VloggingQueen

How To Hangout In Google With A Larger Audience

May 16, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

A Google Hangout is a multi-participant video chat, with an admin (the person running it) and video screen sharing so that all participants can see each other. Other participants will appear in small screen thumbnails, underneath any participant who is currently speaking.

Google Hangouts can range from informal chats between a closed group of participants to heavily optimized public Hangout “shows”. You can choose to broadcast and live stream your Google Hangout through Hangouts On Air – and Hangouts are automatically recorded and added to the YouTube account associated with the admin.

Hangouts are restricted to invited participants by default, if you don’t set them to “Public” sharing.

Set Up A Google Video Conference With Google Hangouts

While it’s true that currently you can only invite ten people to participate in your actual Google Hangout, using Google Hangouts on Air and streaming it live via Google+ and YouTube means that unlimited numbers of people can sit and watch your Google Hangout unfold. But first, you have to let them know about it.

Make Sure You Have Hangout Experience under Your Belt

Before you go for the big audiences and scramble to get them watching your Live Stream, do run one or two smaller, unpublicized Hangouts on Air to iron out any bugs that may exist. You don’t want to get on air and have your Hangout derailed because your microphone doesn’t work and you are scrambling – live – to troubleshoot the problem.

If you are planning to invite telephone participants, make sure you include them in a dress rehearsal (i.e. small, private Hangout) so you are not scrambling with the phone invitation process.

Also be aware that while calls within the U. S. and Canada are free, you will need to add phone credits for other countries; and that you can invite only one phone participant.

More tips to make sure your Google Hangout quality tops the charts

Get comfortable with all aspects of the process. There is nothing like running a couple of Hangouts to acquaint you with all those things you “should have done” first (as well as give you better ideas on how to perform other tasks).
For top streaming quality, upload speed and security, do host your Live Stream Hangout over a wired connection if you can, rather than wireless. If possible, invite participants with wired lines too – one wireless connection can slow you down.
Make sure you have verified your YouTube account before you attempt to Live Stream a Hangout on Air!
Use the best quality equipment you can. If you want to promote a commercial-quality Hangout, use commercial quality equipment – not your built-in web cam and microphone.

Use Google Events to Promote Your Hangout

How do people attract a massive audience? One strategy you’ll find top-featured Hangout producers using is promotion through Google Events. When you create an Event for your Hangout, people can schedule if into their Google Calendars.

You can also create an Event by SMS (Gvent). Creating an Event through Google+ is easy. Just click on the “Events” button in your left-hand, vertical menu.

A pop-up window will open. Just fill in your Event details.

It’s important, however, to avoid one common mistake most people make: Do not choose “Hangout” as your Event Type if you want to stream it live and have it recorded on YouTube.

1. Instead, open up your Event Options tab, and select “Advanced”.

2. Select “Make this an event on air”. (Do NOT select “Google+ Hangout” if you want to broadcast your event.)

Whatever, you do, don’t select “Public” – or you may end up without a single guest you’ve invited and (strange as it may sound) find yourself host to a party full of people who couldn’t care less about your topic – or who are at the wrong level (e.g. total newbies unable to contribute to the discussion).

When you make it an “Event on air”, you close it to people who aren’t on your guest list – even though they can all view it, Live, as your live-streamed Hangout is unfolding.

You can find out more details about “Events on Air”, such as those shown in the screenshot below, at Google Support.

Inviting People at the Start of Your Hangout

When it’s almost time for your hangout, send email reminders to your preferred guests.

Press “Start a Hangout” and add people from your Circles or contacts. Be sure to also select “Make this an event on air”, if you want live streaming. Select Hangout options and restrict your hangout to people over eighteen.

Click the “Hangout” button to start your Hangout rolling.

Once your preferred guests have joined, open the Hangout up, if there are any slots left.

More Promotion Tactics for Your Hangout

Don’t just leave it up to Google and YouTube to promote your Hangout. Add extra tactics to make sure news of it reaches those who would most appreciate it and benefit from it.

1. Let your social network contacts know exactly where they can find out which new Hangouts are coming up in the near future with Google Features.

