Anyone making money from Amazon affiliate links on YouTube?

[Firebuild]

People don't start van life channels for the purpose of making money on affiliate links.  They use affilite links to defray the cost of the time and money they put into doing it.That doesn't mean no van lifers succeed with links, but the ones who succeed I guarantee did NOT get into it thinking, "How can I come up with some content to pair with my affiliate links?" It's the other way around. They had a story they wanted to tell, a desire to make videos, and affiliate links are part of that path. 

I have affiliate links on my videos. My channel is new but growing quickly; I'm not a YouTube ad partner yet so the affiliate clicks are basically it. I'm growing faster than 90% of the people I know (I'm in a community of about 500 creators), and I've only made about $50 in 4 months on YouTube. There is a  big up-front time investment for most people. 

It is incredibly hard work, but honestly, I love making videos. So whatever I do to monetize, it's basically so I can keep up my video making habit and worry less about how to make a living. I don't expect Amazon affiliate links to be my main path to that; there are other ways to generate money from quality content. But it's far from any kind of a get rich quick scheme no matter what all those YouTube videos tell you. 

You might be the exception to the rule and do fabulously well right out of the gate, who knows? But my advice to anyone who doesn't feel a burning desire to actually create video content is, find something easier to exercise your entrepreneurial spirit with.

 

[Firebuild]

I make a few bucks off of a Amazon affiliate account. Most of the fees come from my solar design work but I do see a bump if I post a video of items that I use with links in the description.

You tube is a lot of work. It's more than just posting video's. You have to get approved as a Amazon affiliate. Approved for a adsense account. Then collect 1000 subs and 4000 hours of viewing time. After that, you tube will consider you for monetization. It took me just about a year from the time I first started. I waited 8 months after I had the subs and view time for you tube to monetize the channel.

YOuTube typically won't monetize a channel that's less than a year old even if they have the views and subs.

 

[Firebuild]

Yeah I see that.  If I have to resort to asking for donations through Patreon & PayPal then there can't be much money in it.  And I know doing YouTube video's takes a bit of effort so atm I'm weighing up time & effort verses reward.

 "A bit of effort" is  a massive understatement in my case: between shooting, editing, optimizing the SEO on the videos, and posting the video on every related forum and facebook group under the sun, I'm working 70 or so hours a week right now.  I don't think it will always be that way, but that's life at the moment. And if you think of Patreon as "asking for donations" then you definitely should not do it.  As  viewer, I join a creator's Patreon because I find value in the content and want to help make it possible for that content to be made. It's not begging for a hand out.

 

[Firebuild]

YouTube rewards long video's with more exposure, which results in more viewers.  The longer the video the better.  So YouTubers that understand this turn their 5 minute video into a 15 minute video.

Actually, this is false. Well, it's partly true, but only if people WATCH the longer video. The most important metric for YOuTube is "watch time," that is, how long you keep someone on the platform. Not how long you keep them on a single video, but how long you keep them on YOuTube. They could watch 5 5 minute videos instead of 1 25 minute video and both have similat weight in the algorithm. Even if you put a link to someone else's content in your video, and they click on it, you get brownie points. Not as many as if they are watching only content you created, but it still counts as keeping them on the platform.

 

[Firebuild]

I am quite willing to bet that virtually nobody actually makes a livable income from YouTube.

I can point you to hundreds who do, and at least two who make in the millions. Most of the big money makers, however, use their channels to teach other people how to make money on youtube.  You can get pretty rich doing that. As far as people making content that is not YouTube education, there are still plenty making a living but I guess that depends what you call a living.

 

[Firebuild]

The best part about a youtube channel is not money, but connections with other people doing something similar to what you are doing.

Its a lot of work for not a lot of money, so you might as well have fun with your videos and make them so years later you can come back and watch your great adventures on youtube.

Amen to this! This is the "why."

 

[poot_traveller]

I say go for it.  If you enjoy doing it, keep on.  If you don't enjoy it, why keep doing it?  I just becomes a crappy, low paying job.

