Thinking how to start a vlog? If not, you should! Vlogging has made its presence felt quite strongly in the online market and is definitely here to stay.
Vlog is blogging with the help of videos. As simple as that.
You can either host the video all by yourself on your blogging platform or website, or you can use some video hosting platforms like YouTube, DailyMotion and Vimeo, that are absolutely free to use and have a ton of dedicated regular audience.
Enterprises are hiring high-end professionals to create vlogs and promote their products via vlogging. Video marketing plans are being created by the people in professional teams of some of the big names in the industry.
There is no hard and fast rule to create a vlog video, or a complete vlog for that matter. But some points are quite similar to blogging, such as the niche, the target audience, the community, and of course the content.
Why Vlog?
Vlog has many advantages as compared to traditional form of blogging, such as textual blogging and podcasts. Before getting started with the “How To Start A Vlog?” part, check out some of the major advantages that vlog has over other forms of blogging.
Wider Audience
An average person who is not a blogger and hardly reads anything on the internet, will obviously prefer a medium that is easy to perceive. Visual content are easier to understand and easier to remember than traditional textual content, especially videos, are made of audio, images, colors, and animations, which is much easier and engaging for the mass audience.
Possibilities are high that a person outside of your niche can also see the video and might just get interested in your product. It’s a win win!!
The Viral Factor!!
Your video content is much much more liable to get viral than your textual blog. The time is of social media platforms. What is impossible to get viral on Facebook or Instagram? Your video explaining, let’s say the best laptops, can get shared a million times and can be seen on millions of timelines, without even paying a penny for it. Isn’t that remarkable?
You Can Blog “LIVE”
We’ve talked about how important it is to keep your audience engaged in order to build your community by providing answers to all the queries of your audience on “How to Build an Online Community Around Your Blog? A Step by Step Guide!”. The best possible way to do so it to go live!! Using YouTube or Facebook, or Instagram for that matter, you can go live and interact with your audience and talk about their queries, you upcoming projects, your blog or anything that engages them.
How To Start A Vlog: The Equipments You’ll Need
There are tons and tons of options available out there for each and every vlogging equipment out there. Vlogging doesn’t require much of a setup or a professional studio. But it is important to note that you do need some basic equipments to get started with Vlogging, such as:
Camera
This is where it all begins. You’ll need a camera to record videos. And just to be clear you don’t need a high-end multipurpose professional camera to make a vlog. Even your regular mobile phone camera can do the same job easily. These days mobile phone cameras have reached to some different level of quality. Quality levels vary from HD, 720p HD, 1080p HD, 2K, 4K, 8K, UHD and so on.
Even if you decide to get a good handycam for this sole purpose of vlogging, then there’s no harm in buying a handycam. Handycams are made specially for the purpose of recording videos( can also take pics, but you get the point 🙂 ).
And if you have a tight budget, or you are a beginner, you simply have a front camera in your laptop or tablet pc. You can use that camera to make self hosting videos or with a guest straight from your laptop.
Some of the best cameras for vlogging that you an go for are :
32.5MP Camera || 4k || Mirrorless and lightweight
Microphone
Yes we agree that you do have a microphone inbuilt in your phone or laptop, and that too of a very good quality. But still it is advised to use an external microphone for better voice recording.
Noise cancellation is a key factor why it is advised to use an external microphone. Imagine you are vlogging live from an electronic store, reviewing a product and there are like a thousand people around you. Your ordinary phone camera, or even your handycam’s camera can’t catch your voice clearly. And guess what, you can’t undo that, you’re live remember? Noise in a video is a big no no and is a big turnoff if you are targeting to attract a potential audience.
You have a ton of options in microphones also, such as Boom mics, Shotgun mics, USB mics, Lavalier mics, and so on.
Some of the best microphones for vlogging that you an go for are :
Lighting
What’s worse than a video with a bad lighting. A video where a viewer can’t even see the colors, the detailings, or even your face for that matter, is an easy one to skip.
The competition is tight in the vlogging world and you just can’t lack at anypoint. Lighting, or rather a good lighting setup can help you focus on a certain part of a video recording. You can simply use the natural light in your room or elsewhere you are shooting, but that wouldn’t be very consistent and can be the reason for bad quality of your video.
Some of the best lighting equipment’s for vlogging that you an go for are :
Editing Software
Now this is where it all add up to. You’ll need a good video editing tool to join the video with the audio, add textual content and subtitles, add graphics and animations, to finally prepare a final cut of your vlog.
