Youtubing your way to Awesomeness
25.9.16
Let us say, you hypothetically decide to scribble your email id in the subscribe box down to the right. (shameless plug) If
your fingers are fine, it would take about 5 seconds to type it out. Can you guess the amount of Youtube videos uploaded in those 5 seconds?
Its 25 hours. More than a day's worth of videos was uploaded in those 5 small seconds. That was just to let you know the enormousness of Youtube. It has made "fame"and "recognition" appear very near and real for every ambitious person out there. So how to reach out and grab it? How do you make videos which can stand out from the millions of other videos?
Here I'll paint you that picture with 7 precise steps, you wanna climb. It's going to be quite a journey.
1) Finding your fit
Niche. This overused word is more important than it sounds. Half of you reading this already know what kinda videos you're gonna make. Your niche was probably the reason you decided to make your Youtube channel.
However, for some, deciding on a type may be a foggy decision to make. You want to make videos, but you don't know what kind of videos to make. The first question to ask is ofcourse, "What videos do you think you would enjoy making?" What do you connect with? It's okay to choose more than one niche. But its not a good idea to go ahead without choosing a niche.
Posting quality videos in the same niche consistently, is the single most effective way of getting noticed fast. You can cover many genres later, when you already have a decent subscriber base. But now, go ahead and pick a niche. Don't worry, you can always experiment and change what doesn't work for you.
2) Crafting the content
Content will always be the king. Unless you're awesomely hot and sexy. (kiddin') So, how to create video content that does not suck? I'm going to go ahead and stick in the most overused quote ever.
"Rome wasn't built in a day"
Prepare for your video. Plan your video. If necessary, prepare a script. It would be tempting to just get up and do your thing in front of a camera with dreams of it going viral. Trust me, that happens in one out of a 1,698,345 times. Long odds. And most of them are just one hit wonders.
Devise your idea, create a small outline for what you are going to do, check out for the best camera angle, have enough lighting, make sure your surroundings look pleasant, and try to look pleasant yourself. Yeah, that was long. You don't need to be perfect, but trying for it gives amazing results. Preparing for this stuff will get you much more views than other newbies.
3) Your Tools
If you own a DSLR, it's great, you're set. Otherwise, your iphone camera can shoot some good quality HD video too. If you don't have an Iphone too, simply borrow one. You need a good camera.
Next, and more importantly, invest in a microphone. Go to ebay and order a decent microphone right now. Its cheap. Bad/Low audio quality can drive out viewers in seconds. It's even more important than a good camera.
4) Ruthless Trimming
Video Editing is an art.
If you've never edited a video before, its okay. Windows and Mac both have their versions of basic (albeit decent) video editors. They're Windows Movie Maker and Final Cut Pro. Both have a negligible learning curve. You'll be editing videos in half an hour. If you're already familiar with editing, Sony Vegas Pro or Adobe Premier Pro, can let you do pretty much anything.
You need to only spare the best parts. Use jumpcuts and remove your your frequent pauses. Remove the bad jokes you cracked, remove yourself fumbling for the right word. Its 2016. People have the lowest attention spans. So try to keep your video between an ideal 3 to 5 minutes. If its a lecture or a vlog, or anything that has to be long, try to keep it within 20 to 30 minutes. Be ruthless with editing. Trim, cut and lose the fat.
At last don't forget to craft a Youtube intro an outro filled with pure awesomeness. You are a brand now.
5) Selling the Video
After having worked so hard at the video, it is so tempting to just upload it fast and see the view-counter tick to a million. But the thing is, half your success depends on how you're gonna fill the details page.
- Title: Do you know how much a title matters? *Hand gestures* This much. *Hand gestures* Good titles can even win views for bad videos. Use 1-2 strong keywords in the title. Try to be either witty or precise. Shoot for 40-70 characters. You'd want your complete title displayed in search results.
- Description: Youtube is a site which uses your written information to guide people to videos. So how can you help Youtube know what your video is? Just write the Description in a Descriptive way. Go all out, use important keywords, jot down what you do in the video, and thats it. Please don't leave the Description blank.
- Tags : Use 3-10 well targeted keywords about your video. You could use Google Keyword tool, for searching the most popular keywords.
- Thumbnail: Only in the rarest of the occasions would the Youtube generated thumbnail be good enough for the final act. Go for the custom thumbnail. Use your creative prowess, take a snapshot from the video, photoshop in some text to entice your potential viewers. Do anything crazy and enticing cool, but be truthful to your content.
6) The Last Touch
You know those stupid link boxes and text boxes that appear right on the video. Those are annotations. Except, if you use them wisely, they stop being stupid. You can use them to give small messages in between the video, lead viewers to another of your videos, or add subscribe links.
If you're putting effort into your videos, it is always advisable to ask your viewers to like, share and subscribe, every now and then. Don't overdo it. Don't be desperate. Don't be too casual. Just be cool. Imagine how Ryan Gosling would say "Hey Girl". Be that cool. (kiddin)
Just asking for it, nudges people to reciprocate. Communicate with your viewers through social media, reply to comments, and consider your viewer requests. With a Youtube Channel, you are potentially building an online community.
7) Just Do It
Want an easy trick to become a successful Youtuber? Make good videos consistently. Consistently is in bold. If you have worked hard enough on a video, but still think it's bad, just upload it. You can check out the feedback. After all, you learn from your mistakes.
Every time you go the extra mile to make a video better than the last one, you're inching closer to success. If you survive through a number of such videos, you're sure to taste glory. And believe me it will really feel like "Pursuit of Happyness" then.
(That went a bit more cheesy than I expected)
Yeah, Bye...
