How to Make Money on Pinterest: 24 Tips

If you think Pinterest is just a place to post pictures of wedding dresses and baby photo ideas, think again. Pinterest is a great network to tap into to sell to people who prefer the more visual side of things. We know you’ve read plenty about how to set up your Pinterest profile, create boards, and build followers. So we’re going to skip all of that and dive right into ways you can monetize your Pinterest account by using it to grow your mailing list, sell products, offer services, increase book sales, and promote affiliate products. 

Grow Your Mailing List

Want to build your mailing list through Pinterest? While you can’t put an opt-in form directly on your Pinterest boards, you can encourage people to subscribe. Here are some tips to transition Pinterest users to your mailing list.

1. Pin an image of where people can go to subscribe. If you have a well-designed opt-in page, take a screenshot of it, upload it to Pinterest, edit the link to point back to your opt-in page, and tell people why they should describe in the description. This way, people who only follow you on Pinterest will know where to go for more information.
2. Focus on making the giveaway. If you have an incentive for signups, make sure you have some great images to represent it. This could include quotes from inside an e-book, stats from a whitepaper, or a sample of a free video training course.
3. Go with eye-catching stock photography. If you don’t have a giveaway or fancy opt-in page, find an image that gets people’s attention. Then make the description for the image count and, of course, link it to your opt-in page.
4. See what other businesses are doing to encourage signups from Pinterest by searching for call-to-action words like “sign up” and “join our mailing list.” You’ll get a lot of great ideas by checking out what others are doing.

Sell Digital Products

Whether you are selling an information course, app, or software, you have several options to promote it on Pinterest.

5. Share some statistics in an image. If there’s a great stat that would encourage people to buy your product, put it in a visually-appealing image, and pin it. For example, if you sell a mobile app that helps people get fit, share some statistics about fitness.
6. Turn your sales page into an infographic. Infographics are popular on Pinterest. Create a stunning infographic that takes people through a specific problem and how your product will help them. Then link the infographic to your real sales page.
7. Create an explainer video. This is a video that walks potential customers through identifying a specific problem and showing how your product will help them solve it. Remember that people’s attention spans are short; so you’ll need to make your points clearly, but also quickly. Include a link to your sales page in both the video and in the pin itself. That way, even if someone repins the video, your link will be with it regardless.
8. Offer a preview on Pinterest. If you have a video course, share one of the videos from the course on Pinterest, and link the video and your pin back to your sales page so people can learn more.

Sell Physical Products

Physical products are the best sellers on Pinterest. Here’s how to photograph yours to increase the likelihood of click-throughs and sales.

9. Show your product in use. In addition to traditional product images, show your product in use. If it’s home decor, photograph it in an appropriately decorated room. If it’s a makeup product, show someone applying it. If it’s clothing, show someone wearing it in a real-life situation, like a business suit in a meeting. Show people what it would be like to own the product.
10. Repin your customer’s photos of how they use your products. Get additional content for your Pinterest boards that work like testimonials. Offer customers an incentive if they share a pin they have posted of them using your product. This will show potential customers visiting your profile even more real-life applications of your product.
11. Take advantage of Pinterest’s rich pins functionality. This will help your product — and your business — stand out on Pinterest.
12. Offer a discount with a product photo. This way, people will not just see the product, but will also get excited about the discount, potentially generating more sales.

Offer Services

Do you have a service-based business? If the answer is yes, you can promote it on Pinterest in the following ways.

13. Create a portfolio board with examples of your work. Edit each pin and link it back to your portfolio page or your sales page for that particular service.
14. Turn customer testimonials into fancy quote images and pin them to a testimonial board. Edit each pin and link it back to your testimonials page or your sales page for that particular service.
15. Pin video testimonials from your customers to that same testimonials board.
16. Share small tips. For example, if you’re a Web designer, maybe you could have a board with a “tip of the week” for small business website design such as adding a beautiful footer design to your website. If businesses who follow you can’t implement your design tip, they might call upon you to do it for them.

Increase Book Sales

Do you have a book or e-book for sale? Want to spread the word (pun intended!) on Pinterest? Try these tricks!

17. Create a board on your Pinterest profile for your books or e-books. This way, people visiting your profile can get to know you as an author and easily find your work.
18. Create those fancy images with a great quote in them. Upload them directly to Pinterest, then edit the pin to add a link to your book or e-book.
19. Better yet, create a landing page on your website for the book. On that page, include a section of pinnacle quotes, and encourage visitors to share them on Pinterest using the Pin It button and a call to action. Think of it like the movie websites where they offer desktop wallpapers, but pinnacle images for your book instead.
20. Run a contest where people have to pin a book they want to win and explain what they hope to learn from it. Not only do you get entrants excited about the book and ready to buy if they don’t win it, but it creates mini-Pinterest testimonials across the network. Be sure that your contest doesn’t overstep thePinterest contest guidelines.

