Over the past few years, YouTube has exploded in popularity. Videos on this video platform collect millions of viewers. However, the competition on the site is so great that it can be very difficult for beginners to achieve meaningful results. To get started effectively, there are a few key points to understand.
Video bloggers who have already come a long way in the formation and development of their youtube channel recommend that novice content makers pay attention to the following points:
Decide on goals
First of all, answer a very important question for yourself: why do you need video blogging? What goal do you want to achieve with this activity? Are you sure that this is the area that will help you achieve what you want? If your goal is wealth or making big money without much effort, then it is better to think about other ways to achieve what you want. Video blogging is an area in which it will be difficult to work just for the sake of money, because this activity requires constant motivation, creative ideas and interest in your own content.
Gaining fame will also be an inappropriate goal, because the path to recognition and fame will be so long that you can quickly lose motivation and give up. Likes and subscribers in video blogs take years, and in order to gain at least some fame, you need to work very long and hard, and due to the high level of competition, the goal may never be achieved.
In what situations do you need to create your own blog? First of all, videos should be shot by those who have something to show or tell the public. You must have unique ideas that you strive to implement. Or you just love and strive to achieve perfection in this matter.
Find an interesting topic
This point is closely related to the previous one, but it is worth focusing on it separately. You only need to make content on a topic that really interests you. Otherwise, you risk turning your hobby into an exhausting duty. If you are not yet very sure about the topic, try to find an area by the method of elimination: travel, cooking, beauty, technology, art, films, books - maybe you are attracted by any of these areas? By delving deeper into the topic, you can narrow it down and find something that will be interesting for you to learn about, and later share your knowledge with others.
There are times when a person just likes to shoot and edit video, but he cannot find an interesting topic that can be presented to the public. What to do in this case? Definitely - start shooting videos! It doesn't even really matter what topic, because the love of shooting is one of the most important components of blogging. Try yourself in different directions, especially if you are a versatile person and you are interested in too many areas of activity. After a while, you will filter out topics that do not appeal to you and find your niche on YouTube.
Be yourself
A very bad start is so-called "imitative" content, or plagiarism. Parodies of popular YouTube channels most often not only do not gain popularity, but also receive a lot of criticism and negativity. Do not seek to reshoot your favorite blogger's videos frame by frame. If you really like the format, try to bring something new to it.
Come up with your own "chip"
To be recognizable in the huge world of YouTube, you need to come up with something unique. Come up with a new format that no one else on the platform has done before. Or, if the format you have chosen is quite common, try to work out some important points of the video in a new way:
- Greetings. “Hello everyone, my name is …”, “Hello!”, “Hayu-hai” - these greetings have been busy for a long time, and they have become boring because of the mass of imitators. An introduction is one of the most memorable features of a YouTuber's personality, so you should be creative with it.
- Material supply. Find some feature of your behavior, your speech or manner of speaking in front of the camera … and turn it into your dignity. Perhaps you are very expressive and want to present the material in a bright, emotional manner, or maybe you are rational, and during the story you want to put everything on the shelves, be reasonable and objective.
- Video design. Editing a video with high quality is already a whole art, but it is advisable to come up with something new in this editing. The most popular type of editing is cutting the video in order to make it more dynamic. This is a great move, but the audience has already become boring. Try to shoot videos from different angles, work on the background, lighting, editing. Just don't get carried away with special effects from video design programs.
Don't rush things
As mentioned above, in order to achieve at least some goals on YouTube, you need to go a very long and difficult way. Do not look at random videos that have gained popularity in a few days (viral videos). This is a will of chance, and more often than not, such popularity does not depend on the quality of the content. The likelihood that this will happen with your videos is very small.
So be patient. Do not chase instant likes and millions of subscribers, all this will happen gradually with regular persistence and the release of interesting content. As a rule, the more subscribers on the channel, the faster they add, but for the first few months (and maybe years) this will take an agonizingly long time. You need to be prepared for such a situation.
Do not be afraid of criticism
Unfortunately, video blogging is a field that is full not only of opportunities for self-realization, but also tons of negativity and hate. You should not be liked by everyone and everyone, and the presence of criticism, including non-constructive ones, in the comments under the video is the most common thing.
You must be prepared for the fact that even the highest quality, kind and cheerful videos can throw mud. You can choose your tactics for dealing with negative reviews: delete them, respond politely to them, or simply ignore them. But most importantly, because of the evil commentators, you lose faith in yourself.
Remember that haters are just a category of people who pour out their negativity and their problems on the Internet. Very often, a blogger is not to blame for what is written under his videos. Ignore openly angry and offensive phrases, focus only on constructive criticism: it will help you develop and make your content better.
Improve the quality of your videos
People are greeted by their clothes, and video bloggers by the quality of their videos. It is clear that not everyone can afford expensive cameras and recording equipment, but at the initial stages this is not so important. At the current level of technology development, even phones are capable of recording excellent 4k quality, and even an inexpensive microphone is suitable for sound recording.
The next step in creating a pleasing picture is lighting. If it is not possible to purchase expensive lighting equipment, and the blog format involves shooting indoors, then give your preference to natural light - on a bright day, opposite the window.
And, of course, for indoor shooting, you need to work on the interior and furnishings. Monochrome backgrounds usually look good, but this design option has become boring for a long time. Try to create a cozy design using furniture and interior objects in your apartment.
Be prepared for challenges
Summarizing all of the above points, we can conclude that blogging is a complex activity that requires maximum efficiency. There is a widespread perception among the general public that bloggers are lazy people who do nothing while sitting on a pile of advertising money. And, of course, this is not at all the case. Blogging can be time consuming and challenging if done responsibly, but ultimately, if you really love what you do, the effort will pay off.
