A Guide on YouTube Short Views Money

After the success of TikTok, YouTube and other social media sites started leaning toward short videos. With over 2 billion monthly viewers, it is clear that the popularity of YouTube shorts is exploding. If you are a creator wondering how to make money with YouTube shorts, this post is for you.

What are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube short videos are created directly from the YouTube app on your smartphone. They work in the same way as TikTok videos or Instagram reels. You can create short videos on YouTube with a maximum length of 60 seconds. The videos are posted on a separate feed, known as shorts feed.

While shorts can be added to your current YouTube channel, you don't need a channel to create them. You are also given all the tools you need to edit and enhance your short videos. A built-in editor allows you to apply different functions such as filters, sound clips, and editing clips. This makes it super easy and efficient to make YouTube short videos.

Can You Monetize YouTube Short Views?

Yes, YouTube short views can be monetized. While these short video formats weren't in the original YouTube monetization program, they were added in late October 2022. That means you can earn from your work if you are a creator focusing on the YouTube short video format.

Benefits of Creating YouTube Shorts

Why should you create YouTube shorts? Here are a few benefits:

• Reach a wider audience. Using short and snappy videos is one of the best ways to capture your audience’s attention. Whether you are a seasoned creator or a beginner, YouTube shorts can help you reach a new and diverse audience. Besides, the YouTube algorithm favors short videos, making your content easy to find.
• Easy to produce. Compared to long-form videos, YouTube shorts are relatively easy to make. You don't need fancy cameras, elaborate sets, or professional lighting to create them. This makes it possible for you to experiment with different kinds of videos.
• Multiple earning potential. YouTube has opened different earning methods for short videos. This allows you to turn your passion into a potential income stream.
• Express creativity. With YouTube shorts, you can turn on your creative spark. Whether it's a comedy skit or a guide on maintaining a lawn, YouTube shorts make it easy to start creating videos.

Eligibility for Earning With YouTube Short Views 

Are you wondering what you need to start earning with YouTube Shorts? There are several requirements before you can get monetized. These are:

• Have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers. You can learn how to increase YouTube subscribers.
• Have at least 10 million public short views in the last 90 days or 4000 public watch hours. If the public watch hours are in the feed, those won't count. Therefore, you may want to target the short views requirements if you only post short content.

However, it is worth noting that you can still monetize YouTube shorts, but in a few ways. With the expanded YouTube program, new creators with more than 500 subscribers can also monetize their shorts through fan funding and YouTube shopping. 

You must have at least three valid uploads in the last 90 days to qualify for this monetization program. This is on top of three million public views over the previous 90 days or 3000 public watch hours for long-form videos.

To be monetized on both programs, you are also required to comply with the YouTube basic terms, which are:

• Compliance with the YouTube channel monetization policy. These are in areas such as copyright and terms of use.
• Live in a country where monetization is available.
• No channel strike for breaking community guidelines.
• Have 2FA turned on.
• Have been given access to YouTube's advanced features.
• Have an existing Adsense Account.

You can check if you are getting close to eligibility by visiting the YouTube studio. You can even turn on notifications to be informed once you become eligible.

Types of YouTube Short Monetization Methods

YouTube offers different methods of earning through YouTube shorts. These are:

• Ad revenue sharing from YouTube shorts
• Revenue sharing from premium subscription
• YouTube shopping
• Fan funding

Let us now look at these monetization programs in detail:

Ad Revenue Sharing

The biggest YouTube short monetization method is ad revenue sharing, just like with longer videos. In this method, you are given a share of the revenue earned from ads in the short-form videos. This is how YouTube calculates the revenue from these short videos:

• All the ad revenue from short videos is calculated by YouTube.
• The cost of the music licensing for the tracks is also calculated by YouTube and is deducted from the ad revenue. The amount is paid to music partners, while the rest is put in a creator pool.
• Every monetized creator of YouTube shorts is allocated part of the money in the creator pool depending on the number of views they receive in their country.
• The revenue-sharing formula YouTube uses is 55% for the platform, and 45% for creators.

How Much Can You Earn from YouTube Short Views?

Earnings from YouTube short views aren't the best. Most creators of YouTube short videos earn between $0.05 and $0.07 per thousand views. This translates to between $50 and $70 per million views.

Premium Subscription 

A premium subscription is another way creators can earn YouTube short view money. This revenue-sharing method works in the same way as ad revenue sharing, as the creator earns depending on their share of views within their countries.

From the revenue that YouTube earns from YouTube Premium, the platform allocates 45% of the revenue to creators of short videos. However, they still set aside a part of the revenue for the cost of music licensing. You can go to YouTube analytics to see your share.