Promote Affiliate Products

Affiliate marketing on Pinterest can be tricky. There was a time when you could pin an image from an affiliate link or edit the link associated with the image to an affiliate link. But while there are no official rules in the Pinterest Terms of Service about whether or not you can use affiliate links, they do fight them. For example, if you have an Amazon affiliate link to a product you’ve pinned, Pinterest will strip the “tag=youraffiliate-20″ from the link when it forwards Pinterest users to Amazon.

An alternative to this was to post a bit.ly (or other) shortened link to the item instead, but now Pinterest either warns users about the link before they get redirected to the site or blocks it all together. This also goes for redirect links that you create on your own website.

So how do you promote affiliate products on Pinterest? Here are some tips.

21. Test the affiliate link first. Pinterest strips tags from known affiliate networks like Amazon, but smaller networks and websites may make it through. Until someone reports them at least.
22. Pin images from your review post about a product. This way, people can click the affiliate link from your review post instead.
23. Pin images from list-style posts like “My 50 most recommended favorite marketing books of 2013.” People love lists, and if each of your items has an affiliate link, then you’re likely to get sales.
24. Pin a YouTube video review of an affiliate product with an affiliate link. While Pinterest strips tags and causes problems for links on Pinterest, this link will come from YouTube and can’t be monitored by Pinterest.

Bottom Line

Pinterest requires you to get creative about the ways you visually represent your mailing list, products, services, and affiliate products. It’s all about the image. only great images will see likes, comments, shares, and click-throughs from this audience.

Source: http://monetizepros.com/blog/2013/24-ways-to-make-money-with-pinterest/

How to Make Money on Instagram: 30 Proven Tips

Instagram started as an image-only-based network, but has now expanded its functionality to include 15-second videos to trump rival Vine, which offers 7-second videos. This gives you a great way to market the areas of your business that will help you make money online. In this guide, we’re going to skip the basics of setting up an Instagram account and instead dive into the ways you can increase your earnings by growing your mailing list, selling products, offering services, promoting books, promoting webinars, and marketing affiliate products via Instagram.

Note that links on Instagram aren’t clickable, but they will be if you share your Instagram posts to Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. For those viewing your post on their Instagram app, make the link memorable (http://bit.ly/free15tips vs. http://bit.ly/dlI03Cl) and make sure the target squeeze / landing page is mobile optimized with a responsive design. Keep this in mind throughout the post as many will link to the specific thing you are working on — mailing list squeeze pages, product landing pages etc.

Another reason to keep your links short and memorable? You’re going to manually have to enter them into the image / video description on your mobile phone.

Grow Your Mailing List

First, let’s start with growing your mailing list. For all of these tips, make sure you include a customized squeeze page for your mailing list that matches the image / video that you share on Instagram.

1. Promote your latest lead magnet using images or video. For example, if you’re giving away an e-book, share a screenshot of the cover. If you’ve created an educational video, share a 15-second highlight of that video.
2. Create a personal message inviting people to subscribe. Use the 15-second video recording to create a video greeting for potential subscribers telling them why they should join your mailing list.
3. Do you get replies from happy subscribers? Ask if you can use their replies as testimonials for your list, then create an image that has the best part of their reply, name, and website. Share it on Instagram.
4. Leak some stats and tips from your lead magnet as images. These should be teaser quotes that will make people want to subscribe to learn more.
5. Take a screenshot of your best looking opt-in form and tell people why they want to subscribe in the description for the image.

Sell Products

Do you sell physical or digital products? Here are some ways to promote them on Instagram.

6. Run a pre-launch on Instagram with teaser photos and videos of your new product. Get people intrigued enough that they are dying to know what you are launching. Increase the hype by adding on a customized product hashtag.
7. Create 15-second commercials for your product. Specifically make sure you can highlight the best parts of your product and get a shortened website URL into the 15 seconds.
8. Do you have video testimonials from customers? Mash up the best 15 seconds of those testimonials and share them as Instagram video.
9. Create collages of photos from fans who share photos of them using your products with a particular hashtag.
10. Turn your customer Instagram photos into an album on your website. (Get their permission first, of course.) Show potential customers how happy people are with your products, and it will increase the likelihood of a sale.

Offer Services

Instagram offers lots of ways to promote your service-based business, whether you are a Web designer or accountant. Here are some tips.

11. Turn your Instagram into a portfolio of work you have done for clients. It can be a screenshot of a graphic design, shots from your latest wedding, you reading a letter from a satisfied customer on video, or similar.
12. Follow your target customers and critique their work. A product designer could easily follow big brands and share some feedback about their latest product packaging. You never know where this could lead.
13. Create a commercial for your services. Specifically make sure you can make a description of a problem and how your service can solve it fit into 15 seconds.
14. Invite your target customers to submit a photo that represents a particular problem they are having using a unique hashtag. Turn it into contest where you give a free 30-minute consultation. The winner will likely want to buy services from you, and the ones who don’t win will be interested in the same.
15. Create images with testimonials from clients as part of your social proof.

