Everyone’s buzzing over the article about YouTube stars making six figures per year that Yahoo Finance posted last week.

This has sparked questions about my income earned from my YouTube channel that now has over 22,000 subscribers.

I hate to disappoint you guys, but my YouTube Partner earnings aren’t NEAR six figures.  Some months I don’t even break $100.

As I reported in some of my YouTube videos, I earn way more from the contextual AdSense ads on my sites than I do with the partner program.

This may come as a shock since I have over 22,000 subscribers, but here’s the deal…

I hardly display the ads on my videos anymore.  So that’s a big part of the reason my YouTube partner earnings are low.  I don’t like how intrusive they are and many of them are unrelated to what my videos are about.

To me, it’s not worth flashing annoying, unrelated ads across my face just to make a few extra bucks per month.  So if I do display the ads, I opt to only show the banner alongside the video.

Also, every niche is different.  My niche has a lot of banner blindness, but I know of a few people in the hair and beauty niche who are doing very well with the partner program.

This doesn’t surprise me because the ads in this niche are often very relevant and enticing.  However,  the ads aren’t performing as well in my niche.

“Lisa, Help Me Make Partner, PLEEEEASE!”

It’s amazing how many people beg me (literally) to help them become a YouTube Partner. I’ve even been offered money to help people get approved.  Some are so anxious to get in because they assume it’s their instant ticket to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month.

For some channels, it may be.  But getting accepted as a YouTube partner is not a guaranteed gold mine.  Just like the regular AdSense program, how much you make depends on number of clicks, ad relevance and traffic.

I think the YouTube Partner Program is a great opportunity for popular channels, but I also believe it generates a lot of hype and unrealistic earnings expectations.

You will never know how much you are going to make until you get accepted and start displaying the ads.  Also understand every niche performs differently, so you can’t base your potential earnings off someone else’s.

If you do become a YouTube Partner, great!  But don’t lose sleep if you can’t.  Some people do very well with it, but it’s not an instant income generator like many people believe.

In my personal experience, AdSense text ads on my websites perform much better than banner ads on YouTube.  Of course, everyone’s experience will be different.  This is just my story.

I was inspired to write this post because I just finished browsing some YouTube videos.  Many of the channels use autoplay (the video starts automatically.)

I always advise people to be careful with autoplay on YouTube and with music on their sites because both can be annoying.

Not everyone’s watching from the comfort of home.

Right or wrong, many people surf the Internet at work, and having autoplay on your site is a great way to lose a visitor.

When I had a 9 to 5, there were many times I would go to a site (shame on me, I know) and the music would start automatically.  I’d have to quickly close the browser or lunge for my speaker controls to turn the volume down.

(C’mon, you know this has happened to you at least once! )

When using autoplay, it’s important to consider that many people are not watching your videos or viewing your site in private.

If you have a YouTube channel, I would highly recommend turning off Autoplay. (It’s located under “Videos and Playlists” in your channel options.)

Trust me, I did an unofficial Twitter survey and the results were overwhelmingly in favor of NO AUTOPLAY. In fact, everyone that responded said they hated it.

Musical Etiquette

I was on a blog once and the author kept referring me to other sites, and the sites opened in the same window.  So every time I went back to his site, the music started again.  Ugh!

I thought I was going to slit my wrist!   I had to hunt for the volume controls because they inconveniently placed it at the bottom of the page.

I’ve never understood that logic. Forcing people to listen to your tunes is not going to make them enjoy your music or site more.  If anything, it may aggravate them and cause them to leave.  Just because you are grooving to your tunes, don’t assume everyone else will.

In most cases, you should give people a choice between whether to listen to music or not.  However, if you must use autoplay, only load the song on the first page view, and make it easy to turn the audio off.  Don’t hide the volume controls!

Music can be a great addition to a website, I just think it should be used sparingly and appropriately.

What do you think of sites that play music and/or have autoplay media?

A gentleman named Stephan asked me last week…

Lisa, how much money do you make from Twitter?

My short answer…

Nothing.

However, if I were to answer that question more indirectly, I’m sure it would be greater than that.

Here’s what I mean.

I promote my sites a lot of different ways online (through my forum, Twitter, YouTube, etc.)  However, I don’t do much direct selling on any of these sites.

