How To Earn Money On Youtube Without Adsense (11 Alternatives)
This article about How To Earn Money On Youtube Without Adsense has been updated in May 2021 to reflect more lucrative ways to make money from your channel without the Youtube partner program.
Note also that this post contains affiliate links which means that I may receive compensation if you purchase any product through the links on this page. That said, I only recommend products that I personally use to grow my online business.
Did you know that placing Adsense (Youtube’s Display Ads) on your videos is NOT the only way to make money with YouTube?
Yes, it is true, and I am going to prove it to you in this post.
This should be good news for you.
Especially if you are looking to start making money on Youtube with a brand new channel that is yet to meet the minimum requirements for the partner program.
Because gone are the days when you could make money with Adsense by uploading videos to a brand new Youtube channel that barely has any subscribers and views.
You see, in an effort to combat spam and people trying to game the system, Youtube has enacted new requirements to join the partner program.
That is, you must have at least 1000+ subscribers and at least 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months.
But rest assured, while having ads on your videos can be very lucrative, there are other ways to monetize a small Youtube channel. … At least until you meet the minimum requirements to make money on youtube through the partner program.
Right now I am going to show you several alternative ways to earn money on Youtube without Adsense and without having millions of views or thousands of subscribers which is the case if you are just starting out.
In fact, if you apply what I am about to share with you on a consistent basis, it is possible to make a full-time income just with Youtube alone.
Sounds Good?
Okay so let’s get to the meat and potatoes of this post.
What's Covered In This Post:
Contents
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But first, let’s address the big question:
Is It Really Possible To Earn Money On Youtube?
If you are reading this post then its safe to say that you probably have some idea that there are persons who are generating a decent income with the power of Youtube.
It is no secret that hundreds if not thousands of creators are making a LOT of money from the Youtube platform.
But if you have any doubts whatsoever, these few examples should lay them to rest.
You have persons like Graham Stephan who is making upwards of $250K PER MONTH from Youtube Ad revenue. You also have this 6-year-old kid making over 11 million dollars from Youtube Ads as well.
And then you have smaller creators who are making a few hundred to a few thousand dollars every month. Doing A quick Youtube search will allow you to find quite a number of creators logging into their dashboard showing proof of their earnings.
SO YES, it is possible to make money on Youtube, and tons of people are already doing it.
In fact, just the idea of becoming a “Youtube Star” is now a mainstream concept. Unlike 20+ years ago when Youtube didn’t even exist, now it is more than just a hobby and more of a career option according to NBCNews.
You have teenagers all over the world who are aspiring to become the next Youtube star because they are now exposed to the endless possibilities that the platform can provide.
Safe to say people are making good money from Youtube. However, all of the examples listed above pertains to making money with the Youtube partner program.
So The Other Question Is:
Can You Make Money On Youtube Without Adsense?
The short answer is YES!
How?
The “how” is exactly what I want to focus on in this post.
Because if you are just getting started with Youtube, it will take you some time to gain 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t earn an income while your channel is growing. There are many ways you can earn a life-changing income from Youtube even without having Adsense ads on your videos.
So below are several ways in which you can earn money on Youtube without Adsense.
What You Need Before You Start
Step #1 – Choose The Right Niche
Regardless of what method or methods of monetization you choose to pursue, finding the right niche will be one of the main determining factors of how much you can earn from your channel.
Choosing the right niche will also determine how popular your channel gets which also indirectly affects your earning potential.
The reality is that there are some niches that just don’t pay enough, partly because they attract a demographic that doesn’t have money to spend. This results in limited possibilities for your channel.
For example, someone who is uploading funny cat videos will have a hard time monetizing his/her channel outside of AdSense compared to someone who uploads videos reviewing consumer products.
This means it is very important that you conduct a bit of research before you get started. Going through my Market Research Program is a great way to start.
Market Research Made Simple is a step-by-step training showing you how to find the right niches to get into and verify right away if you can make any money from the market you enter.
You absolutely don’t want to miss this step. Doing so could be detrimental to your success.
Can you imagine creating 30 videos and optimizing them to rank on Youtube and Google only to find that you didn’t choose the right niche?
That would be heartbreaking so make sure you put in the extra effort to get in a more favorable niche.
Step #2 – Learn Youtube Keyword Research
Once you find your niche, the next step before you start creating and uploading videos is to do some Youtube keyword research and have a batch of topics that you’ll cover ahead of time.
This will enable you to know exactly what your prospects/targeted demographic are searching for so that you can create videos around the topics that may interest them.
Most newbie YouTubers make the mistake of just uploading a video for any random keyword and expect to get targeted traffic.
That’s the worse thing you can do if you want to attract the right audience that will enable you to earn money on youtube.
This simply means that you need to find what keywords your potential customers are already searching for so that you can rank your videos for those keywords.
