Free YouTube Money-Making Course – Lesson 23
In our previous lessons, I explained the logic of making money on YouTube. If you haven’t read that lesson, you can click here to access the relevant article. In this lesson, I will explain which revenue models you can set up on YouTube. There are several ways to make money on YouTube. However, some methods either do not work in many countries or work very little. The methods below mean that they work in all countries. Of course, these are the leading revenue models. In addition to these, you can create other revenue models. This now depends on your creative thinking. Currently, the four most commonly used revenue models are as follows.
- Adsense ads
- Sponsored ads
- Affiliate marketing
- Product sales
Let’s examine these revenue models together.
Making Money on YouTube with Adsense Ads
Adsense ads are the ads published on your channel by Google. You can learn more in detail about the logic of earning with Adsense by accessing the article titled YouTube and Google Adsense Revenue Logic. To make money on YouTube through Adsense, you must comply with the conditions set by YouTube. These conditions are as follows. I would like to note that this lesson article was written in 2026. It is possible that after this lesson was written, YouTube may change its rules. Currently, the following conditions apply to make money on YouTube.
- Your channel must have a total of 1,000 subscribers,
- Your channel must have a total of 4,000 watch hours in the last 365 days.
- Or, you must have 10 million YouTube Shorts views in the last 3 months.
- Your videos must belong to you
The music used in the videos must either belong to you or be publicly accessible music. Or, you must purchase stock music and own the right (license) to publish that music. By complying with the above conditions, you can earn money on YouTube through Adsense. You can get more detailed information about these conditions from this lesson of our free YouTube course.
Making Money on YouTube with Sponsored Ads
Sponsored ads can be said to be the most profitable ads. Many companies benefit from influencers with large audiences to promote their products or services. What is an influencer? Who are influencers? Let me briefly explain the answer to this question. Anyone who is famous on the internet, followed by a certain audience, such as bloggers, vloggers, or TikTokers, is an influencer. Of course, each influencer has their own follower base, and this audience has specific interests.
Companies work with influencers suitable for the sector they sell. That is, if an influencer constantly shares cooking videos or recipes, that influencer can promote food products. Or, if an influencer creates videos about cars, they can advertise car repair, car spare parts, or other products and services related to cars. Usually, companies offer to sponsor influencers themselves.
If you want to receive such offers in the future, my suggestion is to provide your contact information on your YouTube channel or other social media accounts so that you can be easily reached. Besides that, consistently creating videos on a specific topic is very important. Content focused on a particular area helps both in building your audience and attracting the attention of brands operating in that area.
Making Money on YouTube with Affiliate Marketing
What is affiliate marketing? First, let’s explain this concept. Affiliate marketing is often referred to as a sales partnership. Simply put, affiliate marketing is a model where you promote another company’s product or service and earn a commission when that product is sold.
For example, suppose you have a YouTube channel with 100,000 subscribers. In this case, you can direct your audience to various products and services on the internet. By using this power, it is possible to earn income through affiliate marketing.
Many major sales platforms have affiliate marketing programs. By registering on these platforms, you create a profile for yourself. Then, you obtain special referral (affiliate) links for the products on that platform. When you share these links with your followers:
- Your followers access the product through the link
- They purchase the product
- You earn a certain percentage commission from the product price because you facilitated the sale.
The commission rate varies depending on the product category and platform. Each sales platform has its own rules and conditions for affiliate marketing, and these rules are not the same across all platforms. Therefore, it is important first to decide which platform you want to work with, and then carefully learn the rules of that platform.
Most of you have probably seen such shares on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms. A blogger promotes a product they obtained online, creates a short introduction video about it, and shares a link for those who want to purchase the product. This method is one of the simplest and most commonly used forms of affiliate marketing.
Making Money on YouTube by Selling Products
When people think of making money on YouTube, they often only consider revenue generated from ads. However, YouTube offers much bigger opportunities. Through this platform, many small, medium, and large business owners promote and sell their products. Here, by entrepreneur, we do not only mean company owners. Craftsmen engaged in small production work can also earn money through YouTube. For example, you may be a furniture craftsman, create decorative accessories at home, or make handmade necklaces. You are already doing this work every day.
If you add video creation and sharing to this work, you can earn income from the same activity in several ways. YouTube allows you to:
- Earn ad revenue (AdSense) by publishing your videos
- Collaborate with companies producing the materials you use through sponsorships
- Directly sell the products you have prepared
- Even eventually turn your product into a personal brand
In other words, YouTube is not just a video-watching platform. When used correctly, it is a world of great opportunities where you can create multiple revenue streams for yourself.