2. Have your Hangout URL ready to copy and paste into Facebook and Twitter, the day of the event.

3. Tweet and post it right before your Hangout after your invited participants have joined; and again when it’s just starting.

4. Ask your participants to Tweet it too – but also not to share the Hangout URL before you are all present. If you have less than ten participants, anyone can join – and you don’t want some joker to ruin it for everyone (or get your account banned!)

5. Embed your Hangout recording on your blog and promote it. That way, you’ll capture a different segment of your target audience – those who do frequent your blog, but rarely bother with YouTube. (Yes. There are such people.)

Remember to put actual calls to action into your Hangout posts. (More than one is good!)

And once your Hangout has begun, focus on your guests and forget you’re being recorded. Concentrate on having a great time and sharing great information.

How to Promote and Increase Feedback During and After Your Hangout

Don’t stop thinking about sharing just because you’ve pressed the “Start Broadcast” button and your Google Hangout is now live. There are things you can do to increase interaction, feedback – and most especially, shares of your completed Hangout.

If your slots are not full, have a back-up plan concerning guests you’d like to invite on board. Click the “Invite People” button at the top of your Hangout window.

The easiest way is simply to click on one of the Profile photos of Circle members currently online, but you can also just enter the names of selected individuals or even another Circle.

Then select “Hangout” to directly invite new guests you have chosen.

Change your promotional tweet once your Hangout has started and you’re live: Don’t just repeat the pre-promotional message.

Tweet “Listen in – Live on Air – right now: [Hangout URL]”.

In fact, post-Hangout should be one of your biggest promotion periods of all.

Remember that editing your video with YouTube tools can result in several hours passing before your video is processed, so unless there is some glaring mistake or dead air that you feel will kill your video, don’t edit it immediately.
Let your subscribers know your Hangout recording is now on YouTube (provide the URL, of course – you can find it in your Channel).
Ask people to link to the actual post containing your Hangout and leave comments and suggestions.
Blog about your recent Hangout on Air. Do this more than once: Blog (a) about the actual topic (b) about your experiences, running a Hangout on Air
Include your Hangout on Air YouTube URL in your website list of resources for your readers and fans
Ask people to share your Hangout on Air YouTube URL.

Not so hard, right?

Having that first informal Google Hangout under your belt will do wonders for your confidence – but creating Hangouts on Air will do wonders for your web reputation – and your business.

* Google Plus is still in a state of change and updates and Google Hangouts goes right along with that. The tips in this article will always be good even if the Google Hangout buttons change. Best wishes!

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Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Viral Videos Characteristics

April 26, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

The idea behind a viral video is to create a video that people can’t help sharing. It would be tempting to say that most of these:

Involve celebrities or cute kids and animals
Are outrageous
Are funny

But even if one or more of these criteria are true, there’s always one thing more.

Viral videos often ask: “What if…?”

And because of that, they are original. They step well outside of everyone’s envelope.

Just take a look at the Drive Through Invisible Driver video (getting views like wildfire with 33,771,524 views at last count). He has made multiple videos with that “costume,” and now has Tshirts for sale.

Here’s how it goes:

1. Perpetrator explains briefly what he is going to do – wear a “car seat” costume and pretend that his car is driving itself up to the take-out restaurant window.

2. A hidden, in-car camera records a number of reactions from staff members at multiple Drive Through restaurants.

3. We laugh WITH the perpetrator, securely in on the joke.

4. He finishes by asking people to subscribe.

(Wow. TEN calls to action, if you include the links to three more videos!)

5. We are directed to more of his videos – arranged in a playlist.

There was nothing complex about this video – but the car seat costume was a clever idea, and it makes people laugh. They enjoy being in on the joke.

That’s just one format. Obviously you can’t use this tactic if you’re making business videos – though it works for British Monty Python alumni, John Cleese, who is now famous for business training videos – but you can make sure your videos contain the basic elements of “Drive Through Invisible Driver”.

