Creating quality video content is a mountain of work.

First, there’s coming up with original content. Then there’s writing a solid script, filming, recording audio, re-recording because someone decided to mow their lawn in the middle of your take, creating thumbnails, editing it all together into a snappy, informative, and entertaining video, and then compiling, gazing forlornly out at the sky, uploading, responding to comments… 

I’m getting a bit weary just thinking about it…

Expecting to make a little bit of money off of all your hard work is nothing to be ashamed of. Figuring out how to make money from your videos is another mountain to climb all on its own.

To aid you in your ascent up that mountain, we’ve mapped the route ahead with a brief rundown on methods for monetizing video content.

Monetization Method #1: Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate advertising is one of the most common methods for turning your videos into dollar signs. There are tons of affiliate programs out there, but one of the most popular to setup is the Amazon Associates program.

Amazon isn’t the only game in town, there are tons of affiliate programs out there. Finding the right one for your brand and audience might take a bit of time, but you can always just plug into Google the name of the product you think would fit your audience well along with the word “affiliate”.

Monetization Method #2: Ad Revenue

Media sharing sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch all have opportunities for leveraging your community of viewers to make some cash off the ads they watch. YouTube and Twitch.tv both have live-streaming capabilities that allow you to charge monthly subscriptions to your audience to bring in some money outside of advertising as well.

YouTube’s requirements for joining its YouTube Partner Program have recently become a little more difficult to meet. Similarly, Twitch requires that you meet specific requirements to earn ad revenue and to get access to their subscription system.

Getting your viewership to the levels needed to make money this way can take some time.

Monetization Method #3: Crowdfunding

Asking your audience to chip in some money from time to time is a possible avenue for generating revenue from your video content. Services like Patreon are particularly popular as it is set up as a monthly payment for which you can create multiple tiers with special offers to entice your audience to break open their wallets for you.

There’s also Kickstarter which allows you to create a campaign to receive funding for specific projects such as creating a video that indisputably proves kidney beans are inferior to black beans once and for all.

Monetization Method #4: Create Your Own Network

Believe it or not, you can start your own Internet TV network and avoid expensive cable providers by going over-the-top (OTT). Launch your own Netflix-style service or get your channel on smart TVs, Roku, mobile devices, Apple TV, and more services across the globe.

Launching your own branded channel allows you to expand your audience beyond the limits of YouTube into the living rooms of new viewers. Going OTT opens up new monetization options:

A: Ad Injection

Automated ad injection uses AI to match relevant ad content to your channel’s audience. Since most of your audience is watching your content on their TV sets, you get paid more money per view. The more your audience grows, the more ad revenue you earn automatically.

B: Subscriptions

You can also monetize your videos by going the Netflix route and charging a monthly subscription for access to your growing collection of video content.

C: Pay Per View

If subscriptions aren’t your style, allow your audience to pay for your content one video at a time by using a pay-per-view monetization model.

D: All of the Above

Or you can even select the answer “D” and do all of the above. Going OTT gives you more control over your channel and its monetization.
See for yourself how it works by scheduling a live demo. We work hard to enable great video content creators like yourself to pocket the money your hard work deserves. Get in touch with us today to learn more.

For more reading check out How To Make Money With YouTube

Garrett Cunningham