Marques Brownlee describes his business as a tech YouTuber and how he makes money on the platform

“Oh, that’s the number one question about family reunification for the holidays,” Brownlee told Nilay Patel in a recent episode of The Verge’s podcast “Decoder.”

Digital creators like Brownlee often have multiple revenue streams, as they usually do not rely on just one form of revenue.
Read more: A 5-step guide to making the most money from YouTube video ads, with advice from the best creators

For most YouTubers, their main income comes from the ads placed in their videos Google.

“So, YouTube advertising is the primary, fundamental way that YouTubers make money,” Brownlee said on the Verge podcast. “You are uploading a video, there are ads somewhere or in it, and the YouTuber is being paid to post those ads because it brought the eyeballs to the video.”

But YouTube advertising rates fluctuate from month to month, and at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, some YouTube creators saw a decline in their earnings in March advertisers campaigns and budget cuts. Therefore, most creators have different revenue streams that all join their larger online business.

Here’s an outline of the key ways Brownlee makes money as a creator:

Google’s AdSense Program

Creators who are part of YouTube’s Partner Program can earn money from their YouTube channels by placing ads in a video. These ads are filtered by Google’s AdSense program.

To be eligible for YouTube’s Partner Program, creators must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 viewing hours, and once they’s there, they can earn videos with ads filtered by Google. How much money a creator earns (called AdSense) depends on, among other things, the video’s viewing time, length, type of video and viewer demographics. YouTube also holds 45% of the advertising revenue, while the maker holds the rest. “In general, the fundamental building blocks for making money as a YouTuber, and for me, come from AdSense built into YouTube, sponsored integrations built into the videos and the channel, and also products,” Brownlee said on the Verge podcast said.

The promotion of brands through sponsorships

Brownlee said on the Verge podcast that he also makes money by promoting brands in his YouTube videos.

For mega YouTubers like Brownlee, brand transactions are often negotiated with an agent or manager.

“I’m negotiating the rate,” Brownlee said on the Verge podcast. “The contract is usually built by my agent. I work with WME. And their lawyers will investigate the contract and negotiate the terms, so I do not literally read the contracts. It’s an arm I cut off. It’s clear. that they also brought some of the contracts and companies to my mailbox.But if you end up seeing the amount of stuff we say no to, it’s just like a constant stream of: ‘We want to be on the channel. We want to be in a video ‘- to find the things that really make sense. And then I’m just going to:’ Let’s see how we can make it work best. ”

Read more: 9 examples of real media kit that influencers use on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok to get brand sponsorships

Sell ​​branded merchandise

Some influencers owns a warehouse from which they send T-shirts, hoodies and other branded accessories, and then they will sell them via an e-commerce platform, such as Shopify.

But influencers do not have to run their own trading business to take advantage of the business opportunity. Many, like Brownlee, work with a company (he sells merchandise through the Cotton Bureau website.)

“We have a retail store, for example. You can buy clothes with our cool design,” Brownlee said on the Verge podcast.

When revenue streams fall or advertising budgets dry out, retail sales can make up for a loss of revenue.

Read more: The top 7 merchandise businesses that help creators on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok make money without relying on advertising