good idea to check out some other videos to see how the experts do it. Specifically, videos within your niche. See what is successful and what’s not. This will give you a better idea of what message you should try and convey.

Additionally, the message should be simple. Viewers must be treated like children. If you provide too much information all at once, there is no way that it will all sink in. After all, if the viewer doesn’t understand the message, then you’ve wasted your time.

Not only does the video need a simple message, it will need to explain to the viewer exactly what you want them to do next. It must be clear. You can’t just assume they will know what to do, even if it’s obvious to you. If you’re trying to drive traffic to a website, then specifically tell them to visit your website. If you’re promoting a product or service, then tell them exactly where to find it.

Every video requires a message. This includes funny videos and music videos. So don’t exclude anything from this just because it may seem like there is no message. There is always a message.

Writing a Script

You have a message and know exactly what you’re planning to tell your viewer. You don’t have to be a professional screenwriter to write a script, but you need something. Otherwise, you will just end up staggering around uselessly while holding a camera. At the very least, you need a list of scenes to go by. A script is just used to keep you moving in the right direction when filming.

You can hire a freelancer to write a script for you. If you use Fiverr, then it will cost you about $5 to get this done. I can’t overemphasize the importance of having a script.

Filming your Video

Now comes the fun stuff – actually filming your video. There are several options at your disposal here but one thing that is pretty much a requirement in today’s world is an HD camera (assuming you film the video yourself). If you want to make the most of your efforts, then go ahead and spend the money to buy an excellent camera. With that said, here are three options for filming a video.

Appearing Live in the Video

The most commonly thought of method for creating a YouTube video is to appear live. Some simply don’t feel comfortable on camera so they tend to bypass this great opportunity. However, you do not have to appear on camera to create a video for YouTube. So don’t panic just because you might be camera shy; there are other options.

For appearing live in a video, an HD camera is pretty much required. Although you can use a camera phone, the quality will fall short of other videos. Thus, you will lose conversions. Whatever you decide, just follow your script and you will be fine. Also, try and get at least two separate angles from each scene.

Once you are done filming, you need a video editing program in order to put it all together. A few popular choices are:

- Adobe Digital Effects (Most Expensive)

- Cyberlink Power Director (Average Cost)

- Windows Movie Maker (Free)

Put together the video in a way that clearly delivers your overall message. Be sure that the audio is of high quality. Don’t over-clutter with transitions (a huge mistake made by many).

Video Presentations

Our next option does not require you to appear live on video. It only requires your voice. Video presentations (if done professionally) will convert quite nicely. Tutorials tend to work best for this format.

All you need to so it put together a series of graphics or PowerPoint presentation in a way that explains the subject clearly. It needs to be a series of well defined steps and the video should show the viewer how to clearly complete each step. End with a message to the viewer, asking them to visit your site or subscribe to your channel.

Hire a Freelancer

This option is perfect for those who are camera shy to the point that they do not even want their voice to be in a video. Although there are thousands of places where you can find freelancers, I’ve found that Fiverr is a great place to get started. So long as you have a script hammered out, you can get a video (around 1 minute in length) created for around $20. When hiring a freelancer, be sure that they have examples of previous videos. The last thing you need is an amateur putting together a video for you.

Once you finally get your first video finished, take a moment to smile. You should be excited because the hardest part is done. Unlike other ventures, getting the finished product to rank on Google is the easy part. Just follow these steps. If set up correctly, your video will pretty much work on auto-pilot. 

Keyword Optimization

The trick to getting a video to show up in searches is through keyword optimization. The video itself isn’t picked up by search engines but the title and description (as well as tags) are what search engines use to locate a video. Therefore, it’s extremely important to get it right.

Title

By far the most important component of your video is the title. It’s the first thing that viewers and search engines see. It must convey your message while utilizing a main keyword in order to make it perfect for both search engines and people. Take your time to get this done perfectly. Remember, if this is done correctly then the video will work on auto-pilot. Therefore, you can afford to take the extra time to get a perfect title.

Description

The video description is a bit tricky because (like the title), it needs to be optimized for both real people and search engines. There’s actually a nice little trick to this. First thing is to use Google Keyword Generator (you’re wearing that free tool out!) and search for variations of your main keyword (the one from the title). This time, don’t worry about monthly searches or competition. Just write down every keyword on the first two pages. All of them. Got it? Good.

