in the last year vlogging has become an
overwhelmingly popular subject on
YouTube creators of all types all ages
have been documenting their day-to-day
lives and sharing it with their
audiences we watch these kinds of videos
because maybe we like the person and we
like to see a more raw view at their
life or maybe we like the high
production style they put behind it a
cinematic feel making a boring day
appear extraordinary but there's one
thing that generally separates the good
vlogs from the bad vlogs the vlogs that
keep you hooked rather than clicking
away and that is story
so before we get into the video I want to thank the guys
over at Squarespace for sponsoring and
supporting this video making it possible
if you guys are looking to create a
website or build a portfolio Squarespace
is the place to do it definitely head
over to Squarespace.com/ryankao
right now for 10% off your first
purchase I'll the link down there in the
description go check it out
we've all heard the saying that story is
king that gear doesn't matter and story
is what will make it or break it in your
video now most of us will think that
that only really applies to something
like short films or documentaries but
this absolutely still carries over into
vlogging what I often see people doing
when they're first starting out is
making videos without context without
substance kind of just like picking up
the camera recording the highlights of
the day slapping it together into a
sequence and calling it good now 90% of
the time this turns out looking really
amateur it has nothing for the audience
to really grasp onto or connect with
okay I get it Ryan so you're saying I
need to go out and write a script next
time I want to make a vlog well no
what we need to look at here are the
elements of a story that help the
audience follow along to keep them
feeling engaged like they're a part of
what's going on and what I'm talking
about here are things like characters
theme setting and conflict
okay so we're making a vlog we've
already got one element of the story as
a given and that's you you are primarily
what the audience is going to be
focusing on you are the story for the
most part we can also have secondary
characters like friends or family or
somebody you're collaborating with you
could have a friend who's always
appearing in the videos and the audience
begins to recognize that person as a
secondary character so the one time that
that person doesn't appear in the video
the audience responds and says like hey
where did Josh go characters create
something that people can connect with
that they can sort of resonate in but a
character is pretty much useless without
a theme and a setting this is something
that will give the audience a sense of
foundation sort of like a style if you
will when you guys see my vlogs almost
every single time I start out the video
right here in this office what's going
on guys welcome back what's going on
guys welcome back everybody welcome back
to another video someone clicks on the
video and they see Hey look there's Ryan
and he's starting out the video in his
office
I recognize this it doesn't even have to
be a subscriber it can be somebody who
clicked on one of my videos randomly a
month ago but then they see this
familiar face they see a familiar place
and it creates a sense of establishment
so a plot begins to build we have a
character we have a theme and a setting
now we need something to hook them and
this can be conflict now I'm not talking
about something overly dramatic like the
Titanic being unable to avoid the
iceberg but you'd be really surprised
conflict happens in vlogs all the time
everywhere everybody does it it comes in
a ton of different forms for example
take a look at my most recent vlog that
I posted titled the fake entrepreneur
life now the title right there creates a
bit of a kind of a conflicting question
you know somebody might be scratching
their head thinking okay like fake
entrepreneur life what is what is even
mean and in that video I go into detail
talking about an issue that I see sort
of surrounding the entrepreneur
lifestyle and then later go on to answer
and sort of resolve that initial
conflicting question now in the midst of
this conflict I take you guys throughout
my daily errands I go to the gym I go
down to Portland to go return a lens
toss in a little bit of cinematic style
and feel to create this themed create a
setting and we've got a pretty solid
vlog okay now some of you at this point
are probably thinking like that sounds
like really confusing to just make a
vlog and you're right I made it sound a
little more complex than it needs to be
but
here's the takeaway a good vlog has a
few aspects you the character
established theme and style in some sort
of conflicts something to hook the
audience and maintain their attention
that right there has structure without
structure if you were to just sort of
slap together the the highlights of your
day it becomes this sort of awkward
chronological highlight sequence
with no real emotion or meaning the most
important thing you need to realize is
that you are the story nobody's really
watching the video for any other reason
but you there can be a big celebrity or
some insane car in the video but remove
you from it and it becomes more of like
a weird commercial or like
behind-the-scenes look that nobody cares
about they forget about it ten minutes
after they watch it I made a video a few
months back titled vlogging is bad for
your YouTube channel and I went into
detail about how flogging isn't really a
good subject to help a channel grow and
how it can be kind of difficult to
attain any traction with building it
needs any sort of establishment with
just posting vlogs now I'm about to
contradict myself here
vlogging can be good for a YouTube
channel now I know what you're thinking
really Ryan what are you saying you've
made a video talking about how vlogging
is bad how can it be good vlogging can
be good when done right and what I mean
by that is with structure everything
that we just talked about you don't have
to be doing something incredibly
exciting and flashy just to create a
vlog and document your life find a way
to share what you're doing what's what's
around you what what you're involved in
and you'd be really surprised how many
people will actually care to watch I
started my youtube channel about a year
ago and my first 20 or so videos were
basically just vlogs and look where
we're at now
the old saying really does stand true
and I know a lot of people don't want to
believe it but build it and they will
come when Squarespace reached out to me
wanting to work with me and sponsor some
of my videos I was like
balls-to-the-wall excited because
Squarespace is a service that I
wholeheartedly endorse
I mean I've used them multiple times
I've used them to build multiple
different websites whether it be an
online store or portfolio or something
like that
for myself and for other people it truly
is a beautiful well-rounded all-in-one
platform that offers everything you need
they have these beautiful award-winning
designer templates I know you guys have
heard that but like seriously you can
make something look so professional with
little to no skill they also pride
themselves on an amazing 24/7 customer
service system they're actually really
good look like they can answer any of
your questions like right then and there
which is really really great because
sometimes you'll be building a website
at 4 a.m. so having had help right then
and there can be really nice so if you
guys are interested start your free
trial at Squarespace go to Squarespace
com forward slash Ryan Cao get 10% off
your first purchase make it easy for you
I'll put it down in the description yeah
but with that being said I'm gonna wrap
up the video here guys I hope you
enjoyed this one hope you're able to
take something from it be sure to give
it a thumbs up go down there and just
hit that hit that little like button
means a lot to me subscribe if you
aren't already see you in the next video
[Music]