How To Make Money As A Vlogger (Even With A Small Following)
Everybody seems to want to be a Youtube or Twitch star these days. They make think they know how to make money as a vlogger, but they don’t. Maybe influenced by the likes of Logan Paul and Casey Neistat, they want to get famous and make loads of money.
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The reality is that it is very difficult and rare to get to the kind of popularity that those guys have. That doesn’t mean you can’t make money, though. In fact, you can make more than a traditional job when done right.
With a camera, a microphone, some video editing software and a lot of patience, you can get started.
In this article, I will go over some of the ways you can make it as a vlogger and maybe even make a living. With some of these monetization methods, you don’t even need a large audience.
Invest in good equipment
You don’t have to go out and spend thousands on top of the line equipment, but it has to be better than your iPhone or webcam. For instance, using DSLR as a webcam is the best way to go for videos in which you are in front of your computer. And a DSLR is definitely much better than using your iPhone if you are taking handheld videos.
Getting a dedicated microphone is also essential. Using the one on your camera is not going to give you crisp, clear audio. It will be muffled and hard to hear so people won’t bother watching much of your video.
The competition is using good equipment that you can see and hear the difference. If you don’t then you’re not likely to compete.
Find a niche to make money as a vlogger
If you want to be seen you’ll need to find a topic you can vlog about that will get seen. If you want to be a general vlogger that just talks about your daily routine, it probably won’t get off the ground and rank.
Likewise, if you pick a topic that is too broad, it will be hard to be seen as there is a lot of competition.
An example would be makeup. There are so many Youtubers doing makeup tutorials that you are not likely to rise to the top of the results as more established channels are already there.
Look for smaller topics that have enough people interested, but not so many that you’re going to be overwhelmed with competition.
Think about it like this. You can be in the gardening niche and nobody will see you. But, if you are focused on a narrower range of gardening topics then you could be onto something. Instead of a broad topic, focus on a smaller one like gardening on a balcony and you get the idea.
Become a Youtube partner
Once you have over 1,000 subscribers and over 4,000 video hours watched in 12 months, then you can monetize your Youtube channel with ads.
Now, these ads really don’t pay that much so you’ll have to get a lot of views for your videos to make any kind of money.
On average, you’ll make roughly $2 for every thousand views on your video. And that still depends on certain criteria like how long they watched for and things like that.
In other words, to make a full time living with only ads, it will take a huge subscriber base and viral videos.
When you combine ads with some of the other monetization methods I will mention, then you can make decent money.
Promote a product for commissions
This is called affiliate marketing. When you talk about a product on your channel and then link to it in your description box, you can receive a commission when a viewer clicks your link and makes a purchase.
You’ll have to sign up with an affiliate program and get a special tracking code that you use to make your unique link so you get credit for the sale. This is one of the most lucrative ways to make money as a vlogger.
The most popular program is the Amazon Associates. You get a commission on anything a person purchases through your link if they buy within 24 hours.
If you are doing a cooking channel, you can promote cookbooks, kitchen gadgets or specialty products and direct the traffic to Amazon and make money this way.
Depending on how well you are able to promote, you can make quite a bit of money as a vlogger this way.
Sell your own product
Let’s go back to the idea of making videos about gardening on a balcony. If that is your niche then you can create a helpful guide with everything a person needs to know. It can contain information about the different needs different plants have and how to grow them all in your guidebook.
Then you can set up a site that processes payments where they can buy it and download it directly from you. This puts way more of a percentage of profit in your pocket than affiliate programs do.
If you have some capital to start, you can even have your own product sourced and manufactured. If you have an idea for a unique product that people in your niche would find helpful, then you can make a lot of money.
Crowdfund
Making videos and doing it consistently is a lot of work and many creators give up after a while. Your followers might realize this and be willing to give you an economic incentive to keep going since they like your content.
There are many ways to have them send you tips as a reward for your hard work that can add up to a nice living. Set up a Paypal account and people can send you money directly. This is not the most consistent way to make money, but combined with the other methods should help to keep you making enough money for it to be worth the hard work.
Conclusion
Don’t be under the illusion that this will be easy. You will need t be dedicated and always seeking to do better. After a while, and with all these methods of monetization, you can end up making a living as a vlogger.