Do you want to earn money making YouTube videos? If so then you likely want to know the most profitable niches on YouTube.
I recently came across a few posts listing profitable YouTube niches that was obviously incorrect. For example, gaming has historically low CPMs that mean you must have millions of views to make any amount of living wage income. This list clearly confused most popular and most profitable niches.
In this guide we will look at both the most popular niches and the most profitable niches on YouTube.
Most Profitable Niches On YouTube
There are many profitable niches on YouTube that are relatively unknown but make creators a lot of money.
These niches are the most profitable for a variety of reasons:
high advertising rates
high value affiliate programs
brands willing to pay more
Below are some of the most profitable niches on YouTube:
Investing
Luxury
Personal Finance
Insurance
Real Estate
Mortgages
Loans
Credit Cards
Cryptocurrency
Business
Make Money Online
Social Media Marketing
Affiliate Marketing
Email Marketing
Software As A Service
E-commerce
Drop Shipping
Educational Videos
Many of these profitable niches could also be considered “high cpm niches” since they all tend to earn multiple times the standard ad rates on YouTube.
Most Popular Niches On YouTube
The most popular niches on YouTube can be very hard to monetize.
Because they are popular it’s harder to standout and grow an audience. Without an audience in these niches you won’t be able to get brand deals or community support which are the main ways to monetize these topics.
Here are some of the most popular niches on YouTube:
Gaming
ASMR
Music
Tech & Gadgets
Cars
Food & Cooking Tutorials
Beauty
Fashion
Healthy Living & Fitness
Weight Loss
Travel
Animals
Pranks
Reactions
Vlogs & Lifestyle
Of course this list is not extensive and there are other popular niche ideas you may want to consider.
This also doesn’t mean you can’t make a profit or a large income in these popular niches. It’s just harder.
These topics can be harder to break into but if you rise to the top you can earn a lot of money in a popular niche as well!
The Reality Of Profitable YouTube Niches
So what’s the real deal with these niches?
There is no definitive way to say which YouTube niche will make you the most money.
Every niche on YouTube has creators making a lot of money. There are even more in each niche making no money.
The amount of money you make on YouTube will depend on a variety of factors including:
Get organized and succeed on YouTube! Streamline your processes and hit your goals by getting organized with this YouTube planner with multiple sections on content planning, channel analytics, monetization, and more.
Whether you are building cash cow YouTube channels or dream of being the next big star, knowing the YouTube monetization policy is an important issue for more video creators.
Many new creators want to know: Can I make money on YouTube? When can I make money on YouTube?
Even if you plan to monetize your YouTube channel through brand deals or affiliate marketing you will want to know about YouTube’s policies.
The YouTube Partner Program
On YouTube you can earn money from the ads showing on your videos by joining the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
The YouTube Partner program let’s eligible creators earn revenue by ads and multiple other built-in revenue streams.
You are also given access to additional tools as a creator including:
1:1 chat and email support
use of the Copyright Match tool
Joining the program when you are eligible allows you access to tools you need to succeed and make money on YouTube.
YouTube Partner Program Eligibility
In order to unlock all the features and earning ability you have to first qualify to join the YouTube Partner Program.
To qualify for YouTube Partner Program you need to do the following:
have 4,000 valid public watch hours in the previous 12 months
have at least 1,000 subscribers
be in good standing with YouTube
follow all YouTube Monetization policies
live in a country where the YPP is available
have a linked Adsense account
The main hurdle for many new creators is having 4,000 hours of watch hours and the 1,000 subscribers. For many creators this can take many months or even years to achieve.
Once you’re in the partner program, you can then start earning money.
You can earn money on your videos from ads and from YouTube Premium subscribers watching your videos. Then you can explore other revenue streams besides ads, like channel memberships or Super Chats.
Depending on your type of channel you can potentially earn from multiple revenue streams all through the YouTube Partner Program.
Ways To Make Money In The YouTube Partner Program
Creators in the YPP earn money in multiple ways beyond ad revenue.
You can make money on YouTube in many ways:
Advertising revenue: Earn ad revenue from display ads, overlay ads, and video ads
YouTube Premium revenue: Earn part of a subscriber’s subscription fee when they watch your content on YouTube
Channel memberships: Allow people to join as a member and pay a monthly payment in exchange for special perks
Super Chat & Super Stickers: Fans can pay to have their messages highlighted in chat streams
Merch Shelf: Show off your channel’s branded merchandise for fans to browse and buy on your video pages
All of these monetization methods are great ways to make money as a YouTube creator.
