How to Make Money on YouTube Without Making Videos?
YouTube is a source of entertainment for billions of people. But believe it or not, you can make money on YouTube without making videos!
Since you’re reading this, there’s a strong chance that you aren’t excited about being on camera. The good news is that just about anyone can make money from YouTube — even the camera-shy.
If you don’t want to be filmed or lack the time or expertise to make high-quality videos, you can still rake in profits from this social media platform. Editing content, posting other people’s content, and selling merchandise are just a few ways you can earn.
How to Make Money on YouTube Without Making Videos?
1. Making Money Through Content on YouTube
If you decide you want to post content on YouTube to make money, but don’t necessarily want to show your face on camera, you have plenty of avenues to choose from.
The first step to making money on YouTube is to set up a YouTube Brand account. A Brand account is free and lets you set up multiple channels, hide your email and choose a different name — so you can put your brand in the forefront instead of your own face, name, and personality.
Then, you’ll want to set up a channel based on the topic you’d like to focus on. Some of the most popular YouTube channels that don’t showcase people include the Meditation Mindfulness channel, a Daily Dose of the Internet — which is a clip channel of funny and interesting videos from across the Internet — and many podcasts that are audio-only.
2. Create a YouTube Account
Once you square away the basic details, head over to YouTube and open an account. At this point, you have to determine whether you want to open a personal or brand account.
- Personal Account: When you open a personal account, the channel appears as your Google account name. A personal account is generally for non-business use.
- Brand Account: Opening a brand account gives you greater control and flexibility. You can choose a different name, mask your email address, and manage multiple channels from a single location. If you aim to use YouTube as an income stream, you’ll almost certainly want a brand account. It doesn’t cost anything, and it offers lots of upsides.
3. Posting Work From Other Content Creators
The easiest and most common way to make money on YouTube without making videos is to publish third-party content. For example, YouTube allows you to post video content from other video creators through a strategy known as aggregation.
In other words, you curate content instead of publishing original clips. As such, it’s no surprise that aggregating or curating content saves you a lot of time. It also helps to attract viewers that are interested in what you’re sharing.
4. Post Slide Decks and Presentations
Whether you are trying to teach people something new or promote your business, a slide deck or presentation is a great way to do it.
Homework help YouTube channels also took off during the pandemic, when parents struggled with homeschooling and virtual learning, trying to teach their kids concepts that they didn’t understand themselves or hadn’t studied in decades. Even today, many kids turn to YouTube before they ask their parents or a teacher for help.
5. Invest in Google Shares
As most of you know, I’m an investor at my core. From an investor’s angle, purchasing Alphabet Inc Class A shares is an indirect way to make money from YouTube.
At the time of writing, Google is hovering around $2,841.58 per share, and the stock has a market cap of $1.90 trillion. The only major downside is that Alphabet doesn’t offer a dividend yield. However, the stock is performing very well this year, up from just $2,030.69 in March.
6. Post Audio-Only Podcasts
Do you have a topic you love? Is there something you could talk about for hours each day? Consider starting an audio-only podcast about it and posting it on YouTube.
Most people think of YouTube for video content. But YouTube is the top platform to listen to podcasts, according to a recent survey from voiceover marketplace Voices, with 57.8% of consumers polled choosing it as their preferred platform, ahead of Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and others More latest news
7. Advertise with YouTube Ads
When running a business, it’s critical to get your name out to as many people as possible, and advertising on YouTube is a great way to do that.
YouTube has a video advertising service you can use to set up campaigns and measure your results. You can also advertise through Google Ads and expand your reach into other channels.
8. Join the YouTube Partner Program
Of course, curating or creating great content is just the beginning. Remember — you don’t have to make the videos yourself. But you will need to aggregate content that people enjoy and then market your channel through social media to get the word out.
Once you’ve gotten some views on your videos and generated a following on your channel, you can apply for the YouTube Partner Program. Joining the YPP offers multiple revenue streams to make money on YouTube.
Once you have at least 1,000 subscribers to your channel, 4,000 valid public watch hours in the past 12 months, and have kept your YouTube account in good standing, you can apply to the YouTube Partner Program. As a partner, you can generate revenue from ads, subscribers, and merchandise.
9. Become a YouTube Consultant
The vast majority of YouTubers aren’t going to become rich. Many people start channels only to give up after realizing how hard the process is and how long it takes to earn income. For this reason, there’s a growing opportunity to work as a YouTube consultant.
If you’re proficient with YouTube, you can make money by helping other YouTubers and companies plan, execute, and optimize their content. You can coach people on camera, help with content strategy, write voiceover scripts, and dive into the weeds with analytics and SEO keyword research.
10. Sell Items on the Merch Shelf
You will want to keep your Shopify store running strong even after you’ve become a YouTube Partner. But YPP members can also list their merchandise on YouTube Shopping as another way to make money. You can feature your own merchandise or merchandise from other brands. There are multiple ways to display these products, including on a product shelf or overlay below your videos.
YouTube Monetization Opportunities
Here are the various ways you can profit from the YouTube Partner Program.
- Ad Revenue: As a member of the YouTube Partner Program, you can generate revenue from overlay, display, and video sponsorships, all of which are powered by Google AdSense. AdSense is Google’s online advertising platform, which automatically places targeted advertisements on websites and YouTube videos.
- Channel Membership: You can also charge for channel memberships and receive monthly recurring payments from subscribers.
- Merch Shelf: You can give fans the opportunity to browse your merch shelf and buy stuff.
- Super Chat and Super Stickers: Additionally, you can use super chats and super stickers to charge fans to highlight messages and stand out in chat streams.
- Premium Revenue: You can also receive income when Premium subscribers watch your content. If you’re interested in this route, make sure to follow YouTube’s monetization policies and link your Google AdSense account.