YouTube Shorts and How To Make Money From It

Owned by Google, YouTube is an American online video sharing platform which was launched on February 14, 2005 by a group of three men Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim. It is the second most visited website in the world with more that one billion subscribers. In 2019, more than 500 hours of content per minute was being uploaded on YouTube everyday. Since Google has purchased YouTube, it has introduced changes such as mobile apps, ability to link with other devices, and network television. Video categories on YouTube include music videos, video clips, documentaries, trailers, teasers, vlogs, live streams, tutorials and more.

YouTube has been around for a while now and we netizens have given the platform millions of users and billions of views. The countless hours that we have watched on YouTube have made it the most successful online video-sharing application. The social media platform has recently launched a short-video service known as ‘YouTube Shorts’.

What are YouTube Shorts?

Shorts is short for short-video services that YouTube has launched to let users create and share short videos. We were already familiar with the idea from musically, later known as TikTok.

Tiktok gained a lot of hype as content creators came out with their talents in creativity. This inspired YouTube to launch its own short-video service. Now YouTube Shorts will emerge as a direct competitor for Tiktok and other short-video sharing apps.

YouTube shorts are an ideal way of connecting with new audiences anywhere in the world. It is easy to use, with a built-in Shorts-camera within the YouTube app. This multi-segment camera is able to shoot a video up to 60 seconds long. However, YouTube advises its users to make a video as long as 15 seconds to make it more watchable and reachable for the audiences. There is an adoption to record music from a large and growing music library. Youtube has provided independent speed control and timer to its users that gives them flexibility to unleash their creative geniuses.

Is it available on all OS and PCs?

Initially, the beta version of the YouTube app that featured Shorts was only available for android users. A month later, YouTube officially announced the launch of Shorts across all operating systems. Though you will not find the Shorts option while using YouTube from your desktop, you can still use the feature by uploading a short video from your desktop following the Shorts format.

Does YouTube pay you for Shorts?

Yes, it does. Before even the launch, YouTube announced on social media that it will be launching Shorts and content creators will be able to make money out of it. Thomas Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Gado Images says that, “Each month, YouTube says, they’ll reach out to thousands of creators whose Shorts received the most engagement and views, rewarding them with payouts from the Shorts Fund and asking for their feedback about the platform. Elsewhere, YouTube says that creators can qualify for between $100 and $10,000 per month depending on their Shorts performance, if they’re selected for a payout from the fund in a given month.”

This means that only the creators who upload engaging content and have a large fan base are paid by YouTube in exchange for their creativity and audience influx.

Shorts Funds

In order to promote the monetization and well-being of netizens and content creators, YouTube has launched Shorts funds. This Google-owned company has approved a budget of $100 million to pay digital creators for their efforts and creativity. Smith Talks about the Shorts Funds as, “… the fund will distribute $100 million to Shorts creators in 2021 and 2022. YouTube gives some indications of how this will work. Importantly, creators need not be YouTube partners to earn revenue from shorts. As with TikTok, this encourages new creators to join the platform. As YouTube says, anyone is eligible to participate in the fund simply by creating unique Shorts that delight the YouTube community.”

Short Funds is a lucrative way to motivate the content creators to keep finding new ways of engaging the audience and showcase their creativity.

How to make Money from Shorts?

Like any other platform, YouTube makes business from ads. The more views a video gets the more views the ad gets. Your short videos on YouTube will help YouTube earn from ads if they receive sufficient views. Views are the sole factor in this circle of payments that allows creators to make money. If your shorts are good enough, you will receive more views and make money from them.

A good YouTube Short has the following features:

A YouTube Short is not longer than 15 seconds
It makes full use of the Shorts tools
A Short has a high rewatchability index, which means that the audience clicks on it again and again because of its unique content
Relatability to the audience
Make sure that you have collaborative videos on your channel, because it helps generate more views for your content.

In addition to that, you need to be active on the Shorts platform, and post regularly. Run a research on the hours that have the busiest traffic on YouTube Shorts, and interact with the most people that you can.

Let us see this step by step guide to know how you can start earning from shorts:

Create a Unique Short Video

No rocket science or chemistry here. Just create something that the audience will like. Create something unique be it aesthetic videos, music videos, or funny content. Make sure you are able to wind it up in 15 seconds. You can also record and string different short clips together to form a full video.

Following YouTube Community Guidelines

Your shorts should not be violating any YouTube rules and regulations. If they are not in line with community guidelines, your short will not be eligible for the payout.

The community guidelines are very basic but important. They are as follows:

The age limit for shorts creation is 13 years or older. Anyone younger than 13 is barred from uploading any type of shorts video.
Creating violent or abusive content is banned, even if it is funny. This includes all kinds of gun violence, violence against women and kids, and violence against races.
Uploading explicitly sexual content, sex, and nudity is illegal.
You can’t sell illegal or regulated goods such as drugs, pharmaceuticals without prescription, fake currency and documents, bank account passwords, stolen credit cards, or other information related to finances.
You can’t upload content that sexualizes minors or videos that show harmful activities involving kids. Misleading family content and inflicting emotional distress on minors also come under this umbrella.
Spam, scams, and other such deceptive tricks to get more followers is banned.
Content that speaks highly of violent criminal or terrorist organizations, promotes violence, and helps in its spread is not allowed on YouTube shorts.

If a user repeatedly violates these guidelines, they may end up getting their account blocked.

No Duplication

YouTube does not approve any shorts for the payment that are in any way a duplicate. Any video that you may share from others in your shorts will not be eligible for Short funds.

Shorts that are watermarked or have logos on them of other brands will also not be able to make it to the payment criteria.

Youtube has a strict policy against the use of plagiarised content. Uploading unoriginal content will take a huge chunk of followers away from you anyway, so avoid doing that.

Do not wait for long

We cannot say for the future that is far away but the approved Shorts funds are for only 2021 and 2022. So if you want to avail this opportunity, you cannot wait to take whole lessons on how to be creative or how to make creative videos. Just start on it and upload your short video. It may be a hit or a miss, but take it as a learning opportunity.

Wait for the Second Week of Each Month

Each month, YouTube will announce the winners of the payouts in the second week. Therefore, you will have a chance to create something awesome every month. If your video gets enough views, you will be eligible for the payout. You will then have until the 25th of the month to claim your reward or the opportunity will fade away.

Do you want to be rich AND famous overnight?

Well, gone are the days when success would take months and years to finally appear after diligent work and sleepless nights. Though shooting amazing Shorts requires a humongous amount of talent, nerve, charisma, and uniqueness, you can actually see success visualize before you as soon as you upload a short for the world to view.

So what are you waiting for, bring out your mobile phones, and Short away.

Do you have any interesting stories to share with us about YouTube shorts? Let’s talk in the comment section below.