Can you monetize 2 YouTube channels?

The Definitive Guide To Monetise Your Content With One Google Adsense Account, Using Linked Accounts & How-to Create A Second Channel For Free!

There are many reasons why someone might have more than one channel on YouTube - maybe they're running two blogs and want a way of sharing their content between them, or perhaps they've run out of ideas for new videos but still need the income from advertising. Whatever your reason may be there is an easy solution which we'll show you in this article...

In fact, there's only really one thing stopping you at least trying to set up a second channel with your own ads on top of another person's existing content, and that's getting access to both sites/channels so you can link them together under one single AdSense profile. The key here is setting up linked accounts within your AdWords control panel (or "accounts" as some people call it) and then making sure you use the same AdSense code across each site. This will allow you to advertise either independently or simultaneously depending on how much traffic each has been generating over time. As long as you're using different adverts, however, you should never see any duplicate content appearing across the sites.

So let's look at exactly what needs doing before going into too much detail about creating a second channel...

Can I manage 2 YouTube channels?

If you already have one YouTube channel setup and would like to add additional material to it then there shouldn't be anything holding you back. You just need to head straight to your account settings page where you'll find options for adding content such as video uploads, subtitles etc. Once uploaded these media files will appear alongside all other media items listed in your Channel Settings (under Video Manager). From here you simply click on the + icon next to Upload Videos and select Add New Source. Browse through the available choices until you locate the file you wish to upload and hit Save when ready. Repeat for any other additional content types you'd also like to include in your channel.

Note: If you're not happy with the layout of your current channel then you can always delete individual videos and replace them with something else entirely once your new additions have gone live.

Once done, if you were working with a pre-existing channel, go ahead and refresh your homepage to view everything in its entirety. In our example below we created a brand new channel called 'SecondChannel' and added 3 short clips to it which we hope will bring lots of visitors to read further articles on our blog.

To make things easier later on we've kept the original channel name intact, even though we didn't actually create it initially. Next step is to log into your AdWords account (if you don't yet have one signup now!) and take care of business regarding setting up your first channel. We won't get bogged down discussing those details today but check out our previous guide to learn more about optimizing your pages for maximum views.

Now comes the tricky bit. Can I monetize 2 YouTube channels?

As mentioned earlier, the main problem is that currently you cannot share a single AdSense account across several websites and therefore cannot attach the same AdSense code to the same website. However, thanks to the wonders of modern technology there is a simple workaround that allows us to do exactly that. All you need to do is create a second version of your existing channel, complete with new branding and a completely separate URL, and assign it a unique ID number. It doesn't matter whether you end up calling it 'SecondChannel', 'NewChannel' or whatever since it will remain invisible to viewers unless referred to explicitly via the newly assigned ID code. We chose to call ours 'MySecondChannel'.

Here's how we did it:

1. Go to youtube.com/editvideo to edit your existing channel. Click on the gear icon in the upper right hand corner and choose Edit Channel.

2. Change the title field from Default Title to My Second Channel. Make sure the description box says "This Is Our New Channel". Then save changes.

3. Now switch over to youtube.com/dashboard and type mysecondchannel into the search bar. When you arrive on the dashboard screen click on the pencil symbol next to the word 'Channels' on the left side menu bar. Choose Manage Channels.

4. On the resulting dialog window, click on the dropdown button labelled Set Another Channel Name. Select My Second Channel and OK.

5. Finally, return to the Dashboard and repeat steps 4 and 5 above again but change the channel name to New Channel, leaving the rest of the fields untouched.

6. After saving your changes you should see 2 entries for the same channel displayed, albeit with slightly altered names. Don't worry because we haven't finished yet.

7. Head back to the Manage Channels dialogue box and click on the pencil symbol beside the word 'Settings' on the left side menu bar. Scroll down past the various tabs and menus and eventually come to the section labeled 'Advance Mode.' Underneath this heading you'll notice a selection titled 'Edit Advanced Settings,' followed by a small tab labelled 'Advanced Settings.' Double click on the latter option.

