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I know many bloggers have delved into the art of vlogging at some point since starting their blogs. Many of whom have given up at the first hurdle, some have managed to mix the two merrily and others have given up the written blogs completely in favour of the vlog life. I did it backwards, I started with vlogging and now trying to get my head around the written side, so hopefully you’ll be able to as much help to me as I am to you. 

I came, I saw, I’m awful at it…

Don’t ever be disheartened by video. I (Luke) have spent hours editing some videos and the ones I am most proud of always seem to be a flop with the videos I’ve spent no time on doing really well and getting lots more views. There is no magic answer especially in the world of Youtube. I’ve quit doing Youtube on three occasions as I honestly don’t get it and the people that tell you they have a formula are 100% lying. I will let you into a little secret. By all means, post your videos to Youtube as most brands will want you to have some sort of Youtube presence, but posting your videos to Facebook will always do better (in terms of views).

It seems video is a necessary evil for all bloggers in order to take it to the next level. If you have zero interest in being on camera yourself, there are ways to get around this and still make popular, well engaged videos (I will write about this on another post).  In the meantime why not get your phone out and start recording some things. You might surprise yourself and enjoy it.

So now what?..

So, you’ve made an awesome video, spent hours editing it and hopefully pleased with your content, but now what? You think the hard work is over… Sorry, but it certainly isn’t.

Firstly you need to have an eye catching page. Whether your video is intended for YouTube or to be embedded into your blog it doesn’t matter. The importance of how that video looks on screen in a couple of seconds is what will make someone bypass it or watch it.

Once you have people’s attention you need your blog, social channels and YouTube channel to carry a similar theme. People want to know who they’re watching. When I started YouTube, creator’s channels looked like they had used ‘Microsoft Paint’ to create the banners and their logo, now most blogs, even start-ups, look so much more professional. If you want to attract big brands your page needs to look professional and you need to be up and running across all social networks.

How to become the ‘Ultimate Package’…

Many brands are now looking for the ‘ultimate package’, no longer can you just rely on your writing skills as a blogger you need to get your face out there making videos to enable you to make more money and to be more successful. With that in mind I would like to share a few tips on how to make your videos stand out.

Good thumbnails are crucial.

It’s worth spending a bit of time on making your thumbnail eye catching. You don’t want too much writing and the picture should tell a story itself and give your viewers an idea of what to expect to draw them in. Once you have a style you like, stick with it for all your videos.

A good Intro and Outro on your videos.

A short 6-10 seconds intro always looks professional and can help draw people in. Whether that be your logo animated, some funky music with a few images or your logo with you saying over it “Hey welcome to my vlog!” The Outro can carry a similar theme to your Intro but allows you to link other videos, blogs, basically anything that will keep people on your site/channel and clicking through.

A catchy title.

I know a lot of people don’t like ‘click bait’ titles, but I’m of the view that they always do well and who cares? Why go against what can get you more views. It doesn’t have to be rude and have any sort of swearing as long as it has some sort of relevance to your video and makes people want to click on it. For example, my family went to a drive through zoo and lions walked towards and right passed the car, we could have called it ‘Zoo trip with Lions’, instead we called it ‘Lion Attacks Car’. Obviously it didn’t on this occasion, but in the video I said “Oh no it’s coming for us, it’s going to get us!!” Which is how I started the video. This made what would have been a standard 100 views go up to 7000. Silly really but it worked.

 


In true Blue Peter style ‘here is one I made earlier’. Laura (Blog On Founder extraordinaire) asked if I could help get her girls channel off the ground when it came to styling. So here is the Princess and Dude’s new intro… Find their channel HERE… and our brand new design channel HERE


If you need any help, advice or work doing on your blog and social sites I’m always here to help. I’ve just started a new company called Blended Parent Media. We do video intros and outros, banners, headers, animations, logos, blog refresh and we design websites. 

www.blendedparentmedia.com 2017 is the year of video so get involved. 

I will be talking about all of this and lots more at ‘Blog On Conference’ on May 21st so make sure you get there. My session is called ‘Youtube – After Editing’

2 comments

  • Jenny @thebrickcastle
    17/02/2017 at 10:14 am

    I love that actually – and I totally agree that it is always the ones we take least time over or fluff that get most views. I put a toy together wrong and almost wept when I realised and watched it get 10k views in the first month. I also filmed my son playing with a magic set purely to show his father. It didn’t even upload correctly, and wasn’t edited at all. It has 300k views. The ones I took 3 days over? 300 views 😀

  • David Shaul - DadvWorld
    17/02/2017 at 1:58 pm

    Quality advice from a great man! Definitely an expert in the field 🙂

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