YouTube Shopping

YouTube shopping is another method creators of YouTube shorts can monetize their videos. In other words, they can use short videos to promote their products. If you are featuring a product in your short, you can use Upload Flow to tag them to appear as a product overlay. This will allow viewers to buy the product without leaving YouTube or even stopping to watch your short videos.

How much you earn from YouTube shopping will vary depending on the price of the products and your YouTube marketing strategy and efforts. You can see the amount earned through the YouTube shopping tabs in your YouTube Analytics.

Fan Funding

After you are qualified for YouTube monetization, you can also earn funding from your fans. Some fan funding options are Super Stickers, Super Thanks, Super Fans, and Fan Subscriptions. As a YouTube short creator, you should consider Channel Membership or Super Thanks. 

The Super Thanks is one of the greatest ways for your fans to appreciate your short videos. Formerly known as Viewer Applause, fans can buy an animation called Super Thanks This enables them to post colorful and customizable comments in the short comments section. Viewers can buy Super Thanks for $2 to $50. Creators are then given 70% of the revenue earned from Super Thanks, while YouTube retains 30%.

Fan membership allows you to receive payment from royal members. In return, you can thank them with perks such as emojis, badges, live streams, and exclusive content. Creators can set their fan membership cost to between $0.99 and $499. They can also create up to five different tiers with different prices and perks.

The amount you earn through the Super Fans program depends on the value your fans are getting from your content and the close connection you create with them.

Other Methods to Earn Money Using YouTube Short Views

The above are the official ways you can earn through YouTube shorts. You do not have to worry if you do not qualify for the above monetization threshold. There are other ways you can still earn money with YouTube Shorts. These are:

Affiliate Programs

You can also start earning money with YouTube shorts by selling products from other vendors and earning a commission. We can categorize this earning method into two. These are:

YouTube Shopping Affiliate

YouTube has an official affiliate program for creators residing in the US, with over 20,000 subscribers. This program lets you use YouTube Shopping to promote other vendors' products. Like regular YouTube shopping, you can tag the product or service directly in your videos. You can then include a call to action, letting viewers know how to buy the product.

External Affiliate Programs

You can join other external affiliate programs. This is easier as no particular number of subscribers or watch time is required. Instead, you only need to find an affiliate program related to the products you mentioned in your short videos. You will be given a commission for every sale you make.

In this form of affiliate marketing, you are paid by the product or service vendor when you make a sale and not by YouTube itself. So, how do you direct traffic to the affiliate site? You can add a pinned comment on your shorts, directing viewers to the products. In other words, use something similar to an Instagram bio link in your shorts.

However, you should ensure that you add affiliate links in compliance with the Google Ad Policy and the community guidelines. One of their requirements is that you should disclose that there is a promotion link in the short. A label will be included to let viewers know that your short has an affiliate link.

You can check our different affiliate marketing programs, such as:

• Amazon 
• Etsy 
• Clickbank
• ShareASale
• Shopify

Brand Endorsements

Another method you can make money with YouTube short views is through brand endorsement. This is a method where you work with brands directly. The method works well, especially if you have a large following. By working with brands, you can be paid in various forms, such as free products and even getting paid to post ad-specific products.

As with affiliate marketing, YouTube requires that you disclose any relationship with a brand. You can see the paid promotion disclosure option under the upload workflow.

Patreon

The patron concept was popular in Renaissance Europe, where patrons funded the creator's work. In the recent past, Patreon has taken the idea to a whole new level as it allows content creators to monetize their projects with paid subscriptions.

One of the most popular types of content on Patreon is video content. Therefore, you can use short videos to provide an excerpt of your longer video and to let viewers know they can watch the full story through your Patreon membership tier.

Another option is to chat with patrons and grow a community. One of the reasons why you should consider Patreon over the YouTube channel membership is that you don't need a minimum number of subscribers or even watchtime.

Sell Digital Programs

Another great way of earning with your YouTube shorts is by developing and selling digital products. The good thing with digital products is that they take a lot to produce and distribute as physical products. Besides, you only need to create digital products once and keep selling them. This makes it a great source of passive income. You can learn how to use YouTube shorts to market products.

Grow Your Long Video Viewership

You will not be paid to use shorts to grow YouTube viewership for long videos. However, it is still a key consideration when considering your shorts' return on investment. While the terms of getting monetized for shorts on YouTube aren't the best, especially if you are a new creator, they can still help drive traffic to your long-form videos. Since the long videos have better ad revenue and a higher RPM, driving traffic to them will increase your earnings.