8. Within this new window you'll spot a rather strange looking piece of text saying "Select advanced mode." Simply ignore this and keep scrolling till you reach the very bottom of the list. Here you'll discover a row containing a bunch of numbers. These represent the IDs for the channels you've recently created along with the old one you're keeping. Highlight the entry corresponding to your original channel (e.g., [default] = 0) and double click on it.

9. At this point you should see a pop-up message confirming that you've successfully opened the Advanced Settings pane. Beneath this is a large grey area that reads "Your Page Code." Hit enter and start typing in the following line of HTML code :

<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" async="" style="display: none;" width="0" height="0" />

10. Keep entering lines of code until you spot this phrase highlighted underneath the words "Show Ads:" -- "You have reached the last item in the list!" At this stage you must terminate your input and wait for the page to load fully before proceeding.

11. Return to the previous dialogue box and scroll down to the 'Ad Advance Section' header. There you'll find three subheadings which correspond directly to the three ID codes you previously entered. Find the ones relating to your older channel and copy them to the clipboard. Next, highlight the appropriate line of code beneath the relevant subheading and paste the copied values in place.

12. Each value will require modification according to the size of your actual video player widget. So please bear this in mind while typing. Be aware that if you don't alter the dimensions correctly then the video will break apart or become unplayable. Also note that if you try copying all three ID codes instead of just one, the script will fail to work altogether.

13. Once you've completed these modifications, press Enter. That's it! Now you should ideally be able to visit http://www.yourdomainnamehere.mysecondchannel and watch the embedded player display your latest addition to your primary channel.

14. As soon as you do so you should immediately begin seeing advertisements displaying on the video. They should continue indefinitely on the same basis as your standard AdSense activity. Unfortunately, we weren't successful in showing you how to insert a new advert manually due to limitations of space. But don't fret, we've got plenty more tips to help you boost revenue from your videos.

15. By default, clicking on any of the links shown in the banner image will open a new browser tab with a direct reference to your secondary channel. Try visiting www.YouTube.com/MySecondChannel and viewing your updated channel listing. Note that you can rename the channel in question by editing the label associated with it in Step 7 above. Any future updates to your primary channel will automatically update your new channel as well.

16. Just remember to maintain strict separation between the two channels whenever possible. Obviously you wouldn't want to accidentally promote something related to your primary channel onto your new channel. Or worse still, mention products or services that relate to your newer channel somewhere in your regular comments and descriptions. Of course you could always block certain keywords from ever being searched on your second channel using keyword blocking tools like the excellent WordFence plugin.

17. Is it worth having 2 YouTube channels?

It depends entirely upon who you ask. Some users would argue that having dedicated content for personal consumption versus public distribution means that you ought to focus solely on building one channel. Others believe that spreading yourself too thin can lead to redundancy and wasted effort. And still others feel that creating multiple channels gives them greater flexibility to publish content that relates specifically to a particular niche audience. Ultimately it boils down to what works best for you personally.

All in all, managing two channels isn't difficult if you follow these basic guidelines properly. Whether you decide to stick with one source for all your content or spread your efforts around, you should expect nothing less than a healthy stream of targeted ad revenues flowing into your PayPal account every month.

If you are like most people, the answer is no - but it's not as difficult as you might think and there is a way around this problem...  Here's how!

It used to be that if you wanted to make money from your online presence on video sharing websites such as YouTube then all of your content had to be uploaded under the same profile or else you would lose any advertising revenue (unless you were fortunate enough to own a large number of videos). However, in recent times things have changed dramatically and now anyone who wants to run an active social media presence across several platforms can set up their own unique profiles and still benefit financially from each platform.

This article will show you exactly how easy it is to link two different YouTube channels together so they share the same AdSense account. This method has been tested successfully over at least 3 years running and we know it works because we've done it ourselves. It doesn't matter whether both channels are owned by yourself or someone else - the process remains the same.

Note: If you want to check out our other articles about making money on YouTube please click here.

Before proceeding further, let me explain what I mean when I say "YouTube channel". A "channel" simply means something along these lines - "a collection of related material, usually found on the Internet." In terms of YouTube specifically, a channel refers to a group of videos which are either submitted directly through YouTube itself or via RSS feed. The best example of a channel is probably the official music video playlist section where various artists upload links to their latest tracks. When users watch those songs, they also see ads displayed alongside them in accordance with the settings selected by the owner of the channel.

