The internet has opened up a world of opportunities for millions of people all over the world and nowadays, individuals can have their own thriving internet businesses through a number of avenues. Blogging was one of the earliest ways in which people could share their ideas with the world and command an audience. However, with the preference for video content among most internet users now, the video blog or vlog has become extremely popular.

In addition to that, the existence of YouTube and its hundreds of millions of users provides people with the opportunity to gain millions of eyeballs fairly quickly potentially. That being said, it is necessary to point out that it is a highly competitive niche and hence, it is important to get most things right if one is to find success in this vocation. While it is true that starting a vlog is fairly straightforward, it is also true that if the vlog is to be successful, then there are a lot of factors at play. This article looks at the different aspects of starting a potentially successful vlog.

The Subject

The internet is a place that is quite literally the storehouse of information about anything under the sun and beyond. Hence, people with a wide range of hobbies and interests come online every day in order to get content that inspires them. As you can realize, no subject in the world cannot command an influential audience, but it is necessary for a vlogger to choose his subject wisely.

First of all, if one is to command an audience through his vlog on any topic, it is necessary for him to have a thorough knowledge of the subject. On the other hand, one needs to observe all the latest developments in the field of choice and keep doing diligent research in order to provide the audience with the most updated content. So it is perhaps time to consider some of the subjects that have become hugely popular in the vlogging sphere in recent times.

Sport is perhaps the most popular vlogging subject and has been the case for many years now. The simple reason behind that is the fact that sports fans are highly passionate and are always keen to get new viewpoints or analyses of the sport they follow. A vlogger can decide to go for team-specific subjects and choose to have a vlog dedicated to a particular team, or he can choose other subjects like tactics, previews, reviews or fantasy gaming.

There is no end to the number of possible sub-niches. While sport is popular, politics is also popular in the vlogging sphere. The same goes for cooking, arts, crafts and education. The numbers of possible subjects that one can choose to vlog about are endless and hence, one should only select a topic about which he is totally at home. It needs to be made abundantly clear that if the vlogger is not particularly well versed in a subject, the audience can figure it out pretty quickly, which is not an impression one would like to give out.

That being said, it is necessary to keep it in mind that most of the popular subjects are highly competitive. Hence, if possible, it is often a better idea to perhaps go for an offbeat or rather less crowded niche. If the content is good and the vlogger can present his ideas well, then it might eventually become a significant deal in that particular niche. At the end of the day, the choice of niche is entirely down to the vlogger. However, it is the most important thing to consider before one starts off with the vlog.

The Platform

Once you have chosen on your niche, it is time to choose the platform. The platform to use is YouTube due to the functionalities on offer and because it boasts of around 2 billion users at this point of time. Although YouTube may indeed look reasonably simple to use for someone who merely watches videos, it is a different kettle of fish altogether when it comes to creators.

You would need to go through the website throughout and get used to the creative process’s different aspects. YouTube offers plenty of options in order to ensure that you find success as a video creator, and it is only fair to make use of all those options available. On top of that, there are a lot of online resources that will help you in making more sense of the platform.

The YouTube creator studio is the place to be if you want to get the best possible understanding of what needs to be done in order to have a successful vlog. YouTube has created the platform in order to give creators like vloggers all the tools they need in order to create outstanding videos.

All kinds of information starting from the accepted video formats to file size and aspect ratios are available in the studio. If a user manages to go through the information available in the studio, then there is no reason he would not be able to make excellent vlogs regularly.

On the other hand, go through the work of some of the more popular vloggers in the world and note down what they do in their videos. Successful vlogs are successful primarily because the vloggers do the basics right and from there, they build upwards.

Channel, Name and Branding 

Finding the right niche and creating your first video is only a part of the process. The real work starts when you are ready to upload. You are going to upload your videos to your own YouTube channel and hence, it is necessary to name your vlog first. That will eventually be the name of your channel as well. 

That requires a certain degree of creativity and if the name needs to be catchy enough. In this regard, it is worthwhile to analyze search engine metrics on Google and look at some of the more popular keywords regarding your particular niche. If you can incorporate any of those words on to your channel name, then it is likely that there will be a higher chance of your channel showing up in the search engine results. 

Even if you have an existing channel, create a new one specifically dedicated to your vlog. Branding is very important if you wish to stand out in the hugely competitive world of vlogging. Hence, once the channel is ready and you have uploaded all the necessary content with regards to the description of your channel, it is time to start working on branding. 

Create a profile photo with a logo that represents your vlog and the brand. 

In addition to that, add a banner photo so that every visitor to your channel can immediately know the name of the channel, the sort of content that he is going to see and the niche with which the channel is involved. At the end of the day, the popularity of a channel is entirely dependent on viral content and sharing from users. 

Hence, a vlogger needs to make sure that the channel grabs the attention of most users. It is a well-known fact that nowadays, people do not have the most extended attention spans and due to the abundance of video content online, it is likely that a visitor is going to walk away fairly quickly if the YouTube channel does not catch his attention. 

But Top Class Equipment

Now comes the key part of your vlog, the actual video that you are going to upload. After you have done the research on the topic and created a script, you need to create the actual video. In this regard, it is necessary to mention that people who listed to vlogs want excellent sound and video quality when they watch it. In order to accomplish that, it is absolutely essential to invest generously on recording and sound equipment. 

That will ensure that the video is of high quality. However, that is not all. You would also need top of the line editing software to ensure that once the video is ready to be uploaded, the final cut is perfect and without any bloopers. For instance, if you are working on serious topics like politics or education, then any kind of repetition, imperfections in sound quality or blackouts are big turn-offs for the audience. 

Creating a 10-20 minute long video may not look much when you watch it, but a lot of effort goes into the whole thing and top of the line equipment as well as software is going to ensure that the final product is something that you can be proud of.