It was a fateful internship that Danie Jay accepted during her senior year of college that would solidify her suspicions that corporate life was not for her. By the time she received her diploma, Danie already had big dreams of a cubicle-free life without borders. The only issue, of course, was figuring out a way to make money doing something that she loved. It was while working as an online English tutor that Danie figured out how to make money on YouTube – and a lot of it!
Today, Danie Jay is a full-time YouTuber who uses the platform to pull in $10k+ every month. She’s also the creator of the Magnetic Creator Academy course, which teaches entrepreneurs all over the world to overcome creative blocks and turn YouTube into a powerful money-making machine.
Danie recently joined us on our “work from anywhere” segment, where she provided some invaluable insights on how to make money on YouTube. As it turns out, there are several great ways to turn your YouTube channel into a steady stream of income – and they may not be what you think!
Danie Jay Reveals How to Make Money on YouTube
You’re not alone if you mutter something along the lines of “How?” when you hear about creators making six figures a year off of their YouTube channels alone. Like many people, I personally always assumed that the key to success lay in some magic combination of ad revenue and adorable cat videos.
But as it turns out, ads are actually a very small part of the equation. “A big misconception that I hear a lot is that you want to build a channel for YouTube ad Revenue,” Danie explains. “You don’t!”
As anyone who has ever tried to monetize a video can attest, YouTube ad revenue tends to be pretty paltry. Sure, you might make $50 here and there, or even $1,000 if your video goes viral – but nowhere near enough to quit your day job and travel the world.
But how do you make Danie Jay-level money? The type of money that allows you to travel the world, earn passive income, and live a life of financial freedom?
As Danie teaches students in her course, there are four key ways to make money on YouTube including:
- Promoting Your Own Business
- Sponsored Content
- Affiliate Marketing
- Ad Revenue
Let’s take a closer look at each component to get an overall picture of how to make money on YouTube from wherever you want!
Promoting Your Products and Services
Danie describes YouTube as “a great place to be seen as a thought leader and to get people to want to invest in you.” Therein lies the key to what really sets professional YouTubers apparent from the rest of us.
While plenty of people out there have posted a funny YouTube video or two, the thought of creating original posts on a regular basis may initially sound pretty terrifying. The good news is that there’s no need to follow your pet around with a camera waiting for them to do something worth hilarious.
A more sustainable source of endless content ideas is likely no further away than either your business or favorite passion. Whether you run a fitness studio or are really into anything from make-up to gaming, creating a successful YouTube channel is all about finding your niche and putting your own unique spin on it.
Choosing and focusing on a specific YouTube niche will allow you to:
- Better understand your audience and the topics that interest them.
- Create viewer loyalty by delivering a steady stream of content around a particular topic.
- Develop a reputation as a thought leader in your industry.
- Demonstrate what sets your business or channel apart from the competition.
A Case Study: Rachel's Fit Pilates
In order to help illustrate, Danie shared the story of her client Rachel, a Pilates coach who had only managed to rack up around 700 subscribers. Like many new YouTubers, Rachel couldn’t help but be intimidated by the sheer number of other Pilates content that was already available.
It was only after signing up for Danie’s Magnetic Creator Academy course that Rachel realized that she’d fallen into the same trap as many other emerging creators. The more Rachel studied the content of her competitors, the more she naturally began to mimic them.
As Danie puts it, “The easiest way to not grow on YouTube is to mimic because you’re not bringing anything new to the table.”
While Rachel had discovered her niche, she had been hesitant to present her content in her own unique way. After deciding to embrace her own approach, Rachel successfully upped her subscriber count to 20,000 in just 30 days!
Not only did this lead to more YouTube revenue, but more Pilates clients. After all, people love working with leaders in nearly any industry! Rachel discovered firsthand just how powerful bringing her own unique voice to her chosen niche could be.
Sponsored Content
Not only can YouTube be a great way to promote your own products, but it may even be able to help you make money promoting other people’s products. In the past few years alone, influencer marketing has become all the rage.
You know how sometimes commercials feature celebrities that will urge you to try out a particular product or service? The idea behind Influencer marketing is pretty similar.
But instead of paying celebrities obscene amounts of money to promote their product, many brands are now paying people with healthy followings to advertise their products on social media. While you’ll need to have a decent subscriber count to make this revenue stream possible, it doesn’t have to be massive.
In fact, HubSpot recently revealed that 80% of influencer marketers now choose to work with social media influencers with less than 100k followers, while only 16% work with celebrities with over a million followers. If you’re lucky enough to score a paid sponsorship, a brand will pay you a nice chunk of change to review or promote their products on your channel.
