Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Make money vlogging
Reading Time: 5 minutesVlogging, or ‘video blogging’ for those not in the know, is increasingly popular with all sorts of people.
There are vloggers on all kinds of subjects from hair and beauty to movies to veganism and comics. In fact, if you’re a regular visitor to YouTube, you’ve probably seen a vlog or two.
Vlogs can be surprisingly good earners, with some vloggers able to earn thousands of pounds just for mentioning a product.
Interested in becoming a vlogger?
Is it really as easy as it sounds?
Continue reading to see if you can make money vlogging.
How do I start vlogging?
To begin with you’ll need to set yourself up a Google account which you will use for both YouTube and AdSense where you can manage any revenue you bring in.
You’ll need to make sure that you enable monetisation on YouTube so you can make money from the videos you upload – note, to be able to monetise your YouTube account you’ll need to have a good reputation and not have made any copyright violations (i.e. used music or images that are copyrighted).
Once you’re all set up the only thing left to do is make your video.
- You’ll need to make sure your equipment is of a good enough quality. You won’t necessarily have to have top of the range, in fact some vlogs we’ve seen aren’t high quality at all, but people will need to be able to see and hear you clearly.
- The better quality your video however, the more professional you’ll look, so if you start to get a lot of views and you’re enjoying vlogging, you might consider upgrading your equipment if it isn’t that good.
What can I vlog about?
Well… anything really!
Like blogging, vlogging is your chance to share your thoughts on something you’re really passionate about.
You can vlog about food, antiques, make-up, movies, finance or anything you like.
There are some things you need to bear in mind when deciding a topic, however:
It needs to be something you’re passionate about
This is pretty obvioius really as the main reason you should be vlogging is because it’s something you care about. It’ll be pretty obvious if you’re doing it just to make money and you’ll have completely wasted your time.
It needs to be something that will be of interest to others
Naturally if you want people to watch your videos, it’ll need to be something that interests them. So if you’re thinking of vlogging about something really bizarre, like hairbrush handles or something (first thing I thought of!), then you’ll probably need to accept that you’re only going to get a small group of viewers. Nothing wrong with that mind, you just won’t make much money!
That having been said, niche is good
There are so many bloggers and vloggers out there that it can be hard to establish yourself when the topic you’re covering is already being covered by big name vloggers. Now it may turn out that you’ve got an irresistible personality which will bring people to you in their droves but chances are it’ll help to find a niche topic which not many people are vlogging about already. The goal is to find a niche topic or angle that will also be very popular – much easier said than done, we know!
Who can be a vlogger?
Anyone can become a vlogger!
No matter what your age or background, if you’re passionate about your topic then there’s no reason you can’t set up a successful video blog and make money vlogging.
It’s particularly suited to those who have quite a bit of free time, and it’s a great way to make a little extra money on the side.
For example, students could use vlogging as a way to earn some extra cash to supplement any support from the government they receive or money they might be earning. Or if you’re retired, you could be vlogging about your life, your holidays, your garden or whatever else interests you.
One thing you do have to bear in mind when vlogging is that you’ll need to produce content regularly to keep, and continue to grow, your fan base.
You need to stick to a regular routine of producing content as your subscribers will begin to expect this from you.
So whilst vlogging may, at first, sound easy, it will require commitment to get going and to keep your subscribers.
How much money can I make vlogging?
Whilst you can make potentially make thousands of pounds a month vlogging, realistically you’re going to start off making very little.
As we’ve already said, vlogging has to be something you enjoy doing because that’s what’s going to have to motivate you as you build your fan base – not money.
If you keep making interesting vlogs then slowly but surely you’ll build up your viewers and the more of them you have, the more potential you have for earnings.
You can begin by letting YouTube place adverts at the start of your video. You’ll then be able to get a percentage of the revenue that YouTube makes with this – again, the more people you have watching, the more money you’ll earn.
You can find out more about how to make money on YouTube here.
If you get a big enough following, advertisers might come to you and ask to be mentioned – this is where you have real earning potential.
Advertisers will pay big money, up to £4,000, to have their products mentioned by vlog stars either in the vlog itself or on social media by the vlogger.
If you become really successful you can even earn big money making personal appearances, although this really is reserved for those vloggers whose videos really have taken off.
However, whilst it may never have been simpler to earn money as a vlogger, that still doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Our advice is to see vlogging as a hobby and a nice way to earn a little extra on the side. If you do become a mega-success then it’ll be a very pleasant surprise, but most vloggers who are earning thousands a month didn’t begin with that intention.
Have you ever considered vlogging? What would you vlog about? Maybe you’ve already got a vlog you’d like to share with us? Let us know in the comments below – we love hearing from you!
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