You need them to:

Be short
Be engaging
Be fast-paced, with good flow
Avoid tangents and distractions; focus on one single factor or point
Contain a brief introduction and a satisfying conclusion
Deliver on the promise
End with one or more calls to action, including directing viewers to (a) subscribe (b) the next video in the “series”

Follow this viral video formula, complete with all the right sharing prompts – and your video may end up being featured in top video magazines as this one was (“What’s Trending” and “Huffington Post” just to name two). More traffic means more subscribers which is always good.

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Filed Under: Video Marketing Tagged With: viral, YouTube

How To Host A Google Hangout

April 19, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

Google Hangouts are quickly becoming the best new way to communicate with a closed group, share data in real time, brainstorm as a team and teach informal workshops; or just… hang out. It’s incredibly easy to start a Google Hangout, and this post will show you step by step how to host your own.

One caution: You may not be able to tell whether or not some essential component is compatible or working until you actually run your first hangout. Test it out with one or two trusted friends or co-workers before planning that big, live Broadcast on Air, to iron out any “glitches”.

First – Enable Chat

The first step you have to take: Log into your Google+ account and enable “Live Chat”. You’ll know if you haven’t yet done that, because you’ll see this message over in your right-hand, vertical sidebar…

This will enable you to chat with others not just via Circles, but via Gmail and other apps and systems.

Once you click the “Enable Chat” button, set up is instant. You’ll immediately see this box open up…

Second – Create a Hangout

Now you can create your first Hangout. Here’s how…

1. Press the “Create Hangout” button.

2. A new, large pop-up window will open, showing who is available; plus you’ll see your Profile photo at the bottom (letting people know you’re the Hangout Admin).

In the two text area boxes to the left of the Profile shots, name your Hangout and click on individual Profile shots or select (within the box) from your Circles to invite up to ten participants.

3. Decide right when you’re setting up your Hangout if you’d like to go Live, on “Air” and be recorded. If you would, click-and-tick the radio box to the left of “Enable Hangouts on Air”.

People can also join you by telephone: Just phone them to add them to your invitations.

You can find more instructions on the various ways to add or handle telephone participants in your Google+ Help Section.

4. Until people have joined your hangout, you’ll see a “waiting” screen. (If someone doesn’t get the message, quickly Gmail them at their Google+ Gmail address.) You can keep on inviting more people while you’re waiting for the first few to appear in your Hangout…

5. Once they’ve joined you, you can begin your hangout. Introduce yourself and set out the rules quickly (e.g. “Please mute microphones when you’re not actually speaking”…)

The person speaking should be shown on screen. Be alert: When someone “takes the floor”, click on their small thumbnail to feature them in the main talk window.

6. If someone’s web cam is not working, you will see their static profile photo (or a dark screen, if they are joining by phone or choosing to cover up their web cams).

7. People online without web cams can use the “Group chat” option to type their input to the Hangout. You have the option of answering them in real-time, verbally, on screen, or typing an answer via “Group Chat” back to them. (You can even use emoticons, though that’s not recommended for business.)

8. You can use several options to enhance your hangouts; for example, you can create screen captures, or screen-share Google Documents or other programs…

…And even add “special effects” (auditory sound effects, or visual “enhancements”)

You can also choose to run your hangout in HD or low-res (the latter saves on bandwidth). If you are streaming live, your hangout should be broadcast on a wired (not wireless) connection.

You can choose “Studio Mode” for your headsets (everyone should have USB headsets, for best quality) – but be aware that this mode, while providing superior sound and reducing echo, will gobble bandwidth like there’s no tomorrow. Save it for when you and your participants are using wired, rather than wireless, connections.

9. When you are ready to sign out, thank everyone, tell them where they will find the recording and let them know it’s time to disconnect. Press the disconnect button.

And that’s how you run your first, simple hangout.

Essential Google Hangout Tips

1. If enabling Live Chat in your Google+ page sidebar didn’t work for you, check to see if you have the correct Google plugins installed.

2. Send out invitations. Let people know in advance exactly when to join your Hangout. (They will receive them in their Gmail or their stream.)

3. The more participants you have, the more bandwidth you’ll all use.

4. Ask people to be aware of ambient noise in the background – even on their computer. For example, if they have a browser window open showing your Hangout streaming live as they participate, you will hear an “echo”. Ask them to mute their microphones, when not talking.

