How to Make Money with YouTube Shorts in 2026 (Full Guide) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I have earned hundreds or even thousands
2. 0:02of dollars on countless individual
3. 0:04shorts that each took me just a few
4. 0:06minutes to create. So, I'm going to be
5. 0:07walking you through exactly how to start
6. 0:09making money with YouTube shorts
7. 0:11step-by-step. I don't think most of you
8. 0:13guys realize how massive this
9. 0:15opportunity has actually gotten. Shorts
10. 0:17now bring in over 200 billion views
11. 0:19daily, and that number is rapidly
12. 0:21increasing every single year. And this
13. 0:24isn't just people scrolling on their
14. 0:25phones anymore. YouTube just announced
15. 0:27that 2 billion hours of shorts are being
16. 0:30watched on TV screens every single
17. 0:32month. YouTube is the number one
18. 0:34streaming app in the world. It's now
19. 0:35bigger than Netflix. And YouTube's ad
20. 0:38revenue surpassed $40 billion,
21. 0:40with subscriptions it actually surpassed
22. 0:41$60 billion. This opportunity is huge
23. 0:44and it keeps growing with more and more
24. 0:46viewers spending more and more time
25. 0:48scrolling and advertisers spending more
26. 0:50and more money on them. So, to make
27. 0:52life-changing money with shorts, you
28. 0:54only really need a small, minuscule,
29. 0:57super tiny fraction of that total daily
30. 0:59view count. Wildly achievable. If you
31. 1:01ask ChatGPT or Google how much money do
32. 1:04YouTube shorts pay, they're going to say
33. 1:06something like 2 to 10 cents per
34. 1:07thousand views. And while that might
35. 1:09have been true back in 2023 or for
36. 1:12content targeting viewers in low ad
37. 1:14spend countries, well nowadays if you
38. 1:16target tier one viewers, then you can
39. 1:18get 20 to 40 cent RPMs and that number
40. 1:21keeps growing. Here's a short of mine
41. 1:23with a 44 cent RPM and here's another
42. 1:25with a 25 cent RPM that generated $660.
43. 1:29And both of these shorts were under 15
44. 1:32seconds long. So, let's say that you get
45. 1:34a 30 cent RPM for example and you
46. 1:36generate 40 million views in a month.
47. 1:39Well, then that has a potential to earn
48. 1:40you $12,000. And view counts like that
49. 1:43are so achievable with content that is
50. 1:45so damn easy to make. So, for example,
51. 1:48this faceless shorts channel has
52. 1:49generated over a billion views in the
53. 1:51last month and they're just posting
54. 1:53written commentary shorts. Wicked easy.
55. 1:56The best part of all this is it has
56. 1:58never been easier to do this. You have
57. 2:00access to more information than ever
58. 2:02before, and you have access to more
59. 2:04powerful AI tools than ever before. So,
60. 2:06without further ado, let's get into the
61. 2:08exact steps to reach the monetization
62. 2:10requirements and start earning money
63. 2:12with YouTube shorts. But real quick,
64. 2:14make sure to like and subscribe if you
65. 2:16haven't already. Step one is to choose a
66. 2:18niche that is actually capable of
67. 2:20earning you money. Many people are
68. 2:22unfortunately fooled into entering
69. 2:23niches that won't even get you monetized
70. 2:25in the first place. I'd advise against
71. 2:27entering niches that are clearly
72. 2:29inauthentic or reused content. For
73. 2:31example, AI-generated content made with
74. 2:33generic templates giving the impression
75. 2:36of mass production without adding the
76. 2:38creator's original authentic insights or
77. 2:40perspective is not allowed to monetize.
78. 2:43This could be using an AI tool to rank
79. 2:46clips in a template, for example.
