Make Money From Youtube Without 1000 Subscribers or 4000 Watch Hours

I actually make money from my YouTube channel and no, I'm not monetized yet. As of today I only have 779 subscribers and well below the 4,000 watch hours you need to qualify for Youtube's Partner Program. It’s been 3.5 months since I started my Youtube channel and I’m already making money from it! If you’re a small YouTuber as well, I want to tell you exactly how you can as well!

Before I get started, no this clickbait title was not my intent. It is truly what I do and I don't see enough people talking about this process! I've watched a couple of other videos on “How I monetize my YouTube videos without being monetized.” They mostly suggest affiliate links, merch, things of that nature, which I'm totally not opposed to. In fact, I have a whole article on those types of "lazy” income streams. I'm talking about actually getting money from your already created Youtube content.

There are a couple things you need to think about to set up this process, which once you lock down this workflow, it will be a lot easier in the future!

1. Set up a blog

The first thing you're going to want to do in conjunction with starting your YouTube channel is start a blog. I personally use Squarespace because it is so easy to use and update on the back-end. That ease of use really makes it worth it for me. For more affordable alternatives you can create your own self-hosted Wordpress blog or Blogspot is a free alternative.

If you're not sure if you're going to be able to keep up with this content creation I would not advise you spend $200 on Squarespace quite yet. For me, I know I'm going to be consistent with these finance related Youtube videos. I've run my IG account, @millennialmoneyhoney, which I've maintained for 2+ years. Plus, the amount of money I can make through this blog will cover the expenses of my website.

If you're still interested in using Squarespace and you know you will stick, you can use my link to trial it and see if it's actually right for you. (You’ll need to do the business plan, but more on that ahead.)

2. Apply for and set up Google AdSense

Now that you've set up your blog, it’s time to apply for Google AdSense. Since you're already a YouTube content creator, it makes sense to apply for this anyway. You can apply for Google AdSense, which is how you would be paid on YouTube, prior to hitting your 1,000 subs and 4,000 watch hours. You'll have that set up and ready to go when you finally do get monetized! Through this, you’ll also be able to monetize your blog. 

This is why Squarespace costs $200+ per year for the business version. You’ll need to pay for that upgrade to be able to add Google Ads to it. Again, this is what works for me but if you're still playing with this idea,  be sure to check out some free options like Blogspot or cheaper options like Wordpress. 

Google search how to install AdSense onto your specific blog platform that you end up with. I turn on the auto-placement ads to just maximize the visibility and have Google do all the work for me. You could also put in ads only in places where you choose, but you may lose out on the opportunity to get paid more.

These two steps are one-time steps, so once you've set up your blog and applied for Google AdSense and installed AdSense on your blog, we're gonna take it back to YouTube. This is where we start makin’ that bread.

3. Make a Youtube video and upload it

First you're going to film your video and make the content. Duh. I personally prefer to film it unscripted or with very light scripting. I used to do a full script, but then I was reading it and it didn't come off as natural or as candid even though I said a lot less “um’s” and “you knows” and “likes.” Unscripted talking to the camera makes it a little more natural for me and I want to maintain that authenticity, so I do not script my videos. I go full send with a very light outline. 

Once I film the video, I edit it, and then I upload it to YouTube.

4. Use TubeBuddy to optimize SEO

I recently started using TubeBuddy to help me build my title, tags, as well as the video description. This helps me rank higher in search results and get a better grasp on what people are searching for. I’ll also be able to use the title and description across everything else.

You can see this title is getting between a good and very good score!

If you have under 1,000 subscribers, TubeBuddy is 50% off and only $40.32 for the year! So be sure to take advantage of that discount if you’re still a budding Youtuber like me. I’ve watched a lot of videos on this and although it is primarily for Youtube, I think it will be useful for general SEO performance. I’m testing out optimizing my SEO on this blog (starting with this article, in fact)!

5. Transcribe your video using the subtitles

YouTube basically scrapes all the audio that you have spoken and transcribes it for you. It takes a few hours after uploading to transcribe it so be patient. Once they’re ready, go to edit your video, then click on Subtitles to the left. Click the Duplicate and Edit button to pull up the subtitles and copy all of that. You can exit out and don’t need to save any changes. This is the content for a blog post.