5. Try not to move around too much, when presenting your Hangout. Make sure light fall on your face from in front of you; not behind (otherwise you’ll look like one of those anonymous, silhouetted witnesses in protection speaking on a TV tell-all!)

6. Do write yourself a “script” or outline beforehand, so you make sure you cover everything you planned.

Google Hangouts on Air

But what if you want to broadcast your hangout to the world, stream it live and record it on YouTube?

We’ve already spoken about simply pressing the “Enable Hangouts on Air” button. Here’s what you need to know, before trying this option…

You can still only invite ten actual participants, but you can broadcast your Hangout, live, to the world.
You will need a verified YouTube account. (If you don’t yet have one, YouTube will ask you to link and verify yours.)
Your Google+ page and your YouTube channel will simultaneously carry it, live, for people to click on.
It will be recorded to your YouTube channel afterwards and the recording will appear in your Google+ stream.
Be aware that the public will see exactly what you see – with the exception of most apps you are sharing and your Group Chat window, which will be visible only to the actual participants.
If you need the general public to know what someone is saying via Group Chat, tell them before answering the chatter’s question. (E. G.: “Bethany in our Chat window is wondering which browsers are supported.”)
To finish your live stream Hangout, you will need to press the red “Stop broadcasting” button, rather than the little disconnect.
You can edit your Hangout and change the name on YouTube, once it’s recorded – but you cannot change the Hangout name in Google+. (Access your recorded hangout for editing via your Video Manager in YouTube.)

Google Hangouts offers many possibilities for augmenting your business and social presence and authority. Start one right away, with just a friend or two, to try it out. It could be a game changer for your business. You’ll find out that it’s an easy way to create video content and promote your business.

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Filed Under: Video Blog Recording Tagged With: Google Plus, streaming

How To Upload A YouTube Video

April 12, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

It’s time to upload your first video to YouTube. It’s very easy to do so don’t worry. There are a few options for doing this, and we’re going to combine it with taking a look at your Video Manager.

If you don’t have a channel set up yet you can see step by step instructions on how to set up a YouTube channel from scratch.

1. Click on your Profile photo again, and select “Video Manager” from the drop-down menu. The Video Manager is your YouTube dashboard, so get into the habit of using it.

2. Here you will find all sorts of options, including “Analytics”. Later, when you have multiple videos open, you will see them all displayed in a list fashion with thumbnails. You can edit right from your Video Manager. But for now, your Video Manager will be empty, so go ahead and press the green “Upload” button, top-right.

3. Now press the red “Upload” button.

This will open a new window.

4. Select your video from your computer. As it’s uploading you can fill in the details.

Most important for search and SEO will be:

A strong title
A direct description (slanted at your ideal viewer)
Your tags (YouTube will “suggest” existing Tabs, which you can add.)
The correct category

Don’t be afraid to write a lengthy description and add a lot of tags.

This is also a good time to upload a custom thumbnail that helps catch people’s eye and get them to click on your video.

5. Don’t leave that page or shut it down until it tells you that your video has been uploaded and is available. You also want to make sure that any additions or changes you made are saved.

Your video is uploaded. You can now view it in your new channel and start telling people about it. See how easy it is to upload a video to YouTube? Now you just have to go make a video!

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Filed Under: Video Marketing Tagged With: YouTube

How To Get More YouTube Subscribers

April 5, 2013 By VloggingQueen 1 Comment

As well as being the second most used search engine, and having over a billion active users per month, YouTube ranks number two in the world of social networks. Facebook is number one. We have disqualified Google+ from this contest, because their results are artificially inflated by the integration with their search engine statistics.

Quick Tip: Whereas Facebook and Pinterest’s audience has a majority of female users, YouTube has a majority of male users. So if your target market leans more towards the male gender in its demographic, you definitely need to be using YouTube to create engagement and drive traffic to your channel and sites.

Let’s focus on how to use this powerful network to grow your following.

