- I'm gonna step through our current video creation workflow
including the free tools that we use
to manage our video production process
from idea to release.
Now honestly, I never used to be a process guy,
but using this simple system has saved us a ton of time.
So if you're wondering how to make YouTube videos faster
and more effectively,
then you don't want to miss this one.
Hey, it's Justin Brown here from Primal Video
where we help you grow an audience
and scale your revenue with online video.
If you're seeing value in this video,
make sure you're giving it a thumbs up.
It really makes a huge difference
and all the links to everything I mentioned in this video
you can find linked in the description box below.
Let's jump into it.
Now to help us better track ideas
to plan our content calendar and manage YouTube videos
throughout the entire production process,
for a few years now, we've used a simple process
with free software that helps us track each project
at every stage.
Now over time we've iterated
and we've scaled the same process,
making it more efficient, and scaling it up to work better
with our remote team.
So this process has saved not just a ton of time,
but also our sanity.
It's incredibly simple, it's free,
and it works no matter if you're working by yourself,
or with an entire team.
The process itself can actually be implemented
in a lot of different software
depending on what it is you're already using.
We like to use Trello.
It's powerful, it's easy to use, and it's completely free.
But if you've already got an existing system
that you prefer, then just take the same process
and apply it there.
So I'm gonna jump across now and show you
how to build out a process like ours, quickly and easily.
And then I'm gonna show you our exact Trello boards
so you can see how we've evolved this and grown it
to what we use now.
Okay, so you want to head over to Trello.com
and you want to come up and create a free account.
You want to go to sign up, create your account,
and then go ahead and log in.
So when you log in,
you'll be taken to your main dashboard area.
Now obviously we've got a few other boards
and things in here,
but what you want to do is come at the top here to create
to make a new one, and we're gonna create a new board.
Now we're gonna give the board a name,
so let's just go
(Justin typing) video production.
We can pick a background or a color here.
Blue's a Primal Video color so we're gonna go with blue,
and then we're gonna go down here to "create board".
Okay, so we've got our video production board created,
and the first thing it's prompting us to do here
is to enter a title for a list
or to create a list.
So the first list we're gonna create,
let's just call this one
(Justin typing) "topic pool" and hit "okay."
Let's make another one called "shortlist."
So these are going to be the categories
or the stages that our videos will go through
in our entire production process.
So they're gonna start off as just a random topic
in the topic pool, we'll shortlist some,
and then we'll move them on throughout the various
steps right through to being released on YouTube.
So I'm gonna go ahead now and build this out
with the different stages of the production process.
So I've got "research,"
"ready to shoot," "preparing for edit,"
"editing," "preparing for release,"
"ready to release," and "released."
So now that we've got these columns or these lists created,
we now can go ahead and start to add in these cards,
or our video topics.
So to add a card,
we just want to come over here to "add a card."
For this one let's just add it in the topic pool area.
And let's just add in some random video topics
that we might make.
(Justin typing) "How to edit faster."
"Color correction tutorial." "How to grow on YouTube."
"How to use Trello." (laughs)
Okay, so you can see how fast and easy it is
just to create video topics in here,
but now this is where the power comes in,
is that these now, we can pick up and we can move along
as they progress through our production process.
So let's say that we're getting ready to shoot
and we want to narrow down our massive list
of topics that we've got.
Just imagine there's a lot in there.
Let's say we want to shortlist, say, these three here
out of all the ones on our list.
We just need to pick them up
and move them into the next column,
and then we can easily see at a glance
that these are our top topics from the bigger list.
And this is where if you're working with teams
and have extra people working with you,
at a glance, anyone can come in here and see
where every video is at without the need
to waste other people's time or for things
to get missed in this process.
So the idea here is that we want to shortlist
your videos down,
and then when you're ready to go and take the next step,
you just move them to the next column
where we can go and do some research on them.
So your keyword or your topic research to make sure
the people actually want the videos
before you go ahead and create them.
This is a huge step, and a really important one
if you're growing a YouTube channel.
I'll have some other resources and links to help you
with that in the description of this video as well.
So once you've gone through,
you've done your keyword and your topic research,
and you've planned out what you want to say,
whether it's a full script
or whether it's just bullet points
that you're gonna speak to.