Simply put, you want your videos to show up in front of the right audience.
On one hand, you don’t want to go for highly competitive terms especially with a brand new channel because they are extremely hard to rank for. And on the other hand, you don’t want to go for extremely low competition keywords because they barely get any views.
You have to bridge the gap between the number of searches a keyword gets with how competitive it is.
Basically, your targeted keywords should have moderate competition so that you can rank for them easily but still get enough views to be worthwhile.
You have to find the sweet spot!
The good thing about YouTube keyword research is that it is a lot less complicated than trying to find keywords to rank for on the Google search engine.
Here’s how simple it is to find keywords to rank for on YouTube:
There are many tools and resources that you can use to find “sweet spot” keywords but one of my favorite tools is Tubebuddy.
I have been using this tool for a while and to say I love it would be an understatement. It is a paid tool but it also comes with a free version, which you can still use to get a lot of info.
What I like about TubeBuddy is that it directly integrates into the YouTube platform. This means the stats the tool produces are coming directly from YouTube.
The other thing I find useful is that Tubebuddy gives you results based on the channel you are using it for. So when the software gives you the green light for a keyword, you can know for sure that you can indeed rank for the keyword with your specific channel.
Here’s How To Use Tubebuddy To Find YouTube Keywords
Firstly, Tubebuddy is a Google Chrome extension so you’ll need to first install it. Click here to Install the Tubebuddy Extension
Point #1 – Go to YouTube.Com and log in with the channel you’ll be using.
At the top of the page on the right-hand side, you should see the Tubebuddy icon. Click on the icon.
Once you click on the Tubuddy icon, a drop-down menu will appear. Click on the option for ‘keyword explorer’.
Point #2 – Enter a broad keyword related to your niche into the search box.
Using an example, I typed in the search box a very popular keyword: “how to lose weight“. As you can see below, if I were to target that keyword, it would be way too competitive especially for a brand new channel.
As a result, TubeBuddy says that the keyword is Poor and gave it a rank of 9/100.
That said if you look on the right-hand side of the image you’ll also notice that TubeBuddy also suggests several other keywords that may be a good fit. So let’s click on one of them and see what happens.
So I clicked on “how to lose weight in a week” and now TubeBuddy has given me the green light to go for this keyword.
The previous keyword was 9/10 and now this keyword gets 63/100.
SO that’s exactly what you want to do.
Do your keyword research before you start creating videos. I would suggest that you find at least 30 keywords before you start creating any video.
By the way, you can sign up for TubeBuddy Here.
Now that you’ve found the right niche and a list of keywords to target with your videos, let’s talk about how to actually make money from your Youtube videos without the partner program.
Step #3 – Create Amazing Videos
This step is really self-explanatory but It is very important for me to mention it.
While you can get everything else wrong and still have moderate success, if your videos are crappy, you can kiss success goodbye.
Don’t get me wrong, amazing videos have nothing to do with fancy gadgets or expensive equipment, or even motion graphics. It simply means that you should create videos that are entertaining and informative and answer the questions that your prospects are having.
And by doing that, your viewers will stay longer on your videos leading to a greater watch time and the domino effect is that all your videos will rank better.
By the way, you can check out my Vidnami Review to see the exact software that I use to create amazing videos that get the job done in various niches that I am in.
Method #1 – How To Earn Money On Youtube With Affiliate Marketing
If you’ve ever wondered how to make money on Youtube without Adsense you are going to love this method.
Affiliate marketing is one of my favorite ways to make money using Youtube. The premise of affiliate marketing is that you’ll promote other peoples’ products or services and receive a commission whenever a sale is generated.
I go into a lot more details and show you how you can make at least $100/Day start from scratch with affiliate marketing in this post. I’ll show you how I use Youtube to generate tons of affiliate sales on a daily basis with channels that barely have any subscribers.
With that said, take a look at the screenshot below:
The above image is a screenshot of one of my affiliate dashboards. It shows commissions earned from promoting affiliate offers from some of my Youtube Channels.
How It Works:
Depending on your niche, you’ll create videos that provide information or answer specific questions that your audience may be having. You can then recommend products or services to your audience that will help them to completely solve their problems.
For example, if you were to target the keyword: how to lose weight in a week, you could give tips about dieting and exercising and then recommend a full 30 days dieting and exercise program to your viewers.
For more information on how this process work and how you can get started, sign up for my free training here.
Method #2 – Sell Your Own Ebook Or Digital Courses
If you are good at something that others are interested in then you can document your knowledge and package it into either an ebook or a fully-fledged online course.
Now I must mention that you really need to do adequate research to make sure you create an ebook that others are willing to buy.
You can browse marketplaces like Clickbank or Amazon Kindle to see the topics other creators in your specific niche are covering.