80. 2:48Inauthentic content or reused content,
81. 2:51which is repurposing content that
82. 2:52already exists without adding original
83. 2:54commentary, modification, or
84. 2:57educational/entertainment
85. 2:58value. You must create original content
86. 3:01or transformative content. This can be
87. 3:03as simple as commentary over someone
88. 3:05else's footage or edited footage with
89. 3:07unique audio and visual effects. So,
90. 3:10don't just use an AI tool to
91. 3:11mass-produce generic ranking content or
92. 3:14clipping content with no originality
93. 3:16whatsoever. If you do choose to enter
94. 3:18these niches, and these niches can get
95. 3:20lots of views, well, you must add
96. 3:22transformative value. Now, on top of
97. 3:24following YouTube's monetization
98. 3:26policies, a winning niche should
99. 3:27demonstrate consistent virality, high
100. 3:30virality potential, right? Meaning you
101. 3:32can find channels in the niche that are
102. 3:34consistently bringing in at least tens
103. 3:36of millions of views a month. It should
104. 3:38also have high RPM potential. A good
105. 3:40example of this would be English content
106. 3:43that targets an older American audience,
107. 3:45like US politics, history, or military,
108. 3:48just to name a few. So, the old way to
109. 3:50find niches was to scroll on the shorts
110. 3:53feed and look for successful example
111. 3:55channels that way. That can still work,
112. 3:57but it's a bit outdated. It can take a
113. 3:59long time, and for a lot of people, it's
114. 4:01hard to intentionally scroll rather than
115. 4:03getting sucked into mindless
116. 4:05consumption. So, there are two really
117. 4:07good methods. Firstly, would be the list
118. 4:09method. This is either watching content
119. 4:12on YouTube showcasing viral niches, I'm
120. 4:14regularly posting these types of videos
121. 4:16on my channel, or you could join my
122. 4:18school community link down below. I have
123. 4:20thousands of example channels and niches
124. 4:22in there, and I'm updating the list
125. 4:24every single month. Tons of people have
126. 4:26earned thousands of dollars with the
127. 4:27niches I've put on that list. Now, the
128. 4:29second method would be the AI method,
129. 4:31and this is definitely the best method
130. 4:34in 2026 and beyond. So, this is an AI
131. 4:37niche research tool which I've linked
132. 4:38down below, and it has a bunch of other
133. 4:40features built in which I'll show you
134. 4:42later in the video as well as we get
135. 4:44into the creation process. But, this is
136. 4:46one of the few tools that I genuinely
137. 4:48feel confident about recommending to my
138. 4:50audience because I actually use it for
139. 4:52my own channels on a daily basis. I
140. 4:55literally don't work on channels anymore
141. 4:57without using this tool. That's how
142. 4:58useful it is. So, we can come up here to
143. 5:00dashboard, and you'll see under research
144. 5:02tools shorts channels. They also have
145. 5:04long-form channels, but this is a
146. 5:06tutorial on shorts, right? So, we can
147. 5:07also search for certain channels. So,
148. 5:09for example, we could search for
149. 5:10Minecraft. Now, here we have lots of
150. 5:13different Minecraft shorts channels, and
151. 5:15if we come up here to sort it by, we
152. 5:16could change it to all these different
153. 5:18filters, but let's do views in the last
154. 5:2024 hours. And now we can see channels
155. 5:22that have gotten lots of views in the
156. 5:24last 24 hours. So, for example, this
157. 5:26channel's gotten 6 million views in the
158. 5:27last 24 hours, but in the last 48 hours,
159. 5:30it's been close to 15 million views. And
160. 5:32what they're doing is speedrunning
161. 5:33YouTube shorts. So, the last one was
162. 5:35Minecraft related, but we could just
163. 5:37scroll through and look at each one of
164. 5:38these individual channels, and we of
165. 5:40course don't have to do Minecraft. We
166. 5:42can X out of this right here, and now we
167. 5:43can use those same filters to see
168. 5:45channels that are a bit more general.