Step 1. Your Channel Subscriptions

There are several effective tactics you can use to increase subscriptions to your YouTube channel. Know that YouTube is extremely strict about its users providing incentives, so don’t offer any sort of reward or bribe.

Let’s look at your options…

1. Asking within your video – You can simply add a graphic at the end of your video asking the viewer to subscribe to your Channel. Or you can add a verbal call to action at the end of your video; something like: “Subscribe to my Channel for more videos like these.”

2. Annotations – these are clickable graphics or text boxes that you embed within the video through the YouTube dashboard after the video is uploaded. There are several types for you to choose from – speech bubbles, text boxes (“Notes”) and hot spots (Spotlights) are the most popular. Find all the info about annotations in the YouTube help.

Quick Tip: Annotations will not appear in YouTube chromeless players; nor will they display on mobile, tablet and TV devices at this time. Make sure you don’t rely solely on your annotations to attract subscribers, but add calls to action in other places too.

Step 2. Video Responses

What is a “video response”? Instead of commenting on another viewer’s video, you make your own video in response to his video and post the link in his comments. Video responses can not only start an entertaining dialogue, but you can quickly pick up subscribers from the original video poster’s own Channel.

There are ways to do it and ways not do it. Scathing denunciations of the original post may build some viral traffic, but – unless you are Gilbert Gottfried – won’t make people subscribe if denunciations are not something you normally indulge in. In fact, it can get pretty unpleasant, and may even result in your account being suspended, if someone “flags” your response.

Blatantly showing the original poster up is also not a positive strategy. If you want to correct someone, you have to do it carefully. Sandwich criticism in between a compliment and a positive statement.

The best way to create strong video responses that will please the original poster and his subscribers:

Present some additional aspect to his video that actually enhances his original point
Make a funny and engaging response. But if you use parody, be sure to laugh with the original poster – not at him.

Creating a video response is easy-peasy. Here’s how you do it…

1. Click inside the “All Comments” box as if you were just going to type a comment. Then click the link under the bottom-right corner of the text box.

2. You now have three choices:

Choose one of your existing videos
Upload a new one
Record a new one

Videos you post as a response become linked to the original poster’s video – the perfect way to create backlinks and gather subscribers, if you’ve done a proficient job on your video response.

Quick Tip: Invite a response to your response! Try to make it irresistible for the original poster and his followers to do so!

Step 3. Install the YouTube Subscription Widget onto your Website

The more people you turn into subscribers, the more chance you’ll get to interact with them.The easier you make it for people to subscribe, the better chance you have of getting more subscribers.

To add the subscription widget to your blog:

Copy-paste the following snippet of code into your web page HTML.

Insert it where you want your widget to appear.

It should look like this on your website or blog, with your own logo or image, your Google account name, your username and the number of your own subscribers:

Quick Tip: When you substitute your username over the pink text, be sure to replace add YouTube Username here with your own username.

Step 4. Follow Other Channels

Here’s yet another basic strategy too many people ignore: Follow other channels to attract their subscribers to your own channel. Many people will subscribe back – not all, many.

It’s the same old “comments are a great marketing tool.” Use interacting with other users via their channels exactly as you would interact with another social network.“Favorite” other peoples’ videos that you particularly like – but if you are favoriting ones outside of your normal area of branding, create a separate Featured Playlist for them (e.g. “Inspirational videos”, “Funny videos”).

Quick Tip: Use keywords that relate to your topics in the titles because YouTube likes to rank playlists higher in search results.

You can also keep lists of members whom you regard as friends and follow channels for industry leaders and news sources. Recommend their videos to your subscribers or make a playlist of helpful videos. (You’ll also be seen as the person who knows all the breaking news.)

Remember that YouTube is more than just a video host. The social element – social sharing — is really what it is all about.

Step 5. Increasing Identification and Integration

Brand your Channel page by adding videos, playlists and other channels, as well as a channel banner and watch page icon. Follow YouTube’s own instructions and channel branding best practices.

Here are the top 5 things you should keep on top of with your YouTube channel

1. Get into the habit of checking for comments about your videos regularly (either via your channel or your Gmail). Respond to them straight away – even if it’s only a “Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.” I have mine set to email me so I can respond with a comment or delete offensive ones.