Each method of monetization on YouTube has it’s own individual requirements beyond the basic acceptance into the YouTube Partner Program.
Here are the current requirements for features as of 2022:
Advertising revenue: Be at least 18 years old and create ad friendly content YouTube Premium revenue: Create content viewed by YouTube premium subscribers Channel memberships: Be at least 18 years old and have more than 1,000 subscribers Super Chat & Super Stickers: Be at least 18 years old and live in a country where Super Chat is available Merch Shelf: Be at least 18 years old and have more than 10,000 subscribers
YouTube Monetization Policy Details
YouTube’s policy for monetizing your channel with ad revenue has undergone multiple changes over the years. There are several things you must follow under YouTube monetization policies in order to earn money with this program.
Your channel must follow all of the policies in each of the following:
Reading these policies thoroughly is the best way to make sure you are following them and your content is suitable to monetize or not.
Each time you upload a video and want to monetize it you’ll have to confirm that your content follows these policies and is eligible for advertising.
YouTube can and will review channels against their monetization policy and other policies. You can see a good guide of which policies will be reviewed and how you can make sure you follow them correctly from Google’s guide here.
How Do YouTube Ads Work?
Understanding how ad revenue works on YouTube is the key to earning money as a creator.
Watching videos about how much YouTube pays creators for views is a great way to understand advertising revenue and to learn what you can earn.
YouTube pays video creators a split of the ad revenue on each video and your total revenue will depend on the views you can get along with other factors.
How Much Money Can You Make?
The real question people want to know: how much money can you make on YouTube? How much can you make with ads?
Unfortunately this is an impossible question to answer because ad revenue varies widely among creators and topics on YouTube.
Ad revenue on videos is determined by factors like:
audience location
audience demographics
interaction with the ad
number of ads in a video
topic of the video content
what advertisers are willing to pay
You can’t control everything related to ad revenue since there are so many factors. But you can work on getting more and more views which will turn into income for you.
Some types of content naturally make more money than others. Videos on finance or business will pay much more than videos on gaming for example.
You can see many examples of what creators get paid in the YouTube Partner Program by searching for things like “YouTube paid me” or “YouTube income report”. Here’s one of my YouTube income report videos:
Each month I earn over $4,000 just from the ad revenue on my YouTube content.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Fiverr – Hire freelancers to help edit your videos, create voiceovers, film footage, and more. You can create an entire channel using Fiverr freelancers and several specialize in creating these types of faceless, voiceless channels.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
OnlineJobs PH – Hire freelancers in The Philippines to help you run your channel. You can find professional video creators and editors looking for work at very reasonable prices. I personally use video editors that I found on this site and it has been an amazing working relationship.
YouTube Tools
These tools help you create content that will actually reach an audience on YouTube, from finding the right topics to creating thumbnails that capture attention.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
TubeBuddy – TubeBuddy is an all around tool helpful especially for SEO research and creating optimized videos that rank in search. It’s the ideal tool to use for video channels that will be faceless and not rely on a personality to build them.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Epidemic Sound – Get music for your videos without worrying about future copyright issues. You can try to get “copyright free” or “royalty free” music from other sites but those can come back to claim. your ad revenue years down the road (I speak from experience). Avoid issues and pay for access to music you can use legally.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Canva – If you need to make thumbnails for YouTube videos then you need to use Canva. It’s a fantastic design tool that makes creating thumbnails quick and easy. It’s also super easy to manage a team of freelancers who might be helping you generate thumbnails. At only $12 per month it’s essential.
YouTube Channel Organization
These resources will help you plan and organize your ideas for your cash cow YouTube channel.
Get organized and succeed on YouTube! Streamline your processes and hit your goals by getting organized with this YouTube planner with multiple sections on content planning, channel analytics, monetization, and more.
YouTube Success Planner – This YouTube planner includes everything in the video planner and goes more in depth on how to grow your channel, how to monetize your videos, and how to track your success.
If you are creating faceless YouTube videos then you’ll need to find b-roll to create those videos. In this post we look at places to find free b-roll for YouTube cash cow channels and other videos.
What Is B-Roll?
B-roll is the extra footage you add into a video to make the story better by having a more versatile and interesting video.
It makes video editing more flexible and easier. B roll footage can include video, still photos, animation, or other graphics.
For cash cow YouTube videos where you are not the focus of the video, you’ll need various types of b-roll to create your video content. Sourcing and putting together b-roll footage is a huge part of creating videos without showing your face.
There are several websites that offer free videos you can use as b-roll in YouTube videos.