Create User-generated Content for Brands

User-generated content refers to content created by customers on behalf of brands. The goal is to create authentic brand content in return for products or even fees. This monetization option is excellent for creators as it doesn't matter whether you have the number of subscribers or the video views.

Remember that brands looking for UGC content want original, engaging, and high-quality content. Therefore, this is a great revenue stream that newbie streamers should tap into to earn while growing their channels.

How to Start Monetizing YouTube Short Views

Before you can begin monetizing short videos, you need to join the YouTube partner programs. Here are the steps to follow to monetize YouTube shorts:

1. Sign into your YouTube account.
2. Click on your profile picture located at the top left corner. After that, you can go to YouTube Studio.
3. On the left-hand menu, you should click on Earn.
4. You will see the Apply tab if your channel is already eligible for monetization. You will see the option on Get Notified if you aren't qualified. This will allow you to return and finish the process once you are eligible.
5. If eligible, click on Start. This will allow you to review and accept the Terms.
6. If you do not have an Adsense account, you can set one by clicking Start. But if you already have one, you can link it.
7. YouTube will take one month to review your application, so you should be patient.
8. When accepted into the program, you should return to the YouTube Studio section and click Earn. You will see the Short monetization module, which you should accept.

These steps are followed when applying on a PC. The steps will differ if you apply on an Android or IOS device. But generally, you should begin by downloading the YouTube Studio app. After that, you can click on Earn at the bottom menu.

If you want to earn with the Super Thanks, you can click on Earn>Super. You can then click on Get Started and follow the prompts. Finally, click Earn>Membership>Get Started to begin earning with the channel membership.

Factors Affecting the YouTube Shorts Earning Potential

Before you try to make it big with YouTube shorts, you should understand the factors affecting the earning potential. These are:

• Geographical location of the viewer. Your earning potential will change significantly depending on the viewer's geographical location. This is because the ad rates are usually higher in certain countries than in others.
• Niche of your content. Your choice of a topic will be a key factor in determining your earnings with YouTube shorts. Some niches have a higher ad rate than others. However, you do not have to pigeonhole to get better ad revenue, which can stifle your creative freedom.
• Engagement overviews. When you are receiving a high engagement rate, this can result in a better ad placement. This can help increase the number of subscribers.

Tips for Increasing YouTube Short View

If you would like to make your YouTube shorts go viral and, therefore, increase the amount you earn with YouTube shorts, follow these tips:

Have a Content Strategy

Before monetizing your YouTube short, you should think of a content strategy. The goal is to ensure that you create high-quality videos that go viral. Here are a few tips that will enable you to do that:

• Recreate viral content. Have you come across a viral video on a platform like TikTok? One of the ways you can easily create content that resonates with your audience is by repurposing such content. However, while this strategy is popular with many YouTubers, you should use it cautiously if you are serious about building a personal brand.
• Repurpose your current content. Another way that you can find great content that doesn't affect your brand is by repurposing your old video. Probably, there was a video you did that proved to be a hit with your audience. You also made a video on TikTok or Instagram that was a success; you can rethink it and use it in your YouTube short.
• Creating new content. While this is usually the hardest, it is also the most rewarding. Since you will already have content specifically designed for YouTube, you will increase your chances of success with the content.

Use a Hook in the Introduction

If you want your YouTube shorts to go viral, you should hook the viewers from the beginning. Ensure that you create snappy and engaging videos from the word “go.” Keep the suspense until the end, when you reveal the gist of your video.

Editing Your Shorts

You do not need a professional editing tool to edit your short videos. The built-in tools enable you to create a professional-looking video. However, if you want to make your videos engaging, you must edit them to keep them eye-catching.

Use a Smooth Loop

Like on Instagram reels or TikTok videos, the TikTok shorts play on a loop unless the viewer stops them. Creating a YouTube site with a perfectly smooth loop can increase the number of your viewers. This improves the viewers' engagement and increases the chances of the short going viral.

Optimize for Search Engines

YouTube is the second most popular search engine; therefore, optimizing your shorts for SEO is important if YouTube will recommend them on the homepage. Use the right keywords to help YouTube know what the short is about. The keywords should be in the title of the short description and tags. A good idea is to research the keywords viewers are using to search for videos in your niche and then use them in the video.

Leverage Analytics

The YouTube Studio gives you a lot of data to show your best-performing shorts and those that need to be bumped up. Go through this data to determine when people will stop watching your videos, and use that information to create better videos in the future.

Conclusion

YouTube shorts have gained much traction since they were introduced to the platform. Today, this form of content is receiving billions of views. Therefore, you are losing a lot if you are not creating or optimizing them for monetization. By reading and using our guide, you should be able to earn money with YouTube short views.