Get into These new Videos to Increase Views

Note: In this post, I have links that you can click on to watch the different types of videos, as well as affiliate links.  I receive no credit for the videos I show, but I appreciate it that you give them some love by subscribing to these channels. For the affiliate links, I do get a small percentage of any purchases made.  Thank you.

This picture was taken from the Carnival Dream
By P.Lynne Designs
copyright 2018 

You created a new YouTube channel.  Congratulations.  You have everything set up to upload your first YouTube video.  5 months into your new channel, you run out of ideas, and you are not exactly sure of what is the most

popular video on your subject.  Stay tuned, I am going to show you what types of videos you can make without pulling your hair, and ready to shut down your channel.

ASMR

I just watched an ASMR.  What is an ASMR?  It is a new type of video (at least new to me), where you stimulate the senses.

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response. It is supposed to be like pins and needles to your body.  It starts from your scalp and it is supposed to stimulate all the way down your spine through the help of a microphone and simulating that feeling.  Laura Lemurex-ASMR and GentleWhisper (named Maria) are some of the top people who know how to stimulate you in all the right places (If you are into that sort of thing).  The one I just watched was Laura’s and this included stroking, brushing of the makeup brush, and scratching her nails on one of those big microphones you use for voiceovers.  I have also watched (rather listened to) one of Maria’s videos.  I cannot say that I am a fan of this type of video, especially one that involves scratching one’s nails on a microphone that is amplified to heights unknown only to that of a 747 plane, but maybe I will learn to appreciate the effort.  I like the whispering one better, but if this is still a trend when I hit 70, will my old ears be able to hear it, LOL? Do not expect neither one to come to my channel anytime soon.

Other types of popular videos

This has given me some thought into researching other types of videos that has come to the forefront of the YouTube community.  What are the other videos that are out there? They are:

Muckbong

Muckbang, or however you spell it and pronounce it, is the art of buying a bunch of already prepared food and have a smash party with it.  I have watched several, and even attempted one, except I did my version, a single food, but I did not post it.  Why?  Because I have seen several of these videos, and they had several types of food from the same place or one type of food from several different places, and frankly, I do not like mine. I will erase it from the hard drive.  It is basically gluttony at its finest, and they say it is a sin, but I have committed several since the age of 0 days, and the Good Lord God has not struck me down yet, so I am good.  Not sure if my doctor will have the same reaction as God, but I will tape it again with a different food, and maybe I will invite someone to share this Muckbong with. Stay tuned.

Cooking

This goes with Muckbong.  If you do not want to buy the food, maybe you can cook some food, and have a Muckbong with it (hmm, a Leftover Muckbong sounds interesting).  No, just kidding.  What I really mean is make your favorite dish on camera.  My favorites are Tasty, Food Wishes and Laura Vitale.  Basically, if you want to make it like that, it is simple:  find a dish (Laura sometimes does her family dishes and American favorites), get your ingredients, prep the ingredients (so people will not have wait while you are slicing and dicing), and make your dish.  You can also show cooking with your 4-year-old.

Reviews

I have a fondness for reviews, rather they are gadget, travel, a restaurant, or shopping.  I love them all.  I love them so much that I make them myself.  I have not made many, but I made enough to know what a person would like to see.  There are usually in the form of sponsored videos, but most are made because the person has bought a new product, and they want to let the world know of their thoughts on said product or service.  Reviews are now used as a means to decide on what brand to buy.  The consumer knows that they want to upgrade their RAM on heir computer for example, and what I went through yesterday, but they are not sure what will give them the best performance.  You do not want to bring a computer back for any reason.

Unboxing Videos

And

Haul Videos

I grouped these two together because they are basically the same thing.  You are showing what you got from your favorite store or what the subscription box services sent you.  I do the haul videos, not because I want to show you that I have enough money to buy it, for these are some needs and a few wants.  OK, mostly wants.  If you are in the hunt for the item that I bought, you will know where I got it from. 

