What’s up guys? Welcome back!

Today, I am going to answer the most popular question from the comment section!

How do I get my Youtube channel monetized, so I can finally start to make money on YouTube?

I’m going to start with the basics, that you need to know, to earn money with your YouTube channel by joining the Youtube Partner Program.

And then we’re going straight into creating a step-by-step action plan to get your channel approved in the fastest and most reliable way possible.

Sounds good?

Then let’s do it!

Table of Contents

• What is the YouTube Partner Program?
• What are the requirements to join the YouTube Partner Program?
• How can I join the YouTube Partner Program?
• How to get 1,000 YouTube subscribers fast
  • Pick a niche
  • Optimize your videos for YouTube SEO
  • Add subtitles to all of your YouTube videos
  • Increase your YouTube authority scores
  • Be the first to publish time-sensitive content
  • Create exclusive content for your YouTube channel
  • Ask people to subscribe to your YouTube channel
  • Build an email list
  • Share your videos far and wide
• How to get 4,000 YouTube watch hours fast
  • Create a video schedule that works for your channel
  • Create videos cards for your YouTube videos
  • Use pinned comments to promote related videos
  • Add end screens to each YouTube video
  • Create a list of your most popular videos and add it to your video description
  • Add your videos to topic specific playlists
  • Use series playlists
  • Share playlists instead of videos
  • Share your YouTube videos on social media
  • Live stream on YouTube
  • Share webinars on YouTube
  • Host your online courses on your YouTube channel
  • Promote your YouTube videos with Google Ads
  • Annoy your friends
• How to comply with YouTube’s policies
• How to create a Google AdSense account?
• Conclusion

What is the YouTube Partner Program?

YouTube launched its Partner Program in May 2007. It’s based on Google AdSense and allows creators to earn a revenue share from selling advertising on the YouTube platform.

Video creators earn 55% of advertisement revenue. And YouTube takes a 45% cut.

What are the requirements to join the YouTube Partner Program?

To join the Youtube Partner Program, you and your channel have to fulfill the following requirements.

• You must live in a country or region where the YouTube Partner Program is available.
• You must be at least 18 years old, or have a legal guardian older than 18 years of age who can handle your payments via AdSense.
• Your YouTube channel must have more than 4,000 hours of watch hours in the last 12 months.
• You must have more than 1,000 subscribers.
• You have to connect your AdSense account with YouTube.
• Comply with the YouTube Partner Program policies.
• Don’t violate the YouTube Spam policies.
• Follow the YouTube Community Guidelines.
• You can only monetize videos that meet YouTube’s Advertiser-friendly content guidelines.
• If you want to upload videos onto YouTube that doesn’t comply with these guidelines, you should turn off ads on individual videos.

That’s all?!

Well, it’s not as complicated as it sounds!

How can I join the YouTube Partner Program?

Let’s check your YouTube monetization status.

First you have to log in to your YouTube account. Then open YouTube Studio.

Locate the “Monetization” menu entry on the left sidebar and click on it.

You should see a screen similar to this.

If this is your first time visiting this page, make sure to press the blue button at the bottom that says “Notify me when I’m eligible”. This way, you’ll receive an email notification once you have reached 1,000+ subscribers and 4,000 watch hours within the last 365 days and are eligible to apply for monetization.

Sometimes, you might not see the screen from above. Instead, you might see a very shocking and disappointing notification, telling you that you’re not eligible for monetization:

Don’t panic! This can happen for two reasons.

• The YouTube Partner Program isn’t available in your country. Check if you can sign up for the YouTube Partner Program from your country. If the program isn’t available in your country yet, I recommend exploring other ways how you can make money with your YouTube channel. You can still join the YouTube Partner Program at a later stage when Google rolls it out in your country.
• You are eligible but haven’t set your country yet. This is one of the most common reasons and can easily be fixed in the settings. First, open YouTube Studio. Locate the “Settings” entry at the bottom left and press it. Switch to “Channel” on the left and then select “Basic Info” at the top. Scroll down until you see “Country” and select your country from the drop-down menu. Done! If you open “Monetization” again, it should now tell you that you’re eligible.

