Youtube is booming. It’s the place to be seen these days and audiences are flocking more and more to the online video sharing site. It’s currently where the industry seems to be going in my opinion. I’ve noticed a huge shift in the last two years with brands approaches to blogger outreach. Less and less I am asked for blog related collaborations, instead Im more often than not asked for two things- Instagram and Youtube videos. Not that I think blogging is dying I just see the online marketing market (?) shifting a bit.

For me starting a Youtube channel was much more daunting than starting my blog. I went into my blog blind, with no experience or outside view of the medium. I just did and didn’t think. None the less, I’ve only been making videos consistently on my channel for about 2 years and I still feel like I’ve not quite found the place I want to be in. But I’ve gained a great bunch of subscribers and made some awesome videos which Im SO proud of. But being a Youtube comes with its own set of problems that are unique to that platform.

Always have backups
Memory cards and batteries in ABUNDNACE. Its a weekly occurrence for me that I sit down to film and bam I have half a battery and I just KNOW it won’t last. Same goes for memory cards. Im forever having to delete stuff off the cuff because Im filming and didnt leave enough space. Picking up a few batteries and memory cards as well as a hard drive are are an absolute must if you’re getting into Youtube! I got some off Amazon for super cheap and they work really well. If you’re really into it then maybe get a AC adaptor for your camera to avoid batteries running out ruining your filming zen!

People are picky
I’ve never had anyone openly critique the way I run my blog. I’ve never had anyone tell me this is wrong or they didn’t like the way I did a post within the comments. Where as on Youtube I don’t think a video goes by where Im told the way I made the video wasn’t right or how they wanted it to be. I don’t really know why this is the case but I’ve just noticed that people tend to critique (critique being the operative word here, not hate) the way you make things. I don’t know if it’s because Youtube has become a serious game changer and people expect a certain quality or what. I just find it very odd being told how I chose to make something is wrong! 

It’s more personal
While blogs are personal to some degree I find Youtube to be incredibly different. Words don’t come out the same when you write them down as when you speak them out loud. You can say one thing and mean another. Unlike with blogging you can’t go back and clarify or change things if they don’t come out your mouth right. While editing is a life safer, if you fluff your lines too many times and you can’t use any of the footage the meaning of what you’re trying to say is lost. Vlogging is incredibly invasive and personal and I’ve had a lot of my friends not want to appear in my Vlogs because they don’t like the idea of people they don’t know seeing them online! So yeah, a weird one.

Editing does take ages
Same goes for Filming. While a standard video might be 10 minutes final edit, you might have anywhere between 30 to and hours worth of footage to go through and edit. But for example if Im filming a GRWM this would most likely take me 1-2 days to film and edit and these videos come out at about 3-4 minutes long. Straight up talking to camera videos can take about a day to finish and polish off (with breaks for tea and refreshments, obvi). I always seen people say “Youtube doesn’t take that long” but in reality I spend more time doing my channel compared to my blog because it’s simply a lot harder to do!