This will give you an idea of how to structure your ebook and the different topics to be covered. You can also follow my step-by-step “market research made simple” course to find out what topics you can focus on and determine right away if you’ll be profitable.
Once you have your ebook and/or your online course ready for sale, you can earn money on Youtube without Adsense by simply telling them about your ebook or online course.
How To Make It Work
In order to make this process as simple as possible and yet highly successful, here’s what you need to.
- Decide on a topic for your ebook/online course.
- Take some time to create the best possible product you can – putting your potential customers’ needs first.
- Decide where you’re going to host your ebook.
- Write a sales copy outlining the features and benefits your audience will get from purchasing.
- Choose how you’ll accept payment.
- Put your website together and make sure everything is working fine and you’re ready to accept payment.
Once all the steps above are done, it’s just a matter of telling your viewers on Youtube about your product to start generating sales.
As long as you’ve done your research to ensure that you create a product that people want, you’ll generate sales. And you don’t need to have a ton of subscribers in order for this process to work.
Method #3 – Drive Traffic To A Blog You Already Have
If you already have a blog then you know that in order to make money from that blog you need targeted website traffic.
And what better way to get targeted traffic than from YouTube?
That’s right, getting traffic from Youtube can be very targeted and tends to convert really well. The reason for this is because those people took the time to watch your video on Youtube and then decided that they wanted to learn more from you by visiting your website.
Firstly, I don’t want to be cliche but choosing the right niche is very important. You want to be in a niche where people love to consume content and are already spending money on products. Keep in mind that if your objective is to make money with Youtube, you want to target a demographic that not only has money to spend but is also willing to do so. Create videos that provide enough content to whet your audience’s appetite so that they want to get more info from you. By doing so, you’ll motivate them to check out your website where you can make money from ad revenue, affiliate marketing, selling your own products, or however you’ve monetized your blog. It’s no secret that eCommerce is taking over the online space. From the big Giants like Amazon to the little Shopify stores drop-shipping products from China, there’s a piece of the pie for everyone. But at the time of writing the post, more than 90% of Ecom store owners are focusing on Facebook and Instagram for traffic. That said, YouTube is ripe for the picking. Depending on your niche, for example, if you have an ecom store that is promoting evergreen products, you can create videos that cover topics in that niche and then send your viewers to your ecom store. Let’s say you have a store that sells a back brace. This simply means that you’d be targeting persons looking for back pain relief. A quick search on Tubebuddy brings up the following topics that you could target: And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s say you decided that you would create a video for the keyword “how to stop lower back pain instantly” then all you have to do is to explain how your back brace can help your viewers to stop back pain. You may want to do a quick demonstration using the actual product and then tell your viewers how they can go to your store to purchase one for themselves. This method can be very lucrative and has the ability to be the most profitable over time. However, in the early stages, you’ll find that the needle moves very slowly. What this method entails is that you give away something of value for free in return for your audiences’ contact details. For example, you can give away a free ebook in exchange for their name and email addresses. The reason you are collecting their information is to be able to communicate with them on a regular basis. And you’ll also have the ability to promote offers, whether from affiliate products or your own products to make money from your email list. Here’s the thing, regardless of how big your Youtube channel gets, you still don’t own it and you are at the mercy of one policy change or one mistake away from losing your channel. Simply put, you don’t own your YouTube channel. By building your email list, you are converting traffic from YouTube that you don’t own to traffic that you own and have more control over. By the way, the added bonus of this method is that whenever you upload a new video, you can send an email blast telling all your subscribers about it so that you can get a surge of views that will help your videos to rank well both on the search and in suggested videos. Let’s say you are in the diet and weight loss niche. Then you could create a Free ebook titled: 5 Things You Need To Do To Reach Your Weight Loss Goal. Then create videos giving tips and advice on how to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. Create a landing page using ClickFunnels and use an Autoresponder like ConvertKit to collect contact details. Tell your viewers to go to your website where they can sign up for your free ebook. Once they sign up, they are now a part of your tribe and you can email them and promote weight loss offers and generate sales. PRO TIP – it is important to remember that your email lists consist of real human beings with emotions and you need to respect that. Don’t just promote any offer for the sake of making a quick buck. Always put your audience’s needs first and the sales will take care of themselves. Are you a videographer, photographer, voiceover artist, or graphic designer? Whatever your freelancing service may be, Youtube can be a great way to promote that service to make some extra money. And the good thing about this method to make money online with Youtube without Adsense is that your viewers will be able to see the quality of work you can provide. This means that when someone clicks over to your freelancing service, they are primed and ready to buy. Well, let’s say that you are a graphic designer, then what you could do is to offer tutorials showing others how to create high-quality graphics. Now you are probably wondering how you’ll make money if you are