Thinking of creating a vlog, but don’t know where to begin? Glad you’re here, as here’s a step-by-step guide that’ll make you understand vlogging better. You’ll learn to start vlogging at zero investment or at very low investment. But before we learn how to create one, let’s understand it’s basics.
What is Vlogging?
It is not hard to explain, Vlogging, or video blogging, is basically an art of creating blogs in video form and posting online to entertain or educate audiences.
Yes you guessed it right!
Youtube videos, tiktok, instagram videos etc are examples of vlogging.
Read More: Blog or vlog, which one is better?
How to Earn from Vlogging?
Vlogging has less monetisation opportunities than blogging but has high earnings once you reach significant subscribers and daily viewers. In today’s era, being a YouTuber or digital creator has really become a profession and source of income.
You can earn money by:
- Advertising
- Affiliate marketing
- Sponsors videos and through many other ways…
Read: What are different ways to Earn Money online?
Read: How to start Blogging and Earn Money?
How to Start a Successful Vlog in 2021?
First thing first, you should ask yourself a couple of questions. If you get a satisfactory answer to those questions then you should start your journey as a vlogger otherwise abort the mission.
Do you really want to do this?
Why do you want to do this?
Are you consistent?
Can you create videos consistently without stopping?
Do you have patience?
Pro tip: Don’t invest much money on buying gadgets, you will regret, you will be demotivated if you don’t get early results.
Pro tip: Set small baby step milestones to keep yourself motivated. For example: 100 subscribers per week.
Step 1: Select a Niche for Vlogging
Don’t pick any random category, select a category. It is always a good idea to board 1 boat at a time. Once the 1st boat is stable you can move to the next boat. Slow, steady, constantly.
Comedy Vlog
Food Vlog
Storytelling Vlog
Motivation Vlog
Lifestyle Vlog
How-to Vlog
Read: Niche Ideas for Blogging & Vlogging?
Step 2: Decide Vlogging platform:
There are many vlogging platforms
YouTube (the most popular platform)
Facebook
Instagram
Tik-Tok
Pro tip: Always do cross promotion. Share your videos on all platforms but focus on one. You never know what miracle can happen on any platform.
Read: What are different platforms for vlogging?
Step 3: Create an Account
In this article, I’ll guide you to start your vlogging journey on YouTube, as it is the most popular platform for vlogs.
How to create a youtube channel?
Create a Gmail account, otherwise skip this step if you already have one.
Go to YouTube
Enter the channel name that you want to keep.
Add logo, icon.
Add description and connect your social media accounts
Congratulations!!!
This is done. You have created your YouTube channel.
Step 4: Decide a Topic
Instead of a topic, I would say decide a few topics. To maintain the consistency of uploading videos on a regular basis, you need to decide a list of topics in advance and then start creating videos.
Pro tip: Create videos on searchable topics. This will help you grow organically.
Read: Tools to research for topics?
Step 5: Write Script
Initially when you are starting as a beginner you should write a script to avoid interruption. Writing a script can help you focus on the message that you’re trying to portray. It may include dialogues, actions, or even important points to say, etc.
Step 6: Record the Video
It is better if the video is shot in high quality with a good camera. But if you don’t have a pro camera, a professional video footage can be shot even in your phone. You should get familiar with all the good angles. Elements like good light, background, clear audio and pretty props play a huge role in this.
Pro tip: Clear picture quality and audio quality is important.
Step 7: Edit the Video
Now you need to assemble your video together. There are many apps and softwares where you can easily edit your video. You can also add elements like titles, subtitles, animations, sounds, credits and etc.
Read: Video editing mobile apps? & Video editing softwares for desktop?
Step 8: Create Thumbnail
People usually see the thumbnails first while browsing through the internet. Thumbnail tells the audience that why they should watch the particular video. Therefore, it should be catchy and pleasant enough to grab attention of viewers. You could use stickers, graphics, images, highlighted texts and etc. to make a good thumbnail.
Read: Tools to create thumbnails?
Step 9: Write a Good Title, Description, Use Tags and Hashtags.
First impression is the last impression. If someone finds your video title interesting he/she will eventually watch it. Along with the thumbnail, title of the video plays a huge role too.
It should include the keywords and search terms which will rank the video higher. Also, make sure to avoid words like maybe and although.
In description, you can give detailed information about your content or even about the channel. It gives the audience an idea about what they can expect and why they should subscribe to you. You can put additional links of your other videos and social media accounts too in the description.
Hashtags helps YouTube in categorizing your content. A hashtag can lead you to other videos with related content. Thus, it optimizes search algorithm and helps it easier for viewers to find your video. But using too many hashtags is not recommended, as it can confuse the YouTube too! Stick with 3-4 good keywords instead.
Pro tip: On YouTube a good thumbnail attracts more engagement.
Step 10: Publish
Now that your video is ready, play it multiple times on your computer before uploading on internet. If you are satisfied, then it’s finally the time to put the vlog out in the world. While publishing, don’t forget to add things that are mentioned above such as titles, thumbnails, hashtags, descriptions, etc.
Step 11: Promote
As there’s a lot of competition, it is important that you promote your vlog very well. It is one of the key factors to make a vlog successful. Once you publish your video, share it on different social media platforms and ask them to like, comment, share and subscribe. With more engagement, the more audience it will reach.