How to get 1,000 YouTube subscribers fast

Getting your first 1,000 subscribers will always be the most difficult challenge. If you want to get there fast, you have to hustle hard!

But you have to be smart about it too! Don’t look at this as a number problem. It matters a lot more WHO your subscribers are for the long term growth of your channel.

I wrote an entire article on how to get your first 1,000 subscribers and I highly recommend that you check it out!

Pick a niche

In summary, pick a narrow niche for your YouTube channel and stick with it. At least until you have your first 1,000 subscribers.

Optimize your videos for YouTube SEO

Optimize your videos for YouTube SEO with TubeBuddy. Focus on optimizing the title of your video, description, and tags.

Add subtitles to all of your YouTube videos

Use Descript to create subtitles for each of your videos so YouTube can turn each of your videos into a full-text search engine.

Increase your YouTube authority scores

To increase your overall YouTube channel authority score, think about niche-specific keywords as keyword clusters that span over every aspect of your video from title, description, tags, subtitles, to spoken words, all the way to the keyword density of related keywords across all the videos of your channel and your YouTube channel description.

Be the first to publish time-sensitive content

Take advantage of the first mover advantage and prioritize recency over quality if your channel focuses on time-sensitive and news content.

Create exclusive content for your YouTube channel

Always remember that people don’t want to change. Anything that’s extra work will be avoided at all costs. If you want to move people from one platform to another, you have to give them an incentive.

For YouTube exclusivity is the most powerful strategy to achieve this.

Ask people to subscribe to your YouTube channel

In order to get people to subscribe to your channel you have to ask them to subscribe to your channel and turn the notification bell on.

I recommend to either do this at the end, or once at the beginning and once at the end of your videos.

Build an email list

Don’t rely on YouTube to notify your subscribers via email whenever a new video is out. They might change that in the future.

Instead, start your own email newsletter with ConvertKit and promote it with a very attractive lead magnet related to the niche of your YouTube channel.

Share your videos far and wide

Last but not least, share your videos in as many relevant places as possible. If you have a relevant audience, share it on your social media and email list.

If you are starting from scratch borrow other people’s audiences without being spammy or promotional.

How to get 4,000 YouTube watch hours fast

Alright, let’s take a look at how to increase your video watch time fast. Your goal is to get to 4,000 hours of watch time within the last 365 days.

This works as a rolling average. The last 365 days always move along with time.

If you had one day when you accumulated 1,000 hours of watch time 500 days ago, but then only generated 3,000 hours of watch time within the last 365 days, you would still only have 3,000 hours. The 1,000 hours that you collected 500 days ago are too old.

Now the good news is, that you just have to get 4,000 hours once.

Once you qualify for monetization, you can apply. If you only get 1,000 hours the year after, it doesn’t matter.

I wrote a comprehensive article on how to get 4,000 hours of YouTube watch time fast. Check it out if you want to go into even more depth.

Ok, everyone ready?

Let’s get started!

Create a video schedule that works for your channel

Some people recommend to make as many videos as possible. Ideally 365 per year in order to get your watch time up as quickly as possible.

But it’s not all about the number of videos. The quality and creativity is much more important to get more views out of each video and to get more people to subscribe to your channel.

A generally good schedule that works for most channels is three videos per week that are each 10 to 15 minutes long and one 1-2 hour long live stream per month.

Try to create a video strategy that works for you and your schedule. There is no point in getting too ambitious and then giving up after three weeks because you’re feeling burned out.

Create videos cards for your YouTube videos

Add up to five video cards to each of your videos to promote related video from your YouTube channel to encourage viewers to watch more of your content.

The key is to give new viewers enough exposure to your content to realize that your content is dope! …or not, in that case, thanks for the watch time and have a nice day!

Use pinned comments to promote related videos

If I recommend videos in video cards, I always share the same videos in the comment section and pin it.

This give viewers multiple ways to find the information they’re looking for and increase my watch time.

Add end screens to each YouTube video

Add end screen for your videos and promote at least one of your videos and one of your playlists.

