How to Make Money on YouTube (As a Full Time Influencer)

I always wanted to be a full time YouTuber — in fact, that was the very first side hustle that I tried! I absolutely love teaching people how to dance. I think I have over 300 videos dedicated to the dance niche on my channel. That being said, I never made good money doing it.  

So, what changed? Why am I back and uploading brand new videos every single day?

The short answer is that YouTube has changed a lot over the past 10 years. The algorithm has changed, the content focus has changed, etc. I believe that now is one of the greatest opportunities to make money from YouTube in the coolest way possible! I'm so serious about YouTube being full of potential that I hired a full time videographer.  

My other businesses allowed me to make this investment. If you're just starting out and don't have the money to hire somebody to edit and film your videos, that's okay! You should do it all yourself at first because of the big learning process that being a YouTuber presents. It takes a while to get comfortable behind a camera and to learn how to optimize the information in your videos.  

Here are a few tips that got me to where I am today…

1. Be Consistent

If you're not willing to post everyday on YouTube, spend your time elsewhere. YouTube is all about pushing out content. They will pay you (generously!) if you are consistent. Why wouldn't you want to post everyday? I can guarantee that making YouTube videos all day is much easier — and more fun — than working a 9 to 5. 

2. Be Original

If you want to do this YouTube thing, you have to post original content. Back in the day, I wanted to make cool dance videos with the hottest and newest music. The problem was that all of that said music was copyrighted! I couldn’t even monetize off of my own content. Not to mention that other YouTubers might get a little upset if you straight up copy them. Be original and make videos in your own unique way. 

3. Be Valuable

The type of content you create is valued by the advertisers who spend money on the respective category. The algorithm that determines how you're going to get paid is called a CPM. CPM is simply an advertisers metric that measures the cost per thousand impressions. In other words, for every thousand views, how much money will you make?

In January I posted one video every single day. The amount of money I made from YouTube ads alone was $6,005! The crazy thing is that I don't really have that many followers. Yes, I do have over 100,000 but a lot of those followers were from when I was dancing. My YouTube channel sat vacant for roughly 5 years. So, when I revived it, I only had around 100,000 views. When I was dancing, I would get paid about $2 for every thousand views. Now that I’m creating business content, my CPM is as high as $90!

If you want to focus on a niche that advertisers spend a lot of money on, think health, business, or nutrition. Smaller and more abstract niches will work too, just know that the CPM may be lower.  

To recap, being a YouTube is legit. However, if you want to take it seriously, you need to take into account the three tips I listed above. Follow those three steps and I promise that you’ll be on track to have one of the best jobs in the world.  

Peace. 

I make new content every single week, so be sure to subscribe to my Youtube and follow my Instagram @brambilabong and TikTok at @AdrianBrambila. I also have tons of resources and courses on my website that you won’t want to miss. Head over to www.adrianbrambila.com to learn more about what I do and how I live a financially free life.