When I first saw that people were posting their daily lives or tutorials for various things on Youtube, I didn't get the excitement. Then I spent one day in with strep throat or some similar ailment and I was HOOKED.
Now, there are SO many vlogs out there that I watch. I'm currently obsessed with The Lavigne Life, BritPopLife and Life with the Logans for lifestyle vlogs. And then there's Shirley B. Eniang, Jenn from ClothesEncounters and Patricia Bright for beauty vlogs. I could go on forever.
Somehow after watching these awesome people vlog, I decided I wanted to start my own. That was crazy. And It wasn't as simple as being a fan, but I couldn't resist.
There's so much to know, but I'll try to share a bit below!
GETTING STARTED
Who are you vlogging for?
What I love so much about each of the vlogs I follow is that they know who they are vlogging for. They are authentic and they cater to their audience so well. And I think that's where a lot of vloggers fail. Including myself. May sound simple, but vlog what you know.
I tried, out of the gate, to launch a lifestyle vlog (as in a vlog that showcases what I do in my everyday life) without actually having a fan base. If your goal is to do this kind of vlog, I would suggest starting with tutorial videos; videos that teach people about something that you know a lot about or videos talking about a topic you're passionate about.
If your goal is to be a beauty vlogger, or DIY vlogger or anything similar, the advice I see all of the big time vloggers giving is this: PRODUCE A LOT OF CONTENT and then produce some more. Youtube is vast, but if you're consistent people will find you and slowly you will see those views climb.
What do you need?
Never type into Google or Youtube or anything 'what kind of camera do I need for vlogging?"
NEVER. You will instantly become overwhelmed.
There is no magic answer. Everyone uses something different. And if people use the same thing, in a few short months they will all be using something else. When I first started researching, everyone was using the Canon Rebel T3i. Very soon after, everyone switched to the Sony Alpha series. I couldn't keep up, so I quit trying and I just decided to go with what I could afford and what seemed simple.
For lifestyle or behind the scenes vlogging
Camera:
NikonJ1 (pros: Interchangeable lens & 1080p HD video; cons: Records in 20 min. intervals)
Lighting:
Natural light (whatever is around me)
Editing software:
Adobe Premiere Pro CC (I pay for it monthly in the Adobe Creative Cloud) or iMovie
Publish to:
Youtube (best place to upload and share these types of vlogs)
For stationary videos (tutorials,Youtube tags and other videos where I'm just sitting and talking)
Camera:
Nikon D3000
Lighting:
Two umbrella lights or Two softboxes (depends on the outside lighting)
Editing Software:
Adobe Premiere Pro CC
Publish to:
Youtube
For all other video projects ( commercials, interviews, etc.)
Camera:
Nikon D810
Lighting:
Natural light, reflectors, LED light attachment
Editing Software:
Final Cut Pro 10
Publish to:
Vimeo (better for more professional videos that you wish to embed on a site)
I know this was a long post, but I hope it helps someone!
I'm not sure why I haven't thought about this topic as a blog post, but thanks to a fellow Bham Blogger over at CanUEmagine.com for the question on Twitter today. I love our blogger community!
Always in love,