One of my favorite b-roll sources is the website called Pexels. They claim to be “The best free stock photos, royalty free images & videos shared by creators.”
As a creator I believe the best part of Pexels is that they keep the licensing and legal side simple.
As they explain: “All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free.”
Here are some additional details they offer about using the b-roll:
All photos and videos on Pexels are free to use.
Attribution is not required.
Giving credit to the photographer or Pexels is not necessary but always appreciated.
You can modify the photos and videos from Pexels. Be creative and edit them as you like.
This makes things incredibly easy as a YouTube creator who needs to use other people’s videos to create a channel!
More Free B-Roll Websites
Pexels has been my go to for b-roll for YouTube videos, but there are other free b-roll websites.
Here are several free b-roll websites you can use:
There are a few things you need to keep in mind whenever you are using these free b-roll footage websites.
First, keep licensing and fine print in mind as you choose the videos you want to use. Do your due diligence and read the small print and licensing details attached to the video content.
Second, credit video creators where necessary and also when possible. Giving credit to the original video creators you source for your videos does not take away from your videos. It does generate good will and karma in the community and is a general good practice.
Third, pay attention to the video technical details. If you are creating videos for YouTube then you likely will only want to work in 1080p instead of focusing on 4k. Pay attention to make sure videos are high enough quality to include in your work. Using 1080p will ensure most are but if you want 4k videos only you will be limited on free websites.
Finally, remember that free sites for b-roll footage are not the same as paying for video content. You will have to sort through a lot of content and not everything will be top tier. Many amateurs upload content to free sites and you’ll have to evaluate a lot of videos to decide what to use.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Fiverr – Hire freelancers to help edit your videos, create voiceovers, film footage, and more. You can create an entire channel using Fiverr freelancers and several specialize in creating these types of faceless, voiceless channels.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
OnlineJobs PH – Hire freelancers in The Philippines to help you run your channel. You can find professional video creators and editors looking for work at very reasonable prices. I personally use video editors that I found on this site and it has been an amazing working relationship.
YouTube Tools
These tools help you create content that will actually reach an audience on YouTube, from finding the right topics to creating thumbnails that capture attention.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
TubeBuddy – TubeBuddy is an all around tool helpful especially for SEO research and creating optimized videos that rank in search. It’s the ideal tool to use for video channels that will be faceless and not rely on a personality to build them.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Epidemic Sound – Get music for your videos without worrying about future copyright issues. You can try to get “copyright free” or “royalty free” music from other sites but those can come back to claim. your ad revenue years down the road (I speak from experience). Avoid issues and pay for access to music you can use legally.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Canva – If you need to make thumbnails for YouTube videos then you need to use Canva. It’s a fantastic design tool that makes creating thumbnails quick and easy. It’s also super easy to manage a team of freelancers who might be helping you generate thumbnails. At only $12 per month it’s essential.
YouTube Channel Organization
These resources will help you plan and organize your ideas for your cash cow YouTube channel.
Get organized and succeed on YouTube! Streamline your processes and hit your goals by getting organized with this YouTube planner with multiple sections on content planning, channel analytics, monetization, and more.
YouTube Success Planner – This YouTube planner includes everything in the video planner and goes more in depth on how to grow your channel, how to monetize your videos, and how to track your success.
After quitting my job to create content full time on YouTube I have received a lot of questions about the decision. One of my favorites to answer is what is a cash cow YouTube channel?
Since my YouTube income is a mix of personality based content along with cash cow type videos this is one of my favorite topics to talk about!
What is a cash cow YouTube channel?
Cash cow channels on YouTube are channels designed entirely to make money.
These channels do not rely on a personality and the entire content can be outsourced to a team of freelancers or employees.
The videos are often designed to get as many views as possible in higher paying niches. The focus is on getting views to generate revenue rather than building community or other possible purposes.
Cash cow channels are all about making money on YouTube without being a personality in front of the camera. This allows you to pay others to make the content that then earns money. It removes you from the content creation grind and instead creates an asset that earns money each month without your work.
They can be successful but it takes a lot of work to find success with your ideas and content team.
Cash cow channels on YouTube have risen in popularity over the last few years as people have sold courses and shared income stats from the platform.
Cash cow channel owners pay people to write scripts, gather b-roll videos, create voiceovers, and edit the videos. Then the finished video is uploaded to their YouTube channel.
Videos are created around popular topics that drive lots of views and can generate large amounts of ad revenue.
Cash cow channels are mainly monetized by ad revenue on YouTube.