In fact, I tweeted an affiliate link once on Twitter and I just felt dirty.   I personally don’t like hard selling on Twitter.  It feels a little cheap to me.

Nothing against people who do, and if it works for you great… keep doing it.  I just prefer to use Twitter to inform, educate and connect with my followers.

Now let’s talk about my forum, Website Babble.

This may surprise you, but I didn’t create it with the intention of making a lot of money.  Sure, I make some money from banners and sponsor ads, but it is hardly anything to brag about.

So what’s the point of creating a forum if you don’t plan to make a lot of money? (I can hear you thinking that.)

One thing I’ve learned about earning a full-time living as an affiliate marketer is you have to learn to build a brand…

A brand of Y-O-U.

Website Babble is just another site (like my YouTube channels and Twitter) that allows me to help and connect with my audience while I continue to build my brand and enhance my credibility.

My primary and most successful website has always been 2CreateAWebsite.com.  I use my blog, other websites and places like YouTube and Twitter to provide more advice, help, and drive traffic back to my main site.

Because of the credibility and trust I’ve gained through helping others on these sites, this strategy indirectly drives more affiliate sales in the long-run.

Maybe you don’t like Twitter and other social networking sites because you don’t see a direct way to make money from them.  But you’re failing to realize the compounded value of using multiple channels over time.

You may not be able to generate many direct sales from these microblogging and social networking sites. But if you do a good job of educating, teaching, helping, etc. you can use these tools to drive traffic to your sites and make more money in the long run.

It’s not always about getting the sale, at least not right away.  It’s a process.

Stop looking for quick, worthless traffic.  Develop your brand. Seek trust.  Become accessible.  Use the available free sites and tools online to develop relationships, connections and educate your audience.  Then watch the targeted, loyal followers that will develop over time.

These are the people who will come back to your site over and over again.

These are the people who will trust you the most.

They are more likely to buy what you recommend.

They will tell their friends and family about your site whenever they get a chance.

They will email you before buying and make sure they are purchasing from your affiliate link so you get the credit.

These people will become your bread and butter as an affiliate marketer. 

So are you just pitching products or taking the time to build your brand? Position yourself today to earn a steady, long-term income that will reward you forever.

Want to learn more about the YouTube Partner Program and how to apply?  Watch the video below for a quick overview of how the program works…

If you’re reading this blog post via e-mail, click this link to watch the video on my blog.  You may also want to think about subscribing to my blog using RSS instead of e-mail to free up your Inbox.

… my YouTube channel, that is.

Well, I’m not exactly changing my YouTube channel (that just made for a catchy title), but I decided to put more focus into my abandoned channel, 2createawebsite.

You are probably already subscribed to my original YouTube channel, lisa3876. But a year ago, I registered the 2createawebsite username.

Umm… yeah. Don’t ask why I didn’t use that name originally on YouTube.

Apparently my marketing brain was in the OFF position when I started creating YouTube videos a year and a half ago. I guess branding was a foreign concept to me back then.

So I decided to use this channel for tutorials specifically related to coding, design, using various Web tools, etc.

Right now there are only four videos on this channel and my immediate goal is to add more.  So if you haven’t subscribed, make sure you do so on YouTube or via the RSS feed.

In fact, to kick off the fact I will be posting more videos on that channel, I just created a tutorial that shows you how to create a very simple header in Photoshop.  I’ve been getting a lot of requests for Photoshop tutorials so I will be posting more here in the near future.

Nothing is really changing with my original YouTube channel.  I’ll continue to publish my “keepin’-it-real/ in-your-face” videos about marketing, making money online, etc.  I just wanted to spend more time building up more “techy” tutorials for 2createawebsite.

Errr… maybe I should say “semi-techy” because I don’t really consider myself a technical person. But I know there are enough of you who want to learn to be as semi-technical as me.

Suggestions Please!

As always, I am open to suggestions for video ideas. If there’s something you’d like to learn and you have an idea for a video (related to programming, coding, design, etc.) please feel free to leave a comment here or on the channel page.

I’m also open to widening the scope. Tasks like installing forums, uploading scripts, using cpanel, etc. are all options for videos. Don’t be shy. Start posting those ideas and suggestions folks!