To see an example of sponsored content in action, check out this collaboration that Andy Hill recently did with Tello, his family's mobile phone provider.
Affiliate Marketing
Wondering how to make money on YouTube without scoring a paid sponsorship? Affiliate marketing may be the answer for you!
To oversimplify it, YouTube affiliate marketing involves posting a link on your YouTube channel and then suggesting your followers to click it. Once you amass a respectable number of followers, you can begin reaching out to brands in your niche who may be interested in working with you.
If this proves to be the case, the brand will send you an affiliate link, which you can share either in your video or its description section. At some point throughout the course of your video, you’ll urge your audience to click the link and check the product out for themselves.
Every time a viewer follows your link and makes a purchase, you’ll earn a commission from the sale.
The key to YouTube affiliate marketing success is to focus on promoting products relevant to your niche that you actually believe in.
After all, there’s nothing worse than losing the hard-earned trust of your followers just to make a quick buck off of a sub-par product or service! In the words of the great Danie Jay, “You’ll always win on YouTube if you treat your viewer the way you want to be treated, and you show up for them, not for yourself.”
Ad Revenue
While ad revenue may not prove to be the most lucrative form of YouTube income, that doesn’t mean it's not worth throwing into the mix! While it may not be the kind of thing that earns you a full-time income, enabling ad revenue is one of the easiest ways to make extra money on YouTube.
In order to get started, you’ll want to become eligible to join the YouTube Partner Program by earning a certain number of subscribers and watch hours. Once you become eligible to join, head to the “YouTube Studio” section of your account and click on “Apply” in the “Earn” category.
At this point, you’ll also need to create and connect an AdSense account. Once YouTube reviews and confirms your application, you’ll be able to monetize your videos by allowing ads to play before, during, or after them.
Once you’ve got things up and running, you’ll be able to choose which types of YouTube ads you want to allow to play during your content. Just sign in to the “YouTube Studio” section and select Settings >Select Upload Defaults > Monetization.
Then, check off which types of ads you prefer to feature in the “Types of ads” section. The more followers you attract, the more extra ad revenue you’ll hopefully enjoy over time.
How Much Money Does Danie Jay Make on YouTube?
Okay, so all these strategies may sound good in theory, but how much money can you actually earn if you put them to good use? Luckily, Danie Jay was awesome enough to reveal how much money she makes in an average month using each of the tactics we discussed above.
- $5k – $10k from Promoting Her Products and Services
- $5k – 8k from Affiliate Marketing
- $3k – $5k from Sponsored Videos
- $500- $1,000 in YouTube Ad Revenue
Not. Too. Shabby! While the exact amount Danie earns with each strategy can vary, she reports that her YouTube income now regularly pulls in at least $10k on a monthly basis!
More YouTube Insights from Danie Jay
Be Patient
No matter how impressed you were with the figures above, don’t quit your day job just yet! As Danie advises, “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You have to invest time in it to see those results happen.”
Just as with any business, building up a YouTube channel that generates income takes time. Nonetheless, Danie emphasizes, the key is to think of your channel as nothing less than a part-time job.
If you want to make your YouTube dreams a reality, then it’s important to commit yourself to achieving them during non-negotiable work hours. Danie started building up her channel while still working as an online English tutor.
But within two years, her channel started pulling in $4,000 worth of passive income each month, the equivalent of what she’d make by teaching for 200 hours. At that point, she continued to teach occasionally, but only because she wanted to – not because she had to.
Always Put Your Viewer First
Danie advises approaching your channel with the following mindset, “What is your viewer’s biggest problem and how can I help them?” While viewers may be able to access YouTube videos for free, focusing on providing them with value is no less essential.
Think about your favorite YouTube videos and what value they bring to you as a viewer. Whether it’s knowledge, inspiration, or just a good laugh, great YouTube videos bring something to the table that viewers appreciate. Now think about what type of value you’d like to offer your own viewers.
Overcome Your Limiting Beliefs
Worried that you don’t have the skills to make a great YouTube channel or that you’re too shy to appear on camera? Rest assured that you’re who Danie had in mind when she created the Magnetic Creator Academy course.
“I teach people how to show up and feel comfortable on camera,” Danie explains. “And then [how to] create a YouTube channel that’s a funnel into your business.”
No matter what obstacles you may be facing as a YouTuber creator begging to happen, Danie’s comprehensive 5-month program is here to help you overcome them. Check out the Magnetic Creator Academy to learn more about how to approach YouTube as a part-time job that could someday lead to a full-time income.
Are you still wondering how to make money on YouTube? What do you think of the advice from Danie Jay?
Please let us know in the comments below.