Cash cow channels on YouTube are nothing new. There are already hundreds or thousands of successful cash cow channels earning owners money every single month.
If you aren’t sure what kind of cash cow YouTube channel to make, check out these channel ideas.
This will give you a few ideas of topics you can build a channel around.
However, it’s just a starting point! People build channels in this style in almost every niche. If there is a topic that interests you then you can probably build a YouTube channel around it.
Building a cash cow YouTube channel will vary in difficulty depending on the niche you select. Certain topics are easier to grow channels around on YouTube.
Depending on your topic you’ll have to generate video ideas that you hope will generate massive views (and revenue).
Want to know how to get started with generating ideas for your YouTube channel?
Since the majority of cash cow type channels are created without a personality showing their face, these video ideas will inspire you.
Faceless, cash cow channels are a great model on YouTube that continues to grow in popularity. This means new video types will be created giving you even more opportunities.
After reading these cash cow channel ideas you’re probably ready to start your own channel and rake in money. Here are a few tips and resources that can help you save time and earn money faster.
Here are some resources that you can use to create these videos and grow your channel.
Outsourcing Video Work
These sites help you find freelancers and virtual assistants to create your YouTube content and run your cash cow channel.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Fiverr – Hire freelancers to help edit your videos, create voiceovers, film footage, and more. You can create an entire channel using Fiverr freelancers and several specialize in creating these types of faceless, voiceless channels.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
OnlineJobs PH – Hire freelancers in The Philippines to help you run your channel. You can find professional video creators and editors looking for work at very reasonable prices. I personally use video editors that I found on this site and it has been an amazing working relationship.
YouTube Tools
These tools help you create content that will actually reach an audience on YouTube, from finding the right topics to creating thumbnails that capture attention.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
TubeBuddy – TubeBuddy is an all around tool helpful especially for SEO research and creating optimized videos that rank in search. It’s the ideal tool to use for video channels that will be faceless and not rely on a personality to build them.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Epidemic Sound – Get music for your videos without worrying about future copyright issues. You can try to get “copyright free” or “royalty free” music from other sites but those can come back to claim. your ad revenue years downthe road (I speak from experience). Avoid issues and pay for access to music you can use legally.
YouTube Channel Organization
These resources will help you plan and organize your ideas for your cash cow YouTube channel.
Get organized and succeed on YouTube! Streamline your processes and hit your goals by getting organized with this YouTube planner with multiple sections on content planning, channel analytics, monetization, and more.
YouTube Success Planner – This YouTube planner includes everything in the video planner and goes more in depth on how to grow your channel, how to monetize your videos, and how to track your success.
Under the Channel URL sections, click Set a custom URL for your channel.
In the box, you’ll see your current URL and your potential custom URL. You can add extra letters or numbers to make your custom URL unique to your channel.
Click the blue Publish button in the top right of the page.
Click Confirm on the popup screen to confirm your custom URL.
YouTube ChannelCustom URLs Details
Why would you want a custom URL for your channel? Creating a custom URL is an easy to remember URL that you can share with your audience. It’s easier to remember, better for branding, and customizes your channel.
Instead of have a channel that is youtube.com/ceJWE8732fjKEWNF# you will instead be able to have a channel URL that is youtube.com/penniesnotperfection for example. It’s much cleaner and easier to remember or share.
You get to choose your URL but there are some things you can base it on:
Display name
YouTube username
Current vanity URLs
Linked website name
You can also choose the capitalization options so that you can make words stand out of not. For example you can choose either of the following:
youtube.com/c/yourcustomname
youtube.com/c/YourCustomName
This gives you even more flexibility to use the custom URL feature for your channel to reinforce your branding.
Custom URL Eligibility
Who is eligible to get a custom channel URL? There are some requirements you need to hit before you are able to set up your custom URL.
To create a custom URL for your channel, your YouTube account needs to:
Have 100 or more subscribers
Be at least 30 days old
Have an uploaded profile picture
Have uploaded banner image
That’s it!
The great thing about custom URLs is that it is one of the first things you get to do on YouTube while building your audience. Most features won’t unlock until 1,000 or even 10,000 subscribers, but at 100 subscribers you get a custom URL!
It’s important to note that a custom URL can be changed or removed by YouTube at any time. This could include things like copyright infringement or when an account is deleted.
Growing Your YouTube Channel
Once you’ve got 100 subscribers and have selected your custom URL, then it’s time to keep growing until you hit 1,000 subscribers and more!
Use a free tool like TubeBuddy to evaluate your competition, research keywords, and make better videos.