Promote Books

If you have authored a book on Amazon or just give away a book as a lead magnet, these tips can help you get more exposure, sales, and downloads.

16. Screenshot your five-star reviews and share a snippet of them with a link to your book. It allows you to brag about your book using someone else’s words.
17. Create images with quotes from the book, or share images directly from the book. Go with the parts that will get potential readers most interested in buying.
18. Create images with questions that can be answered by parts of the book. Include a page number as an additional bonus to get people excited about buying and finding the answer.
19. Share a screenshot of any special sales or discounts for your book as they happen.
20. Get a video from your book signings to boost credibility and authority for yourself as an author.

Promote Webinars

A webinar is a great way to sell products, as the conversion rate is significantly higher than email blasts and sales pages alone. The more people in attendance, the better. Here are some tips to promote your webinar on Instagram.

21. Create a 15-second preview video for your webinar, preferably with the main presenter but, if not, then record the host getting people excited about it.
22. Send reminder graphics about the date of the webinar. Also create a graphic to show the webinar is live.
23. If you’ve received great feedback about previous webinars, turn them into image testimonials to share before your upcoming webinar.
24. If you have more than one speaker (such as a Google+ hangout), then get their head shots and collect them into a collage.
25. Share an image that represents something that only attendees will receive for free, like a sneak into the product you are selling on the webinar.

Increase Affiliate Products Sales

As an affiliate marketer, here are some ways you can use Instagram to boost affiliate sales. Note that you have two options for sharing links with any of these posts: links to a review you have written for an affiliate product, or actual affiliate links. If you do include affiliate links, they must be noted as such.

26. Show genuine enthusiasm for a product you purchased and are an affiliate for. Use multiple image and video updates to get your followers excited about purchasing.
27. Share images and videos that show results for a particular affiliate product. Nothing drives people to want to learn more about a particular product than seeing people who have gained measured results.
28. Create 15-second review videos that encourage people to click through to your review to learn more.
29. If you have followers who are interested in making money online, share your referral link so that they can become affiliates under you for second tier commissions. Use a screenshot of your latest affiliate commissions to attract them to the program.
30. Promote a bonus if people buy through your affiliate link. Create an image or 15-second commercial for your bonus.

Bottom Line

You may not think much of Instagram beyond people posting pictures of their lunch, pets, and kids. But with the right followers and messages, Instagram can be a hotbed in your quest to make money online.

Source: http://monetizepros.com/blog/2013/30-ways-to-make-money-with-instagram/

How to Make Money on YouTube: 101 Monetization Tips

Each year countless ambitious entrepreneurs set out to make a fortune through YouTube, with visions of massive followings, big paychecks, and a generally glorious career. Most of them, of course, fail to make millions monetizing their original video content–for a number of different of reasons. But there are countless YouTube success stories as well. Below, we provide 101 tips, tricks, inspirations, resources, and reading items for those looking to make a living, or at least some additional spending money, through YouTube or other online video sites. 

Jump To Section:

• Tips: Ways To Make Money On YouTube, Other Ways To Make Money Off Your Videos
• Resources: YouTube Success Stories, Tools, Inspiration & Research
• Further Reading: YouTube Economics, Insights From YouTube Stars & Experts, Research & Resources,YouTube Alternatives, YouTube SEO, Making A Viral Video, Building An Audience, YouTube Myths, Tips, Tricks, And Inspiration, Video Production Tips
• Premium Resources: Paid YouTube Tools, Courses, And Consultants

Ways To Make Money On YouTube

1. Become a YouTube Partner. The simplest and most common way to make money through YouTube involves partnering directly with YouTube and effectively splitting the money that is made off of ads. This includes both the ads that play during and before your videos, as well as the banner ads that are shown to the right of your video on YouTube.com. For a detailed breakdown of the various ad units, as well as where earnings for each are displayed, check out this recent article from Chris Atkinson at ReelSEO. The biggest advantage of the YouTube Partner program is the convenience: it’s easy to get up and running and start earning some revenue. However, it’s going to be tough to get rich this way; only a very small portion of YouTube partners make the big bucks.
2. Sign up your own sponsors. There is, of course, another way to make money off of YouTube: cut out the middle man and sign up your own sponsors. If you’re able to build a substantial audience, you’ll have the ability to sign up sponsors for your programming who want to advertise their products and services to your target audience. There’s no simple formula for signing up sponsors for your program; it all depends on your audience, the number of potential sponsors, and their budgets. But if done correctly, this can be a very lucrative source of revenue for YouTube channels.
3. Promote your own merchandise. While many YouTubers focus on the “direct” monetization routs available, perhaps the biggest potential in video is in the opportunity to promote other products and services that are moneymakers for you. Giving away free video content can be a great way to make money–if you’re effectively promoting merchandise or services that your free users will pay for. If you have products or services to sell and a YouTube audience that would be interested in purchasing them, this might be your best monetization opportunity.
4. Go freemium style. YouTube can be a great way to generate leads for your paid services, and a “freemium” business model can be a great way to turn on the masses to your paid product. This concept is pretty simple; give away a bunch of content for free on YouTube, but hold back some of your best stuff behind a paywall on your own site. If you can get a big crowd to enjoy your free content, odds are that you’ll be able to get a portion of them to pay for your exclusive video as well. The Young Turks have implemented this model well; check out their channel for a good example of freemium.
5. Get an affiliate deal in place. If you don’t have a great premium product to sell, find someone who does–and cut yourself into their revenue stream. If you have a large and/or targeted audience, find a partner whose products you can promote in your videos and hash out a way that you can get credit for sending clients their way! Affiliate deals can be tough to monetize if there are no obvious partners for your channel, but there’s a huge opportunity here if you can effectively become a spokesman for another company in your videos.

