The process of making money from your YouTube Shorts is easier than you think, but you do need a plan. Shorts are simple 60-second vertical videos, and they’re taking over the internet. YouTube wants more people to make them, so that means they’re giving creators cash for being popular.
To earn the most, you need to understand the two primary ways money works with Shorts: the Shorts Fund and the other, long-term methods.
Focus on the YouTube Shorts Fund
The main way to get paid right now is through the YouTube Shorts Fund. It’s a pretty major pool of money that YouTube distributes each month to thousands of creators whose Shorts perform very well.
- The Goal: You do not need a lot of subscribers to receive money from the Fund. You only need to have the highest view numbers in your country for that month.
- The Secret: The system looks for videos that people watch many times, or “loop.” So, if someone watches your 15-second Short four times in a row, the YouTube system sees that as one very successful watch. So, make your videos funny, fast, and easy to rewatch.
The Power of Fast and High Views
You need millions of views, and fast, to win a payment from the Fund. High view numbers tell YouTube that this is a video worth showing to everyone. And this is where many creators try to get a strong start.
If you want to speed up your online growth and give your new videos the big push they need, you might look into help from a growth platform. For example, Subscriberz is one well-known service that focuses on helping creators gain more video views fast. Giving your videos that initial boost can help make them look popular to the YouTube program, and in turn, the system will be more apt to push your video out to a wider audience, leading to an even bigger chance of receiving a Fund payment.
Hooking the Viewer with Your Videos
For any view number to count, the viewer has to stay until the end. You need to “hook” them in the first three seconds.
- The Hook: Videos should always begin with either a very interesting question or a quick, funny action. No time to waste.
- The Ending: Create a simple CTA in the end, something like “Comment your favourite colour” or “Hit the like button.” Also, engagement in the form of likes and comments will help your Shorts get seen even more.
Long-Term Earnings Beyond the Fund
Once you have a large and steady number of viewers, there are other ways to make money:
- Affiliate Links: Share a product that you enjoy (a new mobile phone or the latest video game). Include an affiliate purchase link in your description. Every time anybody clicks on your link to purchase this product, you make a little money.
- Branded Deals: When your channel is huge, companies will pay you to talk about their product for 10-15 seconds in your Short. This is often the biggest source of income for popular creators.
First, focus on high-quality, re-watchable content to maximize your revenue. Then, utilize every tool at your disposal, whether it be a quick boost from a service like Subscriberz or even an affiliate link, to convert those views into cash.