169. 5:47Here's Zach D films, which I'm sure
170. 5:49you're familiar with. But yeah, we can
171. 5:50see a bunch of different faceless niches
172. 5:52on here. Like you see, this really makes
173. 5:54niche finding easy. We now literally
174. 5:56have the ability to search through every
175. 5:58channel on YouTube to find the perfect
176. 6:01niche for us. And when we see a channel
177. 6:03that we like, we can literally just
178. 6:04click on the name, and then here we are
179. 6:06on the channel right here, just like
180. 6:08that. And now one of the best features
181. 6:10is we can actually connect this tool to
182. 6:12Claude or ChatGPT up here. And right
183. 6:15here, it has a very, very simple
184. 6:16step-by-step guide right here. I also
185. 6:18have some tutorials on my channel for
186. 6:20this. But this is going to give us the
187. 6:21ability to use Claude for niche
188. 6:24research. Claude will now basically have
189. 6:26access to all the features on that tool.
190. 6:28And this Claude connection will help us
191. 6:30massively with step two, short creation.
192. 6:33So I found this channel, and I think
193. 6:35this is a pretty good niche to enter.
194. 6:36They're getting hundreds of thousands or
195. 6:38millions of views on many of their
196. 6:40shorts, and all they're doing is doing
197. 6:42top five fruits, basically. So top five
198. 6:45most exotic fruits found only in India
199. 6:47or Japan, or that went extinct, right?
200. 6:50And this type of content is doing super
201. 6:51well, and it's very easy to create. You
202. 6:54just have to make a script, a voiceover,
203. 6:56and then edit it together. So if we copy
204. 6:59this channel URL, come over to Claude,
205. 7:01we can say to Claude, "Analyze this
206. 7:04channel's scriptwriting style, along
207. 7:07with its competitors. We will enter this
208. 7:10niche, and you will write scripts for
209. 7:13it." So then we can paste in that
210. 7:15channel URL right there, and let's send
211. 7:17the prompt. And just like that, it's
212. 7:19done exactly what we asked. It's
213. 7:21analyzed this niche and the
214. 7:23scriptwriting style, and it's already
215. 7:25given us three different scripts that we
216. 7:27can use. But if we wanted to, we can
217. 7:29say, "Give me 20 viral short ideas." Now
218. 7:34it's searching through the viral shorts
219. 7:36in this niche, so that way it can come
220. 7:37up with something that is also likely to
221. 7:39go viral. And here we go, top five
222. 7:41rarest fruits found only in Brazil,
223. 7:43Vietnam, Mexico, ones that look like
224. 7:45they're from another dimension. So
225. 7:46there's really an infinite amount of
226. 7:48ideas right here. And then we could just
227. 7:50ask it to write scripts for these
228. 7:52specific topics. And now to generate the
229. 7:54voice-overs, you can use a tool like 11
230. 7:57Labs, but you actually don't have to pay
231. 7:59for 11 Labs separately. This tool has 11
232. 8:01Labs built in and it will give you
233. 8:03unlimited generations. So in Algrow
234. 8:05again, if we come to creation tools, we
235. 8:07can click on voice generation. You can
236. 8:10see down here it says unlimited credits
237. 8:12remaining. So we can come back to Claude
238. 8:14and go back to the scripts that it made
239. 8:16us. Let's copy and paste this first one.
240. 8:19Here we go. And right here has multiple
241. 8:21text-to-speech engines, but we can do 11
242. 8:23Labs since that is usually the best. And
243. 8:25we can use any 11 Labs voice in here. We
244. 8:29can come up here to languages. We could
245. 8:31do English and an American accent. This
246. 8:34one, Britney, is pretty popular, so we
247. 8:36can do this one. We could adjust all
248. 8:37these settings and then click generate
249. 8:39speech. After it's generated, we can
250. 8:40come over here to history and then we
251. 8:42can play it.
252. 8:43>> But some of these cost more than a
253. 8:45smartphone.
