Ever wonder how much small Youtubers make from the platform?
The numbers might be a lot higher than you think.
Youtube is the second most visited website in the world, just behind Google and thus many people consume content on the platform every month.
In fact, according to HootSuite, over 2 billion people watch Youtube videos every month.
That’s a huge number and indicates there is a lot of money to be made by creators on the platform.
In this article we’ll specifically look at how much SMALL youtubers are making from their videos.
We know stars like Pewdiepie make millions a year as a Youtuber but how much do the people with less than 50 or even 10,000 subscribers make…?
Let’s find out.
How (Small) Youtubers Make Money
Small Youtubers make money from YouTube Ad Revenue.
This means they’ll earn a certain amount for every 1000 views they get on their Youtube videos.
The amount a Youtuber receives per 1000 views is widely different from creator to creator depending on how much advertisers are willing to pay for their type of videos or niche.
For example, YouTubers that are simply out to make ‘funny’ content will make FAR less than Youtubers who are out to educate their audience on financial decisions.
For example David Dobrik receives around 86,000,000 views on his Youtube channel per month.
While he is one of the most popular YouTubers in the world, his content is mainly for entertainment purposes and thus advertisers aren’t willing to drop tons of money to reach his audience.
A channel like Andrei Jikh‘s on the other hand, makes a TON of money from ad revenue alone.
While Andrei only receives 10% of the number of views per month that David Dobrik does, he likely still makes a lot more money from ad revenue because advertisers are willing to drop a lot of cash to get their ads displayed to his audience.
Now Andrei is by no means a small Youtuber with his audience of 1.3 million subscribers.
Which brings me to my next point: you don’t have to be a big youtuber to make money.
For example, in a video on his new Youtube Channel, Daniel Inskeep revealed how he earns MORE money from his NEW Youtube channel at 24,000 subscribers than his big youtube channel with 1 million subscribers!
This is because his RPM (Revenue Per 1000 viewers) for his big Youtube Channel in the photography niche is only at $3.69 whereas his new channel, which targets personal finance and online entrepreneurship has an RPM of $12.19.
This means he makes almost 4 times more on his new channel per viewer than his old one, even though his old channel has 1 million subscribers and his new channel has 24,000 subscribers.
Besides Ad Revenue, small Youtubers can make money through a variety of external sources.
Selling Merch
Some smaller Youtubers sell their own merch which they will occasionally shout out and link in the description of every video.
You don’t need to have a large audience to sell merch. Many viewers love supporting smaller creators and thanks to services such as print on demand these creators can sell their merch without investing in inventory upfront.
Affiliate Marketing
Another way YouTubers make money is by listing their equipment in the description with a cheeky Amazon affiliate link attached to it.
This means that they will receive a small compensation whenever someone purchases anything from Amazon within 24 hours of clicking their link.
Sponsorships
Sometimes companies might reach out to smaller YouTubers and ask them to promote a product or service in one of their Youtube videos for which they will receive an upfront discussed amount.
Streaming on Twitch
Having an audience on Youtube, no matter how small, can be very beneficial on live-streaming platforms such as Twitch where you can make a large amount of money from a small number of subscribers.
For example, in our article how much do twitch streamers make, we revealed that the average streamer with 100 average viewers has around 150-200 subscribers and makes around $1000 to $2000 from streaming on Twitch.
Say a small Youtuber has 10,000 subscribers, if they can convert just 2% into paid Twitch subscribers, they could be looking at an extra $1-$2k USD per month.
How Much Do Small Youtubers Make?
Small Youtubers with 10k subscribers make around $500 – $3000 per month.
Their revenue heavily depends on their niche and the number of views they receive on their videos.
Here are some examples of small Youtubers that have revealed their stats.
Daniel Inskeep revealed in his video that he makes $3,054 in a 30 day period when his channel only had 24k subscribers.
In a later video, Daniel reveals his wife Rachel Gulotta makes $3,172 per month on her new fitness Youtube channel with 44,000 subscribers.
In her medium article, Krystal Wascher revealed she averages $500 per month from her youtube channel with just 7,231 subscribers.
As she creates how-to type videos her RPM is quite high.
On the other end, in her video, Meghan Pruitt revealed she makes $107 per month with her 3.8k subscribers.
Meghan’s content is in the fashion/life-style niche and thus her RPM is quite low.
How to Become a (Small) Youtuber
As this article clearly illustrated, you don’t need to have hundreds of thousands of subscribers to make money on Youtube.
Smaller youtubers are able to generate quite a nice sum of money.
So here are 4 tips you can use to become a Youtuber.
Pick a niche
This article has hopefully illustrated the importance of niches. While it might sound fun to create a vlogger-style Youtube channel, there is simply A LOT of competition in this niche and little money to be made for every 1000 views.
You should avoid starting a personal Youtube channel and instead focus on a certain niche. For example, Rachel Gulotta started a Fitness youtube channel in the pandemic.
Or her husband Daniel Inskeep who makes videos about making money online.
Learn all about SEO
Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the art of ranking websites on Google but this knowledge can also be applied a Youtube channel.
By leveraging a knowledge of SEO, you’ll be able to optimize your title and description to rank better on Youtube and Google.
But you’ll also learn exactly what kind of content you should be posting.
For example, the first thing you learn in SEO is that you shouldn’t try to target big keywords such as ‘how to make money’ because you’ll be competing with articles from Forbes and big Youtubers who are dominating this space.
Instead, you should be creating content for and targeting smaller keywords so visitors will actually find your videos organically.
Create a consistent schedule
Youtube is a big commitment, you shouldn’t just upload whenever you feel like it, you should be uploading consistently.
Ideally, you’d upload at least once or twice per week.
This way you can keep your content up to date and constantly attract new viewers which could watch even more of your videos and eventually turn into subscribers.
Get started and keep learning
Please don’t expect to be an instant hit on Youtube. No one has that kind of luck.
Your first video will probably suck, actually scratch that, it will definitely suck.
And so will your second and likely your third. But you should learn from your mistakes and keep pushing out content until you’ve found your rhythm.
For example, the fastest growing Youtuber ever, Mrbeast didn’t become a success overnight…
He worked hard for many years to get where he is today.
If you go back to his old videos from 8 years ago you’ll find a library of bad videos he created when he was just starting out.
These are videos without much appeal where he simply plays video games such as Pokemon, Minecraft, and more.
It took him 2 years to get 1000 subscribers.
And he didn’t really blow up on Youtube until his fourth year on the platform.
So yeah, next time you give up on something quickly, think about MrBeast.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do youtubers make per view?
Youtubers make anywhere from $0.002 to $0.025 per single view depending on the niche.
This data is based on the average RPM (Revenue Per 1000 Views) which is between $2 and $25 for most Youtubers.
Rates depend on how much advertisers are willing to ‘bid’ on certain videos made by Youtubers.
A vlogger will get paid closer to the $2 RPM range as their audience is generally younger and there is no distinct niche.
While a financial education channel will make closer to $25 RPM because advertisers are willing to spend a lot of money to get ads in front of this viewer base.
How much do youtubers make per subscriber?
Youtubers get paid per view not per subscriber.
While having a high subscriber count will impact how many people see your videos, they don’t have a direct impact on how much you make.
How much do youtubers make from 1 million views?
Youtubers make anywhere from $2000 to $25000 from 1 million views.
Conclusion
Small YouTubers can definitely make a good amount of money. Some smaller YouTubers make as much as $3000 from just 10,000 subscribers!
To further increase their income they can leverage their subscribers to sell merch or follow them to other platforms such as Twitch.