Vlogging can be a nice hobby if you have some time to kill. At the same time, there are some people who started recording their life and ultimately turned it into a source of income.
If you feel like vlogging could be your ticket to financial independence, why not give it a try? And to help you on your journey, here are some neat suggestions that you should include in your strategy.
Pick a Niche
Ideally, your vlogs should revolve around passion rather than random topics. This way, you will find motivation to produce the best possible content. There are plenty of examples of vloggers creating a channel and ultimately failing because they run out of ideas or fall flat after producing lackluster quality videos and losing viewers which was caused by the lack of motivation.
Of course, picking a niche you are passionate about may not result in an idea you can monetize. That is why you should research the competition and demographics to determine how realistic it would be to find your audience and stand out from other vloggers who create videos similar to your idea.
Get Proper Equipment
Equipment is another important element to make your vlogs look professional. Sure, you could record videos on your smartphone, but the quality is not the same as it would be using something like GoPro.
Besides a proper camera, you will also need a computer. Overall, a PC with proper hardware sounds like the best option, but if you travel and work simultaneously, a laptop is a better choice.
A MacBook is worth a shout. While expensive, Apple computers are quite reliable and have decent hardware. If you need an mkv to mp4 converter mac has some built-in tools as well as software on the official app store or third-party sources. And it is not just converters for different video formats, but proper video editing tools you can get.
Of course, you could hire a video editor and focus on promoting your vlog instead. However, early on, it is unlikely that you will have the resources to get a professional editor. More often than not, new vloggers have to do all the work themselves, including video editing.
Select a Platform
Selecting where you publish the videos is another important decision. As a rule of thumb, most vloggers pick YouTube because it is the most popular video platform on the internet. There is an argument to be made about social media sites like Instagram and Facebook that have added a video player on the platforms.
However, unlike YouTube, you cannot monetize content directly on social media. You would need to include promotional shoutouts or affiliate links in the posts to profit.
Meanwhile, having a video on YouTube means ad revenue in addition to all the other monetization methods.
There is also an entirely different approach you could take as a vlogger. Instead of publishing edited videos, you could start a Twitch TV channel and monetize it by streaming live.
Getting a webcam and a decent computer should be enough to run a stream because you will be talking instead of doing something like playing video games.
Streamers on Twitch TV make money after growing their channel and receiving donations, subscriptions, bits, and getting sponsorship deals from various brands.
Of course, you could also combine both Twitch TV and YouTube to create an even greater opportunity to profit so long as there is enough time to run live streams and publish videos on YouTube.
Stick to a Regular Schedule
Speaking of video publishing, you need to make sure that you stick to a schedule, especially early on. When attracting an audience, it is necessary to show them that you are serious about vlogging and that they can expect a new video from you once or twice every week, or whenever your schedule works.
Daily vlogs might be a bit too much because you will likely burnout after a while. But the important thing to note here is that failing to meet the expectations that your viewers build over time will be one of the causes of your downfall as a vlogger.
Advertise as Much as You Can
Do not expect viewers appearing out of thin air. If you want to succeed and become a recognizable vlogger who makes money from what they do, advertising your vlog will be one of the priorities.
Use as many marketing methods as you can. Collaborate with other vloggers, influencers, and streamers. Also, enter contests, post videos on social media and platforms like Reddit, think of potential ideas about how to go viral.
It may be difficult to find the marketing resources early on, but if your vlogging idea picks up little by little, consider reinvesting the money to promote your channel to reach an even wider audience.