As a short-form creator, you're probably wondering if you can monetize your YouTube Shorts like long-form creators monetize their videos.
The answer is yes! YouTube has several paths for monetizing short content, and this guide explains all of your options.
One of the best ways to monetize your Shorts is through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). Upon joining, you have access to all of YouTube's money-making tools, like the ability to place ads on videos or monetize your audience directly through fan-funding.
There are two ways to enter the YPP (you only need to choose one!).
To access fan-funding only:
To access ad revenue and fan-funding:
If you're a Shorts creator or someone who makes long and short videos, option 2 or 3 is your best bet for joining the YPP!
Image credit: Official YouTube Blog
Once you're in the program, only eligible Shorts will earn advertising revenue. So, do these four things to stay in the clear:
Earning Shorts ad revenue is a bit different from monetizing a regular YouTube video. Notably, all Shorts revenue is split between different parties, including the creators who make them and the music publishers who provide songs for those videos.
Image credit: YouTube Help center
Here is the 4-step process:
If you're just starting out on YouTube, getting 500 subscribers is a quick way to join the YPP and monetize your Shorts. You won't earn ad revenue, but you can monetize most of your content — Shorts included — through fan-funding tools.
For example, with just 500 subs, you can collect Super Thanks revenue on your YouTube Shorts. These are "video tips" ranging from $2 to $50 that your fans can send to support individual videos.
Super Chats and Stickers are an option as well, especially if you love streaming on YouTube.
When you host a vertical or horizontal live stream, viewers in the live chat can reward you with monetary donations ranging from $1 to $500. These can appear as Super Chats — colorful comments pinned to the top of the live chat — or as Super Stickers, which are fun, digital animations that appear on the screen.
Channel Memberships offer exclusive perks, such as members-only videos, badges, Community posts, emojis, and livestreams, to a creators' super fans. It's a great way to make money, but did you know that you can get your YouTube Shorts monetized through channel memberships?
After all, Shorts count as videos too! You can make these exclusive to your members just like regular, horizontal content.
Are YouTube Shorts monetized in a sustainable way? Can they become a side hustle or help you quit your day job?
We'd have said it's hard to make decent money from Shorts only a year ago, barring times when you get a nice chunk of revenue. For example, we got $16.61 for a vidIQ Short that got 468,500 views.
With recent updates on advertisements, RPM on our Shorts has seen an impressive 150% increase. Currently, we are seeing an RPM of $0.10 on our Shorts., without any external changes like location of viewers, topic of videos, etc.
This hasn't happened overnight. YouTube has steadily increased Shorts revenue on the vidIQ channel throughout the year. It seems like advertisers have finally found the sweet spot for their products in the Shorts ecosystem as other creators have also talked about experiencing similar surges on their channel! Watch Rob discuss all of that in the video below!
It's easier than ever to become a monetized Shorts creator, but you'll need viral Shorts to call this a real side hustle!
OK, so getting into the YPP to monetize your Shorts is a real challenge. You either have to go viral a lot or face the difficult task of earning 1,000 subscribers plus thousands of hours of watch time.
But guess what? You don’t have to join that race. There are other ways to make money from Shorts, and one of those golden opportunities is through brand sponsorships.
When a brand sponsors you, they’re paying you to advertise a product or service in one of your videos. That could be a new line of laptops, the latest leggings from Lululemon, or even a squeegee that removes pet hair from dirty carpet.
Here’s an example of a sponsored Short. In this video, actress Eliana Ghen advertises Vita, a mobile video editing app.
If you’re looking at this video and thinking, Hey, I could do that, you’re 100% correct.
Here’s why:
As for that last detail, don’t just take our word for it. Sponsorship coach Justin Moore echoes the same sentiment.
“At the end of the day, most brands don’t want to partner with you and feel like the only thing you’re good at is long-form video,” Moore says. “They want to feel that you may have some flexibility to create different types of content.”
Ready to get your first brand deal? Read this post to avoid the common mistakes YouTubers make while pitching brands.
There are a few mountains to climb when monetizing short-form content, but don't worry! You got this. Our blog has many tips and tricks to help you get 500 subscribers, 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 watch hours, and even 10 million Shorts views. Just click the hyperlinks throughout this post to get a winning plan for YouTube success!
Lydia Sweatt is a writer who loves balancing her article/blog time indoors with a healthy dose of nature. She bikes, hikes, and identifies edible plants along the way.
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