Right now they are looking pretty incoherent. Paste those subtitles into a Google doc. Then start finding and replacing words like “i” → “I” and removing “ums” and “uhs.” By going through and editing it, this becomes the blog post, which you are reading RIGHT NOW! 

For those who write a fully fleshed out script, boom, you already have your blog article ready to go! There's no need to even transcribe your video.

6. Make a blog post from it

Take the copy transcription text and go over to your blog. I duplicate an older blog post to start off with. Then I go in, select all of the old text and replace it with my freshly transcribed audio.

Would ya look at that?! How meta. Then I update the video player at the top and replace it with the new Youtube video link. I put in the custom thumbnail for the video and insert it as an image to the very bottom of the blog post. I schedule the blog post to drop at the same exact time as my YouTube video so that the video will be playable.

In the SEO tab I copy and paste the short Youtube description that I created using all of the keywords from my title with the help of TubeBuddy.

7. Pin your blog post to drive traffic

Once the post goes live, I take the image of the thumbnail and pin it to Pinterest. This will help drive organic traffic to the blog as most people on Pinterest are expecting to be linked to blog articles to learn more.  It’s not the best practice to link your Youtube video directly there.

I used to create separate Pinterest images that were square or taller versions, which may perform a tiny bit better, but it was an added another step that I thought that was unnecessary. Using my YouTube thumbnail doubles up and works just fine. We are maximizing content here!

If people click on a link from Pinterest, it should take them directly to the blog article that corresponds to it, not just your site. 

Because your blog will have Google ads running on it, you’ll get paid any time you have traffic coming to your site. Be sure to promote this blog post on all social media platforms you have—Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn (if it makes sense).

6. Turn your video into a podcast

Finally the last thing I do is turn my Youtube video into a podcast through Anchor.  Anchor is a free podcast hosting site that allows you to take your Youtube video and turn it into a podcast. It also distributes it through platforms like Apple, Spotify, and more.  It's so great! You literally don't have to do anything.

I have a pre-recorded intro that I use over and over again saying, “Hey, this is the Millennial Money Honey Podcast and this is the audio from my YouTube video. If you want to go check out the live version of me speaking go check out my YouTube channel.” This way listeners will understand why I'm making some Youtube specific references, like “hit the notification bell” or “check out the description below.” This way they’re less confused because I’ve prefaced that it’s the audio from my YouTube channel. 

At first I was trying to edit the YouTube audio to cut out the parts that were YouTube specific, but that was too much work and I stopped. This new way I’m able to not do any additional work! I truly believe in the mantra of working smarter not harder.

Anchor also makes it easy for sponsors to approach you. Right now I don't have any actual sponsors, but you can always be sponsored by Anchor and they will pay you a small amount any time someone listens to you advertise their platform.

Again, I take my TubeBuddy SEO optimized description and title from my YouTube video loaded with keywords that will help me rank higher in searches. This also just makes it plain easy to fill out the podcast description!

My earnings

Before I show you my Google AdSense earnings I want to preface that I've had my blog set up since December 2019 and had made $24.75 before I started this Youtube to blog post process. 

You can see that I currently have $69.31 + $17.03 or $86.34! I only started pushing out weekly articles since I launched my YouTube in October 2020. As a result my Adsense earnings have increased significantly. This month alone (Feb 2021) alone I made $17.03—over half of my previous year’s total earnings. Google AdSense earnings don't get paid out until you hit $100. I think definitely in March 2021 I will receive my first Google Adsense paycheck!!! I'm very excited.

I basically promote it on all my social media accounts in addition to driving traffic from Pinterest. As a result, more people are viewing the site and generating more AdSense revenue. I’m sure YouTube ads pay better, but this will do for now!

I've made $4.05 n Anchor at the time of me writing this blog article! It pays out at $15. I literally have never promoted my podcast. Not even once! But the content is already made, so you may as well milk all the money out of it.

If you made it this far, congrats! Hopefully this is how you too can start earning money using Youtube content that you have already made! If you liked this article and are planning to monetize your YouTube videos this way be sure to subscribe to the Millennial Money Honey channel below. It’s free and helps me so much!

