Achieving 1 million YouTube subscribers is a significant milestone for content creators, often allowing them to make a full-time living from the platform. YouTube creators have multiple avenues to earn money, with a major portion of their income coming from ads displayed in their videos. The amount earned from YouTube ads can vary widely based on factors such as the creator’s niche, engagement, and audience size.
The YouTube Success of Earning Money
Notably, finance YouTuber Nate O’Brien, with over 1.3 million subscribers, revealed that he earned $440,000 in a year from the platform, making anywhere between $14,600 to $54,600 per month. Lifestyle creator Tiffany Ma, another YouTuber, shared that she earned up to $11,500 monthly from ads on her videos.
In order to begin earning money directly from YouTube, creators need to apply for the Partner Program and fulfill certain criteria. These prerequisites include having a minimum of 500 subscribers, three publicly available video uploads within the last 90 days, and either accumulating 3,000 watch hours over the past year or achieving 3 million YouTube shorts views in the previous 90 days. Upon approval, qualifying creators have the opportunity to monetize their content using various features, including channel memberships, Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks, and YouTube Shopping for product promotions.
To qualify for YouTube AdSense, creators in the program need to have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year. Advertisers pay YouTube a certain rate for every 1,000 ad views, and YouTube retains 45% of the revenue, while the creator receives the rest.
The CPM rate (advertisers’ payment per 1,000 ad views) and the RPM rate (creator’s revenue per 1,000 video views after YouTube’s cut) are crucial metrics for earning money on YouTube. Content that attracts high-paying advertisers, such as personal finance and business topics, can boost a creator’s ad rate. Other creators, like Tiffany Ma with lifestyle content, have learned to optimize their audience by strategically placing three to four ads within a video to maximize their payout.
For many creators, the money earned directly from YouTube serves as a primary pillar of their income, providing a sustainable source of revenue.