showing people how to do it themselves right? Well, the truth is your targeted audience doesn’t have the time or want to learn how to do it themselves. But by seeing the quality of work that you can do is a great way to showcase your talent and get them interested in your services. Selling T-Shirts and other merch is a great way to gain visibility to your brand. And depending on the topics your channel focuses on, you can get creative and design T-Shirts that your audience will love. As your channel grows and your audience (now your tribe) starts to fall in love with your content, they will be willing to support you and rock some of your merch. Examples of merch could include: Let’s say that your Youtube channel is about fitness. The next step is to come up with a unique design that represents your brand/channel and that your audience will resonate with. Once you have your design, you can use a print-on-demand platform or you can create an online store on Shopify to sell your products. The good thing about selling print-on-demand products is that you don’t need to buy a bunch of inventory up-front. You only pay for products after you receive an order. Some Print-on-demand Services You May Want To Consider: And you can create a Shopify store here. (free for the first 14 days!) Theoretically, this method will fall under ‘Affiliate Marketing’. However, there’s a little twist to the method and that’s why I decided to list Launch-Jacking as a separate method to making money on Youtube without Adsense. The premise of this method is that you’ll create videos to promote upcoming product launches. This method can be lucrative even for new Youtube Channels because the competition will be very little in comparison to promoting products that have been on the market for a longer period of time. Launch jacking works when you go to marketplaces that list upcoming product launches. For example, you can visit: These websites will list products that will be launched in the near future and you can sign up to become affiliates of these products to promote them. Go to mucheye.com or jvnotifypro.com and look at products that will be launching in about 3 weeks’ time. You want to give yourself enough time to research the product, create your video, and then rank your video for keywords relating to the product being launched. By the way, it’s a good idea to reach out to the product owner to see if you can get a review copy of the product so that you can see exactly what it is about. The more info you can give about the product, the higher your conversion rates will be. This step is crucial to your success because there will be other affiliates promoting the same product and you’ll want to stand out from the crowd to generate the maximum amount of sales. Although partnering with other Youtuber may not earn you money on Youtube without Adsense directly, it is a great way to open yourself up to a broader audience that you can monetize otherwise. So the first thing you’ll need to do is to choose one of the 8 AdSense alternatives for youtube so that when you incorporate this method, you’ll be able to make money from your new audience. The first thing you need to do is to look for other Youtube channels that are in your niche. You’ll want to focus on channels that are pretty much the same size as yours. The reason for this is because unless you have something really amazing and unique to give, larger channels won’t have an incentive to partner with you. However, when you focus on similar channels as yours they’ll be willing to partner/collab and you’ll both grow together. As your channel gets bigger, you’ll be able to reach out to larger channels and then you’ll start to see exponential growth. One of the main ways that a LOT of YouTubers make their money is through sponsorship deals. This is especially so if you have a channel that focuses on topics that may not be approved for the partner program. But you can get paid on youtube without Adsense from big companies that are looking to spread the word about their products or even from small companies that are just looking to get their products in front of more eyeballs. The downside to making money on youtube with this method is that you need to have a relatively large size audience for sponsors to reach out to you. On the flip side, you can reach out to companies and plead your case and let them know the type of audience you have and how you promoting their brand can be a benefit to them. It may take a few attempts to get a few deals but the results may be well worth the time and effort. This method is an indirect way to earn money on Youtube without Adsense. The premise is that you’ll make money on your other social media platforms and so it is worth it to get your viewers from Youtube to join you on your other platforms. For example, maybe you are an Instagram celeb and you get paid for shoutouts… SO the more followers you have, the more you’ll get paid per promo. Well, Youtube can indirectly boost your income by sending you more targeted followers for you to monetize! Making money online with the Youtube partner program can be very lucrative to generate an income. However, you can make good money with Youtube without Adsense as well. This may be the case if you have a relatively new channel that is yet to meet the partner program requirements or you are in a niche that doesn’t support ads. The methods above should give you some ideas to run with. You can choose one or do a combination of several methods to ensure that you have multiple streams of income. What’s more, the more your channel grows, the more your income will grow as well. Want to learn how to make $3,000 per month from affiliate marketing? Check out my free guide on how to get started right away – Even if you have no experience.How To Make It Work
Method #4 – Drive Traffic To An Ecommerce Store
How To Make It Work
Method #5 – Use YouTube To Build Your Email List
How To Make It Work
Method #6 – Promote Your Freelance Service
How To Make It Work
Method #7 – Sell T-Shirts And Other Merch
How To Make It Work
Method #8 – Make Money With Launch Jacking
How To Make It Work
Pro Tip – depending on the product you’ll be promoting, you’ll want to create a bonus that compliments the product and will help your audience get more results from the product.Method #9 – Partner With Other YouTubers
How To Make It Work
Method #10 – Make Money From Sponsorships
Method #11 – Grow Your Social Media Following
Conclusion
