Affiliate Marketing News: How I Started Making Money on YouTube With Just 80 Subscribers
MONETIZATION
Quick answer: You don't need 1,000 subscribers or 4,000 watch hours to make money on YouTube. The latest affiliate marketing news for creators is simple — you can start earning immediately through affiliate marketing, promoting relevant products in your video descriptions and earning a commission on every sale, regardless of your subscriber count.
I started monetizing this YouTube channel even when I had 80 subscribers. And by the time I reached 100-plus subscribers, I was already making over $100 to $200 on this particular YouTube channel.
Most people think you need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to monetize your YouTube channel and start making money. But the game has changed. You no longer need that. And that is exactly what I'm going to show you in this post — including some of the biggest affiliate marketing news creators are sleeping on right now.
What Is YouTube Monetization?
Before I show you how I did it, we need to understand YouTube monetization. So first of all, what is YouTube monetization? YouTube monetization is simply being able to make money on your YouTube channel. Anything that is going to help you make money on your YouTube channel is called YouTube monetization.
When it comes to YouTube monetization, there are several ways of monetizing your YouTube channel right now. The major one, and the one we all know, is monetization whereby you get your 1,000 subscribers and your 4,000 watch hours, and you apply for YouTube monetization, where YouTube is going to put ads on your videos and then make money from it. That is the normal one we all know.
And if you want to wait and get that one, it's going to be very long. You have to get 1,000 subscribers and you have to get your 4,000 watch hours. And let's be honest, getting these two requirements sometimes can be very difficult. Instead of waiting for that one, you need to start using other methods of making money on your channel. And that is exactly what I'm going to show you.
My Actual Earnings
So first of all, let me show you some of my earnings, then a step-by-step guide on how you can also do exactly that. You can watch this video to see the earnings and follow along
On one particular site, I was able to make $140. That is the amount of money I've made so far from that website — and it's not from YouTube itself. It's from using links in my videos.
On another website, I've made $44. If you check a different one, I've made $130, with 58 people clicking on my link and 13 people actually purchasing the services there.
On yet another site, I've made a total of $130. And as we speak, I currently have $29 in my account which has not been withdrawn yet. This means that I'm making money on YouTube even without what YouTube itself is paying me.
So how was I able to do that?
Understanding Affiliate Marketing
I did what you call affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing simply means going for someone's product and then helping the person to sell it, and then you make a commission from it.
So let's say, for instance, I am selling a particular laptop, and you want to advertise it wherever you want to advertise it. And if someone buys it — let's say this laptop is $200 — I'm going to give you about $30 or $40 as a commission. You're helping someone to sell this product, and then you make money from it. That is it.
Affiliate marketing is 100% legal. There's nothing wrong with it. But the easiest way of making money through affiliate marketing is joining the affiliate programs. If you keep up with affiliate marketing news, you'll notice more platforms opening up affiliate programs every month — which means more opportunities for creators at every stage. Let me show you how.
Where It All Started for Me
Let me take you back to my oldest video, to show you that I really started making money a long time ago, even when no one knew.
That video was about how to get watch hours with live stream using Restream. In it, I was teaching my viewers how they can go live using that particular website. All I had to do was drop my link, and I told my viewers to check the description of the video to get it. That is how I was able to make money on my channel — I made $40 from that single video.
Another video of mine got 18K views. If you check the description, there's a link along with a promo code. That video also brought in a good chunk of the earnings I showed you above.
How to Do This Yourself
So now, what is a footprint? Let me show you how you are also going to do it.
To do it, all you have to do is find a product in your niche — the kind of content you are creating. There may be something that you can sell. Look for a product that you can actually sell on your channel. And most of the time, you can get them by going to certain websites.
One website you can go to look for products is PartnerStack. Here's how it works:
Visit PartnerStack and click "Get Started."
Join the network by clicking through and entering your email address to create an account.
Fill in your details once your account is created.
Click "Discover Partnerships" to open the PartnerStack network marketplace, where you'll find a huge list of products across every niche — accounting, AI, collaboration and productivity, content marketing, customer service, design, development, e-commerce, human resources, marketing, payroll, sales, security, social media, and a whole lot more.
Let's say, for instance, you find a listing that says "earn 30 to 50 dollars in recurring income." That means if you're able to help them sell these products, you make 30% of the money. When you click on a program, you'll see that the application will take less than two days to process. If you want to apply, you just click and apply. It's very simple.
Once you're signed up and approved:
Head to the Links section of the program.
You'll see a couple of pre-made links, or you can create your own.
Copy your link.
Once you make your video, come to the description, and paste your link there or in the comment section.
That's it. That is the entire footprint, and it's very easy.
A Faster Shortcut
One more thing you need to know: anytime you visit a website that is related to your niche, all you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of the page. You're going to find something that says "Affiliate Program." All you have to do is click on it, sign up, and you can start making money.
Sometimes it's not at the bottom — sometimes, if you check the top of a website, you'll see something simply labeled "Affiliate." Click it, and then click apply. That's it.