2. Vary your responses. Don’t always post comments on others’ videos – vary that with video responses.

And if you are asked a question that requires a detailed answer, don’t do it in the comments section: Instead, respond to the question by (a) thanking the commenter for a great question (b) directing him to a new video you’ve made in response, directly giving or demonstrating the answer. E.g. “That’s a great question about arc lights, Devin. Rather than write pages here, I created a quick video showing how to tell the difference between carbon arc and voltaic arc lamps…

3. Share each new video to your social networks – and use a call to action: Give your social network fans a strong, irresistible, curiosity-arousing reason to check it out.

4. Install the Facebook YouTube app on your Facebook Page – and drag the tab to show as one of your four cover-header tabs, under your Cover photo and to the right of your “About” section.

5. Embed your YouTube video on your website. This gives you a reason to interact with more viewers via your blog itself, and gives people that are unfamiliar with YouTube an easier way to watch.

That’s more than enough to get you started – more ways to interact than you might have imagined at first. Use YouTube as the powerful tool it is to interact with people, grow your following, get more subscribers, and more YouTube views.

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Filed Under: Video Marketing Tagged With: YouTube

Google Plus: How To Upload Videos

March 28, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

It started out with Google Video which was just a video search engine. Then suddenly, it seemed, we all learned that Google had acquired YouTube. This merger of the world’s most powerful search engine with the world’s most popular social video platform opened up new possibilities – both for users and Google alike.

How to upload videos to Google+

Let’s start with the basics: How to upload and/or share videos with Google+. Your easiest option is to upload them to YouTube; then link to that video. There are times, however, when you might not want to link to YouTube, so let’s take a look at uploading directly into Google+ and sharing with specific people or Circles.

1. Log into Google+. Go to your Profile Page.

2. In your “Share” box, select the video icon.

(Don’t bother with the Sharing prompts at this point: It’s easier if you wait till the video has uploaded.)

3. A drop-down menu will appear. Select “Upload video”.

4. Add a caption to your Movie as it’s uploading (which takes a good few minutes – even with a small movie). Just press “enter” when you’ve finished typing in your caption. (This will not affect the upload.)

5. Once your video has completed its upload, press “Add Videos.”

6. Your movie will appear in your feed. Now add a comment and share it with whichever Google+ Circle or people you want. Optional: check the radio box provided to the left of “Also send email to Friends” to directly notify those you want to share it with.

Alternate Upload Method – If your Profile is newly created or upgraded, you may receive this message instead, when you try to add upload a movie file.

Just press “Upload new videos” (highlighted in green here) and follow the same steps as described from #2 down.

There is so much more to all the possibilities of using video with Google Plus: And if certain features are glitchy, currently in flux (or even simply not there any more) – relax! Google Plus is changing, ironing these out – and everyone else is experiencing the same things you are.

Do you have questions about Google Plus and video? I have some more posts in the planning stages and want to make sure I answer your questions. Leave me a comment below! Then make sure you are subscribed to this site to be notified of the new information.

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Filed Under: Video Marketing

YouTube Passes Another Milestone

March 22, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

YouTube recently announced that they have more than a billion users each month. Each month! A billion! That just boggles my mind. Check out these statistics they shared to make it more understandable:

Nearly one out of every two people on the Internet visits YouTube.
Our monthly viewership is the equivalent of roughly ten Super Bowl audiences.
If YouTube were a country, we’d be the third largest in the world after China and India.

Are you taking advantage of all those users to get more views and traffic?

Also YouTube has opened up the YouTube Next Vlogger contest.

This iteration of YouTube Next Vlogger will provide the 16 winning entrants the opportunity to collaborate on videos with other similarly passionate vloggers. They’ll also take part in three months of intimate educational workshops held on Google+ Hangouts. And to top it off, each vlogger will receive $4,000 worth of video equipment and mentoring from industry experts and content creators on YouTube.

The main criteria to enter is your channel must have at least 5,000 subscribers and/or at least 1,000,000 total videos views. Find all the information here.

