Seriously every single day I get asked numerous times for my tips and advice on starting a channel, making quality videos, gaining views/subscribers and really everything to do with YouTube! I decided to do a huge post dedicated to all of those sorts of questions I get asked, I hope this helps some of you!
Choosing a name
Your username is really important because it gives everyone their first impression of your channel. Your username should reflect what your channel is about, simple and fairly easy to remember. Avoid using excessive amounts of numbers because they can be hard to remember and be sure to include keywords about what your channel is about like fashion, beauty, makeup because it will automatically help people realise what your channel is about.
Personalising your channel
I love this part because it allows my creative side to come out! You can change the colour of your background but I like to make it an image so I can add some photos and little extras down the side, I get asked a lot of questions about my layouts as well so I might actually do a post all about that but we'll see. You can edit your channel by going into "Edit Channel" at the top right of your page. If your a YouTube partner you have a couple of extra options, one of those mainly being able to have a banner. Unfortunately, if your not a partner which you won't be if your just starting out then you can't have a banner but you can still get creative with your background image and personalise your channel that way.
There are so many factors you have to consider when making videos to make them enjoyable to watch and good quality.
Camera
Firstly of course your going to need a good camera, which one you choose is completley up to you, depending on your budget and what your prepared to spend. If you want the best video quality you can get, I would go for a 1080HD camera. They are usually pretty expensive but worth the investment. Little added bonuses are if it has a screen which you can turn around and use to see yourself in, the photo taking quality and battery life (you don't want to run out of battery in the midst of filming). I use the JVC Full HD camcorder, GZ-HM870B for filming and the Sony HD DSC-TX10 for photos.
Lighting
You can't always rely on sunlight, especially if your going to find it hard to find time to film during the day or if its just really rainy dark weather. This means that you have to buy some good lamps so you can make a video whenever you want. Many difficulties can arise when trying to figure out the best lighting for you, one of the most frustrating being shadows! I try avoid this by using a light that looks like "Example A" below because I feel like it gives an even distribution of light over my whole set up. You can also use lamps by having multiple ones set up on either sides of you, similar to those in "Example B".
Background
What's behind you in your videos is a very important aspect to consider. Make sure that your set up behind you is nice to look at but isn't distracting. I used a white wall for all of my earlier videos but found that it can get a little bland and boring so made it a bit more interesting with some sheets hung behind me. I am currently using a black and white patterned screen as seen in the picture below.
Camera Set Up
You will need something to prop your camera up on so that it is the right level to get everything you want in the shot so I recommend a tripod and your can pick these up at numerous places if you take the chance to look. If you don't feel like going to the effort to purchase a tripod then you can use books, DVDs, magazines and anything flat that you cna gradually built up in height.
Appearance
Once your ready, take note of your appearance. Make sure you don't have lipstick on your teeth, your hair isn't falling in your face, your eyebrows are out of shape or your nail polish is chipping. Take the 2 minutes to fix it up because people will unfortunately notice!
Editing
What's behind you in your videos is a very important aspect to consider. Make sure that your set up behind you is nice to look at but isn't distracting. I used a white wall for all of my earlier videos but found that it can get a little bland and boring so made it a bit more interesting with some sheets hung behind me. I am currently using a black and white patterned screen as seen in the picture below.
You will need something to prop your camera up on so that it is the right level to get everything you want in the shot so I recommend a tripod and your can pick these up at numerous places if you take the chance to look. If you don't feel like going to the effort to purchase a tripod then you can use books, DVDs, magazines and anything flat that you cna gradually built up in height.
Appearance
Once your ready, take note of your appearance. Make sure you don't have lipstick on your teeth, your hair isn't falling in your face, your eyebrows are out of shape or your nail polish is chipping. Take the 2 minutes to fix it up because people will unfortunately notice!
Editing
This is kind of an optional step because you can always film your videos in one long take but I find that sometimes I babble on too much about stuff so I like to cut that out so my videos isn't too long and I don't bore viewers. The majority of my first videos are completely unedited, partly due to the fact that I didn't know what editing software to buy, let alone how to use it! Now I can't believe how I ever made a video without editing and I use Pinnacle Studio HD Ultimate Collection Version 14.0. You can do almost everything with this software from voice overs/effects and transitions to adding pictures and sub titles, of course you can also cut out any unwanted bits from the video.
Video Ideas
* What's in my purse/bag
* Everyday (Foundation/Mascara/Hair) Routine
* TAG's
* Collections (perfume, makeup)
* Popular videos of the moment
Video Duration
Try not to make videos too long because not many people want to watch a 20 minute tutorial so try and keep it concise, this is where editing comes in handy because you can cut out or speed up any unnecessary parts.
Flagged/Removed Videos
You have to be careful of the content you put up because people can easily flag it and it will be removed. Anything offensive like racism, sexual content, spam and things like that don't go down well on YouTube but I'm sure that's nothing to worry about just thought I would briefly mention it.
Video Responses
It's an okay idea to leave your videos as responses to more popular users videos to get your channel out there and your videos seen. On the contrary, it can be a little rude if you just post your video to videos that have nothing to do with what your talking about or if you keep changing who your response is to. So video responses are okay and a great way to get your content out there but make sure your mindful of the appropriate way to do it. You create a video response by going into a video and clicking in the comment box and then choosing create a video response.
Copyright
This means you can't have any copyrighted music or visuals in your videos, your must own everything. If you have any copyrighted material in your videos, it can be flagged and taken down by YouTube which may not happen straight away but if your channel grows and becomes more popular, the copyrighted material could be noticed and your video will be taken down.
Uploading
Once your ready to upload, always double if not triple check your video to make sure you didn't leave in any bits you cut out or repeat yourself. Make sure all your titles in your video have perfect spelling and punctuation.
Video Information
The title is the most important step because it's what attracts your audience and interests people in your video. Be sure to include the type of video it is like "haul, tutorial, routine, tag" and more facts about it like "Lush, blue smokey eye, everyday hair, nail polish obsessions". Your description should include a little introduction about the video, products mentioned and links to other places you can be found (blog, instagram, twitter). You can also change the privacy settings on your video in case you don't want your audience to see it yet as well as choose whatever category your video best fits in. Also, be sure to check spelling and punctuation.
Tags
This is pretty important because it helps people find your video if it's what they are looking for. You should include some names of the products you mentioned in your video, your username and what your video is about.
Extras
Captions and annotations can be used to add things you forgot to mention in the video but still want to include. I can't say I know the difference between the two and I rarely use these because my editing software offers similar options. This is good for if you forgot to say something and forgot to fix it up while editing your video.
Comments
I like to respond to the majority of my comments because if someone took the time to watch your video and comment on it, I think it's only polite to reply. Beauty videos generate somewhat a lot of hate so it's how you respond to this hate that's important. Don't disrespect the other person and sink to their level with a hateful reply, simply delete them, possibly block them and move on. It's just on persons opinion and they are probably just taking out issues they have with themselves on you so don't take it to heart.
Insight
You can check how your video is going by clicking the little insight button on the right hand side under your video. This allows you to access statistics, see how many likes and favorites it has and where your audience was directed to this video from.
Tell me if your interested in me doing something on my blog like this about helping your videos along, gaining subscribers and increasing video views and I will be happy to make one all about my tips and tricks on those things. I really hope this was of benefit to some of you, that it helped and maybe gave you a little more information about making videos on YouTube if your interested in becoming a beauty guru.