Let's get rich and retire early together! xo

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Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)

Lazy Income Streams, Passive (ish) Ways to Earn Money

Okay, guys, I'm gonna let you in on a secret...I am a very lazy person. I like to think of myself as a very efficient woman; I don't like to do anything twice or unnecessarily. I work smarter, not harder. This is why I'm into index fund investing. I like to have my money work for me, but I don't want to spend all my time and energy watching my stocks. Being a lazy person, I wanted to share with you the low-effort ways that I am planning on making money in 2021.

Last year, I made $139k in income. One of the major ways that I earned that money was by freelancing. My 9-to-5 job is a visual designer in the tech industry. Last year, I wasn't employed full time for the first two months of the year, so to make up the difference monetarily, I did a lot of freelancing work. This brought in about $20k. I love doing design, but it is so much work to freelance on top of having a full time job, and that's just really not how I want to spend my time. So I am going to share with you the 10 ways that I am planning on earning income this year.

1. Work A 9-5 Job (not super low effort, but stable!)

My main stream of income will be through my 9-to-5 job and keeping it simple. I work 40 hours a week, and at my current company, I have a good work/life balance. I'm not too concerned about it being too much to handle, but I am earning the majority of my money from my day job. I earn $58/hour.

2. Earn Interest

Everybody should have a high yield savings account where you keep your emergency fund or other savings. I made over $100 in interest alone last year, which may not seem like much, but that was literally just my emergency money sitting in the bank. Even if you're paying off debt, you should still have an emergency fund in case anything comes up, so having your savings in a HYSA will earn you interest without you having to lift a finger. Currently, interest rates are pretty low due to the pandemic. I'm with Ally Bank, and mine is at 0.5%, so it's not as high as it used to be, but it certainly is not nothing. And that will compound on itself and grow, grow, grow!

3. Earn Dividends

The next way I'm earning income is through dividends. I also love this way because it is so passive. All you do is invest! I am not a person who chooses individual high dividend stocks, I simply put my money into an index fund, in my case SWTSX, which is Schwab's total stock market index fund. If you are with Vanguard or Fidelity, they also have a similar total stock market index fund. I get dividends from SWTSX every so often, but in dividends last year I earned over $2,000, and in 2021, I'm on track to earn about $3,000. And I don’t have to do a thing! I reinvest all of those dividends, so my dividends keep earning more dividends.

4. Share Affiliate Links

The most common program is through Amazon's affiliate marketing program. It's so simple, and easy to sign up. It just gives you a little bar at the top of your Amazon page, and when you click into a product you can like get a hyperlink with your co-affiliate marketing code. So when people see that you've recommended a book or recommended a product, you get a small payout from Amazon for getting other people to buy that product.

For me, I try to recommend things that I absolutely love, like the finance books that I used on my own journey. I don't encourage just anything, and I think it's really good for people to be mindful of what they are recommending because it can come off as insincere. I think there's a healthy balance between showering people with affiliate links and recommending products that you truly think others would benefit from. There are also FTC rules regarding affiliate marketing, so make sure  and understand them before you sign up. That being said, if you see any Amazon links on my site, just know that I am getting a little profit, but I stand by my recommendations. 

5. Use Display Ads

I am making money this year through Google Adsense.  This is something that many bloggers and YouTubers use. I am not monetized on YouTube, but I do have it set up on my blog. Google only pays out after you accrue $100, so I have never been paid out, but I think in 2021 I will get my first Google Adsense paycheck. but it is so easy to set up. I set mine up through Squarespace and I just plugged a little ads.txt file into my website (only available on the business plan and above) and then I was set up and ready to earn. It auto places ads and I turned on whatever was recommended and that's it. Again I'm lazy, it was so easy and not hard at all.

This does mean setting up a blog though. My Squarespace costs me $216 a year, so I would just keep that in mind when taking into consideration what you're willing to pay to start your affiliate ads and your display ads versus what it costs to “invest” in yourself. A lot of people use self-hosted Wordpress sites which are much cheaper, but I am lazy so I use Squarespace and I love it.

6. Get Brand sponsorships

I have only had one sponsorship so far, but brand sponsorships is something I'm looking into for 2021, reaching out to brands who I think align closely with my audience and values and are companies that I actually use. Brand sponsorships are something I struggle internally with because sometimes I would never want to recommend a product to a person that it is not a good fit for, especially if it’s a financial product. For example, if Robinhood were to approach me, I would most likely decline because I don't personally use Robinhood. It is something that I can't necessarily stand by based on how it gamifies investing for people who have no idea what they're doing.

