So you’re ready to take the leap and take your channel from hobby to hustle. Which begs the question, “how do you start earning money from your channel?”. Good news, it is a fairly easy process!
YouTube have created a scheme called the ‘Youtube Partner Program’ (YPP) which allows creators to earn revenue from the platform as well as giving them access to a collection of resources.
Since launching YPP in 2007, YouTube has made the process of monetizing your channel significantly easier, most of it now built into your YouTube studio space. Follow along with this 4-step guide and get to earning!
If you’re still growing your audience in order to become eligible for monetization, you might like our list of YouTube tools to grow your audience.
1. Apply to the YouTube Partner Program
First and foremost, you will need to apply to the YouTube Partner Program. This program allows you to earn money from your content on YouTube in multiple ways.
To apply, you will need to head to your YouTube page and follow these steps:
- To access your YouTube studio, click the profile icon and select ‘YouTube studio’ from the drop down menu
- Scroll down in the left navigation bar and click ‘earn’
- Click ‘apply now’
If you are unable to click through to the application page, it is likely that you haven’t yet met the YouTube Partner Program criteria yet. This is explained in the next section.
2. Check that you meet the criteria
With the addition of YouTube shorts and other revenue streams, this criteria is a little more complicated than it used to be. Here’s what you need to know:
You can unlock access to fan funding and select YouTube Shopping features if you have:
- 500 subscribers
- 3 public uploads in the last 90 days
- either 3,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months OR 3M public Shorts views in the last 90 days.
You can unlock access to ad revenue, YouTube Premium and more if you have:
- 1,000 subscribers
- either 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months OR 10M valid public Shorts views in the last 90 days
Your progress towards meeting these requirements is all tracked for you in the ‘earn’ section of your YouTube studio.
Another thing to look out for when applying for YPP is your channel’s location settings. YouTube will only allow channels in certain regions/countries to apply for the program, so it is worth checking this beforehand.
You can change your channel’s location via your YouTube studio. A list of eligible countries/regions will be linked here.
3. Review guidelines
Once you have ensured your channel meets all the YPP requirements, it is time to review the guidelines and terms. As you can imagine, there are quite a lot. It is important to read through them carefully to fully understand the responsibilities you are taking on along with the benefits of this program. Don’t forget, this is a contract that you are signing up for.
Although YouTube presents you with the key documents, they may not cover everything you want to know, so it is best to read up on all the guidelines before finalizing your application.
4. Create a google AdSense account
In order to start actually receiving money from any revenue stream on your channel, you will need to set up a google AdSense account. Adsense is an advertising platform run by Google and designed to go hand in hand with YouTube, among other channels.
If you don’t already have an Adsense account, YouTube has made it easy to do so from your channel account. Head to the ‘earn’ section in your YouTube studio and follow the instructions from Google linked here.
If you have an existing AdSense account, you can go ahead and link this to your application, also within the ‘earn’ section.
5. Enable monetization
Your part is now done! You can sit back, relax and wait for YouTube’s decision. Provided you have followed all the guidelines and policies, it should be smooth sailing from here, but in the case that they encounter any issues, they should contact you to keep you updated.
If you’re asking yourself, “how long will it take for my application to be reviewed?”, YouTube has stated the current processing time is around one month, but delays are possible as they review each application in the order in which they are received. You can read their support page.
Once your application has been approved, all that is left to do is enable monetization in the ‘earn’ section of the YouTube studio.
Now that you are monetized, you can read up on our ‘top richest YouTubers‘ article to get prepared for all that revenue!
