❼ 5 Clever Tips for Making Your First YouTube Video

We have established that you can make a video for as little as $0.

See the proof here: How to Make a YouTube Video – the Fast, Cheap & Easy Way

Now, let’s talk about the magic tricks that will make your $0 videos look like $1,000 videos!

#1. Mist Your Lens Like a Pair of Glasses

This tip is what allows me to use my iPhone camera to make good quality YouTube videos.

Before I hit record, I mist the camera lens with my breath – just like a pair of glasses.

If you wear glasses or you love a good pair of sunshades, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

Open your mouth, go “HA HA” (try not to spit).

Then wipe the lens of your camera with the soft fabric that comes with sunglasses.

Do not use tissue.

Do not use the rag from your kitchen.

Do not use the leg of your pants.

Only the soft fabric for glasses will get you the nice, clean, streak-free finish that will make your videos sharp and clear.

#2. Record your video near a window…before 6PM

This tip sounds like an old wives tale but there’s solid logic behind it – I promise.

Recording near a window during the day helps to make sure that you get as much natural sunlight as possible.

Natural sunlight is your friend when you’re making a video.

If you rely on regular artificial lights, you run the risk of looking orange to match the tint of your light bulb.

You also run the risk of having one portion of your face being bright and well-lit while the other portions are dark and cast in shadows.

Why look like an orange zebra crossing when you can just take advantage of the luminescent wonder that is the sun?

When I make my videos, I do turn on all the artificial lights in the room – but that’s just an added bonus to brighten up the room.

Unless you have professional grade lighting or a ring light, natural sunlight is the best way to make sure that any video you make comes out looking sharp, crisp, and clear.

#3. Don’t be a News Anchor

I thought I needed to wear a business suit when I recorded my first YouTube video.

Not even kidding.

In my mind, this was a real criteria for making good, “professional” videos.

Almost 100 videos later, I can tell you with confidence that you do not have to wear a suit in order to make a good YouTube video.

You also don’t need to sound like a stiff, rigid robot.

And you don’t need to be perfect.

…because you are not a CNN news anchor.

You are just a person that knows something that you think might help other people and you’re nice enough to share.

That’s it.

So be that nice person and just focus on doing your best to share your message.

Be yourself even if you’re a little weird and goofy.

Those of us that like weird and goofy will find your videos and send it to all our weird and goofy friends.

#4. Write Titles Like Upworthy

70% of people won’t watch a video that has a boring title – even if that video could save their lives.

I totally made up that statistic but you get the picture…work with me here

And when it comes to writing titles, who better to learn from than Upworthy?

Their entire business (and livelihood) depends on writing titles that people click.

Here’s what I found.

Apparently, the secret to writing really great titles is to write lots and lots of titles.

Before publishing any blog post, Upworthy writers have to re-write the title 25 times.

The idea is that the first 10 ideas will be complete crap.

The next 5 may be good.

But the last 10 (when you think you can’t possible re-write the title again) usually contain gold.

To put it plainly, I’ve been following this practice for about 6 months now and it works.

My blog traffic is consistently on the rise

More people seem to be using my videos at large gatherings like churches.

And I actually enjoy the process

Of course, these results might be attributable to other things like posting more on LinkedIn, re-discovering reddit, getting active on Pinterest, etc. etc.

But if my titles really sucked, then nobody would click even if I shared my blog posts and videos on the moon.

So, basically, don’t give your video the first title you think of.

Try to re-write it multiple times until you come up with something magical that people just want to click.

#5. Aim for “Desirable” in Your Video Thumbnail

When you make a video for YouTube, you have the wonderful opportunity to choose the thumbnail image for your video.

The thumbnail image for your video is the image a user sees before they click “play”.

This image is very important.

If you put something like a book as your thumbnail image, people are massively less likely to click on your video than if you put a picture of Beyonce.

Does that mean you should automatically use Beyonce as your thumbnail image? No.

It just means that you should try to make your thumbnail image something that is generally considered to be attractive and desirable.

Delicious food, cute animals, children, attractive-looking faces, or something that represents a “before and after” are all great examples.

Bizarre or unusual images work well too – just be careful not to shock or scare people away.

So now you know…

Now that I have removed all of your excuses for not making a video, I’d like to know what’s next for you.

• Will you take the plunge now that you know how to make a video + all these tips?
• What has been your greatest fear about making videos?
• Do you already have a camera at home or will you be using your phone like me?