5 Ways You Can Make Money From Video Sharing Sites

Thanks to video sharing sites, there are more reasons to grab your camera and shoot videos. These days, you not only get to show your creativity for everyone on the internet to appreciate, you can also get paid for it, thanks to video sharing sites. Ready for your close up? Here's how to make money from video sharing sites:

Upload your video.
This is the most popular way of making money from video sharing sites. Video sharing sites offer revenue sharing, usually on a per click-through basis, that is, each click through on your video is equivalent to a certain amount. So the more click-throughs you get, the more money you earn.

Don’t expect to earn tons of money through this method alone, though. Your earnings will depend on how many people click on your video and on how many are even aware it exists. As such, you will need to market your video/s intensely, to ensure they are promoted and exposed to a wider audience.

Produce quality videos and find a sponsor.
Please… enough of those lame videos featuring your neighbor's infant son or pet ferret. If you seriously want to make money from video sharing sites, shoot a video that deserves to earn money. If you can show quality, highly interesting videos, you can even find a sponsor who will gladly pay you to have their name associated with your clip.

Find out what type of niche or special markets companies like to target, then create a video that can drum up interest from that audience. Your sponsor's name and logo can appear before, during and after the clip plays. You can then make money by charging your sponsor as you like – per click through, per unique viewer or by month.

Got video? Sell it.
Do you have a video you're proud of? iStockVideo.com needs you. This is the same group of people who is behind iStockPhoto.com, an excellent online source of stock photos you can use for free. This is a relatively new video sharing site that accepts good quality video clips, animation, short films, stop motion films, abstract movies and other great stuff. You can receive free credits if you submit a video. You can use these credits on the iStockVideo site.

To earn money, refer friends to the site. If they also upload their own video clips, iStockVideo.com will pay you for it. The running rate is $1 per clip and you can earn up to 50 clip uploads, equivalent to $50. The more friends you refer and the more videos they upload, the more you'll earn.

Create a site with a theme.
Using Google Videos, you can make money by simply building a site with a particular theme. Any theme will do – crazy stunts, stupid acts, dangerous jobs, wedding disasters, martial arts techniques, gardening, etc. – provided that these videos are available from Google Videos. Many of the videos on Google can be embedded anyway, so you probably won't have any trouble using them on your site.

Once you have the videos, provide some content to help visitors find their way around the site. You can use software such as MovableType or WordPress for your blogs. When you have organized your site, add your affiliate links. You can also capture a regular audience by using an opt-in mailing list.

Syndicate it!
If you have high quality video that has interesting, unique content, many site owners will pay to have your clips appear on their video sharing site. Syndication is a common practice in media, such as publications, radio and TV. People pay for syndicated content provided it is of excellent quality, a cut above the rest. Simply charge your partners a monthly or yearly fee for the right to display your video and earn in the process. If you produce more quality videos, syndication can be an excellent source of income for your video making talent.

Protecting your rights (and those of others)
Before you send out those videos, determine whether they are covered by a copyright or not. You might also get into trouble if you use a video that has the image of a person who did not give his or her permission for that purpose. Lucky you if the person does not complain but in the event that he or she later sues for having their image used unfairly or for the invasion of their privacy, you could be paying a lot of money in legal damages.

Check if the video is covered by copyright and get the proper permission. If you're using a person's image, have him sign a release to relieve you of any legal responsibility. Making money using videos is not just worth all that trouble.

Will this opportunity make you a millionaire overnight or at least within a few months? Not likely. What monetizing video sharing sites means is that you have the opportunity to create a multiple income stream. Better yet, it's passive, allowing you to earn without actively breaking your back in the process. Try these ways and begin making money with the help of video sharing sites now.