How YouTubers Can Turn Their Passion into Profits
For those that want to make money from their personal passions, starting an e-commerce business is often the best bet. Whether you’re an artist, a musician, a butcher, a baker or a candlestick maker, YouTube is one of the premier platforms for doing so. By cultivating a large and loyal following, your videos can potentially make money hand over fist.
Here’s a step-by-step guide that will help you to turn your personal passion into profit via YouTube marketing.
Identify Profitable Niches & Audiences
Whatever your passion may be, there are countless niches within that field that can be exploited via YouTube videos. For instance, an experienced tailor could create sewing machine reviews, demonstrate various sewing techniques or focus on clothing design. Do a little market research using Google Trends and Google AdWords to find a niche with plenty of interest and little competition. Think carefully about the types of people that will be interested in said niche.
Round Up the Right Gear and Software
In order to produce professional YouTube videos that are easy to monetize, you’ll need a few key tools. As far as cameras go, a decent Cannon or Nikon DSLR paired with a tripod works wonders. Most of the pricier smartphones like the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S7 can shoot excellent video also. An editing suite like Camtasia Studio 8 or Final Cut Pro is a must to produce polished clips.
Set Up Affiliate & Advertising Accounts
Even if you’re using your channel to sell your own products or services, affiliate sales and third-party ads are still guaranteed moneymakers. At a minimum, you should have an AdSense account and an Amazon affiliate account. Enabling in-video ads is one of the simplest ways to earn money from your content. Posting affiliate links to various products in the description section of your video is arguably far more lucrative when done intelligently.
Fully Understand the Buying Cycle
One of the biggest reasons why would-be YouTube moguls fail to earn any money is that they make their sales pitches at the wrong time. Most consumers do a lot of research before they eventually pull the trigger on any given product or service. For instance, a potential customer watching a video on basic power tool safety isn’t quite ready to buy a $100 Makita circular saw. Target consumers that are right on the verge of making a buying decision.
Publish High-Quality Videos Regularly
In order to develop a following and rank highly in the search engine results, you must crank out content on a schedule. Shoot for at least three decent videos per week. They don’t have to be documentary-length epics. Just make sure that you’re generating a predictable stream of topical and evergreen media. It’s best to mix up your content’s primary focus. Put out how-to guides as well as reviews to appeal to a wide audience.
Fine-Tune Videos Using Viewer Feedback
It’s unlikely that your channel will be an overnight success. Making your videos all that they can be comes down to reviewing feedback from fans and tweaking your formula. Perhaps your production values could use a little work. Or maybe you don’t speak clearly enough. Don’t worry about negative feedback at the outset. As long as you make a concerted effort to improve over time, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be.
Network with Complementary Channels
Successful SEO technicians understand that building links is just as important as creating content. Linking to content that’s similar to your own that might prove beneficial to viewers won’t necessarily result in decreased revenue. What it will do is demonstrate your dedication to helping viewers solve their problems. That alone will earn you fans faster than you might imagine. The administrators of YouTube channels that you link to are likely to return the favor by linking to your content when appropriate.
Expand Your Monetization Options
As profitable as ads and affiliate sales are, they’re not the be-all and end-all of YouTube monetization. One of the best ways to make extra money from your videos is using them to advertise personal consulting services. Viewers with money to spend will gladly pay for one-on-one mentoring.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
While anyone could potentially make a fortune from a YouTube channel, it takes time, perseverance and vision to get to that level. The biggest mistake that you can make with a promising YouTube channel is monetizing too early. Lock down an audience and a reputation before you try to make money from your content. Keep the focus on quality videos rather than making a quick buck and you’ll do just fine.
