You’ve probably heard stories about regular people earning money on YouTube and thought, “Hey, I can do this too!”. While earning thousands of dollars probably isn’t realistic, you can start earning money quickly, especially if you have a strong subscriber base. Follow this guide to get your videos monetized and start earning revenue off of those YouTube ads.

Quick Summary

1. Set up your channel.

2. Upload content.

3. Gain an audience.

4. Enable monetization in the Video Manager.

5. Accrue 4000 hours of watch time and 1000 subscribers.

6. Set up Google AdSense.

7. Market your videos elsewhere.

8. Become a YouTube partner.

Set up and build your YouTube channel. Your channel is your personal presence on YouTube. Each YouTube account has one channel attached to it. A YouTube account is the same as a Google account, and creating a YouTube account will grant you access to other Google products, such as Gmail and Drive.

Create your account or use your existing one. Add keywords to help people find your channel. You can add keywords by navigating to the Advanced section of your Channel Settings. Make sure that your keywords are relevant to your content.
Your user name can also work for or against you. If it’s short, easy to remember, and original, people will be more apt to remember you. However if you are using an existing account, you can always change your username by editing it on your Google+ account

Add content. Try to upload content that is high quality, and isn't super long. (This option can vary depending on what type of content you decide to upload) Also try to upload regularly and stay consistent with your uploads.

Even if your content isn't great at first, keep at it. Practice makes perfect. Try to make each video better than the last. You will often learn as you go.
Improve your content by either using a better camera or trying better editing software or techniques. Also try to improve the way things are filmed. Use a tripod, have a friend help you or light your scenes better. It all helps for a better end product which in turn helps you get a better audience.
By uploading regularly you can help hold an audience. People are more likely to subscribe if you add content on regular schedule, and maintain that schedule as much as possible.
Make sure to tag your videos with key words that describe the content, as well as an eye-catching description. These will help drive people to your video from YouTube searches.