Another form of this is called an unboxing video.  This is mainly for those who on the fence about a service, like Blue Apron, Graze, or The Planner Society, which were the subscription box services I used in the past and reviewed on camera.  Loved all three.  On these videos, I am here to point out to you the products in the subscription, price, and coupon code to get a free box to start your own subscription. 

Both the hauls and the unboxing are 100% bought with my own money, which does not make them sponsored videos.  I do it because as I said, I am an influencer, and if I like it, I will tell my viewers.

How-to Videos

Tutorials, or tuts, as I call them.  The “show me how to make this project” videos.  I do “this is what I made” videos because I do not have the right setup to leave the phone on the tripod and use both hands.  I have a tripod to hold my phone, but I have not found the right angle for it to look down over the project.  I have found a DIY video to show me how to make one from PVC pipes that cost under $5, but at this point, by the time I find the time to buy the materials and put it together, a brand new one from Amazon can arrive on my doorstep in under two hours, but I am trying to resist the temptation of buying one.

Basically, it is the same as the cooking videos, you grab the materials, enough to make two, one you made off-camera, and one deconstructed and ready to make on-camera.  Have them ready, at least most of the prep work done, and instruct your audience to make anything from a cabinet to greeting cards to a Dollar Tree-inspired flower arrangement.

Screencast Videos

These are nothing more than “tuts” on your computer.  You are showing your computer screen.  This can also be a gaming video.  You are showing your viewer how to do a step in a software or showing viewers how to get through a game like Fortnite.  This is how I learned how to create graphic designs in Photoshop or get game hints from SimCity BuildIt. 

Traveling

I recently made a short video of my cruise in January.  I was not proud of it, it was through Google from my pictures.  I do not recommend this method at all.  There was an unflattering picture of my friend in her swimsuit that I had to take out, and it added a video that was supposed to be a standalone video, but I left it in there because I was too lazy.  Anyway, as I said in my posts back in January I had fun, but I will do my editing in the manner I see fit from now on.

A couple of tips:  only do highlights, unless there is a show or place you want to viewer to see if they go on this same trip and do not upload the video while there, It gives in to unwanted pest (thieves) to your home.  They are always lurking on social media waiting for someone to slip up.  You can edit your video while on vacation, but upload when you get home, plus you do not want roaming charges on a 5-20-minute video in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

 Whatever, wherever you go on your travels, make it an interesting video.  Show the fun side, scaling back on the serious side of your trip.

Final thoughts and takeaways: 

I am in awe of the many types of videos you can make and have a different one each time you upload.  You can even combine two types into one video, like an ASMR with a Muckbang video or a “come with me” shopping video with a haul attached at the end.  The trick here is to be consistent and make it interesting so the viewer will want to come back.  Marketing your video through your social media also helps.  If a viewer loves your channel, they will bring others.

Other types of videos I missed that are popular are the daily vlog, family vlogs, and “Come With Me” videos.  Daily vlogs are just that, a chronological account where you pick up the camera and talk about your day.  A variant of the daily vlog is a family daily vlog where you show your family daily activities.  “Come with Me” videos are videos where you vlog in a store and show new products.  The trick to this video is to only show the product, record on your phone, not a regular camera where the staff can see it.  Some companies do not like it.  If you do get caught, simply explain what you are doing, and you are not video tapping their customers or their employees, which is a clear violation of a person’s privacy.  I will explain more about these videos in my next post. 

Coming up:  I will talk about the daily, family, and “Come with Me” type videos in more detail.

Until then, be safe, have fun, and God bless.

Day 8: Vlogging

(c) You Tube

The question of the day:  Do you vlog?  In case you are wondering, Vlogging is a video log.  It is much like blogging, but instead of writing about your day or your hobby, you make a video about it.  I love to vlog, but I have not done it in almost a year.  The reason is I am trying to get things together for my blogs and my businesses.   I am also a little camera shy, but I am finding that to be nothing more than just finding the time, the right equipment, and the right editing software to do the things I want to do with my videos.  Vlogging to me goes hand and hand with Snapchat and Periscope, both which I have an account with (@tricia721).  I have not made a video yet with them, but I am working on it.

