How to Make a Vlog in 5 Easy Steps

Ready to give your brand a boost online?

Whether you're a business owner, a marketer, or someone who really enjoys creating and sharing content, you should consider using vlogs to tell your story.

Vlogs are video blogs used to document your life and share your experiences. And in turn, they can help you grow an audience.

Sure, it's not a simple task to begin vlogging. But believe us when we say it's not that complicated.

Read this guide to learn expert tips and tricks about vlogs, starting with what a vlog is and how to make a vlog with Animoto’s simple video editor. You can start increasing your revenue, audience, and exposure with vlogs.

What is a vlog?

A vlog is a video that documents a person's life or experiences, usually shared online. Depending on the content users choose to share, a vlog can be anywhere from 5 minutes in length to an hour.

Since coining the word 'vlog' from combining video and blog, you can probably guess that a vlog is a video version of a blog. Vlogs, however, are more fun, more engaging, and perform amazingly well with audiences.

Every week, 25.2% of internet users worldwide watch vlogs.

Vlogs differ from other video content as they follow a creator while they share a story or experience with viewers. Throughout the video, the creator usually describes the experience and personally connects with their audience.

Why you should invest in vlogging

Getting started with vlogging may seem like a significant investment of time and money. And it can be, but it doesn't have to. Plus, the benefits vastly outweigh the start-up challenges.

• It can be inexpensive. Start-up costs for vlogging can be as low or as high as you want. The bare minimum to get started is a camera (your smartphone will do), a vlog editor, and time.

• Video creates a more robust audience. By creating authentic relationships with your viewers, you can increase trust and foster relationships.

• Video is the preferred content format for internet users. Recent statistics show that YouTube is the second-most visited website globally.

• Video content increases important metrics. For example, a recent study showed that video has the best ROI (return on investment) for marketers advertising their business.

• It's profitable. The top YouTubers are consistently making eight figures a year. That could be you!

How to make a vlog in 5 easy steps

Vlogging is as easy as five simple steps. And depending on your niche, you can choose how complicated you want to make each step.

Many people find success with an amateur style of vlogging. Others prefer to go the more professional route. Whatever your preference, these five steps will teach you how to make a vlog, even if you've never done it before.

1. Plan ahead

Pick what type of vlogger you're going to be and determine your niche. Will you be a travel vlogger? A beauty guru? The choice is yours.

Gain inspiration from other creators so that you can find your voice and create a strong personality online. Define your content before you film and write a script. Planning ahead will help your vlog to succeed.

2. Gather your gear

You can choose how much gear you want to use based on your vlogging style and content type, but you'll need some of these key pieces. Invest in a camera, tripod, microphone, lighting kit, and teleprompter if you desire. Most importantly, you'll need a video maker like Animoto to edit your vlog.

3. Present and record

Presentation is everything. Make your vlog visually appealing, so set up a decent background, show your personal style, and get ready to entertain. Once you're ready to record, engage your audience with your storytelling skills and personality.

4. Let's edit

Once you've recorded your vlog, you'll need to edit it into an engaging format. Chances are that users will find long, uncut videos boring. Get creative and trim your clips, arrange them, add edits, text, and up to eight music tracks.

Make sure to keep the optimization standards of your preferred sharing platform in mind. For example, if you’re posting your video to YouTube, consider a horizontal aspect ratio. Alternatively, a vertical ratio will work better for a platform like TikTok. With Animoto, you can quickly adjust your video’s aspect ratio.

5. Share your way to success

Once you've recorded and edited your vlog, it’s time to share it. Upload it to YouTube or your favorite video-sharing site. Don't forget to build a strong online presence so that your audience can follow along with you on other platforms.

And finally, track your performance. This way, you can improve as you go.

With these five steps, you'll be a confident vlogger in no time.

How to edit a vlog with Animoto

Trying out new software in an area where you aren't an expert can seem challenging. But if you pick the right tools, you'll conquer that challenge easily.

Using an easy and fun video editor like Animoto will let you enjoy the editing process. And who knows, editing may even become your favorite part of vlogging. Ready to learn how to edit a vlog with Animoto?

Pick a template

Animoto has an extensive template library so it’s easy to get started. You can pick a template based on your vlog's content, your vlogging style, or you can start from scratch if you're feeling brave. Planning to make travel vlogs? Get a head start on the editing process with this travel story template:

Drag and drop

Upload all your content into the Animoto online video editor with a simple drag and drop motion. Upload any audio, video, or photos you plan to use. If you need stock content, search through our built-in library of millions of high quality photos, video clips, and graphics from Getty Images.

Customize and optimize

Now for the fun part. Customize your vlog with all of Animoto's editing options. Use video and text styles to add professional effects to your background, text, and transitions. Professional users can use up to eight songs from our Licensed Music Library that complement each segment your vlog. Make sure you optimize your video and format it to suit YouTube, Facebook, or the specific platform where you intend to share your videos.