254. 8:45>> So that sounds pretty good and then we
255. 8:47can download it. So if there's a tool
256. 8:49that's actually going to help you make
257. 8:50money with YouTube Shorts, it's this
258. 8:52one. Be very, very careful which AI
259. 8:54tools you decide to pay for. The ones
260. 8:56that I actually consistently use are the
261. 8:58ones I showed you, Algrow and Claude.
262. 9:00And then I also regularly use Poppy for
263. 9:02script writing, but it's a bit more
264. 9:04pricey. And then for the final part of
265. 9:06the creation process, editing, you can
266. 9:08just use CapCut or another editing
267. 9:10software of your choice. Edit it
268. 9:12depending on your niche. Most of the
269. 9:14time it will just be syncing narration
270. 9:15to the footage and then adding captions.
271. 9:18I have some editing tutorials on my
272. 9:19channel, so make sure to check those
273. 9:21out. Step three is posting. And this is
274. 9:23where most people mess up, honestly. So
275. 9:25a common issue that people face is the
276. 9:28zero view jail, where your shorts don't
277. 9:29even get pushed out in the first place.
278. 9:31To avoid this, you want to make your
279. 9:33channel more trustworthy to the
280. 9:34platform. You see, the platform is
281. 9:36trying to filter out spam and bots,
282. 9:38right? So, if your channel looks new or
283. 9:40suspicious, there's a high chance that
284. 9:42your content won't even get pushed out.
285. 9:44To avoid this issue, you can use an
286. 9:46older Gmail if you have one, verify your
287. 9:48phone number in your channel settings,
288. 9:50and actually use YouTube for a few days
289. 9:52before you start posting. Just scroll
290. 9:54through the shorts feed like a normal
291. 9:56human, right? And then when you start
292. 9:57posting, avoid just mass scheduling a
293. 9:59bunch of shorts all at once. Start by
294. 10:01posting one short a day. I've personally
295. 10:04seen the best results when I post from
296. 10:05the YouTube app from my phone. If I
297. 10:07schedule a bunch all on my computer, it
298. 10:10seems that I'm more likely to get lower
299. 10:12views. So, start off with one short a
300. 10:14day and then gradually ramp up to two or
301. 10:16three a day if you would like. And if
302. 10:18your shorts are actually getting pushed
303. 10:19out, post with persistence. Don't let
304. 10:22emotion or anything stop you from being
305. 10:24consistent with this. The reason that
306. 10:2699% fail is simply because they just
307. 10:29stop posting for whatever reason. Keep
308. 10:31posting and improving and innovating
309. 10:33until you reach step four, which is
310. 10:36monetization. The requirements are 1,000
311. 10:38subscribers and 10 million views in the
312. 10:40last 90 days. To reach this, you will
313. 10:42have had to follow the first three steps
314. 10:44perfectly. Now, 10 million seems
315. 10:46intimidating, but it is actually more
316. 10:48achievable than you think. I've been
317. 10:50able to hit the 10 million view
318. 10:52requirement on over 10 different
319. 10:53channels by this point. So, trust me,
320. 10:55it's a very repeatable process. So, once
321. 10:57you hit the requirements, you're going
322. 10:59to apply on YouTube Studio. Assuming
323. 11:01you've been posting transformative
324. 11:03content, you should be accepted. But
325. 11:05even if you are denied, you can make an
326. 11:06appeal video, and that's worked for me
327. 11:08literally every single time. Now, once
328. 11:11monetized, there are two main levers
329. 11:12that you can pull in order to maximize
330. 11:15your earnings: views and RPM. You
331. 11:18increase your view count through
332. 11:19quantity and quality. Post lots of
333. 11:22high-quality content. If you're posting
334. 11:2430 average-quality shorts a month,
335. 11:26doubling it to 60 and making them higher
336. 11:28quality could likely and your monthly
337. 11:31view count by a lot. When it comes to
338. 11:33RPM, targeting English-speaking viewers,
339. 11:35especially from countries like the
340. 11:37United States, United Kingdom, and
341. 11:39Canada, will help you maximize your RPM.
