Learning how to start a vlog (video log) is relatively easy with the right preparation. Vlogging involves figuring out what style of video content you prefer, what channel you want to host your vlog on, filming, editing, and promoting your content. If you have a smartphone, you can start vlogging for free.
Many vloggers set up their own website and link to their videos hosted on social media platforms. To start your own website, you’ll need a reliable host. We recommend DreamHost, where you can get started for as little as $2.59 per month. You’ll get a free domain name, a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, and preinstallation of WordPress. Get started with DreamHost today.
To learn how to start a vlog, follow these eight steps.
1. Do Your Vlog Homework
There are many different styles of vlogging, and the best way to figure out what style you want is to do your research. An easy way to do this is to search for the niche that you’re interested in vlogging about. You can conduct this search on YouTube, which displays thousands of videos in varying styles.
Assess what you like and don’t like about each video. Pay attention to the music, tone, and whether they use a lot of b-roll, which is supplemental footage added to the main video. Some videos are very curated, and others have minimal editing and can be published to the video platform very quickly.
Popular vlog niches include:
- Travel: You can use your travel videos to document your journey, whether that’s international trips or visiting new eateries in your city.
- Beauty: Videos such as tutorials, unboxing products, and reviews do well in the beauty category.
- Lifestyle: The lifestyle category can encompass travel, and it can also include parenting, health, fitness, and day-to-day life.
- Gamer: Share your gameplay footage via a vlog but be sure to read the terms of service (TOS) for each game before you share footage. Some encourage sharing while others prohibit it.
Lydia Diga vlogs about both travel and lifestyle topics
2. Create Your Vlog Channel
Where you host your blog is more of a personal preference than anything. Your desired audience may prefer one platform over another, but it’ll feel less like work if you can pick a platform you already enjoy. If you dread posting and interacting on a particular platform, it’s not the best choice to devote your time to. However, some vloggers will do most of their work through one platform and share it to multiple platforms.
YouTube
Since YouTube is a platform specifically for videos and is the oldest platform of its kind, it’s a popular choice for many vloggers. It’s free to use YouTube, and you can even monetize your YouTube channel with ads. To do so, you’ll need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time within the past 12 months.
While Lost LeBlanc has a large following on several different platforms, he enjoys using YouTube the most, so he spends most of his time creating content and engaging with followers there
IGTV
IGTV stands for Instagram TV, which is the native video platform on Instagram. Videos within an Instagram feed can only be up to 1 minute in length. However, if you use IGTV, your video can be as long as 60 minutes. Readers can also sign up to get notifications every time their favorite creators post an IGTV episode.
Instagram accounts have additional tabs just above their feed, and the center tab is for their IGTV videos
The video platform on Facebook is called Facebook Watch. Content creators upload their own long and short-form content, and the platform also has professionally produced content. Users can create watchlists, which is a list of channels they follow. This won’t create any push notifications any time a new video is uploaded, but it will create a list of videos they can access on-demand.
If you have a video channel on Facebook, users can receive alerts any time you post a video
TikTok
Similar to now-defunct video platform Vine, TikTok is a place where users create short-form videos. Many users upload lip-syncing, comedy, and talent videos with music in the background. Each video loops unless a user navigates away from it. You’ll need an iOS or Android phone to download the social media video app.
TikTok videos that showcase pranks tend to do well on the platform
Your Own Website
If you have both the technical expertise and the funds to do it, hosting videos on your own site can work. However, you won’t benefit from the social sharing aspect of using a platform, such as TikTok or YouTube.
Videos take up an enormous amount of space on servers, which is incredibly expensive, so a better option is to host your videos on another platform and embed them onto your own site. This way, you can have your vlog and even a blog or website to which you can send people. You can host your own website for as little as $2.59 per month using DreamHost.
Lifestyle Film Blog is a popular YouTube channel, and they also upload their videos to a blog
3. Order Vlogging Equipment
While vloggers can create videos with their smartphone, you might feel more motivated to create a video if you’ve got the right equipment. You can get equipment such as lights, a professional video camera, and microphones to up the production quality of your videos. Depending on your budget, you can find each of these items new or used.