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Other Ways To Make Money Off Your Videos

Of course, YouTube isn’t the only source out there for monetizing your quality video content. Though it’s the most commonly used system (and for most people the best way to make money), there are some alternatives that may be better fits for some:

6. Become a “Motionmaker” at Dailymotion. DailyMotion has become a popular alternative you YouTube in recent years, and represents a way for video producers to cash in on popular submissions. The process is pretty simple; “Motionmakers” have the ability to upload their videos to Dailymotion and earn a portion of any advertising revenue generated.
7. Open up your Vimeo Tip Jar. Vimeo takes a different approach to monetizing videos. Instead of relying on ads, this site uses a “Tip Jar” model. That’s pretty much what is sounds like; viewers of Vimeo videos have the option to “Tip This Video,” which involves giving a tip of about $1 up to $500. Video producers get about 85% of all tips generated.
8. Work on hitting the Break.com home page. Break.com is a video sharing site that offers producers another unique way to make money. If your original video is featured on their homepage, they will pay you $400 to sell the video to them (or you can take $200 to license the video).
9. Sell access to your channel on Viddler. Viddler essentially allows video producers to sell access to their channels, either on a monthly or weekly basis. So if you have a product that you’re not interested in giving away for free, Viddler can be a useful solution to set up a paid content model.
10. Become a Blip.tv partner. Blip.tv is another video sharing site that allows video producers to monetize their content through advertisements. There are a number of ad options available, including preroll, overlay, postroll and even commerical breaks for series that qualify.

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YouTube Success Stories

There are now countless examples of regular folks who have parlayed a clever or creative YouTube video into significant earnings. Below are a handful of videos that have made big bucks for their creators:

11. Natalie Tran. Aussie Natalie Tran was one of the first to hit it big on YouTube, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years through her “communitychannel” page (which has received over 450 million pageviews). Some of Tran’s biggest hits are videos are Cops (4.3 million views), Bad Loser (6.6 million), and How to fake a six pack (almost 35 million views). She has continued to attract millions of views since she broke through several years ago, and is now parlaying her YouTube stardom into a blossoming film career.
12. David After Dentist. Not surprisingly, cute kids can help a YouTube video tremendously. “David After Dentist,” a two minute video of a six-year old, post-teeth cleaning, has been viewed more than 100 million times. That has reportedly translated into more than $100,000 in earnings for the parents–enough to pay for a college education on top of the dentist bill. David After Dentist proves that the best and most profitable YouTube videos are often completely unscripted and capture candid moments.
13. Philly D. Philip DeFranco, better known on YouTube as Philly D, has built several popular YouTube channels with millions of subscribers in total. The channel revolves around what Franco describes as “non news related things to yo face!” He also hosts the Philip DeFranco show Sunday through Thursday, where he talks about news and pop culture. By some estimates, Philly D earns close to $200,000 annually from his YouTube videos. Check out the ads running on his channel to get an idea for how this is possible.
14. The Young Turks. This political talk show, which started more than a decade ago and has evolved over the years, is another of the great YouTube success stories. The Young Turks have been extremely successful on YouTube through a very devoted fan base–towering high above many mainstream media outlets in terms of popularity. The Young Turks has become the largest online news show in the world, an impressive feat considering the lack of a traditional or mainstream brand.
15. Smosh. Smosh is the comedy duo of Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla (both of whom were born in 1987) who began to post their videos on YouTube in 2005 and have since grown to become the most popular YouTube channel out there. Smosh was acquired by Alloy Digital in July 2011. Terms weren’t disclosed, but odds are that Ian and Anthony made themselves a bit of walking around money in that deal.
16. Shaycarl. The story of how Shay Butler became a YouTube phenomenon is a strange one, complete with humble beginnings and a bit of good luck. From his birth in Utah to a Mormon mission in the West Indies to the day he discovered YouTube, Shay’s is an inspiring (and occasionally sad) story. Shay has parlayed comedy shorts into an online mini empire, in a journey that anyone looking to hit it big on YouTube can certainly admire.
17. Fred Figgelhorn. Fred is actually Lucas Cruikshank, who became a YouTube sensation as a teenager broadcasting from Nebraska. “Fred” describes himself as a “a really hyperactive, temper-throwing teenager who’s stuck in the mentality of a 6-year-old.” But that character has worked to the tune of a popular chennel and thousands in earnings.
18. Ryan Higa. This success story is another unlikely YouTube star: Ryan started uploading videos when he was a high schooler in Hawaii. Fast forward a few years and Ryan’s YouTube channel Nigahiga has some 7 million subscribers. When you have 30 minutes, take a listen to Ryan’s story in his own words, including a detailed discussion of his rise to YouTube stardom.
19. Annoying Orange. This channel is the brainchild of former MTV production assistant Dane Boedigheimer. Dane voices an orange who lives on a kitchen counter with other fruits and objects. The series became extremely popular on YouTube, and eventually spawned merchandise that’s been sold at JCPenney and other outlets. There has also been an Annoying Orange video game, which is available on iOS and Android devices.
20. Shane Dawson. Shane is a YouTuber who made his rise to celebrity after getting fired from a job at Jenny Craig for uploading a video of himself poledancing. Shane’s popular channel features a wide variety of content, including spoofs on music videos, celebrity impersonations, and comedy videos featuring recurring characters. Dawson’s first YouTube bits were videos that he and friends would turn in during high school instead of homework. He’s gone on to release several singles on iTunes.
21. Ray William Johnson. Ray’s big hit is the YouTube series Equals Three, which features him providing commentary on other viral videos. His channel has accumulated over 2.2 billion views and 7 million subscribers. RayWJ, as he’s known, reportedly takes home close to $1 million annuallyfrom his YouTube videos.
22. Epic Meal Time. Not all YouTube success stories are quirky teenage comics; Epic Meal Time is perhaps closer to the type of show you’d see on traditional cable television. The episodes are essentially “food porn” with each focusing on the preparation and consumption of a high calorie, meat-filled meal. This show is also unique in that it is monetized in multiple ways. In addition to traditional ads within videos, the creators sell a line of t-shirts and have also established referral programs with advertisers such as Netflix.
23. Jenna Marbles. Jenna Mourey, aka Jenna Marbles, has produced some of the most watched videos in the history of YouTube. A couple of her biggest hits have titles like “How To Trick People Into Thinking You’re Good Looking” and “How To Avoid Talking To People You Don’t Want To Talk To.” Hear Jenna’s YouTube success story in her own words in this video, or read a unique profile of her popularity.
24. PewDiePie. Swedish gamer Felix Kjellberg is something of a cult phenomenon on YouTube; videos featuring him playing video and computer games (often screaming or crying along the way) get millions of views as soon as they’re put up. He’s managed to make a nice living out of horror game playthroughs, once again proving that there can be opportunities for success in unexpected niches (see a brief interview with Felix here).
25. werevertumorro. The most popular YouTube channel in Mexico, werevertumorro started as a joke but grew into a wildly popular show (a common component in many YouTube success stories). The episodes, which are generally about 10 minutes long, feature young guys talking about relationships, girls, and more.
26. RoosterTeeth. This channel started out as DrunkGamers.com, which featured a group of guys reviewing video games while drunk. It’s evolved quite a bit over the years to become one of the most popular YouTube channels with nearly 2 billion views and several million followers. RoosterTeeth hit it big with their Red vs. Blue sci-fi series, and they monetize their YouTube presence partially through DVD sales. Check out the official history of this group for the full story.

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Tools, Inspiration & Research

Before you jump into video production, you’d be wise to get acquainted with some of the cool tools and resources available to you:

27. Use Content ID To Protect Your Earnings. For those fortunate enough to make meaningful money from YouTube, it’s critical to protect your revenue stream by preventing others from essentially stealing your original content. Content ID is a free system that allows video owners to identify their original material, thereby capturing any earnings on such material that would otherwise be hijacked by copycats.
28. Become A Regular Reader Of YouTube Insight. YouTube’s Advertising Insight page is an analytics tool that allows content creators to get detailed information about their YouTube audience. That’s valuable information for anyone looking to make money off of YouTube.
29. Subscribe To YouTube Trends. If you want to make a sustainable living on YouTube (or just continue to generate some additional income), it’s important to stay current and always be coming up with new ideas. YouTube Trends is a great way to stay on top of current trends, and a great place for inspiration for that next big moneymaker.
30. Check Out The YouTube Playbook. Playbook is another official, free resource provided by YouTube. This one is designed to help partners grow their audience, complete with tips and best practices to help you reach the widest possible audience and maximize your earnings.
31. Get Familiar With YouTube Keyword Tool. This is another tool to help you figure out what interests the YouTube audience. Though it’s unlikely that the bulk of your viewers are coming from search volume within YouTube.com, it certainly doesn’t hurt to be aware of what current interests are.
32. Check In On the Official YouTube Blog. Checking in regularly on the official YouTube blog will keep you up to date on the latest trends and tools that can make your life easier and your monthly payment a bit bigger.
33. Get A Free YouTube Channel Report. SimplyMeasured offers a free report on your YouTube Channel, highlighting which videos are working (and why).
34. Bookmark YouTube Charts. The official statkeeper for YouTube, this site has information on what videos are popular now and what’s worked historically. (Fun fact: the most viewed videos of all time are Psy’s Gangnam Style, Justin Bieber’s Baby, and Jennifer Lopez’s On The Floor.)
35. Bookmark VidStatsX. This site aggregates a massive amount of data to show what’s popular on YouTube. In addition to the top channels and videos, there is significant granularity that allows users to see what’s popular now in specific categories.
36. Ask Questions At YTtalk. YTtalk.com is a massive online YouTube community, and can be a great resource for aspiring YouTubers searching for inspiration or just an answer to a quick question. The forums on this site are extremely active, and there’s a tremendous amount of great information shared by other YouTubers around the globe.