And I’ll see ya on YouTube!

One of the biggest challenges I face with teaching people how to market their sites online is the constant comparing.  People want to know exactly what I did to draw in so much traffic over the years because they are convinced if they do the same, they’ll have the same (or similar) results.

One guy even accused me of keeping my REAL traffic tips a secret because he just couldn’t seem to get enough traffic to his website.  He requested that I write out a list of everything I did from day one to generate traffic to 2 Create a Website.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to learn from someone who is already seeing success, but you have to remember the Internet has evolved.  Yes, many of the techniques I used years ago still work, but a lot of them don’t anymore.

In the video below I discuss why new Webmasters have to be careful about doing direct comparisons with more established websites when it comes to traffic building…

And just for the record, there are no secrets when it comes to building traffic.

This is the 4th blog post I’ve written about YouTube in the past year. I keep coming back to this topic because almost everyday I am reminded how much YouTube has helped grow my presence, traffic and income online.

I never thought the Sony HD HandyCam that I casually purchased in 2006 would turn into an investment that pays me over and over again.

If you haven’t jumped on the YouTube bandwagon yet, here are more reasons you may want to think about taking that leap…

1.  The YouTube Partner Program

As a YouTube Partner, you get the opportunity to display ads alongside your videos and earn money for every click.  Most of the time, YouTube will display a graphical ad, but sometimes AdSense ads will also appear.

To apply you must be an AdSense Publisher and your YouTube channel has to meet undisclosed traffic and subscriber criteria.

2.  It’s Owned By Google

While Google continues to dominate the organic search market, I try to make use of any of their tools that could positively affect my rankings. As a YouTube channel owner you get the opportunity to display your website address on your channel’s homepage.

Google treats the channel homepage just like any other site and assigns a PageRank. So as your channel becomes more popular, it can be considered a high-quality backlink for your site.

3.  It’s So Darn Easy

I remember the pre-YouTube days when uploading video to the Web seemed to require a degree in computer technology.   YouTube has made it so simple and accepts a multitude of formats so adding your videos to the Internet is no longer the challenge it once was.

Not to mention, embedding them into your site or blog takes 5 seconds of copying and pasting.

4.  Get In Front of the YouTube Audience

I know people who go to YouTube almost everyday in search of anything from the latest entertainment gossip to basic “how-to” information.  Having videos on YouTube will put you and your site in front of a whole new audience.

5.  Embedding Benefits

Produce useful / entertaining videos, and no doubt, people will want to embed your videos into their sites.  I’ve gathered a ton of new customers, subscribers and followers from people who have found me through 3rd party sites that embedded my YouTube videos.

6.  “Response”-ible Promoting

One way to promote your own videos is to use YouTube’s “response system.” If you come across a video related to your niche, you can respond to that video with your own and your video will appear beneath the one you’ve responded to. This will instantly give you the opportunity for more exposure.

Due to spamming, many YouTubers have disabled the response feature, but every now and then you can find someone who has enabled it for their channel.

7.  Video Annotations

If your video editing software is not advanced enough to add text overlays, Google allows you to use their Annotations feature to add text and caption overlays to your videos in a few simple steps.

This is great if you want to call out certain parts of your video or even promote a website address.

8.  Build Credibility

People often underestimate the amount of credibility you need to establish before you make good money online.  This is especially true if you have chosen a niche related to making money online.

There are so many scams and schemes out here when it comes to that niche so people are rightfully more skeptical when it comes to sites and blogs about making money.

This is not to suggest, of course, that scammers don’t use video.  But many people find it comforting when they can sit and watch the site owner present their information in a video format.

If done properly, video can add a dose of personality to your site while giving you a nice credibility boost, no matter the topic.

9. Free Promotion

Of course you have to pay for the video camera (if you don’t have one already), but I think that’s a small price to pay for the benefits that can come from a free service that may generate thousands and thousands of new visitors to your site.

One of the most common questions I receive from people is “How do I drive traffic to my site for free?”

YouTube is definitely one way to do it. Not only can you verbally promote your site in your videos, but YouTube allows you to add a description alongside your video that can contain hyperlinks.

Remember, just like writing content, the more useful your videos are, the more traffic you will generate from them in the long run.

