Before diving into strategies for earning money on YouTube, it's important to understand the YouTube Partner Program and how many views you need to start making money. To be eligible to monetize your YouTube channel through ads, paid content, and YouTube Premium, you need:

• At least 1,000 subscribers

• At least 4,000 valid public watch hours in the last 12 months
  
  

So you need to hit both those targets before you can start actually earning money through YouTube. The amount you make depends on your CPM rate (cost per thousand views) and how many views your videos get. On average, for every 1,000 ad views, you can make between $3-$5. The more views, the more you earn.

Now let's get into 5 proven strategies for earning money on YouTube once you hit those thresholds:

1. Sign up for the YouTube Partner Program to monetize your videos through ads. You'll earn a portion of the ad revenue from any ads displayed on your videos.

2. Use affiliate links in your video descriptions to promote relevant products and services. You earn a commission when viewers purchase through your affiliate links.

3. Sell sponsorship opportunities to brands relevant to your audience. Companies may pay you a lump sum to promote their brand, products or services in your videos.

4. Create and sell custom merchandise like t-shirts, hoodies, mugs and other products featuring your brand and channel art. You can use sites like Teespring to produce and sell merch.

5. Enable the "Super Chat" feature to allow viewers to pay to have their comments highlighted during your live streams. Fans sometimes pay up to $500 to get noticed.
   
   

The key is providing high-quality content that engages your audience. The more views, likes, comments and shares you get, the more ways you can monetize and earn money from your YouTube channel. Consistency and patience are important. But with the right strategy, passion and effort, you can start earning money on YouTube.