TubeBuddy has a free version as well as a couple paid plans. You can get a lot out of the free version as a newbie and when you are ready you can go to the next level.
I love TubeBuddy for the SEO help but also the bulk management tools, canned comment responses, A/B testing, end screen templates and more.
Here are the SEO tools you have access to inside TubeBuddy:
view and copy video tags from another channel
tag rankings so you can track where you rank
suggested tags for your videos
keyword explorer
search rankings
best practices audit
All of those tools help you get your video ranked on YouTube so you get more views. TubeBuddy helps improve your SEO and increase search traffic that will double your views over time.
Make Good Videos
Seriously, making good videos is how you grow on YouTube. There are a lot of additional factors but you won’t grow if you make bad videos.
Here are a few of the best tips from successful creators I’ve followed about making good videos:
Get to the point in your videos. Don’t ramble on for a long period at the beginning where people will fall off. Study your old videos too see where people drop off.
Make your videos provide value. If your videos are educational then make them very educational. If they are entertainment based then they should provide value by making your viewer feel something. Think of each video and consider what value it is providing someone.
Audio quality matters the most even over video quality. You can have top notch video but if your audio is bad people will stop watching.
Focus on your presentation and story telling skills. When you first start making videos you probably won’t be very good at this but it’s something that makes the best YouTubers connect with their audience.
Every video on your channel is providing some type of value. That value might be education or entertainment or just a feeling like someone belongs. You need to recognize what value you are providing and then put your own unique spin on it.
Remember that these are all things that you can work on and you can’t compare yourself to other creators. You should work hard to improve your skills and tune out the distractions of others.
Build Community
Having a community around your channel and your videos is another great way to guarantee successful video launches and continued success. Building community can be done in a few ways:
commenting on other youtube channels
responding to all of your comments
referencing viewers and comments in your videos
giving shoutouts to people in your community
giving your viewers a nickname and expected phrases
Those are just a few ways I’ve found to build my community but you can find what works for you! The most successful YouTube channels have an element of community around them.
Those are just some of the ways I’ve learned how to grow my channel and consistently doubled my channel size each year I’ve been on Youtube while still keeping consistent and engaged subscribers.
Learn From YouTube Experts
Another great way to grow on YouTube (and save a ton of time) is to learn from experts who have already done it.
She went from 0 subscribers to over 70,000 and $100,000 earned from YouTube in just one year. I’ve learned a lot from her about both getting views from trending topics and outsourcing to grow faster.
Taking a course like this or from any big YouTuber will help you learn faster and grow faster because you will make less mistakes.
More YouTube Channel Resources
Here are some resources that you can use to create videos and grow your channel on YouTube.
Outsourcing Video Work
These sites help you find freelancers and virtual assistants to create your YouTube content and run your cash cow channel.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Fiverr – Hire freelancers to help edit your videos, create voiceovers, film footage, and more. You can create an entire channel using Fiverr freelancers and several specialize in creating these types of faceless, voiceless channels.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
OnlineJobs PH – Hire freelancers in The Philippines to help you run your channel. You can find professional video creators and editors looking for work at very reasonable prices. I personally use video editors that I found on this site and it has been an amazing working relationship.
YouTube Tools
These tools help you create content that will actually reach an audience on YouTube, from finding the right topics to creating thumbnails that capture attention.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
TubeBuddy – TubeBuddy is an all around tool helpful especially for SEO research and creating optimized videos that rank in search. It’s the ideal tool to use for video channels that will be faceless and not rely on a personality to build them.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Epidemic Sound – Get music for your videos without worrying about future copyright issues. You can try to get “copyright free” or “royalty free” music from other sites but those can come back to claim. your ad revenue years down the road (I speak from experience). Avoid issues and pay for access to music you can use legally.
I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Canva – If you need to make thumbnails for YouTube videos then you need to use Canva. It’s a fantastic design tool that makes creating thumbnails quick and easy. It’s also super easy to manage a team of freelancers who might be helping you generate thumbnails. At only $12 per month it’s essential.
YouTube Channel Organization
These resources will help you plan and organize your ideas for your cash cow YouTube channel.
Get organized and succeed on YouTube! Streamline your processes and hit your goals by getting organized with this YouTube planner with multiple sections on content planning, channel analytics, monetization, and more.
YouTube Success Planner – This YouTube planner includes everything in the video planner and goes more in depth on how to grow your channel, how to monetize your videos, and how to track your success.
All of these things will help you grow faster after you’ve hit your first 100 subscribers. Best wishes on growing your channel to a huge success!