10. It’s Just Plain Fun

Maybe it’s just me, but there’s something enjoyable and empowering about creating a video for the world to see.

I’ll admit, part of it could be the fact I am sort of a ham when it comes to video cameras. Watch any video of my family vacations and I somehow always managed to find my way in front of the lens.

Perhaps I was a TV personality in a former life.

Not to mention, some things are just better said with video than content. I’ve found that video is a fun way to add some pizazz to your website or blog! Plus, it gives you a break from writing.

My YouTube Channels

Take a peek at some of the videos I’ve published in the last year…

2 Create a Website – Just The Facts

2 Create a Website Screencast Tutorials

2 Plan a Website

The e-mails have been pouring in regarding the recent changes to my YouTube Channel, so I thought I’d address them on my blog.

I always wondered why some YouTube channels had small banners over the profile names and others didn’t. So after doing some research, I found out about the YouTube Partner program.

I just got accepted last week and I’m pretty excited about the added perks…

1) A customized banner (875×75) at the top of my Channel homepage

2) A customized banner (360×55) above the “Video Info” box

3) Ad revenue sharing for “InVideo” ads and other ads along the right side of the video

4) An HTML-enabled text box at the top of my Channel homepage that I can use to promote my sites, blog, forum, etc.

5) Recognition for being on YouTube’s Top 100 list for “Most Subscribed Partner” of the week

6) More space for video descriptions

Payments are made through AdSense, so you must have an active AdSense account before you can get accepted into the program.

I really like that YouTube rewards members for high-trafficked channels.  Hopefully this is just the beginning of more opportunities.

My YouTube Channel homepage now has a PageRank of 5. And while I’m not one to put much emphasis on PR, I still keep track of it.

Now being able to add links to my sites and blogs from this page may be beneficial since this channel is considered pretty reputable in Google’s eyes.

Getting The Kinks Out

While I’m excited about the YouTube Partner program, it’s obvious there are still a few kinks.  I tried adding the “InVideo” ads to one of my videos about WordPress, and suddenly an ad for Playtex Bras scrolled across my face.

Ummmm…. hopefully YouTube is working to target these ads a little better.  Or maybe there’s a WordPress bra out there that I am not familiar with? 

I also noticed the Google ads that display are often unrelated to the title or description of the video.  So I’ll continue to experiment with different videos to check for relevancy, etc.

Making Your YouTube Debut

OK, enough about me.  Let’s talk about you!

If you haven’t thought about putting yourself on YouTube, now’s a great time.  YouTube continues to add revenue and branding opportunities that will only get better over time.

And if you’re not comfortable putting your face on camera, remember you can also record ScreenCast tutorials with software like Camtasia.

If your site is related to computers or there is some relevant software you can demonstrate for your audience, you can also upload this type of video too.  You can see an example with my CSS tutorial.

I’ve definitely learned one thing in the past year…  People absolutely love video.  They provide a nice break from reading and they give your site personality, uniqueness and depth.

So hopefully you are putting some thought into how you can use YouTube to grow your brand awareness, traffic and even make a little revenue on the side.  Before you know it, you’ll be the next YouTube celeb in your niche!

Go here for more details about becoming a YouTube partner.

I just logged into my YouTube account today and noticed my videos have handy little “Add to MySpace and Facebook” buttons below them.

Now anyone who likes your mini flick can post it on two of the most popular social networking sites with greater ease.

I’ve toyed with using another video hosting service because I’d like to have more control over the playback options.

However, it’s hard to give up on YouTube considering the benefits…

More Traffic

Since I started making YouTube videos in August 2007, I’ve received an explosion of traffic to my sites. Almost every day I get an email from at least one person who has recently viewed my videos.

Not to mention you can now add hyperlinks to your description so people can click over to your site from YouTube in a snap.

The viral benefits are the best. Look how simple it is for anyone to embed your video into their site or blog. YouTube makes it ridiculously easy to spread your message around the Web for free.

If you’re struggling with traffic, you might want to tap into the video market and see if you can generate some interest to your site.

Videos don’t have to be elaborate or professionally done. Just presentable. It’s like writing content in a sense. Provide useful, relevant information to your target audience, only with video.

Google Owns YouTube

As I wrote in a recent post, why wouldn’t you want to make use of as many Google tools while they are dominating the Web in search and other Webmaster arenas?

