YouTube alone is half the internet. About 1.9 billion users log in every month to the platform. And about 500 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute.

While ad revenue is the most obvious way to make money on YouTube in Nigeria as a beginner, there are many other ways. The best way—to make money on YouTube is by leveraging all the ways, which we will discuss in this article.

So, As you read on, we’ll expand on these five effective ways you can earn money from your YouTube channel as a Nigerian:

• Become a YouTube Partner
• Sell your merchandise
• Create sponsored content
• Get your fans to pay you directly
• License your content to the media

How to make money on YouTube in Nigeria Even if You’re a Beginner

1. Become a YouTube Partner

Regular YouTubers get access to special features on the platform by joining the YouTube Partner Program.

By setting up an AdSense account, you can make money off YouTube without joining the YouTube Partner Program. But being a Partner on YouTube makes it a lot easier.

YouTube Partners in Nigeria have access to multiple income streams. They not only earn from ads but YouTube Premium subscription fees, including features that tap your fans’ wallets directly like Super Chat, channel memberships, and the merchandise shelf (more on these later.)

The truth is you don’t have to be a graduate or possess a doctorate to earn. You can be a student in any of the tertiary institutions or even secondary schools in Nigeria and still make money on YouTube. 

Here are steps to follow:

Step 1. Start a channel

Create a YouTube channel.

Step 2. Ensure that your channel successfully meets the YouTube Partner Program requirements.

Before you can join the YouTube Partner program, you need a minimum of 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the previous 12 months.

Step 3. Set up an AdSense account

Setting up an AdSense account is simple and only takes a few minutes. Just follow YouTube’s official guide to AdSense accounts creation.

Step 4. Explore your new monetization features

There are different eligibility requirements for the monetization of each channel on YouTube. For instance:

Ad revenue: you must be at least 18 years old to earn ad revenue. You must create advertiser-friendly content; the less controversial your videos, the more YouTube advertisers will be comfortable running ads on them – and the more money you make.

YouTube Premium revenue: YouTube premium revenue works when a YouTube Premium member watches your video, you automatically get a portion of their subscription fee.

Channel memberships: YouTube allows you to sell channel memberships to your subscribers. That is, your fans opt in to pay you an extra amount. However, you need to be at least 18 and have over 30,000 subscribers.

Merchandise shelf: generally, you have to be at least 18 years old to make money from YouTube. Although YouTube has a separate platform for kids. But on YouTube for adults, the requirement is basically: to sell mech, you must be at least 18 years old and have at least 10,000 subscribers.

Super Chat payments: you have to be 18 years old and live in a country where this feature is offered. Super Chat payment allows fans to pay to have their messages highlighted in your live chats during your live streams.

Step 5. Submit to ongoing reviews

YouTube will hold your channel to a high standard as a YouTube Partner. You’ll have to follow the YouTube Partner Program policies and the Community Guidelines.

2. Sell your merchandise

You don’t necessarily have to sell a product because you’re an entrepreneur first and a video creator second, which means you probably already have a product. You can create a YouTube marketing strategy to promote it.

And if you have a product, merchandise is a viable way to earn money from YouTube.

Step 1. Imagine and design your product

Your merch must be unique because your merchandise is meant to both represent and feed your audience’s connection with you.

Step 2. Source and build your product

You’ll need a manufacturer, supplier, or wholesaler to make and deliver your product. Some will spare you the headaches of inventory, shipping, and returns by handling it themselves. And some suppliers will deliver it to you.

Step 3. Create your shop and landing page

You’ll have to create a separate website for your products to handle purchases. Check YouTube’s list of approved merchandise sites if you want to link your website directly to your videos.

Step 4. Activate your YouTube Partner merchandise shelf

There’s also a Youtube Partner merchandise shelf that gives you the power to use the shelf feature to sell your channel’s merchandise. Check out the youtube requirement for this and If you’re eligible, follow YouTube’s instructions to enable it.

Step 5. Promote your product in your videos

The best way to promote your products on YouTube is by wearing or using your merch in your videos. You can also feature viewers who have bought and are using it.

Include your store’s link to your video descriptions and end screens and cards with compelling calls to action that users can click on to your store’s link.

3. Create sponsored content

If you have a large and engaged audience, you can look for a brand to help promote their products. As long as your content is relevant to their target market, They’ll probably want to do business with you.

Step 1. Find a brand to partner with

Look for brands with a quality product that will resonate well with your audience. Quality is important; whether you’re aiming for the stars, or building yourself up grassroots-style, make sure you perfect your brand pitch before you send it.

Look for an influencer marketing platform to join and find appropriate influencers to work with.

Step 2. Make a deal

According to research conducted by influencer marketing platform Klear, YouTube videos are, on average, the most expensive type of sponsored content brands can buy from influencers. And as a YouTube influencer, you can charge more for your videos than you would for Instagram Stories or Facebook posts because the video is way more expensive to produce.

You must know your worth before you sign a contract with any company. Brands will rate you based on your audience’s size, engagement, and relevance to your potential partner, 

Step 3. Be transparent about your #sponcon #ad

Sponsored content is a form of advertising, and that means you have to make sure you’re in step with Google’s Ad policies. 

Build a solid relationship with your audience and be transparent to them. There’s a visible disclosure feature on YouTube that lets your audience knows that you’re advertising to them.

4. Get your fans to pay you directly

The number one strategy that has worked for many is to make it easy for your fans to show their appreciation with their credit card. This can be a bit difficult for beginners but follow these simple steps.

Step 1. Organize a live chats where people can use the Super Chat feature

YouTube replaced their previous Fan Funding feature with Super Chat in early 2017. This feature is only available to YouTube Partners while they live stream.

Sometimes your viewers will want to make their comments more visible, highlighted, and pinned to the top. They need to pay a set amount of money that directly goes into your account to achieve this.

Step 2. Encourage fans to subscribe to your channel

YouTube offers a brilliant monetization strategy, which is beneficial to you and your audience. YouTube allows your viewers to pay you to become your channel members. And in exchange, they get custom emoji, badges, and access to members-only exclusives like Live Chats with you.

You’ll need to develop a promotion strategy to convince people to become members, which may or may not include several tiers of membership. Like Super Chat, this feature is only available to YouTube Partners.

Step 3. Encourage your fans to become YouTube Premium subscribers

Encouraging your fans to subscribe to your channel is an indirect approach to earning money on youtube. If you encourage fans to subscribe, you get more audience and more exposure for your products. And If you are lucky to have many YouTube Premium members as subscribers, you get a cut of their subscription fee when they watch your channel.

5. License your content to the media

As a content creator, you can easily make money off your content by licensing your most successful work to the media. Media outlets are always looking out for content to share with their audience. They want to get their hands on a copy of a viral video and reply to it. So if you license your video and it goes viral, established media companies understand that they’ll need to pay before they can play it to their audience.

Here are steps to follow to license your content to the media:

Step 1. Update your contact details on the About page

The first thing you should do is ensure that your contact details are accurate and consistent across the internet.

Step 2. Sign up to a video rights marketplace

Jukin Media is a great place to start, even if you don’t have a viral video. Jukin media can help you take your videos to the next level. It has an entire catalog of ‘newsworthy’ videos that you can contribute to. Sometimes, you may happen to have exclusive footage of a major natural disaster, plane crash, or plague of locusts that the media guys will want to include in their reporting.