It’s easy to earn money off of YouTube videos that you upload yourself. Almost anyone can do it, no matter the size of your business, company, or brand.

There are some specific steps to take and some rules to follow to get your videos running ads and to start earning money quickly and easily.

Here are the main points that will help you start monetizing:

• Increase your audience and follower count by distributing quality and targeted content over time. Monetization is based on how much your ads are seen, so the more viewers, the better.
• Enable your channel for monetization and connect your YouTube channel to an Adsense account.
• When uploading your video, choose the “monetize with ads” feature. You then have the ability to choose which ad formats and videos you want.

How to monetize youtube videos with copyrighted music

You probably are already familiar with using background music for your videos. Whether you’re creating a tutorial, vlog, interview, documentary, or short film, you need music to drive the story forward and create an engaging tone for your viewers.

Your videos cannot be monetized if you have any elements attached to your video that you do not own. This is illegal and the owners of the music can get your videos taken down if you cannot prove you own the music you use. Or, YouTube may continue to host the video and show it to your viewers, but any money earned from the ads will go to the music owners and not to you. Copyrighted music can be a tricky legal area, but as long as you follow some simple guidelines, you should be able to monetize your videos without a problem.

Basically, it comes down to ownership. If you want to use copyrighted music in your YouTube videos, you need to purchase the background music directly from the composer or musician who created it. If that person has given you permission to use the music without paying, get their permission in writing before uploading the video. Include that permission in the description and keep it handy. If AdRev comes to you and wants to remove the video, you have proof that your copyrighted music is permitted for this video.

The easier way to monetize YouTube videos: royalty free background music

If you don’t have the budget to spend on copyrighted music or don’t know anyone who will give you free permission to use their background music, you should look into royalty free background music. Royalty free means that there is little to no cost to use the music. The music is put online for download by anyone and the composer gives up ownership to you as soon as you download it.

A lot of royalty free music isn’t the same quality as copyrighted music and it can be tough to find the right variety to match the video you have. However there are resources like Gerry Black music that not only provide fully orchestrated and arranged tracks, but a wide array of genres that are sure to complement any type of video you are uploading.