So basically, to keep things simple, we're going to assume that you already have some kind of YouTube channel and that you'd like to start adding another one. You may even have more than one channel already created just waiting for you to get creative. We'll take care of everything else once you understand the basics of setting up multiple YouTube accounts.

For ease of explanation we'll limit the scope of this guide to only showing how to create an additional channel linked to an existing AdSense account. But remember, the exact steps involved in creating new separate channels vary slightly depending upon which website you choose. For instance, Tumblr requires the user to sign-up separately before being allowed access to the site whereas Facebook allows you to change your privacy level whilst logged into the service. Once again, this tutorial should work regardless of which platform you decide to join.

Let's begin...

Can 2 YouTube channels have same AdSense account?

The short answer is yes - but don't expect too much success straight away unless you've got a very popular brand name. In order to achieve this, you need to become an affiliate marketer first. Why? Because the reason why big brands have such high ad revenues is due to their popularity amongst advertisers. If you look at the top 10 highest earning affiliates on Clickbank, you'll notice that a lot of them offer branded merchandise. They earn commissions off sales made using their products. So, if you're planning on becoming an affiliate marketeer and selling other peoples' stuff, you must ensure that your brand is well established otherwise you won't stand a chance.

In fact, if you haven't yet seen it published anywhere, there was recently a study conducted by ClickBank which showed that the average commission per sale generated by affiliates is $22.25. That's right - almost three times higher than the amount paid out to the actual product owners themselves! Now, bear in mind that this figure includes all types of affiliates including marketers, bloggers, webmasters and others. Basically, if you plan on promoting other people's products, you must have a strong brand identity before starting out.

Once you've decided to go down the affiliate route, you'll find plenty of information available on how to promote products within your niche. There are literally thousands of ways to generate income from home using your knowledge and experience gained throughout life. Simply search online for 'Affiliate Marketing Tips' and read lots of free ebooks and guides written by experts in the field. One thing to note though - always spend time researching your chosen industry thoroughly before jumping in headfirst. Always consider the risks associated with taking part in affiliate marketing. Make sure you fully research any potential partners prior to signing anything. Never pay money upfront until you feel confident that you can trust whoever you're dealing with.

OK, back to business...

Now that we've dealt with the legal side of things, lets move onto the technicalities. To help you better visualize this process, imagine you currently have two websites/channels. Website 1 is dedicated to offering services while website 2 focuses purely on reviewing products. Both of these sites feature a variety of informative posts and videos which attract visitors looking for solutions. Let's call one of them SiteA and the other SiteB.

SiteA is managed by you personally and contains hundreds of original reviews. SiteB belongs to a company called CompanyX and publishes its own review blogs. Although they aren't technically considered 'content', we can include these in the equation since they provide value to readers anyway. These two sites are located on completely independent domains and therefore it makes sense to combine them under a single banner. This creates a unified front against which advertisers can target their campaigns more effectively.

We'll refer to the combined domain as SiteC. All of the above mentioned sites are referred to collectively as "your portfolio". Your portfolio could contain dozens of individual pieces of content or alternatively, a few larger projects spread over several pages. Don't worry about having loads of text on hand because you can easily build your portfolio piecemeal without spending money on expensive design software. Just write whatever flows through your head, pull images from stock photo libraries or purchase relevant royalty free pictures from places such as Fotolia or Shutterstock.

Next step is to register two entirely separate AdSense accounts. Since we're trying to avoid confusion, it's imperative that the names of the accounts reflect the content contained in the respective portfolios. Therefore, both of these accounts should ideally be named after the corresponding portfolio sites. For example, your personal blog might be titled MyBlogName1 and your client review page perhaps reads MyReviewsPage2. After registering these accounts, log into your AdWords account and select Create New Campaign. Choose whichever type suits your needs the best for targeting specific keywords etc. Next, switch over to the Content Network tab and enter the details of SiteC into the box provided. Select Apply Changes & Continue.

You can repeat this procedure for every subsequent portfolio you wish to launch. As long as you maintain consistency in naming, you shouldn't encounter any problems later on. Remember, the important thing isn't necessarily which domain(s) you use, it's that you give your audience the impression that your content exists on a singular location. Also, if you ever happen to expand past the point where you require another portfolio altogether, you can always merge your current ones into a bigger one instead.