You don’t need to buy those expensive professional editing software to edit videos. These days most of the systems are packed with a very basic and decent video editor that does all the major jobs of editing a vlog.
But for a more professional approach, you can go for some third party editing software, may be free or premium, that offer you some additional features such as exposure correction, sound correction and multiple formats to save video in.
How To Start A Vlog on Instagram
Why do you need to Vlog on Instagram? The simple answer is that there is space for new vloggers. Yes the Instagram platform is still very new for vloggers. And the best part is the turn of crowd from Facebook to Instagram. Facebook has seen a massive decline in active user, while Instagram, thanks to its ease of use, is seeing a massive increase in the number of active and new users. The fact can be seen in the statistics provided by HootSuite, over 1 billion use Instagram every month.
To get started with vlogging on Instagram, we’ve got you a step by step guide of How To Start A Vlog on YouTube.
Setup an Instagram Account
Create a normal, or a business account, as per your budget on Instagram.com or through the Instagram mobile app. It’s free and takes less than a minute to do so. You can also connect your Facebook account with your Instagram Account( you know Facebook bought Instagram right?).
Now that you have an Instagram account, add your vlogs logo or maybe your own photo as the display picture. Write a small bio about yourself. Follow and get followed by as many people as you can( you can use the paid promotional tool of Instagram).
Add Your Videos
Now that you have an Instagram account, add the videos you have created. For success it’s always recommended to add videos consistently and as frequently as you can. Add proper hashtags related to your niche. Add proper and engaging captions. Promote your content as much as you can.
You can add stories with hashtags, create Ads using the Instagram stories. Stories are engaging!! 500 million people use Instagram stories everyday.
Instagram has recently introduced Instagram TV, where you can add long and lenghty videos. Instagram TV has its very own dedicated audience.
Promote
It’s important to promote your content. And especially on a platform where competition is rising day by day.
Instagram has a ton of promotional features to offer. The key here is the same as that of any other kind of blogging. To target you niche audience.
Follow hashtags that are trending in your niche. Use the same bunch of hashtags that are trending and equally have a space for new entries. Add hashtags in you vlogs video posts, Instagram stories, IG TV videos and wherever possible.
You can also use the paid Instagram service to promote your content. You can set your niche, add region to promote, see the traffic analysis and statistics and make use of more such Instagram features to promote your content on Instagram.
How To Start A Vlog on YouTube
How to start a vlog on YouTube can sound a daunting task, but is actually a very easy one. YouTube has one of the highest engagements on the internet. YouTube is the second most visited website on the internet, as per Alexa ranking(Hootsuite). 70 percent of millennial YouTube users use this video sharing platform to learn something new. Check out this step by step guide of “How To Start A Vlog on YouTube”
Create A YouTube Channel
It’s completely free and easy to create. Creating a YouTube channel is as easy as creating an account on any other social media channel. You have to add the name, the logo, description and things like that.
If you already have a Google account, then you can simply create a YouTube channel in less than a minute.
Create Your Vlog
Using the equipment listed above, create a fun, engaging and informative video as per your niche and interest of your niche audience. It is always advised to see a lot of what your competitors are doing.
Upload Your Video
Now that your video is ready after recording and editing, it’s time to showcase it to the world. Click on the upload button and you will be taken to the upload page of YouTube.
Now just drag and drop your vlog video to the area that says upload. Now you can add a title to the video to give it a name, in less than 50 characters . Create one, or add a video thumbnail to the video you are about to publish. This is the part where you start to make your audience curious about the video.
You can also add a description of the video. It is recommended to keep the description short and sweet.
Now that your video is all set to get published, just press the publish button!!
Promote Your Vlog
Similar to the Instagram promotions, promoting a YouTube video is as important as anything else. Share your Vlog on social media platform, embed it in your websites and blogs. You can also collaborate with other vloggers and increase your engagements.
How To Monetize Your Vlog ?
Monetizing is directly related to the number of subscribers and views that your channel and videos get. The best possible way to earn money from YouTube videos is by applying into the YouTube Partnership Program.
There are four different benefit levels that you can get your channel categorized in and earn profit through. These are Graphite, Opal, Bronze, Silver & Up. But there are two boxes that you need to check, which are:
1. 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months
2. You should have a minimum of 1,000 subscribers
So the answer to the question “How To Monetize Your Vlog?” is very simple. High quality content, promotion and YouTube Partnership Program.
The internet is a huge. And so are the opportunities. Your success in vlogging can be a crucial factor in deciding where you future goes in the blogging world.
Make sure to keep yourself updated with the changes and trends in the vlogging game.
Happy Vlogging!!
