More and more often you hear about Vloggers and this type of influencer seems to gain ground.
In principle, this is no wonder, as many people prefer to watch a well-done video on a certain topic instead of reading a long, albeit good article. Especially younger generations seem to respond much better on pictures and videos.
In most cases, Vloggers simply let their fan base participate in their lives, especially when something interesting is being done or can be commented on.
So if you want to become an influencer and enjoy visual media, a career as a Vlogger may be right for you. In this article you will learn more about the topic and get valuable practical tips.
Inform about other Vloggers
It’s always a good idea to learn about other Vloggers and check out their canals Of course, this is not about copying their styles, themes and videos, but about getting a little inspiration and, most importantly, a feeling for the format of the vlog. Besides the really famous big vloggers with hundreds of thousands or even, as in the case of Casey Neistat, millions of followers, you should also take a look at smaller and unknown vloggers. Because the famous vloggers have different financial possibilities and means, and you can’t compare yourself to them. There are also many great videos from Vloggers about how to become a Vlogger. So feel free to take a look.
Looking for a niche
As with all other topics, you should look for a suitable niche, which firstly you enjoy, secondly you know very well about and can offer some added value and thirdly should be as little overcrowded as possible. Because in some areas the competition is very strong and it can be more difficult to gain a foothold in the beginning.
Some popular and well suited topics are for example:
Food
Food is always well received, especially when a personal video, such as “What I eat during the day” is offered. Because somehow it is simply fun to watch other people cooking. Especially when everything is commented on in a smart and lively way, the viewers are quickly thrilled. As far as niches are concerned, you can perhaps choose a special cuisine, treat gluten-free food, show recipes for losing weight that are nevertheless delicious, etc. Another important thing about these vloggs is that at the end you can see a really lovingly prepared plate with the food – this is stimulating.
Activities
In general, of course, you should be in films on days when you have something interesting to do. Maybe a great hike is coming up? Kite flying with the self-made kite, a day at a relief action, at the animal shelter, etc.
Beauty
A lot of vlogs revolve around the topic of beauty, more precisely make-up, cosmetics and hair. So if you like to dress up and experiment daringly, you have a good niche at hand. Just let the camera move while you style, make-up or do your hair and comment on the whole thing as interesting and lively as possible.
Purchasing the right equipment
It is obvious that you will of course need some equipment to get started. But don’t worry – a huge investment is not necessary, especially not in the beginning. However, you should definitely have or purchase the following things:
Video camera
In principle, a good smartphone is acceptable, but it is certainly not optimal. Good devices today are not as expensive as they used to be and as a hopeful video blogger you should seriously consider buying one. In any case, the device must be HD-capable (1080p).
Tripod
Without a tripod it is of course absolutely not possible, because who wants to watch a blurred video, where the focus suffers with every movement?
Lamps
Although it is possible to do without in an emergency, it is always better if you can illuminate the video well, especially if you are filming in closed rooms. Normal room lighting is rarely optimal and often there are also disturbing shadows.
Microphone
If you only film with your mobile phone, you may be able to do without it, but the results are not optimal here either. A directional microphone attached to the camera is better. This picks up the sound from the direction from which you are filming.
This makes the sound recording clearer and easier to understand.
What is your goal and intention?
Before YOU start recording, you should definitely think about what you want to achieve with the video. This sounds very basic and logical, but many beginners somehow start filming without having a clear goal in mind, and the viewers notice that. If you really want to film and comment on everyday life, you don’t have to think about anything or only a few things.
Create great content
Make the content as interesting and varied as possible. This also includes that you are often to be seen yourself. After all, the fans follow your Vlog because of you and your personality.
Start with a question
A good way to get started, for example, is to ask a question. It can be especially interesting if you talk to people on the street or in your family and circle of friends and ask them a clever question that also interests other people. But for heaven’s sake, don’t forget to get the consent of the people concerned beforehand. Of course, you should not ask any unpleasant or embarrassing questions. After all, you don’t want to upset anyone against you and cause conflicts.