I am a little disappointed by what I have been seeing lately on YouTube.  YouTube used to be this site, where you can post daily vlogs of the things you are doing. Places like Disney can show you what is going on in the parks, so you can plan your vacation.  You can post tips on crafts, cooking, your latest stupid stunt, and even product reviews.  I love all of that.  Families are able to show what they have been up to, and it is fun to see all of that, but lately, the environment has changed.  YouTube is starting to become a mini Facebook of sorts.  What do I mean? Well, I will tell you.

I am not going to call out the incident because this You Tuber has already admit it that he was wrong, and he is working on getting his marriage in check.  I am not going to say his or his family’s name.  He apologized to the rest of his family, friends, and YT followers.  I, as one of his followers, have excepted his apology, and have moved on, but it seems that some You Tubers cannot get past it.  She even went as far as talking to the other party about the situation and posted several videos on the subject.   I have not seen any of the videos, but it keeps popping up in my recommended videos feed like I am supposed to watch any of this nasty YTubber’s video.  I want to block them, I do not like them, and I so not want to see them, period.

To those of you who do make videos on a regular basis, my question to you is, “If you made a mistake, and you posted a video about the mistake, how would you feel when someone else post about it?  For me, I would be devastated to the point where I would ask myself if it is worth posting videos at all.  To me, we are all human, and humans make mistakes.  It is not for us to judge on the character of the poster, or in this case, vlogger.  The YTubber apologized to his family, that is what counts, and for this other person, who is not part of the situation, nor knows the YTubber in question or the alleged person, personally, to make a video about it is downright selfish.     Now, if other members of the YTubber’s family did not except the apology, that is on them, but I believe that if they are a forgiving person, especially one who is Christian or Spiritual in nature, they will work on what is not working in their marriage, get help (which they have been doing all of 2015), and move on from there.  No one but God is perfect.  We all can ask for a little forgiveness in our lives when we do wrong.

As for me, I will continue to support this YTubber and his family.  I hope YT will find a way for me to get rid of the person who posted the stupid video and begging me to watch it.  I will continue to try to put up my first video of 2016.  The YTubber in question has taken some time away from Social Media(SM) (YT in general) to continue to work on his family life.  To all those haters who know who I am talking about, have seen his videos, or follow him on SM, please do not make any suggestions to him or his family about what to do in their lives, especially in regards to social media.  To those like me who do follow him (I follow on Facebook, YT, Instagram, and Twitter- yeah I am that person who has to follow people on all platforms), and know who I am talking about, please continue to support him.  He is just a human who has made a mistake.  I am a softie like that.  Which is why I still like Bill Cosby (do not judge).  

Day 17: Making money

(c) 2015 P. Lynne Designs

Hello, and merry Blogmas 2015.

Today’s subject is a little on the “what can I do to make money on the side or a new career” type of blog post.  I used to do these all the time, and I felt like I was one of those scam artists.  Do not get me wrong, some of these methods do work, if you have the time and money to invest into it, but it was the way I presented it, and if I was uncomfortable with the posts, I knew in my heart my readers were uncomfortable reading them.

Showing people affiliate links to get started was one of the main basis of this blog when it was named My Blessed Life, and I had that type of blog post for a whole month, before I asked myself, “What the heck am I doing?” This was not me in a nutshell, and I did not want to come off that way.  I still think that you can make extra money by having affiliate links, but you have to do the research and be dedicated to finding that perfect product for the subject you are talking about in your blogs.  You cannot let yourself be suckered into every Tom, Dick, or Henrietta that comes your way.   You have to learn to say no if it does not fit you and your readers.