Lighting
While not necessary when shooting videos in natural light, you’re going to want a standalone light source for your videos. You can find lights on Amazon for less than $30. Many vloggers use large ring lights, and others get clip-on ring lights for their phones or cameras. If you have a dedicated space to conduct your video shoots, you can use a three-point light setup.
A three-point lighting setup traditionally is used by portrait photographers but works great for video as well
Video Camera
If you don’t want to use a smartphone to create your videos, you can invest in a camera that takes high-quality videos. Many vloggers use a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) if they also do photography, but you can also use a mirrorless camera—both of these are digital cameras with lots of settings. Point-and-shoot cameras make it easy to take great videos if you don’t have the technical expertise to focus a shot. A popular choice for travel or adventure vloggers is a GoPro since they’re durable and waterproof.
Microphone
You can find quality vlogging microphones on Amazon for less than $20. Some microphones attach to your clothing with a clip, some need a stand, and others can clip to the camera or desk. The most common vlogging microphone is a unidirectional one known as a cardioid mic. These only record sound from one direction, so it won’t pick up your neighbor mowing their lawn outside.
4. Write Your First Vlogging Script
Some vloggers have no problem spending an hour talking while others prefer to have entire scripts to follow. You may lie somewhere in the middle and prefer to follow a general outline. An outline will make it easier to appear natural on camera, rather than looking like you’re just reading. If you mess up while filming, the great news is that you can always go back and edit it out.
If you’re talking for 3 minutes, that’s roughly 500 written words. This means if you’re writing down every single word that you want to say, you’re spending an unnecessary amount of time preparing. If you follow a basic outline, you can fill in the gaps. You’ll find this much easier the more you do it, so practice writing your outline now and ad-libbing the rest.
The outline should flow naturally through a sequence of events. You’ll start with an introduction that tells them who you are, why you’re vlogging, and what the audience will gain by watching the video. Your intro should be relatively quick. Otherwise, viewers will likely navigate away from your video if it takes too long to get to the meat. Typically, this is less than 15 seconds.
The bulk of the video needs to explain exactly what you promise they will learn. While clickbait works for a lot of vloggers, it isn’t a good way to keep followers. Clickbait videos have sensational headlines that are designed to get a viewer to click to watch the video. If you deliver on what you say you will in your video, a viewer is more likely to subscribe.
You should follow up this section of your video by providing a conclusion. Summarize what you talked about, give a few short lessons, and provide a call-to-action (CTA). This CTA might be to like, comment, or subscribe to your channel.
A sample script one might use to tell their story about how they got started in their careers
5. Film Your Vlog
Your vlog will be much more engaging if you follow a few key rules. You shouldn’t talk too fast, don’t ramble, and use the best lighting possible. If you’re shooting a travel or lifestyle video, you might want to use b-roll. This supplemental footage intercuts within your video to create transitions or to make your audience feel as though they’re actually at the location you’re describing.
Implement these strategies while filming your vlog:
- Shoot horizontal: We live on a horizontal plane, spending every day looking at a horizontal frame. You never want to shoot a video vertically, unless you’re filming specifically for Snapchat or an Instagram story.
- Consider a tripod: No one likes to watch a video where someone is holding the camera because it shakes the video. A tripod will prevent this from happening. Alternatively, you can get a gimbal meant to stabilize the video if you’re holding the camera.
- Tell a story: The most effective vloggers tell stories while creating their videos. Each story needs a beginning, middle, and end. Tell your story as though you’re talking to your best friend.
- Be yourself: It’s hard to pretend to be someone you’re not. If you act how you normally are, you’ll appear much more natural. If you’re goofy, be goofy. If you’re great at impersonations, throw some of those in your videos too.
- Look at the camera: For “talking head” videos, where it shows you from your shoulders up talking to the cameras, be sure to look at the camera. You don’t want to look at the screen because then it appears you’re looking down.
Casey Neistat is a master storyteller, which earned him almost 12 million subscribers
6. Edit Your Vlog
Many new computers come preinstalled with video editing software such as iMovie or Windows 10 Movie Maker. Another popular video editing program is DaVinci Resolve 16, which is free. It offers a paid version, but for most videos, the free version will suffice. You can also opt to pay for a program such as Adobe After Effects.