I can see myself enjoying it.  And yes, I do have the option to quite if I start not liking it.

I suppose the initial attraction to making YouTube video's is because people like doing it, then the money follows.

 

[poot_traveller]

I have affiliate links on my videos. My channel is new but growing quickly; I'm not a YouTube ad partner yet so the affiliate clicks are basically it. I'm growing faster than 90% of the people I know (I'm in a community of about 500 creators), and I've only made about $50 in 4 months on YouTube. There is a  big up-front time investment for most people. 

It is incredibly hard work, but honestly, I love making videos. So whatever I do to monetize, it's basically so I can keep up my video making habit and worry less about how to make a living. I don't expect Amazon affiliate links to be my main path to that; there are other ways to generate money from quality content. But it's far from any kind of a get rich quick scheme no matter what all those YouTube videos tell you. 

You might be the exception to the rule and do fabulously well right out of the gate, who knows? But my advice to anyone who doesn't feel a burning desire to actually create video content is, find something easier to exercise your entrepreneurial spirit with.

$50 dollars in 4 months?  I'm guessing you spent many hours preparing, filming and editing video's.   Obviously you like making video's so you're not too worried abut the turn over. 

I'll also enjoy making video's but I've got to justify the amount of time I'll spend doing it.  Making money from it is a good way to justify that time.

I'm probably going to go a head and try it anyway since I think about it most of the day, every day.

 

[poot_traveller]

 "A bit of effort" is  a massive understatement in my case: between shooting, editing, optimizing the SEO on the videos, and posting the video on every related forum and facebook group under the sun, I'm working 70 or so hours a week right now.

Damn I thought I'd only have to put in 3 - 4 hours per week to make one video per week.

 

[geogentry]

@Firebuild

What is SEO that you work on for the video?

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

 

[Firebuild]

Damn I thought I'd only have to put in 3 - 4 hours per week to make one video per week.

LOL well, if you just stand there and talk, and you do it so well that it doesn't need any editing, sure. 

To be fair I am pretty obsessive. I tend to over-focus, and I shoot things that have a lot of parts to them. But the sections where I'm just talking actually take a lot longer to edit because I end up doing a million takes. Someone with a different kind of brain could probably be quicker, but not THAT much quicker. It takes time to shoot, and then double that for editing. 

As far as justifying the low $$-to-time ratio, if I didn't believe strongly that this is temporary I wouldn't be able to do it. I just started, so I'm experimenting with what I like doing, what my audience likes seeing. And I'm not being seen by enough people yet to have really gathered that audience. No one is for everyone - YouTube is very personality driven, and it takes a while for your particular tribe to find you, with all the clutter.  I try to think of this period as being like college for me.  I could of course be more focused on the money and skew the content toward that, but I've worked as a creative in one form or another all my adult life, and now I want to do it MY way, which doesn't necessarily mean putting money first. 

If you're thinking about it most of the day, every day, then it sure seems like you have to try it. It might turn out to be your calling! I just think you have to remember that YouTube is a marathon, not a sprint, and let go of the idea that you're going to make money right away. If you can do that, and use the time to learn everything you can about the platform and about making good content, you might make it work.

 

[Firebuild]

@Firebuild

What is SEO that you work on for the video?

Sent from my SM-J727V using Tapatalk

Well, before I shoot, I do keyword research to find the most searched words and phrases that relate to my niche, so I can try to shoot video that matches those. If I have an idea for a video, I check out the search volume on the topic to see if it's worth making. But in my case that rarely works because what the video is about is usually dictated by what's happening in my life, so I have to do it all over again after I finish the video, to figure out what keywords I can actually apply. Then of course you have to add all those keywords to the video. Then I do backlinks. Then I post the video itself in all the FB groups and related forums. This part is cool because I'm a member of all these things anyway, but you have to engage in all these groups, not just drop a link. I use the YouTube "share" buttons - every one that's in English - and post in all those places. I write custom captions for the videos rather than rely on the auto-generated ones which are lame.  That's just the basics.  Oh, and I take out paid ads on Facebook, and sometimes on YouTube.