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Filed Under: Video Marketing

YouTube Channel Set Up From Scratch

March 8, 2013 By VloggingQueen Leave a Comment

If you’re committed to growing your online business, you have to have a visible presence – and content to choose from – in a YouTube channel. You can integrate your YouTube videos with your website, blog and all your other social networks. A YouTube channel acts as a gigantic boost to all the other online arenas you engage in. You simply cannot choose to ignore it anymore.

The good news is, for those who are camera shy or technologically-challenged:

It’s easy to set up your own YouTube channel
It’s free
You can start small
You don’t need special equipment
You don’t even need to appear in front of the camera

Once you’ve set up your YouTube account, it’s time to set up your own dedicated channel. Think of this exactly like a TV channel. You get to produce your own shows. You get to decide what other shows to feature. And you can make that YouTube channel anything you want it to be.

Questions To Think About Before Starting Your YouTube Channel

Before rushing into creating videos, take some time to think about your channel.

What do you want your YouTube channel to do for your viewers?
Who are your viewers? Why will they watch your videos?
What sort of videos do you want to create?
What skills or experience can you share?
What would you like to teach or demonstrate?
What do you want your viewers to take away?
How big a proportion of your offerings would you like your YouTube channel to provide? 2%? 15%? 25% More?
How “professional” do you want it to be? A mini-network, populated with multiple series episodes or the occasional helpful “how to” or inspirational video?

Focusing on what you want your YouTube channel to do for your viewers – your target market – should be first on your list when you start setting your YouTube goals. The time you spend now thinking about this will turn out to be a valuable investment. If you narrow your YouTube goals and create a vision for your channel, every action you take will be that much more focused and effective.

Figure Out Your YouTube Channel Name

Our first priority is gathering data to be used in the set-up, so you don’t lose your focus and you have everything in place before you start going through YouTube’s set up wizards.

Naming your channel is a small, but important step. Your channel name can grow your traffic all by itself simply by having an edge over channels belonging to your competitors.

Decide what you want to brand with your videos:

Yourself (as a niche expert)
Your business (e.g. “Ace Accounting”)
Your niche itself (e.g. “Vegan Pancakes”)

Google and YouTube are now joined at the hip; you will access YouTube using your Google Gmail account, so be sure to have your Gmail address and password at the ready. If you don’t yet have a Google Gmail account, don’t worry. YouTube’s sign-up process will take care of that.

Sign Up Through A Google Gmail Account

1. Go to YouTube and click the blue “sign in” button at the upper-right corner of your screen. A new page will open, offering you the chance to sign in via Gmail or click on the red button prompting you to create a brand new account.

2. If you have an existing Google Gmail account, simply sign in. If you don’t, click the “Create An Account” button and you will be prompted to create a Google account and new Gmail address. If you are planning to have more than one channel, create a specific Gmail address for each channel.

Complete all the information in the right-hand widget and finish your Gmail setup. (Note: If you enter your mobile phone number, you will get an automated Google phone call or text with a verification code to enter, just to make sure that you are the real deal.)

Once you have set up your new Google Gmail account, you’ll be returned to the YouTube home page. Simply sign in.

3. Once you’re signed in, you’ll see your name and avatar at the top right of the new page that opens. If the Gmail account you used was brand new, your photo won’t populate the avatar yet. Click on your photo or blank avatar, and select “My channel” from the drop-down menu.

4. A blank channel template will open up. Click on “Channel Settings” in the top-left menu bar.

Note that you can always skip personalizing any aspect of your channel, and edit it later. But let’s take a quick run-through channel customization…

5. You will now be able to customize your YouTube channel. Let’s start with “Appearance”: Click on the tab, and change the background, if you wish.

You have three options for customizing the background area of your Channel:

Uploading a custom background file in .JPG or .PNG format
Simply selecting a color from the Color Selector (“Choose a color”)
Entering your website or blog background color, if you know the HTML code (e.g. “#088A85”)

Consider having a custom background made, if you want to increase your branding.

6. Next, Click on the “Info and Settings” tab. There are more sections to customize. It’s really good to include a good description targeted at your ideal viewer’s tastes and needs; and put in your Tags (keywords).