Start your description with a link leading to wherever it is you’re trying to drive traffic to. Also, with video descriptions you will need to include the “https” label before the link. After your link, write a brief description of your video. This should be between two and three sentences. After the description, place the link again. So your description will have two links: one to start and one to end.

Now use the rest of the description space to list all of your keywords obtained from Google Keyword Generator. Separate each one with a comma. This is allowed with video descriptions but not anywhere else. So don’t think you can go onto your website and just start placing keywords. You can’t. However, with a video description you are allowed because it doesn’t lower the quality of your content (video content is within the video itself).

Tags

This is a piece of cake. Copy and paste your list of keywords from the description field into tags. That’s it!

Monetize your Video

Your video will now land views all on its own so you might as well use that to your advantage. Even if you’re using the video to drive traffic to another venue, go ahead and use this process to get even more out of it. I’m going to quickly show you how to generate a small stream of extra income from your video.

Since you already have an Adsense account, then all you need to do is set up Adsense video units. Here’s how it’s done.

Step 1

Log into your Adsense account and select the YouTube Video Units option.

Step 2

Read and accept the legal disclaimer. This is only required the first time.

Step 3

Confirm your YouTube account. This will pull you back to YouTube where you must accept a plugin that links your YouTube and Adsense accounts together. It will then confirm that the two accounts have been linked together.

Step 4

Name your player and set up how the ad units will be displayed. Make sure you don’t interrupt the viewer’s experience with poorly placed ads.

Step 5

Set up the ad matching options. It’s best to let Google choose relevant ads for you. So long as you set up your keywords correctly (discussed above), then Google will choose ads relevant to your video.

Step 6

Click the Generate Code option. Then just copy and paste the code onto your video page.

After setting up your initial video, you will automatically be asked to select units for new videos that you upload. So you can either create new players or use ones that are saved to your profile. It’s a fairly simple process and can generate a steady stream of income through views and clicks. Trust me, your videos will get views on a regular basis.

How to Become a YouTube Partner

This is another way to monetize your videos. However, becoming a YouTube partner takes quite a bit of time to establish. In fact, I wouldn’t even attempt it until you have at least 500 active subscribers.

You will also need to upload new videos on a fairly regular basis. That makes this an option only for those who love making new videos. If you want to become a YouTube partner, then register with them through your user interface. It is a good way to generate some extra income through videos but be warned that Google expects a lot from those partnered with them.

It’s safe to say that for the purposes of this book, I would not recommend this option. Only become a partner if you decide you want to dedicate most of your efforts into filming videos. YouTube can offer a great career for many adventurous spirits.

Overview of YouTube

I will end this section by recapping some of the more important factors of YouTube. Since it is such a powerful platform, I feel a quick reminder will do a world of good. Let’s start by looking at the advantages.

By far, YouTube’s authority with search engines is its greatest advantage over all other free platforms. This authority makes it extremely easy to get videos ranked on Google and other search engines. As you’ve learned, ranking on search engines is a sure way to drive traffic to your other ventures.

YouTube gives you content to post onto your blogs and website. Since videos tend to convert at a much better rate than any other form of posts, having the option of embedding videos that coincide with your website content is a huge deal.

Finally, learning how to create videos will teach you an all important skill. That skill is engaging your audience. Whether through writing or speaking, the better you get at engaging an audience, the more people will bookmark your pages and come back for more. Have you ever met a salesman who didn’t know how to engage in a conversation?

Avoid Common Mistakes

Let’s face it, not everyone is successful on YouTube. Some complain about their failings while others remain in silence. One thing remains the same. Chances are that mistakes are what kept success from knocking at the front door. It’s hard to admit for some but those who are truly successful not only learn from mistakes, but will make sure to keep from repeating them. Here are some common mistakes with YouTube videos.

- The video contains no message or the message is so vague that no one understands it.

- The video is too long. As a result, viewers close out of the video before reaching the call to action.

- Failure to include the link and keywords in the description. Or worse, the video has no description.

- The video name does not match the content.

- Failure to include tags.

Avoid these mistakes and you will be well on your way to driving huge volumes of traffic to other ventures. All of this benefit while generating a stream of passive income through each video. While many video marketing platforms charge you to advertise your products and services, YouTube is one of the few places that pay you to advertise. So take advantage of it.