Don’t you think Google is keeping tabs on the YouTube channels with lots subscribers and number of video views? Especially since you can list your website address in your channel.

Yup… I believe it all links up.

Video Sells

One of the biggest challenges of marketing online is trust. People want to know they can trust you before they buy. Video is an excellent way to help your audience get to know, trust and like you.

Get Ahead of The Game

While video is getting more popular, most Webmasters still don’t use it. So those who are, have an extreme advantage right now.

I definitely believe video will become the standard in years to come, so if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon, it’s time to start considering it.

It’s Easy

If you’re worried about the technicalities of video, don’t. Uploading videos to YouTube couldn’t be easier. The only tools I use are my camera (Sony HD) and Windows Movie Maker (free with XP and Vista).

Don’t put off using video any longer. Get yourself a piece of the viral traffic storm YouTube can bring.

Getting ranked #1 in Google for those heavily searched, relevant keywords is the dream of every Webmaster.

And if you’ve been around for a while, you know that task is not as easy as it once was.

Years ago you could stuff keywords, hide content in your background and perform all kinds of tricks to get you ranked at or near the top.

Nowadays you have to work much harder to get that Google love.

And who could blame Google for making it more difficult to rank high? They are successful because they deliver useful, relevant results.

So why wouldn’t they protect their brand from tricksters and spammers out to make a quick buck?

While you probably know about the basic ways of getting a good ranking in Google (high-quality inbound links, relevant content, etc.) many people believe Google is using other tools to see how you measure up and help determine your rank.

And if you ask me, it makes perfect sense.

Your Feed Activity

In case you didn’t know, Google owns FeedBurner (an RSS feed distribution & reporting service.)

So if you have a blog that uses Feedburner to promote, track and manage your feed, wouldn’t it make sense that Google monitors those subscription numbers and feed activity?

This is why I think it’s so important that your blog lives on the same domain as your site. Make it easy for Google to make the connection.

Google is a Registrar

In 2005, Google outwardly admitted they use their Registrar status to help improve the quality of their search results.

So if two of your sites got banned from spamming and they were both registered under the same name, what do you think will happen when you try to promote a 3rd site in Google that has the same registration data?

On the flip side, say someone has 3 heavily trafficked sites that rank well in Google. Wouldn’t it make sense that additional sites registered by that same person could have an added advantage in the long-run since the other 3 sites have some Google love?

Hmmmm……

Google Owns YouTube

Say you’ve got a YouTube channel with 794 subscribers, 300,000 video views and your channel homepage links to your main site. A pretty active channel, I’d say.

Why wouldn’t Google take this into consideration in determining your site’s credibility?

I’ve been using YouTube since August 2007 and while I have no proof using it has affected my rankings, it only makes sense that having a heavily trafficked YouTube channel linked to my website helps show Google that I am a credible source in my niche.

Google Analytics

What better way to prove to Google you are worthy by letting them see your traffic data. If you have a Google Analytics account then Google now has access to your visitor information.

Now, if you’re site is new and your traffic is low don’t panic and feel you should remove the code until you get more traffic. I don’t think using it will hurt you.

But when your site does start to generate traffic from other sources, wouldn’t you want Google to see that?

Now, we all know you don’t need Google Analytics installed on your site for Google to see who’s linking to you, but what if 75% of your traffic is bookmark traffic?

That kind of traffic data is not taken into consideration with backlinks and PageRank. Wouldn’t you want Google to know that these loyal people are visiting your site regularly?

There’s No Concrete Proof

While there is no way to know how Google uses the above information, let’s be realistic here…

If there are two sites with relatively the same content but one site has an RSS feed tracked by FeedBurner with 2,000 subscribers, a YouTube channel with 30 videos and 130,000 views, and 10,000 visits per day tracked by Google Analytics, while the other site has no blog, no videos and fewer visitors…

Which one do you think Google will respect more?

Granted, the above items may not have a very large influence on a site’s rank (yet), but you better believe they play a role…. especially when it comes down to determining the value of competing sites with similar content.

Why wouldn’t Google put all these pieces together?

These days you’ve got to work harder than ever to prove your worth to Google, so why not make use of the tools they own and monitor?