A while back I was running a personal site about body building with the hope that it would eventually start attracting enough traffic to become profitable and even potentially to pay for my lifestyle. One of the ways I intended to do this was by creating a YouTube channel to support the channel which I could use to promote it and which could bring in lots of visitors both directly and indirectly.
Directly, I hoped that by talking about my website and promoting it in my videos, I would be able to get people interested in my site and then maybe they’d be likely to check it out. Indirectly, I knew that YouTube videos could give out link juice, and that a link from a popular YouTube video or twenty would be incredibly good for SEO.
Thus I created my channel and uploaded a few videos to see what happened, and what I discovered turned my whole concept of ‘making money online’ on its head.
The Power of YouTube
You see, after no time at all my YouTube videos had amassed a following and I was getting several new subscribers every day. People were sending fan mail, and some of my videos amassed hundreds of thousands of views. I even got recognised about town a couple of times!
Due to this success, it then wasn’t long before I was offered to join the ‘partnership scheme’ by Google. Upon joining I would be able to earn money from advertising on my videos just the same way I earned money from AdSense on my website.
But what surprised me, was that after not long at all the money coming in from YouTube surpassed the money coming in from my website. And then I realised that I could sell products from my videos too – such as eBooks and apps that I had been developing – and that sent my profits through the roof.
Why YouTube is So Profitable
While using YouTube more regularly, I also discovered that many other people were similarly making a large profit from YouTube. The most successful channels in fact were making their owners a full time living – just simply from posting a few five minute blogs every week.
Taking this to extremes were the people I saw reviewing Transformers toys. These guys obviously had a nerdy interest in the toys, so they made a channel where they simply showed off the figures on camera and gave a quick review. The videos can have taken no more than a few minutes to film, and yet these guys were making a full time living from it. And even getting sent more free toys to play around with. Which is kind of insane…
YouTube is so powerful because it allows you to talk directly to your audience in a highly natural and normal way. This is far more engaging that getting your followers to read an article and it can be much more engaging. As long as you speak well, most people are going to watch your videos all the way through because we are primed to listen to people talk. The same can’t be said of reading articles on your site necessarily…
A New Business Model
Thus I began to pour more time and effort into the process of creating YouTube videos. I increased the regularity with which I uploaded videos, but also the production values of those videos. On top of this I also made sure to monetise the videos well and also to do promotions – creating other channels, doing deals with other YouTubers, spending time on social media etc.
And perhaps the most interesting thing to come from this was the way it turned my business model right on its head. Now, instead of creating a YouTube channel to try and promote my website, I realised I was actually using the website to promote my YouTube channel – because it made more money and it was actually more fun.
So if YouTube isn’t currently part of your strategy then get involved. You’ll find that you can get a kick out of being an internet celebrity, and that your site will truly benefit from it too.
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