 

[highdesertranger]

Firebuild this is off subject but I just glanced at one of your videos that you filmed from inside your vehicle as it drove down the road. it appears in the video that you need shocks. LOL I just thought I would pass that along. highdesertranger

 

[Firebuild]

Firebuild this is off subject but I just glanced at one of your videos that you filmed from inside your vehicle as it drove down the road.  it appears in the video that you need shocks.  LOL I just thought I would pass that along.  highdesertranger

LOL, I don't think I need shocks, I think I need a better camera mount.  And some of these beat-up MA roads need repaving.

 

[MikeRuth]

I'll tell you one thing that turns me off on a video quicker than touching a hot match!!! poor sound. If your audio sucks I'm outta there. Keep that in mind. People standing outside in the wind!!! totally sucks. or in a room that's got that hollow hard wall sound, I'm in a barrel sound. If your gonna make it work consider good equipment when you can afford it.

 

[poot_traveller]

LOL well, if you just stand there and talk, and you do it so well that it doesn't need any editing, sure. 

To be fair I am pretty obsessive. I tend to over-focus, and I shoot things that have a lot of parts to them. But the sections where I'm just talking actually take a lot longer to edit because I end up doing a million takes. Someone with a different kind of brain could probably be quicker, but not THAT much quicker. It takes time to shoot, and then double that for editing. 

As far as justifying the low $$-to-time ratio, if I didn't believe strongly that this is temporary I wouldn't be able to do it. I just started, so I'm experimenting with what I like doing, what my audience likes seeing. And I'm not being seen by enough people yet to have really gathered that audience. No one is for everyone - YouTube is very personality driven, and it takes a while for your particular tribe to find you, with all the clutter.  I try to think of this period as being like college for me.  I could of course be more focused on the money and skew the content toward that, but I've worked as a creative in one form or another all my adult life, and now I want to do it MY way, which doesn't necessarily mean putting money first. 

If you're thinking about it most of the day, every day, then it sure seems like you have to try it. It might turn out to be your calling! I just think you have to remember that YouTube is a marathon, not a sprint, and let go of the idea that you're going to make money right away. If you can do that, and use the time to learn everything you can about the platform and about making good content, you might make it work.

I'm going to do some research on how to shot & edit video's quickly so I can do it in 3-4 hours.  I'm not going to be posting links and engaging in every related forum and facebook group I can find, so that should cut down my time considerably.

My strategy will be simplified to exclude any time consuming tasks.  No researching keywords or nothing.  Just focusing on making good content. I'll do a little SEO but it will be minimal.

There will be so little editing going on that with all the flaws and bloopers you'd swear my video's are live streamed. I'm determined not to do any more than 4 hours per week producing video's but still producing good content (hopefully).

 

[poot_traveller]

I'll tell you one thing that turns me off on a video quicker than touching a hot match!!! poor sound. If your audio sucks I'm outta there. Keep that in mind. People standing outside in the wind!!! totally sucks. or in a room that's got that hollow hard wall sound, I'm in a barrel sound. If your gonna make it work consider good equipment when you can afford it.

Duly noted.

 

[Firebuild]

I'm going to do some research on how to shot & edit video's quickly so I can do it in 3-4 hours.  I'm not going to be posting links and engaging in every related forum and facebook group I can find, so that should cut down my time considerably.

My strategy will be simplified to exclude any time consuming tasks.  No researching keywords or nothing.  Just focusing on making good content. I'll do a little SEO but it will be minimal.

I want to stress that I don't do all that work because I LIKE to. I do it because those are best practices for making money.  Good luck to you.

 

[Cammalu]

You might watch some TED talks also for some speaking tips. I always love those.

 

[Firebuild]

You might watch some TED talks also for some speaking tips. I always love those.

GREAT speakers!