YouTube content creation is a lucrative way for you to make money. Just how lucrative is this now professional career? Seventeen million creators on internet platforms, including YouTube, have earned close to $7 billion.
And some personalities, more than others, just know exactly how to make money online.
The Highest Paid YouTubers
MrBeast
With 50 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) has one of the biggest shares in the video content market. MrBeast had a networth of $24 million in 2020 and in 2021, he’s banked $16 million. Not the most impressive earnings in this list, but still massive nonetheless.
MrBeast does stunts and, in the process, gives away large sums of cash to viewers (which could explain the drop in net worth). Part of his earnings come from sponsorships with brands like Electronic Arts and Microsoft. The YouTube content creator also earns from merchandise sales.
DanDTM
The most recognized Minecraft YouTuber has an estimated net worth of $35 million. The Brit gamer is considered the top creator in the Minecraft content space, with his superior video production and always engaging series.
DanDTM is Dan Middleton. His YouTube channel was initially dedicated to Pokemon, but in 2013 DanDTM switched the content focus to Minecraft. Today, the Minecraft content creator has 25.2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
Markiplier
Markiplier’s net worth is $35 million. With some 27.3 million subscribers to his channel, Markiplier is one of the biggest gamers on YouTube. His earnings come from ad revenues, sponsorship deals and merchandise sales.
The YouTuber, who is Mark Fishbach in real life, has his own athleisure line called Cloak. The luxury clothing company is a collaboration with another YouTube gamer called Jacksepticeye (Sean McLoughlin).
Ryan Kaji
One of the youngest and richest YouTuber, Ryan currently banks $32 million — and he’s not even 10 years old yet. The kid started Ryan’s World on YouTube when he was four. Today, the young multi-millionaire has 29.5 million subscribers on his channel, which features several other channels producing various content.
The YouTuber does toy reviews, fun science experiments and informative videos relevant for young audiences. Ryan’s net earnings come from sponsorship deals, merchandise sales of his own line sold in Wal-Mart. He’s also inked a TV deal with Nickeledeon and Amazon. Clearly, this kid (well, his parents anyway) know how to make an online presence lucrative.
PewDiePie
PewDiePie is one of the more controversial YouTubers. The Swedish gaming YouTuber (Felix Kjellberg) featured Nazi images and anti-Semitic humor on his posted videos. When The Wall Street Journal Investigation did a report on him, sponsors pulled out and some online shows got axed. YouTube also took him out of its preferred-advertising program.
So how much does PewDiePie make now? About $40 million. PewDiePie has 110 million subscribers on his channel.
Jeffree Star
Finally, yet another controversial YouTuber still making the big bucks at a net worth of $200 million is Jeffree Star. He’s figured in Twitter feuds in the past, and more recently, has been in the spotlight for racist comments. The popular YouTuber has apologized for those comments
The YouTube content creator started his channel as a way to promote his music, but that didn’t work out. So he shifted his focus to creating a makeup brand, which has contributed to a bulk of his earnings.
With million-dollar earnings from videos, it makes sense to learn how to make the big bucks from YouTube. Is it all about creating quality content on the platform? Do you need a big personality to get a million followers? Should you latch on to a gimmick to rack up the million views?
How to Become a YouTuber — and Make Bank
First, you need to answer one crucial element to become a YouTuber: do you love making videos? If you’re not comfortable appearing before a camera or if you’d rather write content, YouTube isn’t the ideal platform for you to earn an income.
Second, once you know creating video content is a passion, create a YouTube channel. Third, produce engaging content that appeals to a specific audience. Jeffree Star’s thing is makeup. Ryan Kaji’s is toys. YouTuber DanDTM is well-executed content on Minecraft. What’s your niche?
And fourth, promote your content through video marketing so that the views that help you qualify for YouTube’s Partner Program. Minimum eligibility requires 4,000 valid watch hours in the last 12 months and 1,000 subscribers. When you qualify for the Partner Program, you can earn money from ads on your channel.
If you’ve planned your content right and produced engaging videos, you may get enough subscribers to get noticed by big brands. Much like the YouTube careers of Ryan Kaji and MrBeast, you may get lucrative sponsorship deals that help you earn the big bucks.
Are you ready to post your first video for a lucrative career as a YouTuber?
