How to Start a YouTube Channel and Make Money Online As a Student in SA
As a student or an unemployed graduate in South Africa, you have no cash to start a company neither do you get any working experience that will get you the best employment in the country.
Many fresh graduates come out of the university every year to add up to the already existing ones.
These unemployed graduates come out, hoping to get employments from the government sector. But the truth is, there is no job in the country. All the government sectors are choked.
Even if an opportunity is there, it is open to millions of applicants, and what’s a guarantee that you will be selected?
That’s a question to ponder over.
As a jobless person, the only way to get over your situation in SA is to make use of your skills and talent in the best possible way.
Because that’s what you’ve got! Yeah, that’s all you can do for now.
But one may ask, how?
- What do you mean by using my skills and ability?
- Even if I have the skills how can I use them to start a business with no money?
This I know is what is going through your mind right now.
But never worry because I’m going to show you how in a few minutes.
There are many business ideas you can start today with little or no money.
But the one that interests many and also works perfectly are those listed below:
- YouTube channel
- Blogging
- Mini importation business
- Selling digital courses
- Forex Trading
We are not going to talk about all the four listed points.
Today’s article is going to be centered on YouTube and then in the subsequent post, we will discuss the remaining three points.
This article is going to be a little bit longer because I want to cover every aspect of the topic to help you have a better understanding of how the youtube channel works.
So make sure to grab a cup of tea and stick till the end of the article.
Without wasting further time, let’s take a deep look at how to start a YouTube channel.
Starting a Money-Making YouTube Channel
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world.
Many people go to the YouTube platform to watch videos and listen to music clips, But little do they know that YouTube is not only for entertainment but also for making money.
YouTube platform today has created business opportunities for many people around the world including myself.
Those who have an early idea of making money on YouTube today are making four and even six-figure income from this great platform.
Some even go full time on YouTube and living on the revenue from their YouTube channel.
But how do they do that? I’ll explain to you how.
The YouTube platform offers a space for anyone who has video-creating skills to upload their videos on the platform for people to watch.
YouTube platform is own by Google and as we know Google has no content in its space.
They get their content from webmasters and content creators.
So when a person creates a video and wants to host it for free, he or she can do so on the YouTube platform.
YouTube is the second largest search engine platform and a leading video-sharing hub in the world.
It offers companies the opportunity to showcase their business on their platform through a program known as Adwords.
Adwords is one of Google’s products that makes it possible for people to advertise their business on Google cross-platform including YouTube.
Now once a business advertised its products through the AdWords program, Google will charge them base on their targeted audience and budget sets.
After the AdWords process, Google then comes out with another partner program known as AdSense.
AdSense is a program that gives content creators know as publishers the opportunity to make money from their content.
Google takes these products that a company showcased from the Google Adwords program and then placed them on the creator’s website/channels.
Now a content creator who wants to make money from his or her creativity will have to apply to be part of the AdSense program.
Once the person applies for the program. YouTube will let one of its team members visit the creator’s site/channel and check to see whether the content that the publisher has on the site/channel is in line with their AdSense program policy.
If it does, then they approve the channel/site and start to show the business ads on the channel or site.
This just a short insight into how people are making money on YouTube.
We will talk more about that as we continue with our discussion.
Now that you are brief about how YouTube works, let then look at how to create a channel on YouTube.
How to Create a YouTube Channel
I know the question running through your mind right will be:
- How do I get the channel?
- When I get a channel, how do I get the videos to upload on my channel?
This is a question I always get asked whenever I talk about YouTube.
I also asked these same questions the very day I got to know about making money through YouTube.
But when I was given the right information and mentoring, I now got to know the INS and OUT of this platform.
Today YouTube has become one of my favorite platforms for making money online.
See, there is virtually nothing you can’t do unless you decide not to take action.
Many creators started on YouTube with virtually nothing.
No video creating skills, No editing skills, but today these creators have become the most influential persons on the platform.
YouTube is own by Google, and as we know most of Google’s products are free to use.
Like any other Google product, to create a channel, you’ll need a Google account (Gmail).
Once you have the account then you are 100% ready to own a channel.
All you need to do is to head over to www.youtube.com through your browser on the phone or PC.
Once you are on the YouTube page, look at the top right corner of the site you will see a person’s icon.
Now click on that icon and you will be asked to create a channel.
Now fill in the required details and you are done.
After successfully creating the channel, there are some settings you will need to do. You can search on how to customize a Youtube channel for more information. For now, let us look at how to create a video
How to create video content for your channel
YouTube offers a free platform that you can upload video and monetize it through AdSense partnership.
But it also has some restrictions as to which videos you’re allowed to upload on the channel and make money from.
Read this to see which videos are not eligible for monetization.
The type of video you create for your channel will depend on your chosen niche.
Before you start to create a video for your channel, you need to choose a niche that you love and have a passion for then select a topic you want to address.
The niche can be entertainment, sports news, politics, love, relationship, fashion, tech, celebrity news, and gaming.
Just imagine the thing you love and have a passion for then create a video on that.
The keyword here is “PASSION”.
Before you choose a niche make sure you have passion for that niche because it will be a new thing for you.
If you don’t have the passion for it, sooner than later you will leave it behind.
After getting the niche for your channel, the next is creating a video for that channel.
Depending on your chosen niche, you will need:
- A video camera/camcorder (you can use a phone and of course one with a great camera),
- tripod stand (with a phone holder) and
- Computer to create an outstanding video for your channel.
If you are just starting, you may not have the cash to buy a more powerful camera or PC. So as a beginner, you can use your phone to record your videos.
Creating a video comes in two forms. Thus
- On-Camera video
- And Camera video.
