We all know that one day YouTube will take over TV. There is already YouTube TV, where you can watch movies and TV for a set fee a month in the United States and there is no doubt it will be all over the world soon. If you don't believe that YouTubers are the new actors, you'll believe me when you find out how much they get paid per year.
A ton of people don't believe that YouTube is a hard job. However, unless you have someone coming up with your content for you, buying all of the supplies, filming all of your videos for you, and editing all of your videos for you, then yes, it's a hard job. Unique and new content these days is hard to find, and it's even harder to create. That's why the YouTubers who make the most have been on YouTube for years, because they've grown their channels from the very beginning!
Most of the YouTubers that have made their channels into careers now are the ones that started their channels as a hobby. People like Shane Dawson and Bethany Mota started their channels because they were depressed and needed an outlet to let their creativity out, which ultimately couldn't have turned out better for them.
Although it's not exactly known how content creators on YouTube make their money, we just know it has something to do with ad revenue. Ad revenue is when the YouTuber links Google Adsense to their channel, and how many views the ad gets. So more subscribers, or an 'on-trend' video will get you more views. That's why so many people do clickbait titles and most of the time, it works.
While the math of the amount of views, ads, and the total amount of money that YouTubers get from their videos is still a mystery, it really does depend on how many subscribers you have at the end of the day. That's why people start making YouTube into a career once they hit a certain amount of subscribers, because they can afford to.
Now you're probably wondering how much popular YouTubers make a year. This is just an estimate and differs, as only the content creator themselves know for sure how much they make. But if you're curious or are maybe even thinking about starting a YouTube channel, here is some motivation for you:
Lilly Singh // iiSuperwomanii
Age: 29
Subscribers: 12 million
Yearly salary: 1.5 million
Casey Neistat // CaseyNeistat
Age: 36
Subscribers: 8 million
Yearly salary: 1 million
Tyler Oakley // Tyler Oakley
Age: 28
Subscribers: 7.8 million
Yearly salary: $700,000
Miranda Sings (Colleen Ballinger) // Miranda Sings
Age: 30
Subscribers: 8.2 million
Yearly salary: $650,000
Jenna Mourey // Jenna Marbles
Age: 31
Subscribers: 17 million
Yearly salary: $660,000
Felix Kjellberg // PewDiePie
Age: 27
Subscribers: 57 million
Yearly salary: 8 million
Most of these YouTubers have been content creators since around 2008-2010, which is when YouTube really got it's start. However, if you have a small channel and are looking to make money on YouTube, it definitely takes more than just luck. It takes hard work!
It's surprising but not surprising how much popular content creators make on YouTube. All of these YouTubers have their image set in stone, so we know what videos to expect which makes the fans even more loyal. Loyal subscribers will always watch your videos, but you also have to work for that fan base. Even if you have a small channel you can still make money, you just need to know all the right things to do.