Make sure they’re either your most popular videos or playlists and/or closely related to the video someone just watched.

I use TubeBuddy to add end screens to all of my YouTube videos in bulk.

Create a list of your most popular videos and add it to your video description

Your overall aim with all of your YouTube videos should be to offer viewers as many opportunities to watch more of your content.

That’s why I compiled a list with my most popular and recommended YouTube and share them in the video description.

I update my list every 4-8 weeks and then use TubeBuddy‘s search and replace function to update my video recommendations across all of my videos in bulk.

Add your videos to topic specific playlists

Another way how you can increase the overall watch time per viewer is to organize your videos into topic specific playlists.

This allows viewers who are interested in a specific topic to binge-watch all of your content in one session.

Use series playlists

While we’re talking about playlists, make sure take advantage of the special series-playlist function on YouTube.

It allows you to create playlists that should be watched in a very specific order.

You can add each video only to one series playlists, so organize your playlists wisely.

Using series playlists increases the likelihood that the next video on your series playlist will be recommended as “next video to watch” video.

Share playlists instead of videos

A really cool trick to clock in more watch hours is to share a specific video attached to a playlists instead of the video direct link itself.

Here is an example: Instead of sharing the direct link to this video, I like to share the video with attached playlist.

Make sure that the video of your choice has been added to a playlist of your choice.

Then open the playlist and select the video that you want to share from your playlist.

Copy the URL from your web browser address bar and share it.

The benefit of this approach is, that there is 100% guarantee that when your video ends all viewers will continue to watch more of your videos which translates into more watch time for you.

Share your YouTube videos on social media

Make sure that you always promote all of your videos on social media.

I use SocialBee to do automatically share new YouTube videos to all of my social media channels.

SocialBee also has another feature that allows me to frequently re-promote older videos over time, so new social media followers also get a chance to discover some of my older videos.

Every share creates a few additional video views which adds up to your overall watch time.

Live stream on YouTube

I recommend live-streaming on YouTube at least once per month. If you have more time, you might even do it once per week.

Live streams usually have a higher number of viewers in comparison to regular videos and because of their long length they make incredible watch time boosters.

Share webinars on YouTube

I use WebinarJam and Restream to live-stream my webinars on YouTube.

Webinars are usually between one and two hours long and have a very low drop off rate.

Having someone’s undivided attention is not only great to building a personal relationship with your viewers, it also adds 1 to 2 hours of watch time for every attendee.

And if someone can’t attend live, they can still watch the replay on your channel.

Host your online courses on your YouTube channel

Similarly, you can use YouTube to host videos for one of your free online courses.

People love to watch content in a streamlined and organized manner and online courses are the perfect vehicle for that and is a great tool to amp up your watch hours on YouTube.

Promote your YouTube videos with Google Ads

If you want to get results REALLY fast, think about creating a video ad campaign on Google Ads.

This can achieve two things. Boost your watch time in record time. And increase the number of YouTube subscribers at the same time.

Annoy your friends

And if all of these are not enough, bug your friends and force them to watch your videos on their smartphone

How to comply with YouTube’s policies

If you follow all of these strategies, getting to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours should be a piece of cake.

But are you creating the right content?

Remember, if you create the wrong type of content, you could meet all of the base requirements for monetization. Yet still get your YouTube Partner Program application denied, especially, if your videos don’t meet YouTube’s advertiser-friendly guidelines.

I recommend to read through all of these documents:

• YouTube Partner Program policies.
• YouTube Spam policies.
• YouTube Community Guidelines.
• Advertiser-friendly content guidelines.