342. 11:41And your RPM matters less if your views
343. 11:44are extraordinarily high, and your views
344. 11:46matter a little bit less if your RPM is
345. 11:48very high. And there are also additional
346. 11:50ways to monetize. For example, this
347. 11:52channel is promoting a product in their
348. 11:53bio, which is just teaching how to make
349. 11:55the content on their channel. So, you
350. 11:57can make lots of money with additional
351. 11:59methods as well. But, for most of you
352. 12:01watching, it will mainly be AdSense. And
353. 12:03lastly, step five is to scale. This is
354. 12:06where it becomes YouTube Shorts
355. 12:08Automation, where you outsource to
356. 12:09freelancers to buy back your time so you
357. 12:11can scale to multiple channels. Now,
358. 12:13this doesn't have to be the final step,
359. 12:15of course. I typically do this from the
360. 12:17very beginning with all of my channels.
361. 12:19I will personally ideate and write
362. 12:21scripts with AI, and then I pay an
363. 12:23editor $3 to $7 a short, depending on
364. 12:26the niche and quality I'm looking for.
365. 12:28You see, most people end up paying way
366. 12:30more per short, or they give the editor
367. 12:32a percentage of their channel's
368. 12:33earnings, which can work, too. But, I
369. 12:35hire from this site, OnlineJobs. I've
370. 12:37linked it down below. If I search for
371. 12:40shorts video editor, we can see that
372. 12:43there's many editors asking for just $4
373. 12:45an hour, $5 an hour, or even $3 an hour.
374. 12:48I'd say, when it comes to shorts
375. 12:50editors, this site is superior to
376. 12:52something like Fiverr or Upwork, because
377. 12:54freelancers on those sites are often
378. 12:55pricier, and then you're not even
379. 12:57allowed to take them off the platform.
380. 12:59With this site, you can communicate off
381. 13:00platform and pay them off platform. You
382. 13:02see, when I make just one job posting, I
383. 13:04get basically an infinite amount of
384. 13:06applicants. So many, it's basically
385. 13:08never-ending, right? So, that's how I do
386. 13:10it. But, obviously, outsourcing is
387. 13:12completely optional. You can keep
388. 13:14editing your own shorts if you would
389. 13:15like. But, this is how it makes it easy
390. 13:17to run tons and tons of different
391. 13:19channels. But, that is how to start
392. 13:20making money with YouTube Shorts. This
393. 13:22is really one of the best ways to make
394. 13:24money online. I still have channels that
395. 13:26I stopped posting on that generate me
396. 13:28money every single month from old shorts
397. 13:30that I posted years ago. So, if you
398. 13:32build up a portfolio of shorts channels,
399. 13:34this can actually become passive income
400. 13:36in the long run. And this is a business
401. 13:38that doesn't require much investment at
402. 13:40all. You can start for free if you want,
403. 13:42or ideally, you just invest into a
404. 13:44couple softwares for under 50 to $100 a
405. 13:47month. And if you do that, that will
406. 13:48give you a massive advantage. If you
407. 13:50want to take a calculated risk, you can
408. 13:52also hire an editor like I do. So, this
409. 13:54model is really good for someone who is
410. 13:56broke or someone with hundreds of
411. 13:58dollars to invest. And now, I just
412. 14:00released a brand new community short
413. 14:02school. I'm active in there, and I'm
414. 14:04sharing dozens of new niches every
415. 14:06single month and new course content
416. 14:08every single month. I have helped
417. 14:09thousands of people grow on YouTube
418. 14:11shorts through the content on this
419. 14:12channel and then the courses and
420. 14:14communities that I've ran in the past.
421. 14:16And I'm putting everything I know into
422. 14:18short school. So, be sure to join right
423. 14:20now. You're going to love it. I made it
424. 14:21just for you. But anyways, thank you so
425. 14:23much for watching, and I'll catch you
426. 14:25later.