Pros make money on YouTube because they have a large audience and a team of people to help them.
But I have good news for you. You can make money on YouTube without being a pro. And without having a team to make your thumbnails, editing and all.
Your first step is to be realistic and then pick a way to make money on YouTube.
YouTubers make money from:
Until your YouTube account is of a certain size and with a large number of viewers, you will not make any money with ads. You will likely get no sponsors interested. And as for selling merch without being famous?
Good luck.
That leaves three options:
You can sell services to your audience (however tiny at first) by showing them what you are good at and then letting them know that you sell your services.
It can be all kinds of crazy things.
There is a YouTuber who helps people with their hair. That is a service.
If you are good at editing, either texts or videos, you can show your skills in videos and let people know that you take clients.
Affiliate marketing is another easy way to make money on YouTube.
You talk about a product and you give your affiliate link in the description. Here is a pro-tip. Use a link shortener to make your link look pretty. I recommend either PrettyLinks or this truly fast link shortener that has other amazing features as well Rebrandly.
Finally, you can create your own products and sell them with your videos.
They can be information products, eBooks, courses… Or they can be physical products. Even small YouTube channels have successfully sold their own products.
Now, even though you do not have to be a pro, there are some essential things you need to learn.
Good news. You need to learn very little to get started with YouTube.
You need to know how to record a video. You can use your phone’s camera or you can use a program that will record your screen or phone.
That all depends on the type of channel you want.
You also need to know how to upload a video to YouTube and how to fill out the fields.
Most importantly: You need to know how to make a thumbnail image and write a good headline.
You can use a tool like Canva which has built-in templates that are really easy to use and which look professional and nice.
Professional YouTubers spend a lot of time, energy and money on creating good thumbnails. You should take this part very seriously, even as a non-pro.
What is a good headline or title for your video?
Ideally, it is short because YouTube will only show the first 55 to 60 characters in overviews.
It tells clearly what people can expect and why they should watch your video. In other words: What is in it for them?
And it does not give away the secret.
For example:
Jimmy Carr: “There’s A Crisis Going On With Men!”
It is short – 49 characters.
It clearly tells the viewer what to expect and what is in it for him.
It raises a question but does not reveal the secret.
It would have been revealed if the headline said:
Jimmy Carr says the problem with men is that they do not have enough confidence. (I do not know if that is in the video… Just a guess.)
With the secret revealed, there would be no reason to watch the video. So keep your secrets away from the title.
What about background music? Do you need to learn how to add that?
No. In fact, people even with slight hearing impact will thank you for not adding background music. People who are easily distracted or annoyed by music (neurodivergent people) will thank you for not adding background music.
If you do choose to add background music, make sure to learn how to lower the volume and how to pick music that will not bring you in trouble with YouTube. No copyright infringements.
Other than that, learn as you go. Oh, wait… There is one other thing you must learn.
Pros are human too.
They all started somewhere, but we seem to forget that when we see their polished channel with eyeball pulling thumbnails and irresistible titles.
But they did not start like that.
You need to accept that you commit faults and that you get better over time.
There are three ways you must focus on your audience, and you cannot just cover one of them. It must be all three.
Here are the three ways:
The only thing you should really put an effort into is your sound.
Make it sound as good and crisp as you can. Avoid uhms and ers as much as you can. But do not let the fear of speaking block you from creating your first videos.
The more practice you get, the better you get at speaking fluently.
And besides – everything but an extremely bad sound can be forgiven.
Start your YouTube channel now if that is your desire.
Do not wait until you are a pro and can hire a team.
Show me someone who says they need to know it all before they start, and I will show you someone who never starts.
Be a proud amateur and start making money on YouTube.