With that being said, I want to talk to you about You Tube for a moment.  There is an article on Fusion.com that I read last night, and in the article, the author talks about why you should not use You Tube to make videos and make money.   The article is called “Famous and broke on You Tube.”  I got angry and basically blow it off, because that was her opinion, and I do not value it.   Then, today, I tuned into one of my favorite YT Channels, The Nive Nulls, and Austin Null was talking about the same article, but because he has a working successful YT channel, his approach was very different from the author’s.  Now that the rat got loss in the cheese factory, here is my take on YT and making money there or anywhere on the Interwebs.

When I first got started on doing anything on the Internet, I was not thinking about the money aspect of it all.  I wanted people to know that I am here, in my own little corner of the world, and I have something to say.   This is how I got started with my first blog, MDN Creates (now P. Lynne Designs), and I moved on from there.   I knew about You Tube, I had been a subscriber since 2007, but I never thought about doing video at all.   I made my first video 5 years ago, showing the first mini book I made.  I never thought about hitting the monetarize button a vlogger can push to make money of their videos.  I was not even thinking about the views either.  (I still have only 85 followers).  The point was I am not on YT to make money, even though I did push the button.  I am not looking for sponsorship for the moment, at least not the way this author was putting it. 

If your goal is always money, you may not achieve that at first.  Your channel first of all has to be likable.  How do you do that?  First have something that draws a person to that channel.  A catchy title (such as The Nive Nulls, Gabe and Babe TV, and so on).  My channel just has my name for the moment, because I want people to know who is making the vlogs. Next, have a subject.  Some of the people I watch have daily vlogs where they vlog about 15 mins of their life, which is usually spread through the day.  Others have hobby vlogs, such as scrapbooking or skateboarding.  For those vlogs, the video usually contains a tutorial, anywhere from 15 mins to an hour, depending on the type of project being made, or technic.  Brands like Disney, for example, has vlogs on YT talking about parks, the movies, and almost all things Disney.  There are also the food vlogs and the stupid vlogs.  Do what make you happy on your channel.

If you want sponsorship, make the sponsors come to you, not the other way around.  Give them something that makes them say, “I want my product to be on that video, their viewers will come to us, and that will give them more brand awareness to that product.  Coming to the sponsor sounds like you are needy and desperate.  It takes time and patience before a sponsor will notice your channel in order for them to even contact you.  Same with subscribers.  Now it is ok to say, “if you want to see more, like, comment, and subscribe”.  This is how you get more readership (viewers).  It shows appreciation for the viewers who do watch you and brings in more.

Lastly, do not concentrate on numbers.  A channel has to be view so many times before you can get a million subscribers or views, and yes, YT does rewards you with plaques and invitations to workshops that help you to get even more views. One way is a Vlogger’s Fair held annually the last part of July.  If you are famous enough, you get to have meet-ups, and invited to be on a panel or two.  Gabe Flowers-Raider of Gabe and Babe TV told me once in a Google Hangout to stay consistent with your videos.  If you are going to make and upload twice a week, for example, try to make and upload videos twice a week.  Stick with the schedule for a while, then when you are ready to increase your videos, make an announcement that you are changing your schedule so your viewers can be in the loop.

Again, don’t worry about this, for the numbers will come.  Do not concentrate on the money either.  The more views, the more money, but it depends on how many clicks you get and who you attract to your channel or blog.  My top video has only 436 views.  My blogs have way more pageviews, but I will cover that at another time.  I will get more, when I make and upload more.   That is one of the goals of 2016.  The summary of all of this is, you will only get what you put forth in both your videos and your blogs.  Do not let the article steer you into thinking that you will never make on You Tube. 

The purpose of this post was not to discourage you if you are thinking about making money this way, but to encourage you to start if that is what you want to do, but be realistic if the money is not coming within the first year.  Not everyone is cut out for YT.  Remember, it does takes time and practice, but at the same time, make it only part time to start, and when the money is right, go full throttle.  Good luck.