You're gonna then move them over to the next column,
which is where you know that you've got everything ready
to go for that video when it's in that column.
That it's ready to shoot.
Then once you filmed that video,
you move it to the next column,
"preparing for edit."
So this could be where the actual content is shot,
but you might need to go and get extra pieces of B-roll,
or create some graphics or animations and things.
Any prep-work that you need to do
before your video is ready to edit.
Then the next step here is pretty self explanatory.
This is where you're gonna be editing your videos down.
So you can quickly see, again at a glance,
which videos are you currently working on?
Preparing for release is where you might be getting
your thumbnail images sorted.
You're getting the text for the description.
Anything else that you need to do
to have this video ready to go out on YouTube.
Then obviously once it is ready to go and be scheduled up,
or however you like to release your videos,
then it can go into the next column,
and then once it's uploaded and live on your YouTube channel
is when you can move it over to "released."
So you can see how simple, but also how powerful this can be
in your video creation process.
Now one really powerful thing with this as well
is that each one of these cards,
we can actually open up
and we can add extra information into them.
So let's just pick on this one here,
"How to grow on YouTube,"
and you can see in here, we have the ability
to add some text and some information around it.
We can create checklists,
we can add attachments to each card,
and you can see here you can link from an actual file
to another Trello card or Trello board,
a Google Drive file or folder Dropbox, Box, OneDrive,
or even just a generic link that you want associated
with that card.
So for us, what we do and what you'll see in just a second,
is that we have all the information for each video
stored in the card so that each card
is it's own self-encompassed file, really,
with everything that we need for that specific video.
So I'm gonna now dive over to our live Trello board.
What we're using for our production process.
So you can see how we've evolved this
and we've now got a few extra columns in here.
So we've added one at the very start called the "icebox."
Now these here are the videos
that we thought we might do at some point,
but they're very unlikely that we will shoot these videos.
So we've kind of moved them off to the side
almost like an archive.
The next one here "YT Shorts," YouTube shorts.
These are really just a topic pool
or ideas for really short content
that we could use as YouTube Shorts.
Then we have our regular topic pool,
and that was exactly the same as I showed you.
These are all the video ideas that we have
that if anyone has a random idea on the team,
we'll drop it in here in the topic pool,
and then we'll move it into the next column
"Shortlist to discuss" once we think it's a topic
that we're ready to at least explore a little bit further.
Now another really cool thing you can do in Trello here
is you can actually assign different colors
to the cards as well.
So all the white ones are the ones that we're planning
as regular YouTube videos,
but since we started playing around
with YouTube Shorts as well,
we've now started to tag those ones in orange
so that they stand out as different pieces of content
on here so it's not too overwhelming.
So you have the ability to come in here
to this little edit button here
and you can choose "change cover,"
and on the cover, we can choose a full-screen color
and we can pick whichever color we'd like
for that specific card.
So yeah, for right now all of our Shorts content
we're tagging in orange.
Now once we've gone through as a team
and we've discussed some of these videos
that are in this shortlist,
and we've agreed which ones we're going to action next
or at least move on to the next column.
They get moved into this "Selected JB to note key points."
I'm JB, so my job when the video topics land in this column,
is to go through and note down any key points
or any key information that I think
we need to be covering off in that video.
This isn't going ahead and writing a full script.
We haven't confirmed that this is a topic
we want to commit to and actually make yet,
but this is really the first stages of
"what do we think this video should include?"
So to give you an example of this,
I'll open up this one here, this is one
that I have added key points on, and we can see here
"how to make videos without being in it X ways."
Now it's "x" because we haven't locked down yet
the core content, but I've got four things in here,
four different ways that you could
make videos without being in it.
So it's not a full script at this point,
it's just an idea of the things that we should include.
Once those notes are added,
I'm moving it into the next column
which is our "research" column.
So this one we've named "MB initial research and script."
So this is where Mike,
my brother and business partner at Primal Video,
will go and do that initial topic or key-word research
to make sure there's actually demand for the content
before we create it, but also
to look at the different key-words and phrases and things
of how people might be searching
or looking for that content, again, before we make it.
And so in this process, then Mike's also building out
a bit of a script or structure for the video
on how he sees it going down.