But here is the short version:

• Only upload original content that you created yourself. If you use third-party content, make sure that you have a proper license for everything. This will make sure that you don’t get into trouble with copyright issues on YouTube
• Stay away from anything edgy and controversial. Whenever you think about creating a new video do a quick test. If this was played on national television, would this content cause an outcry? If yes, don’t do it. Here are the primary topics and themes that you should avoid at all costs:
  • Inappropriate language
    • Don’t curse. If you can’t help it, use milder replacements whenever possible and keep it to a minimum.
  • Violence
    • A good sanity test is, would my 5-year old niece be scared or have nightmares after watching this? If yes, then it’s a no-no.
  • Adult content
    • Anything in the category 18+. Keep it family-friendly.
  • Harmful or dangerous acts
    • Do your due diligence and don’t join random challenges that might be dangerous. Maybe you think that it’s safe for you. But your confidence might inspire others who are not qualified. If it’s in any way dangerous, give it a pass.
  • Hateful content
    • Sanity check, anything “we” against “them” combined with strong emotions of hate for the other group is off the table.
  • Incendiary and demeaning
    • This is often found in combination with hateful content, but can also be a topic by itself. Rule of thumb. If you feel so angry about something or someone, that you want to break some plates, stay away from the topic.
  • Recreational drugs and drug-related content
    • Taking drugs, making drugs, instructing people on how to buy them, praising drugs, making drugs look less harmless. All of these topics will get you into hot waters.
  • Tobacco-related content
    • Kind of self-explanatory, after the drugs section but worth mentioning anyway.
  • Firearms-related content
    • Remember family-friendly? Firearms don’t fall into this category and should be avoided.
  • Controversial issues and sensitive events
    • These can be topics such as eating disorders or mass shootings.
  • Adult themes in family content
    • That’s content that is generally family-friendly but discusses topics such as sex or violence.
• Always be friendly and respectful to everyone. Never attack other people in your videos. Never use foul language.
• Play by the rules. Never try to manipulate YouTube in any way. Don’t pay for fake subscribers, views, comments, shares, etc.

How to create a Google AdSense account?

Once you have been approved for the YouTube Partner Program, you have to link a Google AdSense account with YouTube to receive your payments.

All earnings of the YouTube Partner Program are processed via Google AdSense. That means, that you have to create an AdSense account and link it to your YouTube account before you can monetize videos on your YouTube channel.

Once your channel has been approved to join the YouTube Partner Program, you have to link an approved AdSense account with your YouTube channel to earn money from your videos to get paid.

Do not create a new AdSense account via the official Google AdSense signup form. Your account will be disapproved and monetization will be disabled.

You have to create a new AdSense account through your YouTube account itself!

To do that, go to your Monetization page in YouTube Studio and follow the instructions on applying for a Google AdSense account.

If you have multiple Google accounts, double-check that you are currently logged in with the same Google account that you want to create an AdSense account for. If you’re not, switch to the right account first.

Next, accept the Google AdSense association and provide your contact information.

If you’re over 18 years old, you can create a Google AdSense account in your name.

If you’re under 18, you have to ask one of your parents or legal guardians to sign up for a Google AdSense account on your behalf.

Once your application is complete, submit it.

You’ll be redirected back to YouTube and will see a message saying that your AdSense application has been received.

You will be updated via email, once your AdSense account is approved and your AdSense ID will be updated on the AdSense Association page.

It may take up to 48 hours for the association to be fully active.

Conclusion

In summary, read all of YouTube’s content guidelines.

Focus on making longer videos and doing weekly livestreams.

Promote your videos to your own audience or borrow other people’s audiences. If you want to speed things up, invest in YouTube video ads.

Start a newsletter with ConvertKit and promote it with a very attractive lead magnet.

You want to give YouTube enough data points to understand what kind of people are interested in your YouTube channel and videos. This allows YouTube to create lookalike audiences of similar viewers which increases your organic reach.

Plan out your videos in advance so you can recommend upcoming videos inside each video. This encourages viewers to subscribe in order to see your next video.

Promote your channel at the beginning and end of your video. Also, ask them to turn on the notification bell.

Promote some of your other videos in video cards, end screens, video description, and pinned comments.

Optimize your videos from A-Z with TubeBuddy for YouTube SEO.

Use Descript to create subtitles for each of your videos so YouTube can turn each of your videos into a full-text search engine.

If you want to learn more about YouTube, check out my YouTube articles on my website. And sign up for my weekly newsletter where I share my best strategies and tactics.

The post How to get monetized on YouTube: The YouTube Monetization Blueprint 2020 appeared first on Tim Queen.