With on-camera, you sit in front of your camera by showing your face while recording the video.
Whiles off-camera does not require showing your face. So the choice is yours.
Many YouTubers in Ghana use off-camera videos on their channel and it works great for them.
You can also start with that and then later decide whether to go with the former.
There’re many channels that publish videos about the latest news in Ghana.
Most of them compile every day’s trending news in Ghana and create a video on that.
Some create video slides with voice-over based on the trending news and publish them on their channel for people to watch.
I have a friend that uses compilation videos on one of his channels and the videos are getting more attention each and every day.
You can also do so. Just make sure you add value to your viewership and do it with passion.
What’s next after creating the videos and uploading the videos?
After creating a video and uploaded to the channel, the next step is to broadcast your channel and build a brand on the YouTube platform.
Now you need to market the channel to your friends and potential viewers so that you can reach your goal.
Make sure you upload videos that have more impact on the viewers and that will ensure the success of your channel on the platform.
The more the views the more the money you make from the channel.
How to promote your videos for more views
Once you get your videos out on the YouTube platform, promoting the video is a must.
Since your channel is new, you cannot get organic traffic for your videos from the YouTube search.
The only way to start and get recognized is by promoting your videos on a social media platform.
Facebook is one of my favorite platforms for promoting videos and content.
You may have belonged to one or more Facebook groups. Share your video links to those groups.
People will click on the link and watch your videos.
You can also use a Pinterest board to drive traffic to your new videos,
According to some SEO experts, YouTube and Google search engines utilize people’s reactions to content on social media in ranking content in their search.
So when you create a video and share them as many as you can on most of the social media platforms, you will get more people to like the video and that can help you to get a better rank on the YouTube platform.
YouTube SEO settings for Organic Traffic
There’re many ways through which you get people to reach your videos on the YouTube platform.
People can reach your video through Facebook feeds or through the YouTube search.
YouTube and Google search traffic known as organic traffics.
With organic traffic, you get people to land on your video through a search of the keywords relating to your video topic.
When creating a video, you first need to select your Target Keyword and then create your videos around that keywords.
When uploading the video on the YouTube platform, you get the option to give the video a Title, Descriptions, and Tags.
These three are the most important aspect of YouTube SEO.
When you optimize these settings well, you are half away from getting organic traffic to your videos.
You can use tools like Tubebuddy and vidIQ for better SEO settings for your videos.
How to apply for the AdSense program and make money.
As I said earlier, AdSense is a YouTube partner program that offers the creators the opportunity to make some bucks from their videos on the platform.
Once you have your channel up and running, you have to make sure you attract the best of traffic to those uploaded videos.
Traffic is the best way to have a successful channel.
To participate in the YouTube AdSense Partner Program and begin to make money from your videos, you first have to reach a certain requirement set by YouTube.
Somewhere in February 2018, YouTube came out with a new requirement that every creator must reach before he or she can monetize their videos on the platform.
This they say is to ensure the quality of content that a creator upload on the platform.
The minimum requirement of 1000 subscribers and 4000 hours of watch hours were set by YouTube.
This means before you get your channel monetized, you need to have 1000 people click on the red subscribe button to subscribe to your channel.
4000 watch hour is also required to complete the process.
As a newcomer to the YouTube platform, you may think it will not be easy to achieve this requirement.
But I bet it’s as easy as drinking water.
Yes, is easy to meet the requirement and this is how you can do that.
How to get 1k subscribers and 4k watch hours
When you get your channel up and running, you can use the YouTube creator studio to study your video analytics and know which video is performing better.
Once you identify those videos. What you have to do is to create more such videos.
This has been one of my strategies for getting a successful channel.
Another important aspect of getting more subscribers to your channel is the use of a call to action.
You must always invite people to subscribe, comment, ask questions, and suggest topics.
This, in most cases, help increase your subscriber base and video interaction on the YouTube platform.
When you create a video that people love, they will subscribe to your channel hoping to see more of such videos.
So now it’s up to you to identify which of the videos your viewers enjoy the most and then create more on that topic.
Also, a great way to get over the 4000 watch hours is by creating longer videos of at least 10 minutes and above.
Watch hours are calculated based on the watch minutes on your videos.
But please note, creating longer videos will only help you when the video adds value to your viewership. That’s quality is more important here.
Don’t create a longer video with less value.
That will kick you out of the YouTube business sooner or later because no one will watch your videos.
How Do One Make Money with AdSense
The AdSense program is based on pay per click and pay per impression.
This means once a viewer lands on a video on the YouTube platform, the viewer or reader to the channel will be displayed with the targeted AdSense ads.
If the viewer happens to clicks on those ads then Google will pay the video creator.
This is how people make money from their channels through the AdSense program.
To some creators, AdSense is the less method of making money from their YouTube channel.
Many creators make extra cash by promoting people’s products on their channels.
Once you have a successful channel, you can reach out to brands and companies to be an affiliate of their products.
What this means is that you will be promoting their products for a commission.
Some YouTubers create a video review of the product they are promoting and then place their affiliate link in the video description.
Anyone that clicks on the link and then goes to the product page and purchase the product, the video creator is paid a commission on that.
That process is what is known as affiliate marketing.
We will not talk more about affiliate marketing but will do so in the coming articles.
Conclusion
Alright, this is where we come to an end of this long detailed discussion on how to start a money-making YouTube channel.
Please note that to be able to create a money-making YouTube channel, you need to consistently upload videos that add value to your viewers and also have passion for all the topics you create videos on.
That will help you have a quick sprout your YouTube channel and make the money you are yearning for.
If you’re still here, then kudos to you for spending time to read this article.
I believe you are going to take action and start a channel today.