My 5 points of advice after 6 months of making Youtube videos.

I have been making videos for Youtube for the past six months and I want to share with you want I have learned, so here goes…

JUST DO IT, START.

People hold back for years. This is true for many things in life. I did. I always wanted to know more about making video’s and how to edit them, but I held myself back. I asked myself the question now about why I held myself back. I give myself an answer about fear and a lack of purpose or a lack of reason for making videos. 

My advice is that a loose WHY? (Purpose) is good enough. It can be as simple as I want to make a video, full stop. All the way up to, I want to make a short movie that I can enter into some competitions. 

Your WHY? will evolve over time, and you will shape and refine this as you go, so there is no point in waiting too long trying to find your true calling or your deep purpose. Overthinking what your videos should be about is just a dick mentality, and you should skip past that. Keep it simple at the start, and the critical thing is to START and do not STOP. 

A lot of people start, and most people stop very quickly. They lose heart because no one is watching the videos that they birth. I say, get over yourself, no one cares, there is no pent up demand for your video, and it is one of the millions out there. Consistency will rule the day, so keep going… and know this. The Youtube algorithms don’t even kick in until you have over one hundred and fifty videos, so stop complaining and just produce content.

LEARN AS YOU GO

You can start from scratch using an iPhone and the editing software that comes free with the operating system. You can start there and learn as you go. There are thousands of places to learn from on the internet, and people always want to help. It is a human thing. 

So just friggin start and then explore as you go, what you are doing right and what you might be doing wrong. Work on getting one percent better with each video. 

I always go back and watch my videos after the first week that I put them out there. I critic them, and I learn a ton of stuff from that simple personal review. If you want to understand YouTube and content production, then take out a free month on LinkedIn learning, which is a brilliant learning site, or ask the internet. 

Ask YouTube. The crazy thing is that everything you want to know is out there on YouTube. You just need to ask the questions. A word of warning here, you can get lost on learning and discovery, don’t do that. Limit your research time and budget alongside your creative and content creation time. One other point, there is no rush to learn everything. Start small and grow your knowledge bit by bit and if you get stuck on something, ask the internet, and guess what, the whole world will speak back at you.

GET SOME KIT

When I started, my iPhone was more than enough. I use it most of the time even now that I have bought more kit and I am getting more engaged with the process. 

There is one mistake that I have repeatedly been making, and that is with the audio. I keep getting it wrong. This screw up is ok up to a point because I am learning as I go, but there comes a moment where you have to raise your game, and for me, this game is AUDIO. 

I have bought a couple of mics now. Still, I conveniently forget them when I go out because I am shy about making a big scene and looking too professional for my capability. Also, most of the time, I am out, and all I have on me is my iPhone, and then I feel the need to capture some video and chat. The mic on the iPhone is not the best. I have learned two things here: understanding how the mic’s on the iPhone work because they are intelligent mic’s and will direct their attention to the loudest sound. The other is to carry a small lavalier mic that can plug into your iPhone and whip that out when you need it. I did this yesterday, and it made a world of difference to my audio. To hide the fact I was wearing a mic, I ran the wire from my iPhone up my sleeve and clipped the mic inside my t-shirt. It was discreet, and it worked a treat. 

So there is no need to overspend here. This type of mic is cheap and is enough to get you started. Editing software is a must-have, and I use Final Cut Pro on my MacBook Pro, but truth be told here, that is an expensive piece of software. Luma fusion on your iPhone or iPad is so good it will make you skip past the Final Cut Pro. I would recommend investing in Luma Fusion for a small fee – you will not regret this decision.

EDITING IS A LIFE-LONG JOURNEY

You will always be learning how to edit. It is a forever thing. Yes, you will know the basics pretty quickly, and you will keep building on that but trust me, you will constantly explore new things about how to edit. 

I think of editing like I think of making jigsaw puzzles. My father liked to make jigsaw puzzles, and he would come home from work and relax by working on a jigsaw puzzle. And as a kid, I was always amazed at this picture that would form over time. This is how I frame my editing. 

The other thing is that once you start to get curious about editing, you will find that you watch different programs, movies, and YouTube videos with that learning mindset. When you see things you like, jot them down into your iPhone and use them the next time you edit. It is a great way to get better. Steal with pride, most artists do.

If you are using an iPad or iPhone, check out the internet on how to incorporate other apps to support your creativity. You would be amazed at the titles and animations you can make using the Keynote app that comes free on your iPhone… Oh, learn how to use GREEN-SCREEN, it will make a world of difference to you. 

My last point on editing is, do not over-engineer your video’s. I am guilty of that, and I have to keep working on getting the simple edit in place. I like the bells and whistles but the audience just like the bells or the whistles. Get creative, but hold back a little. Save a lot of that creativity for other video’s. Remember, you are in it for the long game… are you not?

YOUR WHY? WILL EVOLVE

As I have said, get started and keep going. Your Why will evolve over time, and you will be forever refining this until something clicks into place for you. Many people overthink this part, and they spend time designing logo’s and brainstorming the why? Working on what they want to stand for, they get a lot of that down on paper, and then they go off on a tangent or a journey of refinement and review. 

This journey is exactly what you will do anyway. Doing it is the best way to learn. So just do it. Start, and your purpose will find you.

Mess around with different styles, and you will start to get a feel for what works for you and for the audience that you start to pick up. 

I am still working on this but guess what. I don’t care who watches what I create. This is one essential part of the learning process to get into your head – NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR VIDEOS. There is not a massive pent up demand waiting for you to release your video into the fold of the millions and millions of videos out there. So get over yourself, get over the fear and create your videos for your own personal fulfilment. 

If you are looking to make a fast fortune, forget it. This is like hoping to win the lottery, and if you start with that as your WHY? You will quickly get disheartened, and you will fail.

BRUCIES BONUS POINT: CREATE FOR YOU

If you are really into learning how to YouTube, then create for you. Worry about the audience later, work up the quality you want to achieve, the number of videos and gather your learning. Once you get some idea of what you are doing, look back. Join the dots, and the future will become more straightforward for your channel.

Then, once you have got all of that down, share what you have learned and make a video about it.

I think that is what I would do…

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