Record exciting and interesting moments
It is obvious that the best way to keep the audience engaged is to offer exciting, funny and interesting activities. Because no matter how clever and funny your comments may be, they should also be accompanied by high-quality, funny and extraordinary recordings.
Cute animals, funny behaviour of humans and animals and unusual situations are always crowd pullers.
By the way, you can almost always find something worth watching in big cities if you just walk around long enough. Street artists, for example, are often happy when they appear in a vlog, because that is always advertising.
Edit meaningfully
No matter how funny the scenes are and how well you’ve commented, the video still needs skillful editing. For one thing, the footage needs to be trimmed to a reasonable length. Ideal is usually 8 to 15 minutes.
“Jump cuts” are practically a must in modern vlogs. This involves identifying two interesting continuous points in the video and then cutting back and forth between them.
Uninteresting sections can be shortened with a time lapse.
And finally, a background of suitable music is practically a must today.
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And then upload!
At the end you upload the finished artwork. The most used platform is surely YouTube. But also Facebook, Vimeo and Instagram can be used.
Careful, regarding the length, if the video is longer than 10 minutes, you probably need to verify your YouTube account first.
Take feedback seriously and learn from it
After the Vlog is published, comments are likely to follow. This feedback is very important to see if you are on the right track, so take it seriously. The comments are certainly not always positive, which is not something you should take personally, but rather as a chance to learn.
By the way, often it’s not necessarily about content, but also about technical aspects, such as bad sound, music that is too loud or unfavourable lighting.
Each video should be unique – avoid repetition
Of course, you should never copy other Vloggers, but you should also be careful not to copy yourself. For example, if you made a great Vlog at a street food festival, the next one should not be about the same activity.
Staying true to a theme
However, this does not mean that you should not pay attention to the red thread, and that you can concentrate on one subject area. If your theme is food, that could be a street food festival in the neighbourhood, culinary delights at the carnival, an Indian Bollywood happening or whatever.
In this way, you will not only find viewers who are interested in this particular theme, but also advertisers who may be interested in working with you.
Promote your Vlog on other social media channels
Once YOU have uploaded your lovingly shot and edited video, you should also advertise it on other social media platforms. If YOU are active on several channels at the same time, e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., your audience will automatically increase. The links posted on the other channels are shared easily, quickly and frequently. Of course, you can also send links to friends individually and ask them to share them eagerly – especially in the beginning everything helps to increase your audience.
For inspiration – the success story of Casey Neistat
To give you a little more inspiration, we’ll tell you a little bit about one of the most famous Vloggers – Casey Neistat. With more than 9 million YouTube subscribers and over 2 billion views of his 800 videos, Casey is at the top of the list of successful Vloggers who can live with it. All in all, his fortune is estimated at 10.5 million euros, although of course not all of this comes from vlogging itself. But that’s where it all started, and that’s where the other revenue streams came from.
Neistat has been active on YouTube since 2010 and has already appeared on television.
In 2013 Casey is married to Candice and they Serviceh have a daughter born in 2014. The birth was of course accompanied by a video on YouTube with the fitting title “Her Water Broke
His life before the Vlogger fame was anything but easy and he had to witness the separation of his parents at the age of 15. At the young age of 17 he became father of a little boy himself and lived with his companion and the child in a trailer park. He kept his family afloat with odd jobs and social welfare. The slogan “From dishwasher to millionaire” really applies here, because Casey also worked as a dishwasher in earlier years.
In spite of all financial restrictions Casey somehow managed to scrape together all his savings and bought an old iMac on which he could cut videos. In 2003, he made his breakthrough with “iPod’s Dirty Secret” and gained popularity. Within a week, over a million people had seen the video about how Apple was not being customer-friendly when it came to replacing iPod batteries.
A year later, Casey and his brother Van created their own film series and in 2008 the two of them were able to negotiate a deal with HBO. In 2010 Casey launched his new YouTube channel
Mrs. Candice is also often seen in his short films. In his podcast, which he runs together with his wife, Serviceh discuss quite openly in “Couple’s Therapy” about their family life together.
A real success story, which might inspire you now. At Adfluencer.de, the German agency for Influencer Marketing, we will be happy to help you make your dream come true!