How Much Does YouTube Pay For Shorts?

As the popularity of short-form content continues to rise, many creators are turning to YouTube Shorts as a way to expand their reach and potentially earn money from their videos.

How much do they make? 

In this article, I'll explore how creators can earn revenue from their short-form content and what factors influence their earnings.

I'll also share real-world examples of YouTube Shorts earnings and tips on maximizing your income.

What Are YouTube Shorts?

YouTube Shorts are short-form vertical videos similar to content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

These bite-sized videos, which can be up to 60 seconds long, are designed to be easily consumed on mobile devices.

YouTube Shorts offer creators a new way to engage with their audience and showcase their creativity in a concise format.

The Shorts feed, prominently featured on the YouTube homepage, helps viewers discover new content and creators.

Examples Of Successful YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts cover various topics and styles, allowing creators to experiment with different formats and ideas.

Some popular types of YouTube Shorts include:

• Comedy skits: Creators use humor and wit to entertain their audience with short, punchy videos that often rely on relatable situations or clever wordplay.
• Dance challenges: Participatory dance challenges, often set to trending songs, encourage viewers to recreate the moves and share their own versions, leading to viral trends.
• How-to tutorials: Quick, informative videos that teach viewers a new skill, share a life hack, or demonstrate a recipe in a compact format perfect for on-the-go learning.

How Does YouTube Shorts Monetization Work?

YouTube Shorts monetization has evolved significantly, particularly with the introduction of the Shorts Monetization Module. 

Here’s a detailed overview of how it works:

1. Ad Revenue Sharing

YouTube’s ad revenue-sharing model for Shorts is different from long-form content. 

Ads shown between Shorts are pooled together, and creators are allocated a share based on their total views across all Shorts. 

Creators receive 45% of the revenue attributed to them, while YouTube retains the remaining 55%. Importantly, this revenue split applies after any music licensing fees if you use music in your Shorts​.

2. Eligibility For YouTube Partner Program (YPP)

To monetize Shorts, creators must join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). The eligibility requirements for Shorts creators are:

• 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days, or
• 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 public watch hours on long-form videos within the last 12 months​.

Once accepted into YPP, creators can turn on monetization for Shorts via YouTube Studio.

3. Revenue Per 1,000 Views (RPM)

The RPM for YouTube Shorts is relatively low compared to long-form videos, ranging from $0.01 to $0.16 per 1,000 views. 

This means that for 1 million views, creators may earn around $100​. While this figure is lower than long-form video earnings, Shorts' massive reach can still generate significant income with higher view counts.

4. Other Monetization Methods

Beyond ads, creators can earn money through:

• Fan funding features like Super Chat, Super Stickers, and Super Thanks.
• Brand partnerships and affiliate marketing by promoting products or services through Shorts​.
• Selling digital products (e.g., courses, templates) directly via links in Shorts​.

These methods complement ad revenue and provide additional income streams for Shorts creators.

Real-World Examples Of YouTube Shorts Earnings

Real-world earnings from YouTube Shorts can vary widely, depending on factors like view count, the use of music, and ad placements.

Here are some examples to give you an idea of what creators are making:

1. TubeBuddy Case Study: One creator reported earning $32 from 1 million views on a YouTube Short. Their RPM (Revenue Per Mille) was around $0.03 in this case. When they reached 3.1 million views, they earned just under $100. It's important to note that Shorts with licensed music can reduce revenue, as up to 50% can go to music rights​.
2. Jenny Hoyos: This creator accumulated over 22 million views on her Shorts and earned $1,200 in ad revenue. However, most of her earnings came from leveraging her Shorts audience for brand collaborations, merchandise sales, and courses rather than solely relying on ad revenue​.
3. Higher RPM Examples: According to another study, some creators see RPMs as high as $0.15 to $0.30 per 1,000 views when their Shorts run longer and don't use music. For example, one channel earned $2,433 from 139.8 million views, translating to an RPM of $0.0174​.
4. Brand Collaborations and Diversified Earnings: Many creators, like Sydney Morgan, report that while ad revenue from Shorts may be modest, they make significant income from brand deals, merchandise, and fan funding. Morgan mentioned that Shorts revenue alone is now allowing her to live comfortably off her content​.

While ad revenue earnings are typically lower compared to long-form content, Shorts offer great viral potential, and creators often use them to boost their channel's growth and secure additional revenue through other monetization strategies like brand partnerships and merchandise sales.

