If you’ve been on the Internet in the last few years, chances are you’ve wasted a good amount of time on YouTube. It’s a wonderful place, full of kittens, drugged-up children and people who thought it was a good idea to tape themselves imitating their favorite performers. But if you’re not a prolific amateur filmmaker, you might feel a little limited in what you can do. There are actually a handful of cool things you can do with a YouTube account or with found videos, including re-dubbing, setting alarms and making great interactive features. Here are nine of our favorite things to do with the video-sharing website:
1. Make a ton of money off of your home videos.
One day, after a visit to the dentist, a guy decided to record his son’s painkiller-fueled ramblings and post it on YouTube for friends and family to see. A year and a half (and several million views) later, the DeVores of David After Dentist viral fame have made nearly $150,000 off the 2-minute clip. Gawker reports that a majority—almost $100,000—came from YouTube, and the rest from merchandising that the family started selling after the elder David quit his job in real estate. They’ve even gone so far as to sign a deal to produce medical scrubs for dentists. It all goes to show that you don’t have to be the next Justin Bieber to make a little money off of YouTube.
2. Give a ton of money to the charity of your choice.