How do YouTube live streamers earn from their livestream?

Earning with youtube live is really similar to earning with a twitch livestream. But let’s back up a sec. Because before you start earning on Youtube, live or otherwise, you’ll need to build a following, and to do that you’ll have (presumably) a ton of content built up that your viewers can enjoy. That means hustle.

Ok you’ve got a nice following, and you’re producing some great content. So what does youtube live offer that your normal youtube videos don’t? Personal Interaction with you the creator!

The live aspect gives you the opportunity to interact with and engage with your audience. They can write in the chat and you’re able to converse with them directly. This is powerful entertainment value, that viewers will pay for. So now that we’ve got that clear, let’s take a look at how you can earn starting with your youtube live channel.

1. Advertising revenue

Yes advertising revenue is still relevant for Youtube live. And it works basically the same way as your typical youtube videos. There are three types of ads you can run with a youtube live:

• Pre-roll ads run before the live stream, viewable on mobile and desktop.
• Mid-roll ads run during the live stream, can be manually inserted during desktop streams.
• Display and overlay ads run beside or over content, viewable on desktop.

Keep in mind that it’s not actually youtube who is paying you here. It’s Adsense. All of these pay on a per view basis using what’s called the CPM and the amount you depends on how may views you get. Have a look at this brilliant answer to get an idea how much you can earn.

2. Youtube Channel Sponsorship

If you host regular lives, you can take advantage of the youtube channel subscriptions. This lets your viewers enjoy your live and regular video content ad free when they pay $4.99. Plus viewers who sponsor you will get custom badges, emojis, access to their own private chat plus whatever else you can think up for them. All the while they can share this with their favourite creator (you). I understand it’s a lot like twitch’s “Sub” feature.

Imagine several hundred of your viewers paying you each month, and you see how quick you’ll start earning - but only if the content and good vibes keep flowing!

3. Donations

Donations are the oldest form of support for creators and entertainers. Just think about street performers who ask for money after their performance. You can receive donations directly from your audience during a live by sharing links connected with paypal, patreon, streamlabs, streamelements, etc. In 5 minutes you can set up a paypal donate button and get started.

Downside is you’ll have to convince your viewers your content is worth paying for. So back to step one, have great content and even better interaction.

Systems like streamlabs and streamelements are highly interactive. They let your donors write messages, add their names, add GIFs etc. Plus you can set custom donation values so that special pop-ups trigger during your live. And all this comes back to the engagement factor we talked about at the beginning. These tools let you thank your donors personally, and they get to be a part of your live in a special way!

4. Cost-free donations

Now what if your viewers are young, don’t have any money, or just don’t want to donate with cash? A cool new donation option we love that’s free for both viewers and creators (and one we’ve worked hard on launching) is Rechaaarge.

Rechaaarge is a free platform that allow your viewers to interact and support your youtube live totally for free. In 30 seconds you can literally go from no donations, to donations from your viewers that cost nothing. It’s got all the features of paid donation services, viewers can see their donation on the live with on screen notifications, and personalize their donation which again lets you as the creator engage and interact.

As a creator you just publishes a personalized link, and each time the viewer uses the link to try a mobile app, you’ll earn a donation. This is great for creators with young audiences who might not have a credit card or much money to donate or pay for a youtube sponsorship each month.

5. Affiliate & Sponsorship Revenue

The larger and/or more niche your audience is the more potential you’ll have to earn money from affiliate work. If you’re a fan of a certain product, and use it yourself, companies are happy to offer your viewers a small discount when they purchase them through a link you promote. You can promote anything from chairs, to your streaming/gaming setup, to clothing and personal products. Just think about what you use and love, and would recommend to a close friend.

You’ll typically need to meet a minimum viewership for a company to be interested, but basically you would contact the company mentioning how you love their product and use it on your lives. You can then ask if they have any affiliate deals. In turn you receive a portion of the revenue each time a viewer uses your link to purchase their product.

Example: You love Noble Gaming Chairs. Ball park cost is $300, you take say %5 of each sale with your link ~ $15 per chair sold.

Sponsorships

In addition to affiliate revenue, sometimes companies will pay for you to advertise their product directly. For sure you’ve seen a youtuber talking about a product, and promoting it on their channel. I honestly don’t know a lot about them, but a quick internet search and I found these guys called PowerSpike who will happily connect you with companies looking to pay!

Keep up the hustle

Now is probably the best time ever to be a creator and if thinking about the money is your motivation for starting a youtube live you’ve got it backwards. Top earning youtube live streamers are there because they love entertaining, interacting, and talking with their viewers. If that’s what you love, then there’s always ways to make money. Keep up the hustle and the money will come.