Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
The following excerpt is from Jason R. Rich’s book Ultimate Guide to YouTube for Business. Buy it now from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | IndieBound
As you’re filming your YouTube videos, you can opt to accept money and/or products from companies, then highlight those products within your video in exchange for a paid endorsement. This is considered a paid product placement or a sponsored video, and it’s a smart way to earn money with your YouTube videos.
You can also pay other YouTubers and YouTube Channel operators to incorporate your product placements into their videos, or somehow showcase or talk about your products. Some YouTubers will do this for free, in exchange for free product samples. Others will seek financial compensation, but you wind up with an endorsement by an online personality who potentially has a vast and dedicated following.
According to Google, “Paid product placements are defined as pieces of content that are created specifically for a sponsor, and where that sponsor’s brand, message or product is integrated directly into the content. A typical example of a paid product placement is one in which a marketer pays a partner to specifically mention their product or brand in what would normally be the editorial part of the content.”
To incorporate paid product placements into your videos, you must be a YouTube Partner in good standing, and you must notify YouTube when you upload this type of video. (Simply check the “Content Declaration” option that’s found within the “Advanced Settings” menu. To access it, launch the Video Manager, select the appropriate video and then click on…
