# How do you make money with YouTube? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010 "2018-04-24T02:19:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/21 "2018-04-24T16:47:16Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > So what y’all are saying is that I would have to make a career of this BEFORE I make a dime. Thanks! Start a series “How I tried to make money on YouTube!” with a new video every week that charts your attempts and progress, including these posts. You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/22 "2018-04-24T16:51:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I could hold up a gas station, but I’m not allowed to drive. Cops would never expect you to try to escape on foot, it’s perfect ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/23 "2018-04-24T18:53:05Z")
This has some ideas: [Crowd Funding - A way to exploit the well-meaning and gullible](https://youtu.be/0zfYAXWODUs). I think it was meant as a cautionary tale, but one gets ones business ideas where one can. Would I have to set up a bank account in the Caymans in person or can I do it online? ---
**Author:** ![awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awesome)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/24 "2018-04-24T21:44:51Z")
Advertisements. Same way Facebook makes money. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/25 "2018-04-25T13:10:25Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > So what y’all are saying is that I would have to make a career of this BEFORE I make a dime. Thanks! Nope, we’re saying there will need to be _some_ effort and/or expense. To make even a basic video you’ll need a camera, some lights, some video software and a place to record, for instance. As far as content, it can be almost anything. There are people that simply record themselves watching other videos (k-pop, comedy specials, etc). Unbox Therapy has 10M subscribers and he records himself unboxing phones and computers; he’s got a killer studio set-up _now_, but that started with a camera, a table, and a new phone from Best Buy or something. BreadFaceBlog is a young woman who mashes her face into varieties of bread. Heck, in Asia people make money recording themselves eating (mukbang videos). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/26 "2018-04-25T15:40:05Z")
Like I said, effort. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/27 "2018-04-25T19:42:42Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > To make even a basic video you’ll need a camera, some lights, some video software and a place to record, for instance. You can start with whatever you have. A decent smartphone camera can easily be good enough - lights and a studio aren’t always necessary (for example if your content is recorded on the street or out in the woods, or just during daylight hours in your kitchen) and there is some very good free, professional-quality video editing software available. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/28 "2018-04-26T01:49:40Z")
Would it be possible to sell advertising in your videos yourself or to put sponsored links in your video description, or would this violate Youtube rules? ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/29 "2018-04-26T02:21:49Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Would it be possible to sell advertising in your videos yourself or to put sponsored links in your video description, or would this violate Youtube rules? Apparently sponsors are fine if you notify viewers that the video is sponsored. The thing is that sponsors don’t show up until you’re racking up millions of views per video. No one’s going to sponsor a newbie like **dropzone**. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/30 "2018-04-26T02:26:02Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Would it be possible to sell advertising in your videos yourself or to put sponsored links in your video description, or would this violate Youtube rules? I don’t know if there is a rule, but if there is, then no one is enforcing it. Look at any of the [videos by the makeup/fashion divas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZhcUYLueYI) and you’ll find a long list of links to places to buy the products they are reviewing in the video description. (You might have to hit the “show more” button.) It is not unusual for them to receive support from the companies that make the products, too. And here is a [music video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZm1s3dgw3s) with an ad for a natural skin care product permanently embedded. (It’s a great song, listen to it.) ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/31 "2018-04-26T02:45:04Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Unbox Therapy has 10M subscribers and he records himself unboxing phones and computers Jesus Fucking Christ. Do these 10 million subscribers live on Planet Earth? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/32 "2018-04-26T03:09:42Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > No one’s going to sponsor a newbie like **dropzone**. Nor will I, a person with untreated ADD, ask them because I lost interest in this scam before I finished the OP. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/33 "2018-04-26T06:06:36Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Jesus Fucking Christ. Do these 10 million subscribers live on Planet Earth? I’m a subscriber of Unbox Therapy and I live on Earth. I find it mildly entertaining to watch, and it helps to keep me up to date with tech trends. The channel is successful because, in addition to being pretty much the archetype of the genre, it’s actually very well presented. ‘Unboxing’ videos on YouTube are not usually just someone unpacking a product - if done properly, they are reviews of the product. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/34 "2018-04-26T08:43:07Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > DanTDM is currently the most popular and biggest money earner on you tube … and hes just a friendly funny dork who plays pc and videogames …and the odd thing? hes about average in his gaming skills Isn’t that a bit like saying Bill Burr is just a funny guy who tells jokes, or Graham Norton just a nice bloke who chats with people? My son watches a lot of the youtube gamer channels and the talent of the top level guys like DanTDM, AliA, Ballistic squid etc is obvious. The majority of people who tried to do something like that would absolutely stink the place out IMO. It’s certainly true there are plenty of mediocre personalities on there who appear quite popular - they got in early and follow the formula of the more talented. ---
**Author:** ![Delicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@Delicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delicious)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2018, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010/35 "2018-04-26T11:14:33Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > Apparently sponsors are fine if you notify viewers that the video is sponsored. The thing is that sponsors don’t show up until you’re racking up millions of views per video. No one’s going to sponsor a newbie like **dropzone**. Do videos of yourself using products from really big brands; eating McDonalds, drinking coke, dropping an iphone in the toilet, then just invoice the company for advertising money, they’re big enough that it might slip under the radar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-make-money-with-youtube/813010.md?page=1)