After completing Step 4, return to your main campaign screen and create a new campaign for each of your newly registered AdSense accounts. Set the width of each of these banners to 250 pixels wide and assign appropriate keywords to each. Obviously, for SiteC, choose keywords relating to general topics rather than specific items. By doing this, you allow yourself greater flexibility when deciding the placement of ads whenever possible. Use AdGroup Explorer to determine where these ads appear.

Finally, open up your SiteLinks Manager tool and copy paste your URLs from your Portfolio Sites panel. Then, drag and drop the tabs onto the body of your emails. Keep in mind that the email subject line should match the title of your portfolio site. Furthermore, try to refrain from sending generic messages. Instead, focus on providing useful advice aimed towards solving common issues faced by your prospects. Finally, send a message saying thanks for subscribing and ask your subscriber to confirm his subscription.

That's it! Now you have two completely distinct AdSense accounts working in unison. Whenever traffic comes in to SiteC, the system automatically redirects the incoming clicks to SiteA. Conversely, whenever someone visits SiteA, the system redirects them to SiteC automatically.

As far as your subscribers are concerned, none of this actually matters. What really counts is that the URL of the webpage you direct them to matches the image that appears next to the advert. If you fail to follow this rule, your chances of generating earnings drastically decrease.

What happens next depends largely on how successful your initial efforts prove to be. Some folks might opt to continue expanding their portfolios, while others may abandon the project altogether. Either way, the beauty of this whole exercise is that you never incur any losses. Even if you end up closing down your entire operation, you still retain full ownership of the content and remain unaffected.

One last tip - if you're serious about building a profitable career in affiliate marketing, you absolutely MUST learn how to drive targeted traffic to your sites. Without traffic you cannot hope to succeed. Thankfully, there are numerous methods you can employ to obtain quality leads which we cover extensively elsewhere in our blog. For now, suffice it to say that there are millions of people visiting YouTube everyday searching for answers. Take advantage of these opportunities wisely and good luck!

How many times has your heard someone say "I've got 3 blogs but I only post on the main one." This is because, if each blog had its own unique content and no cross-posting of articles between them then they would be considered different entities. In fact, having multiple sites with completely separate audiences can help build up brand recognition for that person or business as their name becomes synonymous with certain products or services. However, while this might work well in other areas such as offline businesses, most people are unaware of how much effort and money goes into maintaining several websites when there's barely enough time left over to maintain any of them! The same thing applies to online marketing - why spend all those hours creating videos, posting updates and interacting with your audience through social media, if you're going to just let them sit idle until they die?! The answer lies in building an empire around yourself...

If you already run a successful YouTube channel then you may be wondering what exactly does it take to start another channel off the ground. You could potentially make lots of extra cash from running 2 channels at once (or even more), but before we get started here are a few things you should consider first.

First of all, can you actually have 2 channels? Yes, you can. There are plenty of channels out there who run 2 active streams under the same umbrella, so long as both channels aren't directly competing against each other. One popular example of this is JT Money, who runs his primary channel (JTMoneyTV) alongside a secondary channel called 'Investing With JT' which focuses entirely on investing advice. If you want to find examples like these, simply look around YouTube and you'll soon see what I mean. Of course, not every video will lend itself perfectly to being repurposed into a new stream, but don't worry about that right now...

Next comes the question of whether or not having 2 channels is necessary at all. While it certainly doesn't hurt, it isn't always essential either. For instance, I run my main account, MyLifeAsEva, purely for fun. It was initially created to document my life, but since I'm fairly inactive on it anymore I haven't posted anything substantial in over half a year. On the flip side, I also have a second channel named EvaVlogs where I try to create original content for myself rather than reusing old clips from my main channel. As far as I know, neither channel competes with the other, nor do I ever feel tempted to watch the other's videos instead of mine. Having said that, if you enjoy watching others vlogging, then I'd recommend starting your own channel too - especially if you plan on sharing personal stories and experiences with viewers. Just remember to keep your channels focused on something specific otherwise you won't garner nearly as much attention.

