I remember moving to the new apartment where I currently live in early 2020.

As usual, in getting to know the area you’d have to move around a bit – go to church, shop for groceries and all.

This was sometime in February and I remember going to buy a pack of Good Morning Oats from the mini-mart at the end of the street.

The lady managing the place said a pack was just N550 and I bought two.

Oh, if you were hoping for a story, nothing happened.

It’s just 8 months later, the same pack of Good Morning Oats were selling for N1,300 for just one.

So, within 8 months I was spending the same amount of money which could get two packs of Good Morning Oats on just a single pack. And I still had to add an extra N200 to it. My God!!!!

That’s the simple definition of inflation.

The reality is, millions of Nigerians have to battle with this increase in food prices and basic expenses without being able to increase their income.

In Fela Kuti’s Overtake Don Overtake Overtake, he explained it as follows:

My friend wan come buy fan
Him dey sweat for him dey sleep for room
Him dey fall level of tree
The fan na seventy-five naira
My friend him dey follow salary
Him dey try to save and save and save
Every time he nearly buy the fan
Government go add ten naira more
Every time he nearly buy the fan
Government go start one activity
Till the fan reach two hundred naira
My friend nearly die, he never die

This is what inflation feels like for the average Nigerian. And the only way to beat inflation as a Nigerian is not to save a percentage of money in your account but to earn in dollars.

But many Nigerians don’t believe it is possible to earn in dollars while living in Nigeria. Unless you own a bureau de change or you work offshore for one of the big oil companies or you’re consulting for one of the Big 5.

In actual reality, thousands of everyday Nigerians regularly get paid in dollars.

The shocking thing is they don’t just earn in a dollar, but they do so completely online.

Below is a shortlist of the numerous ways you can start earning in dollars in 2021, and if you play the game right, you could be the next dollar millionaire in Nigeria.

1. YouTube

I know, I know, I know.

Everyone and their grandmother does this nowadays.

“Hello, guys. Welcome to my YouTube channel. And on this channel, I’ll be…”

Aren’t you tired of hearing this? I swear I am too.

But the question should be, are they doing it right?

Or maybe, are they getting paid for doing it?

I can assure you most of them aren’t. Because instead of understanding how to create content and monetizing their content, they just do anything and hope for the best.

But when did hoping for the best work for anyone?

I used to be sceptical about doing anything video related, but with how cheap data is nowadays, more Nigerians are watching a lot of videos online.

So, if you play your cards right, you could create multiple income streams (some even passive) from YouTube. And they include the following:

1. Getting Paid By Google For Advertising.

YouTube’s Partner Program allows creators on YouTube to earn money by monetizing their channels with video ads.

These ads generate a certain amount of money, depending on factors like a video’s watch time, length, ad quality, number of clicks each ad receives, ad blockers, and viewer demographic.

The actual rates an advertiser pays varies, usually between $0.10 to $0.30 per view, but averages out at $0.18 per view.

Google pays out 68% of their AdSense revenue, so for every $100 an advertiser pays, Google pays $68 to the publisher.

So, on average the YouTube channel can receive $18 per 1,000 ad views.

For example, Ask Dr Malik has a video with 2.8 million views on his channel.

Now let’s imagine this to be ad views. Do the maths: 2.8 million ÷ 1,000 = 2,800

Now, 2,800 × $18 = $50,400

But that’s not where the real magic is.

The magic is in converting this to naira. So, $50,400 × 480 = N24,192,000.

That’s a neat N24million!!!!

But we know the values above are hypothetical because when it comes to ads, the major factors which determine pay are views (of the ad) and clicks. The more views and clicks you can get, the more money you can make.

This is something which also affects the growth of your YouTube channel and increases your video views. It’s a concept in advertising called social proof.

People are drawn to watch videos with large views.

“Part of the reason why people click on a video is that they see it has so many views. People are drawn to click on popular things, like the bandwagon effect.” – Paul Kousky

So, you see, the more views you get, the higher your chances of getting more views and also the possibility of making more money.

2. Getting Paid To Review Products.

Channels like Ask Dr Malik’s don’t make money through ads alone.

With a subscriber base of over 100,000, they get to review products for a good fee.

Other income sources on YouTube are:
3. Sponsorship Deals.

4. Endorsements by brands and companies.

5. Affiliate Marketing by promoting products with an affiliate link and getting a commission from each sale.

6. Product Placements and Influencer Marketing where they get paid to post products on their channel for a fee.

So, what do you need to be able to earn money from all these income sources on YouTube?

All you have to do is come up with at least 1 or 2 new engaging videos every week.

The key is consistency.

The truth is you have what you mostly need to succeed right now. So, what’s your biggest barrier?

Lighting? You can get ring lights for as cheap as N5,000 on Jumia.

Camera? What do you have in your hand? A smartphone, you dummy. Some of the biggest YouTube stars started with their smartphones.

Editing? Most YouTube channel owners do their video editing themselves. It might be a little tough at the beginning, but very interesting once you get the hang of it.

And if you’re wondering if YouTube can be a sustainable career, kindly Google PewDiePie, Paul Kousky, Roman Atwood or Miranda Sings.

Of course, for thousands of YouTube Channel owners, they make nothing or very little money. However, there are also many YouTubers living comfortably off of the earnings from their YouTube channels.

Well, you can differentiate yourself by clicking here to watch a short video which shows you how to build a profitable YouTube channel quickly and also how to monetize it so you can start earning in dollars.

Just as a side note, when it comes to earning money on YouTube, making your first dollar is the hardest thing.

But just like every part of life, winning takes care of everything. Success breeds success.

The more subscribers you have, the more clicks you’ll get on your ads.

The more clicks on your ads, the more popular you become, and the higher the likelihood of different companies and brands offering to be your partner, plus sponsorship or merchandise deals.

And the more popular your channel becomes, the greater your chance of making millions off YouTube.

It’s a chain reaction.

But it starts with you starting.

Well, you can take the first step to earn dollars on YouTube by clicking here to watch a short video which shows you how to build a profitable YouTube channel quickly and also how to monetize it so you can start earning in dollars.

Because this post is quite exhaustive, I’ll be posting each of this dollar earning strategies one after another. So, stay tuned for more.

Shalom.

• Business
• Marketing
• Money
• Sales