Can you get paid for being on YouTube?

Answer 1

Yes, you can get paid on YouTube, and even enough to live off it. It works by paying you what is called a CPM (Clicks per Mil). That is a dollar amount per 1000 monetized views. Those are the views that show commercials or ads of any kind. There is also an issue with many mobile views that are not able to be tracked.

Out of my average 800k views, I get roughly 300k monetized views. I get paid like this

CPM * (Montitized Views/1000) = Gross

Next YouTube takes their cut of 45% followed by my network's cut of 10%. While my network takes 10%, the increase in my CPM more than makes up for it. For example without it I might get $8 for a CPM without a network (using just adsense) while I make $13-$14 with my network.

On top of what you make from the views alone through advertising money, there is a large secondary income potential if you are able to utilize it. I charge $20-$200 to do promotional services per video depending upon what is needed. That secondary income was the tipping point for me to be able to do YouTube as a full-time job.

While I don't make good money, I make enough to live off Roman noodles, cheap beer, and good food when I sell a promotion. However, I'll eat crap and love it since I play Video Games for a living :P