When editing, be sure to focus on quality vs quantity. Ask yourself what you should cut out from the video to keep it succinct—5 to 20 minutes is customary for vlogs. If you have no desire to edit your videos, you can hire someone to do it for you. Fiverr is a good place to find freelancers.
Music
Music helps add feeling to your story, and because the majority of music has a copyright, you can’t use anything mainstream you’ll find on the radio. YouTube has its own music library you can use, or you can search Google for royalty-free vlog music. Some of these sites are free while others charge a monthly fee. Free sites are the most popular, which means you’re likely going to have many of the same songs as other vloggers if you choose that route.
Color Correcting Filters
With the free version of DaVinci Resolve 16, you can color correct your video in post-production. Color correcting videos adds a more cohesive look to your videos, so try to use the same color correcting filters across each video. You don’t want one video to be very cool in color―blue, green, or purple―and then the next one warm in color―red, yellow, or orange.
Color correct using iMovie, which is a free video editing program for Apple users
7. Upload Your Vlog
After your video gets edited, you’ll need to come up with the title, description, and thumbnail image. Some vloggers also create captions, whether through a paid service or YouTube’s automatic captioning feature.
Title
Clickbait works, but only in the short-term. Your video title needs to convey exactly what your video is about. Otherwise, you’re unlikely to gain a new subscriber. Some of the best titles answer a question, such as “Where to Find the Best Coffee in New York That Isn’t Starbucks,” or “The Best Books to Read if You’re a Female Entrepreneur.”
Description
Your description should be accurate and have keywords. A keyword tells search engines and the platform on which you’re hosting your vlog what the video is about. The description also usually includes any links you reference in your video, where viewers can follow you on other platforms, and where the music in your video is from.
Thumbnail
A thumbnail is a small image or screenshot of your video. You can create these thumbnails using a free program such as Canva, or you can use Photoshop. Some bloggers just take a screenshot of a still frame from their video and use that. Thumbnails with text on them, as long as it’s large enough to read, does better than plain thumbnail images.
Captions
One of the most popular services to transcribe your videos with is Rev.com. You can also choose to hire a freelancer from Fiverr to do it for you. Captions will allow viewers who are hard of hearing or in public places to watch your videos.
An example of thumbnails with text on them
8. Promote Your Vlog
Vlogging is more than just shooting a video and uploading it to a platform. You’ll need to market your vlog channel and videos to get viewers and subscribers. There are many strategies you can use to promote your vlog, which includes collaborating, running ads, and interacting with other vloggers.
To grow your vlog audience, use these methods:
- Collaborate: You can collaborate with other vloggers on videos, or you can even work with brands.
- Like & comment: Respond to every comment someone makes on your vlog and take the time to be social on the platform you’re on. When you comment on other vlogs, other people can see that and might check out your channel.
- Ads: You can run ads to your channel using search engines and social media. Popular platforms for ads include Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
An example of a sponsored video collaboration between Dionne Dean and Goodwill; the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires you to disclose sponsored posts
How to Start a Vlog Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
This section includes the most frequently asked questions about how to start a vlog. If you don’t see your question, head over to our Fit Small Business forum, and post your question there. We have a whole team of industry experts who answer questions from small businesses every day.
Can I make money as a vlogger?
You might not make any money as a vlogger. If you do earn money, you might spend more time vlogging compared to how much you earn. However, many vloggers make a full-time income creating videos for their social media channels. Your success will depend on several factors, including your tenacity, skills, resources, and consistency.
Is it too late to start vlogging?
No, it isn’t too late to start vlogging. The reason for this is because people will continue to need answers and entertainment. If you don’t start a vlog to entertain and answer questions, someone else will.
How long should vlogs be?
Most vlogs are between 5 and 20 minutes. However, some video platforms cater specifically to short vlogs, such as TikTok. These videos are usually less than 15 seconds long.
Bottom Line: How to Start a Vlog
Starting a vlog is a great way to entertain and answer people’s questions. You can vlog in several niches, such as travel, lifestyle, beauty, and gaming. Many vloggers choose to host their videos across many different platforms, which include YouTube, TikTok, IGTV, and even on their own websites.
To host your vlogs on your own website, you’ll need a reliable web host. We recommend DreamHost because you can get started for just $2.59 per month. You’ll get preinstallation of WordPress, a free domain name, and a free SSL certificate. Get started with DreamHost today.
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