YouTube is now a trending cash cow. It’s understandable that many are making use of this opportunity, for millions of people across the globe have started YouTube channels.

Setting up a YouTube Channel is easy but what’s challenging is understanding how to actually earn money from it, that is, if your sole intention is to earn from your content.

Rapper Bac-T, real name Gerald Nkubiri, runs a channel — Big town TV. He says the most important thing when it comes to earning from YouTube, is content creation. Without this, not only is it hard to make money, but even getting views becomes really hard.

"Once you get content that people love, then your chances of getting money is high,” he says.

He, however, points out that people need to understand that before you start earning, YouTube requires that you get 1000 subscribers to be monetised.

"You also have to have watch time of 4000 hours, then you can apply to YouTube to be monetised. Once you are monetised, you get adverts and this helps you get money,” Nkubiri says.

He emphasises the need to get original content to avoid issues, and most importantly, follow YouTube guidelines.

Running a YouTube channel also comes with its own set of challenges, according to the rapper. "Getting content is hard, for one to get the story you want is challenging, sometimes getting interviews is very complicated seeing that some people delay, so for one to reach their goals, it becomes hard too.”

He also adds the need to have the right equipment in order to give the audience quality content. 

"The world now needs good quality images, cameras that offer this quality are expensive, yet you can’t use the phone alone. You need to have microphones, cameras, and computers for editing.”

According to Gentil Gedeon Ntirenganya, the owner of Gentil Gedeon official, anyone can join YouTube because it is an open platform, but not everyone can earn money from it.

It depends on how you utilise the platform, he says, noting also that the first and most important thing is to get content because it’s the first thing people follow.

"How its created matters; it has to be unique, different from that of television, radio or that which is read online. The other thing is, you have to give it enough time for your channel to become popular,” he says.

It’s from the views that YouTubers are able to earn money, so Ntirenganya advises that they work hard on getting their content seen and shared.

"Share your content on WhatsApp groups, advertise on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram. You also need to work on getting subscribers, because this helps in a way that you are always assured of their views.”

When it comes to challenges, Ntirenganya says making content and people don’t like it is hard because then you can’t get views, meaning that you can’t get money.

"Getting content is expensive too, it requires time and a good team among other things.”

He also points to the trust YouTubers are losing from their audience basing on the unreasonable content some of them create, noting that this is affecting all YouTubers in general.

"The first people who joined YouTube, some of them didn’t make good content and this has slayed the market for others, its challenging in terms of trust because now some people ignore everything all together thinking all of us make such content.”

In Alhan Keser’s article, "How to be Successful on YouTube in 10 Easy Steps” published by Blue Fountain Media, he says, ‘Just like when you are creating content for your website, in order to be discovered on the second largest search engine, you will need to know what people are looking for. Use YouTube’s Keyword Tool to find popular searches within your space. Optimizing your digital media content for search is just as important as it is for your written content on a blog or website. You have to be strategic, do your research, and know who you want to target. Google includes YouTube videos in their search results, so cross-referencing your Google keyword research with the research you did for YouTube, can be an important step to take in the planning process.’

Also, Keser adds, ‘Know your competition. Search on YouTube to find other videos that already rank well for the keywords that you would like to rank for. See what it is that you are up against and seek out strategies to out-do them. This phase should also help you in your keyword research. Use this research to look into some opportunities that your competitors may not be taking advantage of. Are there any keywords that receive a lot of traffic that could possibly be easier to rank for than the ones you were initially looking into? Are there any long tail keywords you could target that might cater to some more specific questions a viewer has?’