The marvel that is YouTube is not only a form of entertainment, but a multi-dimensional platform on which anyone can make money. This internet phenomenon is basically providing all the tools you need to make money off of it. While some people just make a little here and there, others (both onscreen and off) make full-time livings from ads!

First, let’s explain what YouTube really is. Simply put, it’s a video sharing website that allows users to not just watch, but upload their own videos for viewing. Google bought YouTube a few years back and now operate small ads on select videos as a way to help posters make money as well as Google itself. The company uses flash video technology to display user-generated video content, which can include movie media, television clips, music videos, video blogs, home videos, user-generated series, and more.

YouTube itself claims that 100 million videos are watched every day. It’s used for people looking for entertainment, people trying to learn, friends sharing, media outlets expanding, and more. This enjoyable site has nearly unlimited potential for entertaining, helping people make money, and more.

Now let’s introduce a few different ways to make money off of YouTube. The best and easiest method, in terms of legality, is to produce a small YouTube series yourself. This could be in the method of animating something, recording yourself informing others, creating a mini-series, or something else. Let’s use the example of Michael Buckley, a YouTube host of his own show. His celebrity chatter show is done in his own home with a camera, a green sheet, two lights, and a computer. He earns six figures and quit his day job last year. How?

Through the YouTube Partner Program. Because the company is owned by Google, ads are placed both on the video and around the site. The revenue is split between advertisers for Google and the publisher of the videos. Now yes, it takes a lot of time and effort to pull off something like Mr. Buckley did. If creating, informing, or entertaining is for you, then this could be a very worthwhile option. What might start as a hobby could very well turn into a huge success! Mr. Buckley certainly thinks so. He’s earning a terrific living for himself with practically no overhead.

Another terrific example includes Cory Williams, who creates absurd music video parodies. A single one of his videos has been viewed 15 million times. Through the same online advertisements, as well as sponsorships and product placements in his newer videos (an added bonus!), Mr. Williams has been earning up to $20,000 every month.

Of course, after you’ve created a video, you need to market it. You can do this for free, and it’s a necessary step. Don’t assume that just because you have a good video that it’ll catch on. Even the pros have to go past sending it to their friends and actually do promotion. Talk on blogs and forums, and post links. You can send and promote your video on such pages as StumbleUpon, Digg, Propeller, Squidoo, Hubpages, and others, linking and embedding your video along.

If you already have great videos that are informational, for example but too long and valuable to post on YouTube, you can post “teaser” videos that are a few minutes long. In them, comment on your own site, where you have a full version posted. You can make money this way by charging a small fee or by having your own ads. Make sure that if you do this, you have easy ways of purchasing the full videos (with instant access), such as PayPal, credit cards, etc.

Producing your own series isn’t for everyone, of course. You can have a video blog, for example, and if it’s interesting and qualifies for affiliate advertising, you can make money with the investment of a webcam! There are other ways of making money with YouTube. Many of them, however, aren’t widely accepted as good ways of making money.

You can take videos already on YouTube and other video sites, get the codes, (YouTube provides these), and post the videos on any website. Choose a topic, collect and post videos on that topic, and then place the affiliate links around the topic of choice. When people watch the video, hopefully they’ll click the related links. You can actually pull in a fair amount of money by doing this.

For those who are even more internet savvy, here’s another way to take advantage of the money potential YouTube offers. You can download any video with the YouTube Catcher or any other number of sites like this. Save it in FLV format and then convert to MPEG. Add watermarks to your own videos and use on your own sites while promoting your affiliate advertisers.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few ways to steal websites and use them as your own, but they’re not highly endorsed. It’s far better to use your creative juices to really make up something special. Do you own a company yourself? Figure out a humorous of fascinating way to market your product, then post your free “ads” or videos on YouTube. Never underestimate the power of shock value!

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to make money with YouTube. It’s a powerful and enjoyable tool that you can use to your advantage. What may start as just several hundred viewings a day could easily turn into thousands or even millions! People aren’t going to stop watching videos any time soon; videos are only getting more common. So jump on this bandwagon and give it a try! You have very little to lose, and you’ll probably have fun creating!

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