Anyone can create a Video for YouTube

Don’t think you have the chops to create a video?  Think again my friend.  I have seen videos on there that are clearly not the best quality.  If you have a story line, a camera or web-cam, and some time then you can create a video for YouTube.  Best of all, you can then grab the code from YouTube and imbed it in your site. 

Not really into creating video?  No problem there either since there are already several million videos on YouTube, you can search for something that is relavent to your content and grab the code for it.  This not only adds value for your readers (they don’t have to search the millions to find this great piece that will be interesting to them), but it also adds some visual elements that many could be yearning for.  While many of us would prefer to read the content (because it doesn’t require speakers or interrupting anyone else w/in ear shot), others are the opposite and would prefer to sit and watch.

Here are some key things about making a video for YouTube:

1. IT TAKES TIME to do it correctly.  Yes, you can just slop something together, but in reality it takes a lot of time to write a short script, video the content and then edit it so it looks good.  In general, if you take the time to put together something nice, people will enjoy it better.
2. Add some music.  Look at the top videos.  For the most part they are professional music videos, but even the un-professional ones have incorporated some sort of music.  If you have ever been to a show on Broadway, you will know how much music adds to the event.
3. Make sure the lighting is correct.  Are you going for the “nobody can see anything going on” look?  If so, great.  If not, maybe try another angle or add some lights to the room.  Not being able to see what is going on is only going to send viewers away.
4. If you add text, MAKE SURE PEOPLE CAN READ IT!  How many times have you seen subtitles or website names pop up and can read it either because the text is too small, too blurry, or the same color as the background.  This seems to happen even to professional movie makers – their subtitles are the same color as the background so you miss half of the words.
5. If you have more than 1 or 2 ideas, then try and make all of them and upload them together.  If you made 10, I can see holding back half of them, but after the video is done, what are people going to be doing?  Most are going to be looking for more of your videos if they liked them.  By creating and uploading several, you can tag them all similarly and they should appear as Related videos. 

Creating a video for YouTube could be a great distribution channel for your book, music, poetry, etc.

Do you have any more tips?  Let us know.

Mitch
It’s not Merchandise, It’s Mitchendise!