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While it may seem that popular YouTubers are making big money with their large fan bases and strong viewership on videos, it has become more challenging to earn high income from YouTube videos alone.

In order to generate “big” money, you need to identify ways to leverage YouTube’s vast network through multiple revenue streams. This means using YouTube as a marketing tool to promote your products, endorse other companies’ products for compensation and get sponsorship from companies.

According to Entrepreneur magazine, you can’t use the platform as monetize-able platform exclusively. YouTube is merely the catalyst. The best way to make money from YouTube is to utilize its massive network. Here are some tips on how to do it:

1. Sell your own goods with an ecommerce website builder. If you have a product to sell, set up an ecommerce storefront using a resource like Shopify, Big Commerce or Volusion then produce videos that market your product.

2. Send traffic to affiliate links. Instead of relying on static blogs to drive people to affiliate links, use your YouTube channel as a primary catalyst to generate a sizable income.

3. Get sponsorships. Many of the most successful YouTubers have sponsorships and advertisements in their video. The amount of revenue you generate from sponsorships is typically more than YouTube advertising revenue.

4. Live speaking engagements. If you have a big fan base on YouTube, leverage this success to get speaking engagements. Put together a portfolio that includes YouTube statistics and videos, and send to leaders of industry conferences you’re interested in. These gigs can be very lucrative.

We have a client who gained financial success (so much that he sought a tax relief solution: defined benefit plan) through YouTube self-promotion and online sales promotion. Our client, age 41, creates online videos in `which he promotes his own brand of products and offers product placement and reviews for sponsors (sponsorships). His S-corporation income is over $650,000 a year but in the past, he kept his W-2 low – about $40,000 – to minimize payroll taxes and took the rest in K-1 distributions. However, his CPA and financial advisor advised him to increase up his annual W-2 to at least $270,000 so that he can use that compensation as the basis for a retirement plan. He will now contribute over $100,000 each year to a defined benefit plan which is deductible from current year taxes. If he sticks with the plan, this virtual sales star will accumulate $2.6 million toward his retirement