On the other hand, if Wealthfront were to approach me, I'm a huge Wealthfront stan. I love and use Wealthfront and trust them with my own money. Brand sponsorships like that I would easily accept without feeling guilty. My only word of advice if you plan on entering sponsorships is to always read the terms and conditions of those contracts. In my experience, I didn't read the fine print, and some ads were posted where I didn't realize they were going to end up. Fight to keep ownership of your content so that the sponsor doesn’t own your content in perpetuity and you don’t sign your rights away. 

7. Sell Digital Products

I set up my Etsy shop last year where I sell motivational art and coloring charts to track your financial goals. I like digital products because it's a one-time setup, and you can easily re-list the same items. It costs about 20¢ or 35¢ to list, but then once you've done that, it takes care of itself. Free programs like Canva or Figma are great for creating the digital products and are super easy to use. Get 40 free listings on Etsy by signing up through my link.

7. Sell Physical Products (merch)

I am launching some physical products this year in my Etsy shop. But, and I cannot emphasize this enough, I do not want to handle all the shipping and fulfillment of the orders. 

I am going to be using services like Teespring and Printful to manage it for me. Printful links to Etsy and Teespring links to YouTube, which means that people can order your designs directly from those sites, but Printful and Teespring will create and ship the products for you. Physical products like merch are really great as long as you are not the one dealing with all the inventory. I've talked to friends who handled their own inventory before, and it can be a nightmare. Even though these types of services take a bigger portion of the profit, in my opinion, it’s worth the convenience. 

9. Resell Your Stuff

I am planning on earning money through reselling, so apps like Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Mercari. I made around $1,000 or so dollars last year in reselling with minimal effort. People who actively Posh may go out looking for products to sell, but for me it's just a matter of decluttering my home, taking what I already have and turning it into cash. Sign up with my Poshmark link to get $10 in Posh credit!

Reselling is an easy way to take what you already have and turn it into money. The market is growing and growing, and as people become more conscious about where they shop, a lot of people are going to turn to secondhand shopping. Not only can it save you money, but it also does great for the environment.

10. Get Cash Back

Finally the last way that I am going to earn income is through cash back apps like Fetch, Rakuten, or Coupons.com. Basically you get a cut for shopping, typically because they agree to sell your data to third parties. Not gonna lie, if you're uncomfortable with that, I’m just being honest. It's not free, nothing is free in this world. You using social media and all these other apps...somebody's getting profit off of you somehow. Nothing is truly free in this world! But if you're comfortable with that, you can easily make money back.

If you're already doing your grocery shopping you scan your receipt through the Fetch app or coupons.com app and get money back or if you're already shopping online and you have the Rakuten app widget installed in your browser you can get up to 10% cash back for buying what you were already gonna buy. For me I know the price I pay, but I’m already buying stuff anyway, so I'm willing to get like a couple hundred dollars back for  doing whatever I'm already gonna do, which is buying something.

Start scanning your coupons and get 2,000 points ($2) with my Fetch app link. Shop using Rakuten’s browser extension and get $20 when you sign up for Rakuten with my link. Also use Honey when you shop and get Honey gold (redeemable for gift cards) and coupon suggestions at checkout!

Those are the 10 ways I am planning on earning income in 2021. These are the easiest ways to get started and span the gamut of really zero effort to like a 5 level of difficulty at most. I'm not saying start painting and sell your paintings because then that will require you actually doing stuff. 

Establish yourself as a brand—I think we're all walking brands these days. It's important to start doing stuff and I don't think you necessarily need to invest a ton of money. I paid $200 for my blog but like there are other options like Wix and Blogspot that are free.

The most important part of any of this and a life tip in general is being consistent. Just start doing it and then understand that the way you're going to see actual returns on this investment is through being consistent whether it's straight up investing in your stocks and seeing those dividend payouts or whether it's starting to sell digital products putting out display ads on your blog. All of it takes consistency! 

I hope you guys like this video. If you want to see more like it, be sure to hit the like button and subscribe to my channel and let's all retire early together!

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Disclosure: Some links are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn some compensation. All opinions are 100% my own! I truly appreciate you and your support. :)