Tips For Maximizing Your YouTube Shorts Earnings

Maximizing your YouTube Shorts earnings requires strategic content creation and leveraging different monetization options. Here are some tips to boost your revenue:

1. Consistently Upload High-Quality Content

Frequent uploads are key to gaining views and keeping your audience engaged. Creators who upload at least 4-5 Shorts daily tend to see faster growth and higher earnings​. Consistency helps increase the chances of your Shorts being promoted by YouTube’s algorithm.

2. Leverage Viral Content Trends

Jumping on trending topics or challenges within your niche can help your Shorts gain traction quickly. Tailor your content to current trends to capture a wider audience​.

3. Optimize For YouTube's Algorithm

Optimize your Shorts with relevant keywords, engaging thumbnails, and strong SEO practices to maximize earnings. This helps YouTube recommend your content to a broader audience​.

4. Monetize Through Multiple Streams

In addition to ad revenue, explore alternative income streams such as:

• Brand Sponsorships: Partner with brands that align with your content for paid collaborations​.
• Merchandise Sales: Promote and sell custom products through your channel​.
• Fan Funding: Enable Super Thanks or channel memberships to allow viewers to support your work directly​.

5. Use Longer Shorts Without Licensed Music

Longer Shorts (up to 60 seconds) tend to have higher RPMs, and avoiding licensed music can prevent revenue from being split with music rights holders. Instead, use royalty-free music to retain more of your earnings​.

6. Drive Traffic To Long-Form Content

YouTube Shorts are a great tool to promote your long-form videos. Use Shorts as teasers or previews to attract viewers to your main content, where the RPMs and ad revenue are higher​.

7. Focus On Engagement

Increase viewer retention by creating content that encourages users to like, comment, and share. High engagement rates can push your Shorts to more users through YouTube's algorithm

8. Repurpose Your Content To TikTok And Instagram Reels

To maximize your content's reach, repurpose your YouTube Shorts for TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Since these platforms also prioritize short-form videos, you can easily cross-post your Shorts without additional production effort. By doing this, you can:

• Reach new audiences across multiple platforms.
• Boost visibility and drive traffic back to your YouTube channel.
• Leverage platform-specific monetization, such as TikTok’s Creator Fund or Instagram’s ad programs.

Ensure the content meets each platform's formatting and guidelines and optimize captions and hashtags for each network’s algorithm.

Kajabi’s Creator Studio offers an efficient way to repurpose long-form content, such as course videos or webinars, into shorter clips optimized for platforms like TikTok. 

With just a few clicks, you can create short, engaging video clips and tailor them for different platforms, adjusting the aspect ratio, adding captions, and more to fit TikTok’s format.

Kajabi's tool can also help you manage these clips across various social media channels, ensuring consistent branding and engagement across your digital presence.

Want to learn how much you can earn from your YouTube channel? Check out our YouTube Money Calculator and get a sense of your channel’s expected revenue based on your average views, engagement level, video length, and niche.

Benefits Of Creating YouTube Shorts

Creating YouTube Shorts offers several key benefits that can enhance your content strategy and maximize your reach:

1. Increased Audience Reach

YouTube Shorts have a high potential for going viral due to YouTube’s algorithm, which prioritizes short-form content. This makes it easier to attract a larger audience than long-form content​.

Shorts allow you to capture the attention of viewers who prefer bite-sized, easily digestible content.

2. Boost Channel Growth

Shorts can drive significant traffic to your channel, helping increase your subscriber count and engagement rates.

Many creators use Shorts as a gateway to their long-form content, turning casual viewers into long-term subscribers​.

3. Faster Content Creation

Creating Shorts is quicker and often requires less production time than long-form videos. This allows creators to upload more frequently, keeping their audience engaged without needing to invest as much time in editing and production​.

4. Monetization Opportunities

Although the revenue per view is lower than long-form content, creators can still earn from ad revenue as part of YouTube's Partner Program.

Additionally, Shorts can serve as a marketing tool to promote other monetization streams such as merchandise, brand sponsorships, and affiliate marketing​.

5. Increased Engagement

The short, engaging format of YouTube Shorts encourages higher interaction through likes, comments, and shares. This engagement can lead to more visibility as the algorithm boosts content that receives positive feedback​.

6. Repurpose Long-Form Content

Shorts provide a great way to repurpose snippets from longer videos or courses, allowing you to maximize the value of existing content across multiple platforms​. This approach can drive traffic to your longer videos or paid offerings like courses or memberships.

How Can Creators Supplement Their YouTube Shorts Income?

To supplement your YouTube Shorts income, creators can explore monetization methods beyond ad revenue.

Here are several strategies that can significantly boost your earnings:

1. Fan Funding

Fan funding options such as Super Thanks, Super Chats, Super Stickers, and Channel Memberships allow viewers to financially support your content directly.

These features enable your audience to contribute by purchasing one-time “thanks” or subscribing for exclusive content and perks​.