Export, download, and upload

Once your editing is complete, export and share it with your followers. You can click on the share icon to share your video directly to your social media accounts.

6 vlogging tips for beginners

It's worth noting that you shouldn't be too concerned about creating a vlog with high production value.

Google found that YouTube viewers are 1.6 times more likely to choose a video based on their interests rather than a video's production quality.

With that in mind, we have 6 tips prepared to help make your vlog a masterpiece.

Define your niche

Figure out the content of your vlogs and stick to it. By mastering one specific topic, you can become your viewers' preferred source for all things fashion, or fitness, or marketing… or whatever you choose.

Deliver value

Make sure your videos give your viewers something to talk about! Whether you provide helpful tips, great stories, recommendations, or just pure entertainment, make your vlog valuable.

Understand and address your target audience

As we mentioned, you want to cater to your audience's interest. Ask your viewers for feedback on your videos and what content they want to see next. Once you understand their interests, address them in your vlogs.

Make quality videos

You don't need to create professional vlogs, but make sure your video is watchable. Good video resolution and sound quality is essential. Appealing presentation is important too. And most of all, make your vlogs entertaining.

Be unique

The internet is full of video content. You need to make sure your vlogs stand out if you want to succeed. Be yourself and be creative! Offer viewers something they've never seen before, or remix something they have.

Be consistent

If you want to create a solid online presence and a successful vlog channel, you'll need to show up consistently. Consider uploading videos one day every week, as other vloggers often do. With Animoto, you can duplicate and edit existing videos to speed up the video editing process.

How to make money vlogging

Even if you intend to post vlogs for fun, making some money from your vlog channel can be an added bonus.

The number of YouTube channels earning six figures or more increases by 40% every year.

There are a few ways to turn your vlogs into a source of income, but they come with viewers. Once you have a dedicated audience, people will want to pay you to access your audience.

So, you'll need to start with great content. Then, make sure your vlogs are discoverable with good marketing and SEO optimization. Once you have those down, here's how to make some money vlogging.

Advertising

If you have a large following, advertisers will want to pay to advertise on your videos to your viewers. Vloggers make money when people see or click on the ad.

Subscriptions

Depending on which platform you share your vlogs on, you can charge people to subscribe to you and your content. If you become an expert vlogger in your niche, people will be inspired to subscribe to your vlogs.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is when you promote a product for a brand and get paid based on sales from your audience. Affiliate marketing will be your money maker if you plan to create vlogs to review products.

Sponsored content

Sponsored content is the most lucrative way to make money as a vlogger, but it's reserved for the most popular creators. Once you have a large following, brands will pay you just to mention them or their products in your vlogs.

Create your own brand

You can create your own business or brand and use your vlogs to promote it. If you have a dedicated audience, they may follow you from your YouTube to your e-commerce site.

5 vlog ideas to inspire you

Are you having trouble getting started? Here are 5 great ideas that you can use to get your vlogging channel started.

Introduce yourself

A great first vlog to create is a video telling your followers all about you. Explain who you are and where you came from, share your likes and dislikes, or share a few interesting facts about yourself. Let your viewers get to know you.

Share a talent

Use your vlog to show off your skills! Your talents make you unique, and being unique online is celebrated! You can also become a known expert on your craft if your vlogs do well.

Give a tour

Give a tour of a space that's important to you. Maybe it's your entire home, a specific room, or even the city you grew up in. Show the internet all the details of your unique space and narrate your video with insider info.

Share your routines

No matter what type of content you produce, you probably have routines within your niche. If you're a beauty vlogger, share a skincare routine. If you're a cooking vlogger, share your Sunday meal prep routine.

Fitness vlogger? Share a workout routine. People watch other people's routines and incorporate them into their lives.

A day in the life

Bring your camera along and film a typical day in your life. Show your favorite spot to get coffee or to go out for dinner with friends. The best part is, every day in the life of a vlogger can be unique!

A vlog example to spark your creativity

Ali Abdaal is a well-known YouTube vlogger with over 2 million subscribers. He has mastered his niche of helping his audience with productivity and financial tips.

In this vlog, he takes us on a tour of his desk. Ali tells a story throughout the video by giving details about his products and sharing the ways he uses his desk space to increase productivity.

This is an excellent example of a great vlog for a few reasons. First, the vlog is engaging and entertaining. It also is unique from other YouTubers' videos but consistent with his other vlogs.

Ali delivers value to his subscribers by showing them how they can set up their deskspace to increase productivity.

Finally, Ali knows his target audience and addresses them and their interests throughout his vlog. After watching his video, you can understand why he has so many subscribers.

Now that you know how to make a vlog, it's time to become a vlogger

You don't need expensive gadgets or a video editing education to become the internet's newest vlogger.

Creating great vlogs just takes passion, time, and the right video editor. Start recording your videos and editing your vlog with Animoto!