How much money can I make putting videos on Youtube?

This question doesn't get any less relevant to the millions of wanna be Youtube stars out there who want to make a living from people telling them they are awesome, and by sitting in front of a computer all day.  First of all, I'll give you a straight answer which you may be looking for, but please read on; it's not as simple as it may all appear.



You can expect to make about roughly somewhere between £1-£2 for every thousand monetised views you get on Youtube.  In US dollars I guess that's $1.50-$3.00.  But it's not an exact science, there are so many variables to take into consideration.

Firstly, getting those thousand views is extremely difficult.  At first glance it may look as if all vids on youtube have several thousand/hundred thousand views, so a few bucks per vid is easy right?  But how often do you go to page ten, page 100, page 1000 of the results, and see the many many MILLIONS of videos which have 3 views, 13 views, 19 views.  The videos which have over a thousand and could earn you a buck are a drop in the ocean.

That said, don't give up!  There are people who make a living from their youtube vids.  I am starting to make some amount of money, enough that it's worth doing.  The crucial thing is this; have you got good quality content which people will want to watch to the end?  Are you able to produce such content consistently, regularly, and over a long period of time building up a significant body of work ongoing?

Do you have the time to put in to managing and promoting your channel?  Don't bother doing this for a bit of cash on the side, it won't work.  Once you get to the bit of cash on the side stage, you may as well keep going because you've probably broken the back of it!

Ask yourself, are you just another kid wanting to video himself playing Minecraft?  Are you yet another teenager thinking that the world is somehow especially interested in you spouting teen wisdom in front of your webcam?  If so, go away, have another think.  If it feels easy, you're wasting your time.  If you think just you as yourself are so ace and cool the world owes it to you to make you a star, go away.  Come back when you've thought about this:

What do you have that nobody else has?  What are you good at which is special to you?  What do you love?  What are you passionate about? Now think about how you can share that in a way nobody else has, which is engaging, enlightening, interesting and tight.  Then go and learn about film editing.

If you are deadly serious and this is your career, it absolutely can be done, but it will take all the energy and commitment of any other career, with all the frustration, hard work, set-backs and frustrations.  It is likely to be a couple of years before you start really 'getting it', and figure out how to bring everything together into a solid income and a lifestyle.  Of course you may have a viral video that catapults you into international stardom overnight...oh wait, no you won't.  Hard work and a good product, there is no easy fast buck, apart from a lottery.  And you can't live your life hoping on that.