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Further Reading: YouTube Economics

If you’re curious about just how much money you can make on YouTube, take a look through some of the articles below.

37. How to make money online with YouTube by Stephen Chapman at ZDNet.An attempt to answer a very common question; Chapman breaks down the economics of YouTube and attempts to estimate how much various YouTube stars (and non-stars) can earn in a year.
38. How Much Money Do YouTube Partners Make? by Chris Atkinson at ReelSEO. Another attempt to number crunch and come to conclusions on what YouTubers can expect to earn with their videos.
39. The Facts and Figures on YouTube in 2013 — Infographic by Jeff Bullas. More than just revenue and pageviews, this feature puts the magnitude (and opportunity) of YouTube into perspective.
40. The Economics of Pussy Riot on YouTube by Peter Coy at Bloomberg Businessweek. A case study in how press (good or bad) can translate into a surge in YouTube popularity, as seen with a jailed Russian girl band.
41. A Brief History of YouTube [Infographic] by Grayson. Another attempt to put the incredible growth and popularity of YouTube into perspective for those attempting to evaluate the opportunity to generate revenue through video.
42. YouTube Channels: Bringing In Ad Dollars? (Video) at Bloomberg Businessweek. TubeMogul CEO Brett Wilson explains how YouTube’s ad model works (or doesn’t work), which is important to understand before you attempt to make money off your videos.

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Further Reading: Insights From YouTube Stars & Experts

Perhaps the best source of inspiration and guidance are those who have done it already; take a read through the personal stories of some of the biggest YouTube success stories, and learn from their triumphs and failures.

43. Q&A With A Professional YouTuber featuring Philip DeFranco. Philly D talks candidly about his YouTube success, offering up plenty of advice for aspiring videomakers.
44. Ray William Johnson Talks Secrets to Internet Success, Pleasures of Predictability, And Staying Humbleby Shante Cosme at Complex. RayWJ offers inights into his personal YouTube success story, and the challenges he faces in staying on top.
45. Why Young Turks Beats ABC News On YouTube by Josh Sternberg at Digiday. A look into how creative unknowns are dominating the YouTube landscape, scoring major victories over more established traditional media outlets.
46. Who Is RayWJ? by Emily Glazer at The Wall Street Journal. Another feature on RayWJ, highlighting his improbable rise to YouTube fame and fortune.
47. How To Get Rich: Actual Advice From YouTube’s Cheesiest ‘Experts’ (Video). A video collection of tips and tricks from actual YouTubers–including what NOT to do.
48. YouTube Tips From YouTube Experts by Liz Shannon Miller at GigaOM. Get the download from a panel of heavy hitters, including a former YouTube exec and several YouTube stars
49. Four Tips For Building A YouTube Audience (From YouTube’s Head of Content Strategy) by Megan O’Neill at Social Times. Tips and suggestions from Jamie Byrne, YouTube’s Head of Content Strategy, on how to make it big. (Also check out a related Ad Age article).
50. YouTube Gods And Unlikely Online Video Superstars by Troy Dreier at StreamingMedia.com. Most successful YouTubers have a great story behind their rise; this feature tells a few of them.
51. The Secret Sauce Behind Epic Meal Time’s YouTube Success by Greg Voakes at Forbes. Take a look behind the scenes of Epic Meal Time, and get a feel for what makes these YouTubers tick.
52. On top of YouTube: Happy Slip, Choi, KevJumba by Jeff Yang at SFGate. More profiles in YouTube stardom, including the stories of three unknowns whose videos made it big.
53. Top 10 YouTube Success Stories by TerrekTwo. A feature on 10 YouTube stars who can give any aspiring videomaker hope.
54. Taking over Youtube with Captainsparklez at Gamespot.com. YouTube star CaptainSparklez talks openly about what makes his videos popular and his process for creating content.

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Further Reading: Research & Resources

The good news for any aspiring YouTuber: there are tons of resources out there (many of them free) that can make your creative process a lot easier. Below are some articles outlining how best to make use of these tools.