The moment you click on the “Edit” hyperlink for your profile you will be taken back to your Google Profile. There, if you haven’t already done so, you can:

Upload a photograph (minimum 250 X 250 pixels)
Add your tagline
Highlight your top accomplishments
Put your URLs and work history
Edit your search visibility
And more.

7. Google won’t automatically return you to your YouTube account, so simply press “Done editing” (top-left, above your Profile photo) and repeat steps 1 and 3 (you’ll still be signed in). Or click on the YouTube window Tab (it will still be open) and refresh your Channel page.

Customize The URL For Your YouTube Channel

Next we come to a really important step – customizing your YouTube URL. This is a good thing to do so you can easily tell other people your channel url, it’s easy to remember, and people will be taken straight to your Channel featuring all your videos if they enter it into their browser bars.

1. Underneath your Channel URL, click the “Edit” button.

As soon as you click “Edit”, a new window will open up. Replace the random numbers assigned by YouTube with your preferred Channel Name.

2. Press “Create Channel URL”.

Customize Your YouTube Channel Display Options

Next, click on “Tabs”. This is where you choose in advance how you want to share your videos.

1. First: Change the default “Allow channel comments” setting to “Don’t display until approved.” You don’t want people leaving ignorant or obscene comments, which can easily happen if you allow unapproved comments.

2. Look over the other options and decide which will work best for your business.

Click the “Done editing” Tab when finished.

Congrats on setting up your brand new YouTube channel! Now it’s time to upload your first video.

Not sure what to talk about? Here’s some ideas to stop struggling with video blog topics for your YouTube channel.

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Filed Under: Video Marketing

Real Estate And Video Blogs

March 1, 2013 By VloggingQueen 1 Comment

I’ve been hearing more and more about online video and real estate. A lady I talked to last year was buying a house and moving several states south after only seeing the house through video. It’s not new to use real estate videos, but so easy and accessible now that the use of video blogs in real estate is growing in popularity.

Using videos can help establish trust and support your expertise. According to an article on Agentcast, “90% of Agents and 80% of all Home Searches begin Online.” They also claim that using videos saves time, helps the buyers decide faster, and impresses the sellers with your use of technology.

Quick Disclaimer: I’m not a real estate agent so please don’t hold real estate related mistakes against me. If you’re an agent with some great insight leave a comment!

Real estate videos can be used directly to sell and specifically about the property for sale.

These type of videos include, but are not limited to:

Videos on the listings page
Home tours or Walkthroughs
Weekly wrap-ups of popular or new listings

Side note: I recently read about buyers sending letters to sway the seller to pick their offer. How long do you think it will be until they start using videos? Hmmm…

Real estate videos can be used to generate traffic and make the agent the go-to person for local information.

These type of videos should provide good information about the local area. They include, but are not limited to showcasing:

a park or outdoor recreation area
shopping centers and annual fairs
schools, churches, and government centers
museums and cultural sites
great restaurants
a fabulous neighborhood

The idea is to be the website/person with the answers so that your name is familiar and right at the tip of the tongue when someone says, “I’m thinking of moving.”

Real estate videos can be used as business videos that apply to any niche that needs marketed.

It’s always good to have some of these types of videos:

client testimonials,
behind the scenes in your office,
what each member of your team does specifically
how a process works
FAQs and how-tos
general industry news

At 2010 Blogworld I got to listen to a session by 2 real estate agents that were heavily using video then – Ted Mackel with 365 Things To Do In Simi Valley, CA and Dale Chumbley of the Clark County Real Estate Guide. At the time Dale was making daily videos on his phone with a low cost and small amount of time invested. Ted was making more formal videos showcasing local attractions and answering questions.

Do you have any recommendations of great uses of video in the real estate niche?

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Video Blog Through The Fear

January 31, 2013 By VloggingQueen 7 Comments

Sometimes you really want to do something but you’re afraid. With video blogging some people fear: messing up, looking bad, mean comments, sounding funny, etc. If you really want to be a video blogger than you have to make a video even though you are afraid.

video blog without fear