Once Mike's done with that process,
he'll move it into the next column for me to review.
So the next one's called "JB review,"
and that's where I'm going to look at the keyword research
that he's done, look at the script that he's pulled together
and really just sign off on the overall topic and say
"yes, yeah this is a video that we want to make."
And again, if I open up one of these,
you'll now see that Mike has gone through,
he's put a structure around the content.
This one here is actually given a word-for-word script
that we can use at the start of this
and also how he sees the video being played out.
All inside of each individual card.
Once I've reviewed that and signed off on it,
it'll go into the next column
which is "detailed research and scripting."
Now this is where I'll need to go
and research the topic in detail.
It could be in the case of a product review,
what are all the specs, what's the pricing,
what are the best alternatives?
What are the biggest questions that people would have
watching this video and how do we answer those,
making it a complete video?
Once that step's done, we've got everything that we need
to go and shoot the video.
So the next column "ready to shoot,"
is where they'll end up at that point,
knowing that we have everything ready to go,
whether it's a full script, or just all the key information
that we need to cover off in that video.
Once the video is shot,
then we're going to the next column "preparing for editors."
Again, where I'm grabbing any extra B-roll,
or maybe the footage is uploading for our editors.
It stays in "preparing for editors"
until they have all the files.
That's when it goes into the next column,
which is "with editors" so we can see at a glance
how many videos are with our editors.
Once they've gone through and edited down the video,
they'll move it into the next column,
which again is a "JB review."
This is my first look at the finished video.
If I've got any changes of the video at that point,
I'll move it into the next column
which is "back with editors."
So they can go and make those changes.
They'll then move it into the next column
that their edits are complete or the changes are complete,
and that's my review number two.
Now if there was nothing wrong with the video at that point,
it didn't need any changes, then we can skip these columns
and we'll go straight to a "MB review," Mike, to review.
And that's really where he just does
like a last minute check or last minute review
to make sure that we haven't missed anything
or there's nothing obvious
that stands out to him at that point.
From there, if he's got any notes, changes, feedback,
or even if he's happy with the video,
it comes into the next column here,
"final changes in progress."
So this is where the video itself will be finalized.
From there, the next step here is to upload the video
and really get it ready to release
so we're scheduling it at this point,
we're adding in any cards, we're adding in end-screens,
we're setting up the descriptions of the videos.
All of that is done in this step here,
and then once those are finalized,
the final place here is "ready to release."
So these are the two videos that we currently have
100 percent ready to release on our channel.
And then once a video is live on the channel,
it's been released, it moves into the final column here,
"released," which is where we keep
all the previous videos that we've done.
So at any time if we want to remake a video,
we want to see what we said or find any of the documents
or anything associated with that video,
we've got a list of all of our videos here.
Now another really powerful feature here inside of Trello
that we use throughout this process
that you're seeing on screen now,
so I better call it out,
is these labels at the top here.
You can assign these colors,
or full text labels here like we've got,
to each of your cards, or videos here as well,
giving you further information as to where the video is at.
So if we come over here to this little edit button
and we come over here to "edit labels,"
then these are the sorts of things
that you could create these for.
Like "thumbnail in progress" so that we know
that it is off with the graphic designers
getting the thumbnail image made.
Or that there's been an image that has been uploaded
so the thumbnail can be created.
So you're able to create and assign these labels
to your individual videos, or cards, as well.
And if they're taking up too much space on your screen,
then you can click on the text
and you can see a condensed version
and just see which colors of those labels are applied
at just a quick glance.
So I strongly recommend going back
to the first part of the video
where I showed you how to build out your own Trello board.
Doesn't need to be as complicated as ours.
Start with something simple, like this,
and build it out as an when you need to.
This alone is gonna streamline your entire process
and save your sanity.
So that's our exact process for managing our video ideas
from early stage ideas, to the production process,
and through to upload on YouTube.
Having a process in place for things like this
saves a ton of time and a huge amount of headaches.
Now if you're interested in checking out
our recommended process for video editing as well,
then we've put together a pdf guide
which is linked on screen now,
called the Primal Video Method.
This runs through the ultimate video-editing process
to save time and eliminate rework.
You can grab your free copy with the link on screen now,
and I'll see you in the next video.