Although not technically registered as lexical term, the word vlogging is already familiar to individuals who are regularly exposed to the internet. A ubiquitous avenue for gaining popularity and fame in Youtube, a video streaming website, vlogging has since then become the primary means of relaying any type of information to an audience—may that be entertaining or informative.
Success is determined by the number of followers one has which technically translates the number of likes, shares and thumbs up you get for a video into the official currency for vlogging success. But, this begs the question: What is vlogging, really? Well, the urban dictionary defines vlogging as the combination of the words video logging.
Quite a lot of people have erroneously believed that the word is a combination of video and blog. However, this is an oversight as the word blog is already a shortened form of the web log, so the more appropriate definition would be the former.
Succinctly put, vlogging is the means of relaying videos to an online audience. With the rise of mobile smartphones readily equipped with cameras, almost anyone can become a vlogger overnight. After all, you do not need a certain set of skills nor a peculiar ability just to start your blogging career. However, you do need a significant number of followers in order for you to turn it into a lucrative career. Similarly, you could utilize apps much like the productivity apps sales people use. In any case, if you wish to take a revolutionary leap in vlogging, you must persistently and consistently build new content for marketing purposes each day.
Until then, here are some of the tips you can keep in mind to be a professional vlogger:
Determine niche and research
Before going into blogging, you have to determine your nice first. Similarly, in vlogging you should identify what your niche is and research. Consider what your interests are and what sort of potential it has in attracting a reasonable number of viewers. In turn, this would be a guarantee that your audience and you, yourself would enjoy whatever video you might have created and shared. Once a niche has been identified, continue the research and try to see what your possible competitors are coming up with. Know what works for them and what does not as these will be very helpful in guiding you which ones to emulate and which ones to avoid.
Create a channel on a video sharing platform and understand how it works
Once you have everything nailed down, it is now time to create your very own video channel. While Youtube remains to be the most recognized video streaming website, it is not the only one. There are possibly many more others and just because they are rather obscure does not mean you should not try them. Choose what you think works best for you, your skill set and your interest. From there, take ample time to familiarize yourself with how it works in order to have a more seamless, organized and smooth process.
Create Video
After you have set up your channel, you should then create your video. Your videos should not only be entertaining, but well-researched, informative and original. Take note, much like how people would prefer to read compelling content, they would also like to find videos on the internet that is both true and helpful as well. Most people go online to look for answers and if they can find that in your channel, they will likely subscribe in order to look for more. To ensure that your videos are refreshing, pepper it with a little humor here and there. Lastly, be original so as to give your videos a touch of authenticity. Nobody likes a copycat and what was done before becomes rather tired after too many attempts by others. And like they always say, nothing would ever beat the original. So, endeavor to make your videos as authentic as possible.
Optimize your videos
Ensure that your video has all the necessary information filled out in order for people to better find out. Include all important aspects in your video and optimize them. Factors such as titles, file names, tags and descriptions might be easy to overlook, but filling them out gives your entire channel a professional feel. Leaving them blank would make you look like an amateur.
