WHEN I FIRST STARTED MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

]For a long time I thought making money on YouTube was the best way to make an income. You know, when I first started my YouTube channel I used to see all of these YouTubers who were full-time YouTube creators and I assumed that they where making money purely from Adsense and brand sponsorship deals.

As my journey progressed and as I started my own business, I realized that relying on YouTube itself for monetization isn’t always the best strategy.

The reality is, it isn’t the number of subscribers that you have that will correlate to the money you can make, it’s the strategy you have around monetizing your audience that matters most.

1000 TRUE FANS

Something else to consider (on top of the strategy + the products you offer) is how engaged your audience actually is.

This concept is in line with Kevin Kelly’s 1000 Trues Fans article, where he states that if you have 1000 people who are true fans of you and your brand, you can make more money and more of an impact. Now, a true fan isn’t someone who simply likes what you’ve got to offer, it is someone who actively engages with your content, who sees you as a leader, and who is likely to buy anything that you sell.

So, remember, you can monetize and make a great income with a small audience, you do not need 10,000 followers. But, if you want to make an income selling your influence or product, you need to have someone to sell it to.

ADSENSE EXAMPLE

Let’s say you have a YouTube audience of 1000 subscribers and get on average 2000 views per month.

To note: How much money you make is going to depend on your CPM (Cost per 1000 views). Everyone’s CPM is different. It depends on what niche you’re in, what country most watches your content, what industry you’re in.

Let’s say that the CPM is 10$.

If you where making 10$ per 1000 views a month, you’d make around 20$/month.

NOW, IF YOU CREATED YOUR OWN PRODUCT…

If you created your own product, whether it be physical, digital, or service-based…

And you have a YouTube audience of 1000 subscribers and get on average 2000 views per month.

Let’s say that 3% of your audience (the average) signs up for your paid membership, which costs 50$ a month.

If 3% of your 1000 subscribers signed up (30 subscribers), you would make 1500$/month.

Same audience, different monetization strategy, and a massive difference in your ability to earn.

This is why I am so adamant about telling people to start their own business, master their skills, and sell their own products. Because the difference in your earning capacity is huge.

YOUR EXPERIENCE

The caveat here is your experience. The more experienced you are in whatever it is you create content around and, therefore, sell a product around, the more likely it is that you are going to have people wanting to buy that product.

I have plenty of clients who have made 10k months, even 6-figure years with small audiences and that’s because they not only had a really strong, recognizable brand but they really have mastered their skills, whatever industry they’re in. Whatever they are teaching their audience, they go the extra mile to REALLY be helpful and valuable and prove to people that even with a small audience, they know what they’re talking about.

You don’t have to wait for the social proof of hundred of thousands of people following you, you just have to be someone who’s willing to go the extra mile.

This is something that I cover quite in-depth in my In-Demand program. I help you position yourself as a leader and build an In-Demand personal brand.

But, really if you are someone who wants to monetize a small audience, make money on YouTube, make money anywhere on social media, how much you know and how much you share is going to play a big part in that.

SO, IS YOUTUBE WORTH IT?

Now, look, I am definitely not trying to discourage you from using YouTube as a platform. Quite the opposite, actually. I am simply trying to highlight for you the benefits of using it as a tool to monetize your audience through the sales of your own products, rather than being the source of your income in itself.

I may not make enough money from YouTube to support myself, but almost all the people who buy my products, hire me as a coach, join my membership, or buy my courses, found me on YouTube.

I create valuable content for them on YouTube, then I allow them to get to know me better on a platform like Instagram, and then I sell them into products. That’s my strategy.

So, while the money isn’t coming directly from YouTube, YouTube is definitely the source of those sales.