YouTube has revolutionised the way we access videos, and has quickly become one of the most popular websites on the internet since it was founded in February 2005. Every day billions of people use YouTube to watch their favourite videos, be it how-to guides, music videos, product reviews, or just random funny videos.

With huge growth in smartphones and internet enabled TV usage, the target market is growing by the second, as well as your potential earnings. Every minute 72 hours of video is uploaded onto YouTube, so how do you ensure one of your tutorial videos will be the pot of gold you’re looking for?

The first thing you’ll need to do is figure out what you’re an expert on, and can therefore make a series of successful tutorial videos about. Are you a computer whizz, a master chef in the kitchen, a make-up enthusiast, or obsessed with craft projects. Do you have something that you’re passionate about, that you want to share and teach to the world?

Once you have figured out what you will make your tutorial videos about, you need to do some market research. Considering the market, chances are you’re not going to create a tutorial that nobodies done before, but if so own it! If not, you need to identify a point of difference between your videos and the others already online. Whether it’s a quirky channel theme, only using a certain brand of products in your tutorials or including your children in the videos, the more personal you can make it, the more loyal subscribers you’ll end up with.

Once you have come up with a focal point your tutorials will revolve around, it’s time to start brainstorming. You can’t just have one video and expect it to get famous, you’re better off to make a whole lot of videos and regularly upload new ones. So you’ll need to make a list of ideas for your tutorials and begin videoing. You can use a simple handheld camera, the webcam on your laptop or invest in something a bit fancier, it really depends how much you’re willing to invest and on what you’re videoing.

Remember; YouTube will not let you make money from your video if:

1. It contains content you did not create or do not have permission from its creator to use
2. It shows people who you didn’t get a permit for
3. It has content that breaches the Community Guidelines set down by YouTube

Yes that means that if Justin Bieber was trying out again now, he wouldn’t be able to make money off any of the videos that got him famous, as they were songs he never had permission from their creator to cover.
Once you have uploaded your video to YouTube, you need to make sure the video titles are simple but appealing and easy to find. Some of the best viral videos on YouTube have stupidly simple and self-explanatory titles i.e. “Panda sneezing”.

Time to get advertising. Not the kind that sees you forking out huge amounts of money, but utilise social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to widen your audience. This will increase your chance of being noticed and make sure you get your friends to share your channel on their Facebook pages too. You will need to know how to distribute and promote your videos to maximise your viewers and subscribers. This means regularly uploading new videos, because once they’re being seen by thousands of users you’re more likely to be approached by the YouTube Partner Program.

If one of your tutorials proves successful you will receive an email from YouTube saying “Request earnings per share your video (title).” This means, if approved, the specific video can earn you money. Once you’re confident you have enough videos and views, your account is in good standing, and you’re following all the guidelines, you can apply for the “Partner Program” with YouTube. This program will enable your channel for monetisation and you can begin to earn money from those darn YouTube ads!

If YouTube rejects your application, you’re unable to reapply for two months, but if you’re accepted you just need to begin monetising your videos. Do so by enabling ads on all of your videos. There are different formats for different ads so have a look through. Just remember, YouTube will have to review each video before you begin making money off the ads, which can take some time. Once your application has been accepted, you need to create a Google AdSense account. This will link to your YouTube account and this is how Google/Youtube pays you for your videos!

Once you’re all setup the opportunities are endless, and as long as you keep producing videos you should keep making money. Good luck!