Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. Today I have some pointers for you on starting a YouTube channel. Now I am not a pro and I don't claim to know everything, but I know what I know and I am going to share what I know with you.
I started my channel Aug 14, 2013 and today being Oct 4, 2013 with 51 subscribers, So that's a Subbie a day so far :). Now, my channel is a beauty channel, on my channel I do reviews, tutorials and Egg tests.
Whats a egg test? I apply certain makeup products to eggs to test their claims if any on covering pores and what not. This is my niche on my channel.
Whats a Niche? A Niche is your specialty something that makes you different and sets you apart from the countless others doing the same thing on YouTube. If you don't have a niche find one!
This can be anything, Like me and my egg. 20/30Glam is apart of the beauty community on YouTube, Their Niche? Each other as far as I have seen They are the only Beauty channel that features Two women, So they can get two views of the same product, So you get to different views, two reviews in one video! kinda like a Siskel and Ebert of beauty and if they play on this I feel they will go very far on YouTube.
Now that you have considered what makes you different from all other beauty channels lets talk Brand.
Whats a Brand? You are your Brand. What you say, how you say it and how you look while you say it is apart of your brand. Don't try to be like every one else use your quirks, the things that make you, You.
Have a southern drawl? use it! Have a cute accent? Don't hide it! Use what you got.
Now, not everyone is going to fall in love with you, but that's okay too. Haters will come and haters will go, but like Madonna said "Any publicity is good publicity". Example Mirandasings08 from YouTube her channel has many haters, but people watch just to see her madness and see what the haters have to say to her in the comments section of her videos and she responds to them through her videos, she basically used her haters to get ahead and it worked flawlessly.
Lighting! Even if you have a cheap camera or webcam your lighting can make it look so much better.
I use clamp lights from the hardware store and GE reveal light bulbs. I cover them with a white shower cap as a light softener.
I do not point the lights directly at me because it will make me too bright. Point them at the ceiling, light the area your filming in not just your face.
I use the Logitech C615 webcam that I picked up at Walmart for around $60 dollars. It is a good camera and I like what I get from it for now. Sure everyone wants a great camera to film with but sometimes it doesn't work out that way, so just use the best you can afford.
I have made my background using a poster board from Walmart and wrapping paper from Walgreen's, taped it to a old mop duster stick. I did this because I have a 2 year old, so I have to film when I can and not when I want. And this helps me set up whenever I need it and I don't have to worry about the mess in the background.
Time! Time is a very important factor. If you are a new channel no one wants to see 15 minuets of you blending out your eye shadow or hear about how you love the Naked2 palette. Keep your videos around or under 10 minuets. Once you gain an audience then you can do longer videos because people have subscribe and are obviously interested in what you have to say.
When it comes to eye tutorials, this I have learned from my own experience if you are doing a whole look do only 1 eye and cut to to finished look. Be sure to record your intro after you have completed your look so they can get an idea of the finished look before the tutorial portion starts so you can get a good intro to your video.
Think of it this way, in every movie blockbuster there are at least 5 trailer scenes. This means there are 5 attention grabbing scenes in every movie, this sells the film so people will buy tickets. ever wonder why the trailer is better then the movie as a whole? But instead of an hour and a half you get 5 to 15 minuets to sell your brand e.g YOU!
So catch your audience within the first 20 seconds then go from there every so often drop a trailer spot, this could be doing something different in the look your doing or showing them a different product, if your doing a review. So don't linger. Remember you have a video bar next to your face screaming watch me instead. So do your thing to keep the viewers eyes on you! :)
Edit your videos and edit them again. Get rid of all those ums. I little trick I am working on is to say everything 3 times and space out my phrases, like this. "this is the new beauty product of the month". Then stop. Don't say "this is the new beauty product and i love um what it does um for my skin". This will be harder to edit. Think of it as a commercial, make your statements and phrases as clear as possible.
When doing a voice over there is no need to keep talking all the way through. Say what is needed and nothing more, if it is funny or pertaining to the video then its alright. Add music to the video for the times you aren't talking, this will help move the video along, make sure its copyright free or YouTube will hate you and spit on your video!
Don't save your video as MyMovie.file. Name it! YouTube uses this file name as a guide for what your video is about so name it the same way you want it to appear on YouTube itself.
Don't Yell in your video most people watch YouTube with head phones on and a screaming voice is a sure way to get a video closed before you get to your subject matter.
Do add tags to your video, relevant to your video. YouTube Currently only allows I think 400 or 500 characters for tags, so use them wisely.
Do add big Beauty channels to your tags I currently use Michelle Phan and Kandee Johnson in my tags to show up on the side of their videos.
Do add your channel name to your tags, this will help your other videos show up on the side while someone is watching your current video.
Do use annotations to ask your views for likes, subscriptions and comments, engage your audience.
Always ask for Likes, comments and subscriptions at the end of every video. Kandee Johnson always mentions a hug after her videos, GossmakeupArtist Always winks at the end of his videos. I haven't found my sign off signal yet, but I will one day! So find yours :)
Most Important! Look into the camera! Not the view finder, Not the computer screen. Talk to the camera like you are talking to your friends or family.
You don't have to be all dolled up for a video, but you should look decent.
I am currently looking for new subscribers!
Please Subscribe if you like and if you have a beauty channel I will subscribe back :)
So that's all my brain can handle for today.
I will be Adding to this series as I go, so Please follow my blog if you like with bloglovin or google+
YouTube Channels I have mentioned above :)
TheMakeupSquid20/30GlamMirandasingsKandee JohnsonGossMakeupArtistAll Items mentioned above were purchased with my own money at Walmart.
Thanks for readings and have a great day :)
