Hey y'all!!
I'm totally new to blogging but I’ve
been in the online game over on
YouTube almost a year now and decided it was time to attend my
first conference. I thought the collective of women at
Texas Style Council- many of the
most popular fashion, lifestyle, photography, finance, design, DIY, fitness,
mommy, etc. bloggers on the web today- would be a great place to develop and
expand my online hobby and I might even meet some other video bloggers. The location
couldn't be beat either; it was right here in Austin! Well, I didn’t meet any
other YouTube peeps but I did have the pleasure of making the acquaintance of
some amazing lady-bloggers who welcomed me openly, & I
definitely learned quite a lot about blogging. Some material was
foreign to me but I found most quite relatable to a video blog format.
I know I’m still very much a rookie in
my YouTube knowledge and even more so as a blogger but I thought I’d share
“5 Things I Learned About Being a YouTuber
from a Blogging Convention” that I hope to apply to all of Confessions From
the Vanity’s outlets and I was thinking might be helpful to anyone else curious
about combining these two mediums:
1.
Invest in a Good Camera: Over and over
again I saw the proof of how important visually engaging still images are for
capturing the mood of a look, illustrating the movement in an subject, or
conveying a story in pictures. No more during the weekend was this more
apparent to me than when I attended
Delightfully
Tacky’s “Self Photography” class but quickly realized that the JVC
hand-held
video camera I’d brought
with me was not going to easily capture the same beautiful pictures found on
Elizabeth’s blog. She gave great tips for working with only the timer on your
camera and a tripod to take your own photos (see her corresponding post
here
if you're interested) and I've since been eagerly researching a good quality,
reasonably priced point & shoot for beginners to put my new skills to
practice. Elizabeth was a fabulous speaker and an even better dancer! If having
both a YouTube channel & a written blog with pictures is something you're
considering I would (not be like me, and) buy a camera that can switch back and
forth between the two mediums.
2.
Maintain Consistency: A few months
ago I took a
YouTube Academy
course for content creators. A big focus during those classes was on the
importance of consistency with posts and being reliable to the people who
subscribe to our channels. The speakers at Texas Style Council were reiterating
the same things: about making a commitment to blog regularly and on a schedule
that followers are familiar with. (FYI: Videos go up on Monday evenings over on
YouTube and new blog posts on Tuesdays.) This means factoring in the time that
it takes to produce and edit the material, to promote each upload on social
media, and to develop a personal blog community by responding to messages,
tweets, and comments and fostering those relationships.
3.
It's a Two-Way Community: Speaking
of fostering relationships with peers, I'm definitely new to the whole
community building process too, but this is also the #1 reason why I decided to
start Confessions from the Vanity; to connect creatively with people living
miles away & "confess" with one another about clothes and makeup.
I want those who come across my channel or my blog, whether they are just learning
how to pair outfits or an old pro at the smoky eye or even fellow creators, not
only to benefit from and enjoy the things I share but to feel like we could be
friends in real-life. And real friends have a dialogue, a back and forth
relationship, and even though we can’t actually
be there IRL I still hope to create genuine friendships with others who
engage on From the Vanity’s outreach channels and social media sites. Regularly
find ways to join the conversations happening on your social platforms and make
sure to respond to those who reach out. Link-up with other creators to
collaborate and expand your audience. The whole point is to make friends,
right?
4.
Create Original, Quality Content: I
keep a note on my Evernote iPhone app called "Video Ideas" and any
time a new video or post idea pops into my brain I add it to the list. Then, as
I'm planning out my video/blog schedules for CFTV I reference these lists & draw
upon my past inspiration. Keeping up with trends pertaining to the subject you
blog about and reading other relevant content (on & off-line) really helps
to be aware of the newest story or video coming down the path. But, certainly
don't be afraid to try something new and take a chance on something that hasn't
been done before. Each blogger has their style of blogging and you have to do
what works for you and create content that reflects your own personality in the
best way. You never know- it just may spark a new trend!
5.
Be Yourself; Celebrate Your Differences!: On
Sunday at Texas Style Council I had the chance to listen to
Mattieologie speak about the "10
Commandments of Blogging Colorfully." Mattie gave an excellent lecture and
I think I instantly made a new best friend when I got the chance to meet (and
hug!) her afterwards. Ultimately, what I took away from her course was that
people have a lot of choices these days when it comes to finding great fashion
blogs to read so finding your own voice can be a challenge. Just as each of us
has our unique story to tell in life, the same applies to the virtual world of
blogging. But, where in your hometown the way you dress or the things you like
might not be popular or "the norm" the Internet is, like, way bigger
than wherever you live! There is a niche for you out there if you want it; you
just have to find where you belong, and be ready & eager for the journey.
Whether
blogging by video or written word the end goal is the same- to develop
substantive content that appeals to particular groups of people who share the
same interests & to connect with them on a personal level. Don’t be upset
if your reach isn't as wide as you'd like it to be or your followers aren't
engaging as much as you'd hope. Keep on. I’m certainly still working on it
also, and I have a lot to learn, and
a long way to go. By no means am I
claiming to have mastered any of these five things but these are some helpful
tips I've gathered from my experience thus far as a YouTuber and my weekend at
the conference. I certainly left Texas Style council with some new friends
& memories, new goals & ideas, and some amazing new tools to achieve
them.
Do you have both a YouTube channel and a
written blog? What are some more things you've found helpful as a
creator?
