How much money can you actually make on YouTube? This is a question that most rookie YouTubers find themselves facing sooner rather than later.
It’s also a fairly broad one.
On the one hand, there are wildly successful YouTubers who make millions off the platform every year. On the other, there are countless channels struggling to even start making money.
In this article, we’ll be taking a closer look at a very specific case: How much does a YouTuber with 100 K subs make?
Getting to 100,000 subscribers is a landmark in the career of any YouTuber. It’s a realistic and concrete goal to work towards. It’s also when you get the Silver Creator Award by YouTube to mark you as a top creator.
We’ll give you the full run-down on what factors influence how much you can make as a YouTuber with 100 K subs. To liven it up a little, we’ll also take a look at a concrete example! Jit, whose YouTube channel Ideas & Inspiration now has over 500 K subscribers, gives us the full scoop on his YouTube income and what has driven his channel growth.
Contents
Which Factors Decide How Much a YouTuber With 100 K Subs Makes?
First off, there is no single, easy answer to the question of how much a YouTuber with 100 K subs makes.
Some estimates say that the average is between $600 and $1,000 per week. This translates to around $2,600 to $4,400 per month.
However, the exact value can vary wildly – not just between channels, but also over time.
The reason for that is that there are different factors that decide how much you make on YouTube, and they are independent of your subscriber numbers. The most important are your monetization strategy and your view counts.
Your Monetization Strategy
There are different ways to generate an income from YouTube. How you leverage them is called your monetization strategy.
The most common path to YouTube monetization is the YouTube Partner Program. Once you have 1,000 subscribers and over 4,000 public watch hours, you can apply to join it and get a share of the ad revenue your videos generate. You can also sell channel memberships, and get tipped via Super Thanks.
That is only one way of making an income, though.
Many creators also leverage affiliate marketing, in which they earn a commission when their viewers use a specific link to buy products they recommend.
Another way to generate an income stream is via tipping platforms such as Patreon, Ko-fi, and Buy Me a Coffee.
Many creators also have brand partnerships in which they are paid to give companies shout-outs or become brand ambassadors.
Finally, it’s also common for YouTubers who’ve turned their channel into a successful brand to sell merchandise.
Case Study: Jit Puru's Ideas & Inspiration
Originally, Jit Puru is a professional speaker. He published a book back in 2016 and started organizing community events at which people could share inspiring stories in 2018. These events, held four times a year in Singapore, were structured like TED talks. They had about 300 attendees each, and aimed to help people share inspiration for positive life changes.
YouTube, Jit realized, was a perfect platform to bring this inspiration to a much broader public. That’s why he launched his channel, Ideas & Inspiration.
It was only after one of these videos randomly went viral in late 2019, though, that he started to really invest time and effort into YouTube. Diving deep into analytics, he started to figure out what hit the YouTube algorithm’s sweet spot and got his videos into people’s recommendations.
The first video on the Ideas & Inspiration channel that went viral, rapidly gaining over a million views.
His efforts paid off and a second video soon went viral. As a result, his channel exploded. In early December 2019, his channel had just over 800 subscribers. Three months later, he hit the magical 100 K mark.
Today, Ideas & Inspiration can boast well over 500 K subs:
Revenue From 100 K YouTube Subscribers
But how much did these subscriber numbers earn Jit?
Once his first video took off, he quickly qualified to join the YouTube Partner Program. On his first day as a member, he earned $5.12.
A few months later, in March 2020, his daily income skyrocketed to $510. That was just weeks after he hit 100 K subscribers. At the same time, his videos saw a massive level of engagement.
Now, with over 500 K subscribers, his average daily income from the Partner Program lies at around $100.
Why the difference?
“A lot of people are under the impression that you’ll earn more money the more subscribers you have. That’s just not true,” Jit says. “It depends on how engaged your subscribers are.”
Today, he averages about $100 a day.
A Broader Audience Can Mean Less Engagement
The content on Jit’s channel targets a wide audience. Some of his videos aim to inspire students, others target busy professionals. That also means that people who subscribed to his channel for one kind of content won’t want to engage with many of the other videos he posts. And that’s reflected in his average income.
“Channels in very specific niches with an ardent following can make more money with fewer subscribers. That’s because every subscriber will care about every video you upload,” Jit says.
Besides income from the YouTube Partner Program, Jit also earns commissions from affiliate marketing.
“Many of the speakers we feature on the channel also sell courses and books. If I think that it’s good value for money, and that it can be useful for my viewers, I add affiliate links in the video description.”
Still, currently, Jit’s ad revenue is still six times higher than his affiliate earnings. Both have been in the five figures, though.
The second viral video that Jit uploaded, of another talk. Featuring Nishant Kasibhatla.
Your Engagement Metrics and View Counts
The second major factor in how much 100 K subscribers can earn a YouTuber is how engaged these subscribers actually are.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to whether they watch your content and so generate ad revenue, whether they click on your affiliate links, or buy your merchandise.
In terms of engagement, it can be much more profitable for a video creator to have a smaller but very active and loyal audience, than to have a million subscribers who barely care when you post a new video.
That being said, let’s take a look at a perfect real-life example on how to find success on YouTube, how much you can earn as a YouTuber with 100 K subs, and why your monetization strategy and engagement metrics matter.
So, let’s meet Jit!
Conclusion: How Much Does a YouTuber with 100 K Subs Make?
On average, a YouTuber with 100 K subs can make around $2,400 to $4,400 a month. In Jit’s case, his hitting 100,000 subscribers resulted in a daily revenue of over $500. However, these figures depend on how engaged your subscribers are and what your monetization strategy is.
As we’ve seen on the example of Ideas & Inspiration, running a channel for a broad audience means you need to have a much larger number of subscribers to hit the same level of income as a smaller, more niche channel with a highly engaged audience.
Lastly, many thanks to Jit for sharing his experience with us!
Jit Puru is a professional speaker, author, and founder of Ideas & Inspiration. Through his own journey of continual growth and self-development, Jit strives to inspire and help people all around the world to deal with challenges and live a fulfilled life.
Find him on social media here:
Instagram: @jitpuru & @ideasinspirationsg
TikTok: @ideasinspiration
YouTube: @ideasinspiration
The average income of a YouTuber with 100 K subscribers is between $600 and $1,000 per week. This translates to around $2,600 to $4,400 per month. A good individual day can well exceed $500 on its own, though.
Rather than your number of subscribers, your income depends on how engaged your audience is and how many views you actually get. It also depends on your monetization strategy – whether you rely on ad income only, or whether you also harness affiliate marketing, brand sponsorships etc. in your monetization strategy.
Getting 100,000 subs nets you this coveted trophy from the platform.