2. Brand Deals And Sponsorships

Partnering with brands can be highly lucrative. You can collaborate with brands to create sponsored content that aligns with your audience's interests.

Brand deals involve promoting specific products, while sponsorships offer long-term collaborations where brands support your content​.

3. Sell Digital Products

Creators can sell digital products like courses, templates, or eBooks directly through their Shorts. These products are cost-effective to create and can be sold repeatedly, generating passive income. 

You can promote these products within your Shorts and provide purchase links​.

4. Affiliate Marketing

Joining affiliate programs allows you to earn commissions by promoting products in your Shorts. When viewers use your affiliate links to make purchases, you get a share of the revenue.

Platforms like Amazon and YouTube’s affiliate program (currently in testing) are popular choices for creators​.

5. YouTube Shopping

If eligible, you can use YouTube Shopping to sell products directly through your Shorts. This involves tagging products in your videos or linking to your merchandise, making it easy for viewers to purchase​.

6. Create User-Generated Content (UGC) For Brands

Even if you have a smaller channel, you can create user-generated content (UGC) for brands.

Many companies seek authentic promotional content from creators, regardless of their subscriber count. This offers a unique way to monetize your skills without needing a massive following​.

7. Create And Sell Courses Online

Creating and selling online courses is another effective way for creators to supplement their YouTube Shorts income.

Platforms like Kajabi allow you to leverage your expertise and sell courses directly to your audience.

• Choose a topic that aligns with your YouTube content and resonates with your audience. If you regularly create educational or informative Shorts, transitioning into full-length courses on related topics can be a natural next step.
• Break down your course into easily digestible lessons. You can even repurpose your existing YouTube content (such as longer videos) to form the foundation of your course.
• Use your Shorts to promote your course. For example, you can create a short clip offering a teaser or tip from your course and include a call-to-action (CTA) with a link to the full course​.

Is Focusing On YouTube Shorts Worth It For Creators?

Focusing on YouTube Shorts can be worth it for creators, especially considering the evolving monetization options and the potential to reach wider audiences.

Here are some key points to consider:

1. Massive Viewership Potential

YouTube Shorts generate over 50 billion views per day, which far surpasses the engagement levels of regular long-form videos.

This high exposure allows creators to reach a wider audience and potentially go viral​.

2. Rapid Channel Growth

Due to their easily consumable format, shorts are more likely to be shared and go viral. 

This can lead to rapid increases in subscribers and visibility, particularly if you create trending or highly engaging content​.

For example, creators who incorporate popular challenges or trending topics into their Shorts often see substantial engagement.

3. Monetization Opportunities

While the RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) for Shorts is generally lower than that for long-form videos—averaging between 1¢ and 7¢—creators can still supplement their income through ad revenue, brand deals, and fan funding​.

The revenue can accumulate for creators with many views, especially when combined with other monetization streams like affiliate marketing and selling digital products.

4. Lower Production Costs

Shorts are quicker and cheaper to produce than long-form videos.

With less time needed for editing and production, creators can experiment with different ideas more frequently, allowing for continuous engagement with their audience​.

5. Great For Audience Engagement

Shorts can be an excellent tool for promoting long-form content.

For example, many creators use Shorts as teasers for their longer videos, driving traffic to their primary content and increasing overall watch time​.

Challenges Of YouTube Shorts

While Shorts offer fast visibility, they also have drawbacks:

• Lower ad revenue per view compared to long-form content​
• Shorts have less long-term value since they are not searchable and depend heavily on YouTube’s algorithm.

Conclusion

YouTube Shorts present a valuable opportunity for creators to rapidly grow their audience, tap into massive viewership, and experiment with short-form content at a lower production cost.

With over 50 billion views per day, Shorts provide a quick way to reach a large audience and potentially go viral​.

While the RPM (revenue per 1,000 views) is lower compared to long-form videos, monetization options like fan funding, brand deals, affiliate marketing, and digital product sales can significantly boost earnings​.

That said, Shorts have limitations. They don’t have the long-term searchability or sustained relevance of long-form videos, making them better suited for quick engagement than evergreen content​.

Nonetheless, when used strategically—such as by repurposing long-form content or driving traffic to other revenue streams—Shorts can be a powerful tool for growth and monetization.

With Kajabi’s Creator Studio, you can repurpose long-form videos into Shorts or other types of content to engage your audience more effectively.

Kajabi’s platform also offers tools to create and sell digital products, manage memberships, and build your brand from one central hub. You can use it to grow your YouTube channel or diversify your income streams.

Kajabi has everything you need to scale your business.

Get started with Kajabi today with a 14-day trial.