Finally, it's important to note that running multiple channels takes a lot of hardwork. Not only is it difficult to juggle everything, but keeping up quality across all of them requires constant upkeep. When you think of the amount of time spent uploading/editing content, promoting posts, updating playlists etc., it adds up quickly. So unless you really love doing this kind of stuff and have ample free time on hand, it probably wouldn't benefit you very much to open up a second channel. Instead, focus your energy elsewhere and leave the rest to your staff.

Now that we covered the basics, here's how to set up multiple YouTube channels.

1.) Create additional accounts

To add multiple channels to your account, head to youtube.com/dashboard. Once in the dashboard click on settings & privacy. Under general options scroll down until you come to Content ID matching. Click Edit next to Match Content IDs. A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm that you wish to link your current channel(s). Simply check the box beside whichever ones you want to include. Next, select Add New Channel from the dropdown menu and fill out the form again. Repeat this process for as many channels as you need to add.

2.) Link Accounts Together

Once you've added all of your channels to your profile, go back to youtube.com/dashboard. Scroll down once again until you reach General Options. Here, you'll notice a section labelled Connect Your Profiles. Beneath this, you'll see a list of profiles you currently belong to. To connect your new channels together, click Manage Profiles next to Each Profile Owned. Then click Link All Profiles button located underneath. Now whenever you log into your main YouTube account, you'll automatically be logged into all linked accounts as well.

3.) Choose the correct adsense id's

Before setting up your ad units, you must ensure that your earnings reflect the appropriate revenue share. Go to googleadsenseservices.google.co.uk/pagead/id/confirm_earnings to verify your earnings information. From within this page, choose View Earnings per Campaign to view all of your campaigns individually. Make sure to use the campaign names listed below the respective earning table. After selecting one of the relevant campaigns, copy the HTML code found below the image displayed above. By pasting this into your preferred browser, you can easily test which adsense unit produces the best results. Use the top performing ad unit on your primary channel(s) and replace the placeholder text with your chosen keywords. Place the lower ranking adsense boxes beneath your existing video descriptions. Also, place a small banner advertisement at the bottom corner of your website.

4.) Upload Videos

After deciding upon which adsense unit works best, upload your videos onto your newly established channels. Be aware that the longer the clip, the higher your chances of getting rejected due to violating copyrights. Before making changes to your uploaded files, doublecheck that they conform to YouTube's guidelines and comply with the rules outlined earlier. Remember to tag your new channels appropriately in the description field so users searching specifically for your keyword will find your content easier. Don't forget to edit your tags regularly to avoid losing visibility amongst your followers.

5.) Enable monetization

To enable monetization, go to Settings & Preferences. Find the Ads tab and click Turn On Advertising. Finally, review the terms of service and agree to them.

6.) Confirmation Email

A confirmation email will arrive in your inbox after finalising your agreement. Keep this safe as it contains vital information regarding your advertising efforts including details on how to access your earnings reports.

7.) Set Up Tracking Popups

For tracking purposes, you should set up tracking cookies immediately after activating your ads. Head to www....yourdomainname..com/gcl/htmlcode/. Copy and paste the provided code into your preferred webpage editor. Paste the resulting code wherever applicable throughout your site. Ensure that your visitors remain anonymous by disabling third party cookies. Otherwise, they may block future advertisements and cause financial loss.

8.) Adjust Budget

Go to Settings & Preferences. Select Ad Management then Setup Budgets. Enter your maximum budget limit and minimum daily budget requirement. Take care not to exceed your total spending limits.

9.) Check Your Balance

Head to www.....yourdomainname.......com/accountant/balance.php. Input your username and password (which you received via email) along with your mobile phone number. Verify your balance by clicking Generate Code.

10.) Update Your Info

You can update your info at any point by logging into your account at http://www..............com/user/password.htm. Look for the heading labeled Personal Information and enter your desired contact details.

11.) Test Your Changes

Test everything thoroughly before publishing your updated pages. Try loading your recently edited webpages in various browsers.

12.) Publish Your Updates

When satisfied with your progress, publish your revised pages. Save copies on your computer and inform our support team if needed.

13.) Start Making More Money!

Congratulations! Everything is in place and ready to begin generating income.