55. YouTube Video Tools Collection at QuickOnlineTips. A quick and dirty guide to the tools out there that can save you a lot of time and money researching and producing videos.
56. Four Tool For Conducting Keyword Research on YouTube by Ron Jones at ClickZ. A guide to researching topics and titles for your videos, a process that is often overlooked but that can have a huge impact on success.
57. YouTube Video Keyword Research by Matt Ballack at VidiSEO. Another look at the art and science of keyword research for your videos.
58. How to Research Keywords for YouTube Video SEO in 5 Minutes by CJ Bruce. The finale of our trio of keyword research; check out CJ’s guide to identifying optimal keywords in five minutes or less.
59. 49 YouTube Tricks and Resources by FourBlogger. A great collection of shortcuts, free resources, and general ideas for making your YouTube videos better.
60. The beginner’s guide to YouTube Analytics by Niall Harbison at TNW. An easy way to make an intro to YouTube Analytics, and better understand where you’re succeeding and where you’re failing.

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Further Reading: YouTube Alternatives

For anyone out there looking to take their video elsewhere, do some research on what exists beyond YouTube:

61. Five Alternatives to YouTube by Dave Parrack at MakeUseOf. As simple and straightforward as it sounds: a look at five other sites you can use to make money off your videos.
62. Seven Reasons Zippcast Beats YouTube. A review of Zippcast’s features and advantages over YouTube.
63. Dailymotion Publishers : earn money sharing videos on your site by Vincent Abry. DailyMotion has popped up as a viable alternative to YouTube this article looks at how you can increase your odds of becoming a profitable “Motion Maker.”
64. Vimeo Creators Can Now Make Money Off Their Videos by Christina Warren at Mashable. A guide to making money at Vimeo, another YouTube alternative.
65. How To Ditch YouTube and Host Video On Your Own Terms by Nikc Miller at Render Perfect Productions. An extremely ambitions idea–that may not be as unrealistic or challenging as it sounds.

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Further Reading: YouTube SEO

If you’re not en expert at search engine optimization (SEO), have no fear. There’s a great collection of tips and guides out there for beginners looking to give their YouTube channel every possible advantage:

66. YouTube SEO Experiment & Useful Tips by David Sottimano at Distilled.An honest recap of an effort to get high quality videos to rank #1.
67. The YouTube Experiment by Ben Ruedlinger at SEOmoz. A behind-the-scenes look at a failed YouTube experiment–but with plenty of lessons to learn the easy way.
68. 6 Powerful YouTube SEO Tips That No One Talks About at DailyBlogTips. A list of easy-to-implement SEO improvements for your videos: the low-hanging fruit of YouTube SEO.
69. YouTube SEO by Sean Si at SEO Hacker. An incredibly detailed but easy-to-follow guide to SEO best practices for your video.
70. Top 3 YouTube SEO Tips : Get More Views! by Jason Coffee at SteamFeed. Three tips for improving your video’s position in just a few minutes.
71. The SEOmoz YouTube Contest – Winners! by Ruth Burr at SEOmoz. The results of a contest that challenged the SEO community to highlight one tool or tactic in two minutes. There are a lot of ideas applicable to YouTube monetization among the winners.

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Further Reading: Making A Viral Video

Making a video go “viral” is the stated objective of just about anyone who has ever uploaded to YouTube. While it’s much easier said than done, it certainly isn’t impossible. For those with the lofty ambition of creating a viral video, we share some insightful ideas:

72. Why videos go viral (TED Talk) by Kevin Allocca. A lengthy discussion about what makes a video take off (but definitely worth a listen when you have some time).
73. Blogging With Video, Hoping to Go Viral by Kate Murphy at The New York Times. A feature on the efforts to launch a viral video.
74. How To Make A Video Go Viral–Based On The Variables In This Algorithm by Laura Stampler at Business Insider. An attempt at an algorithm that allows advertisers to know whether their videos are going to blow up or flop when released.

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Further Reading: Building An Audience

For the 99.999% of us who don’t have a video go viral and attract boatloads of subscribers, there’s still hope. Building an audience over time can be broken down into something of a scientific and repetitive process–but one with major rewards. Check out some of the ideas for continually growing your subscriber count:

75. Seven Hard Hitting Ways To Grow Your YouTube Audience by Neil Patel at Quick Sprout. Tips for growing your YouTube audience over time, applicable to newcomers and veterans alike.
76. How to Steal Thousands of Your Competitors’ YouTube Subscribers by Sparkah Business Consulting. A step-by-step guide for figuring out where your competition is succeeding and redirecting their audiences to your channel.
77. Top 6 Free Tools for Building Your Youtube Audience by Taryn Southern at Backstage. A how-to guide for making the most out of resources that will assist in growing your channel’s sub count.
78. Five Tips for Building Your YouTube Audience by Alan Lastufka at YouTube Creator’s Corner Blog.Easy-to-implement suggestions for growing your audience, starting with some very simple ideas to keep ‘em coming back to your channel.

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Further Reading: YouTube Myths, Tips, Tricks, And Inspiration

Below is a catch-all list of worthwhile reads highlighting tips and tricks for a better YouTubing experience, misconceptions about online videos, and of course a shared experience revolving around getting rich off cat videos:

79. How To Become The Next YouTube Star Making $100,000 Plus Per Year by William Wei at Business Insider. For those who think big, some tips for getting to a six figure revenue from YouTube.
80. Can you appeal a YouTube ban? by Rafe Needleman at CNET. A fascinating read about one YouTuber whose videos were banned completely and what he had to do to get back online.
81. Top B2B Companies on YouTube by Lee Odden at TopRank Blog. A look at companies who make the most of YouTube.
82. A New Kind Of Visual News at Journalism.org. A detailed look at the phenomenon of YouTube news programming, and what it means for journalism as a whole.
83. 50 YouTube (and Online Video) Tips and Tricks by Chris Pirillo. Some pointers for anyone producing and promoting an online video.
84. Google: Yes, YouTube Is Kicking Rear by Nicholas Carlson at Business Insider. A look at some common misconceptions about YouTube, and what Google has to say about them.
85. YouTube Myths at Essential Video Marketing. Another take on misinformation related to YouTube.
86. 15 YouTube Tips (PDF) by David Di Franco, Jr. A downloadable document outlining 15 tips for expanding your YouTube presence and growing that online video paycheck.
87. YouTube Gurus Share Tips for Making How-To Videos by Megan O’Neill at SocialTimes. Inside information from several YouTube verterans you’ve probably never heard of–but whose insights and experiences are incredibly valuable.
88. How To Get Rich and Famous on YouTube by John Chow. A video presentation on how to successfully navigate the online video space–and become rich without even partnering with YouTube.
89. My Quest To Get Rich From Viral Cat Videos by Sarah Stodola at The Awl. A diary of a “casual cat video viewer” who set out to do what a few before her have accomplished: get rich off of cute cat videos.

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Further Reading: Video Production Tips

While much of the attention is on the content creation side of YouTube videos, there is a lot to learn in terms of actually producing and marketing the videos as well:

90. How To Make YouTube Videos Than Don’t Suck by Steve Campbell at MakeUseOf. A look at best practices for coming up with a compelling concept as well as an in-the-weeds look at the tecchnical side of producing a high quality video.
91. How to Make a YouTube Video, A Beginner’s Checklist for Marketers at The Internet Marketing Driver. A basic how-to guide for creating YouTube videos.
92. Tips for Producing More Effective YouTube Videos by Michael Miller at Que Publishing. Tips for producing video that simply looks great, including ideas on editing and equipment.
93. YouTube Webinar: How To Produce Awesome Videos on a Budget at HowCast.com. Just because you have a tight budget doesn’t mean you have to produce low quality videos; take a look at how to make your dollars go a long way toward a professional YouTube video.
94. How To Make Your Videos Look More Professional – Like Apple Does! by Gideon Shalwick. Another take on how to make a video look clean and professional, without spending a fortune (like many companies do).
95. How to produce, upload, tag and share a great YouTube video by Joe McDermottroe. Tips for the unsexy and often overlooked aspects of making a YouTube video.

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Paid YouTube Tools, Courses, And Consultants

While just about everything we’ve highlighted in here has been free information, there are some opportunities out there for those willing and able to shell out a few bucks to promote their videos and refine their YouTube skills. A few suggestions for those with a bit of a budget:

96. Take the Subscriber Magnet course. Former YouTube consultant (now a Programming Strategist at YouTube) Matt Koval offers what is essentially a course in how to get the most out of YouTube. His “How To Be A Subscriber Magnet” shares insights gained from building a massive following online, and is a good investment for those willing to spend a bit of money in their quest to become a YouTube star.
97. Consult with Kiran Voleti. For those looking for some professional guidance, getting in touch with Kiran could be a good idea. Check out his blog if you want to get a better idea for his background and skills.
98. Get in touch With Mark Robertson. Mark is the founder of ReelSEO, and another expert on YouTube and video marketing.
99. Try out FoundUB4. This site also offers consulting services, including ways to promote your company videos and get more eyeballs on your channel.
100. Download Tube Toolbox. This software package (which includes a free download) is a slick resource for building your YouTube audience. Features include audience targeting, task automation, and general account management.
101. Read An Insider’s Guide To Climbing The Charts by Alan Lastufka and Michael Dean. This book is written by two YouTube veterans, instructing on the art of creating and promoting high quality video content.

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Bottom Line

If you’re setting out to make a career for yourself in online video, you certainly have your work cut out for you. But there is no doubt a huge opportunity in this medium, as several members of the first generation of YouTube stars have proven.

Have another tip for making money from online videos? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: http://monetizepros.com/blog/2013/101-ways-to-make-money-with-youtube-web-videos/