- So a lot of us content creators are stuck inside
because of what's happening in the world right now,
or we have chosen to be stuck inside,
one of the two.
And because of that,
this is an opportunity for you as a YouTuber
to develop some additional skills,
to learn how to do things
that will help you be a better content creator.
Now, before we get into the content,
I do wanna let you know that this video was inspired
by Matt over at Little Monster Media company
and by Film Riot who also put out a similar video
for filmmakers.
And I'm gonna put a link to both of them
down in the description below.
So definitely head over
and subscribe to both channels
because as YouTube content creators,
both of them are extremely valuable.
Now, let's get into the list.
The very first thing is to
learn how to make B-roll for your videos,
so you can spice up your videos
and make them better.
So what B-roll is,
if you're not familiar with that terminology,
there is A-roll which is basically the main footage,
like in this situation,
what you're watching right now is A-roll
and that's the main footage of your video.
And then there's B-roll,
which is basically supporting footage for your video.
So as I'm talking to you right now,
you're seeing content on the screen that is not me talking.
That is what B-roll is.
B-roll can be made on a camera
and B-roll can also be made on your phone
regardless of the type of phone that you have,
because as long as you have a camera on it,
that gives you the ability to make any supporting footage
that you could possibly need.
So what I recommend in this situation
is that you make a bunch of B-roll
about the content that you make
so that you can archive it all.
So you can put it on a drive.
And then when you need the B-roll to add to your content
to spice things up a little bit,
make a better video,
then you can just access that archive,
pull in the footage that you need
and then you're all set.
Another thing when it comes to B-roll
is if you make any type of tutorial content
or if you're doing anything
where you're showing screenshots of anything,
the same exact thing applies to where you can go ahead
and take a bunch of screenshots of things now,
so that you can archive them
and then use them in later videos.
That part is like a productivity hack
so that you can save yourself time in the future
by making the stuff today.
The next thing on the list
is to spend some time learning graphic design.
As a YouTuber, it's important to make sure
that you can make thumbnails that are effective
and that are pleasing aesthetically.
It's also important to make sure that you can make
channel art that looks good.
It's also important that you can make video graphics
that look good and things like that.
So it's really important to have at least a very basic
understanding of graphic design.
The things that you wanna look for
when you are looking for graphic design based information
is you wanna look into things like color theory
because that will also help you
make better video content as well.
But you wanna look into color theory.
You wanna look into font usage,
you wanna look into how to get started with graphic design
will be a great place to start.
But anything related to graphic design is gonna help you
be a better content creator,
because you're gonna be able to use
those skills here on YouTube
and you're also gonna be able to use those skills
elsewhere on social media.
And as a bonus,
if you get good at it,
if you end up having to stay inside
for a longer period of time,
then it's also something that you can offer
as a service down the road.
Next is to learn about audio processing
and sound design.
Now as a content creator,
a lot of us just think video, video, video,
I've gotta put out videos,
but audio is half of the video experience,
so you wanna make sure that as a video creator,
a video content creator,
you wanna make sure that you have at least
a base understanding of audio processing
and sound design.
Some amazing resources for this are Mike Russell,
Curtis Judd,
and Peter McKinnon also has some content
on sound design as well.
Audio is important.
Learn it at least at a base level.
The next thing that you can do with some of this extra time
that you have hanging out at home,
is to master some of the apps that you're using
if you're doing anything on your phone.
Even if you're not making videos on your phone,
you can still use your phone for B-roll
like I was talking about before.
If you are shooting B-roll with your phone,
there is an app called FiLMiC Pro
that I recommend that you check out.
It's available for Android
and for iPhones.
It basically allows you to take DSLR settings
and put 'em into your phone camera,
so you can fully adjust pretty much everything.
I'll put a link to FiLMiC Pro
and some other apps
and some other resources to help you get started with this
down in the description.
Next is to spend some time working on your channel.
For example, organizing your content in a playlist,
making sure that your channel's set up properly.
I have some videos on this
that I'll link in the description down below,
but basically just making sure that your channel is set up
and you're taking full advantage
of all of YouTube's features to move traffic around
and to organize your content
and things like that.
Even little things like really thinking through
your video description template,
adding pin comments to old videos,
updating thumbnails,
things like that.
Next is to learn more about video editing
because you're a video creator
so it makes sense to where
of course, if you are good at just the base edits
to where you can start exploring a little bit
and say, "Hey, what can I do
"or what do I need to learn
"in order to make the color look better in my videos?
"What do I need to learn in order to
"get the pacing better in my videos?"
Or, "Hey, maybe now is a great opportunity to start
"experimenting with some additional editing software."
DaVinci Resolve is a free, full featured video editor
that has pro level features,
so you can really make some awesome videos with it.
If you're making videos on an iPhone,
you can use Videoleap for free.
If you're making videos on an Android,
you can use KineMaster.
There's another piece of editing software called HitFilm.
If you're on a computer that's really, really cool.
You can even add special effects
and things like that.
If you really wanna start getting creative in your videos.
And at the time of this recording,
Adobe is even offering some free options,
so that you can experiment with their software as well.
If you've been thinking,
"Hey, do I want to try to experiment with Premiere Pro?"
Well hey, now is your time to give it a shot.
But regardless of the software
or the app that you're making your videos in,
now is the time to fully immerse yourself
in the process of learning how to make amazing content.
Now, I'm suggesting this next one on the list
because a lot of people are home right now.
A lot of people are looking for things to do.
A lot of people are just looking for some other
human-to-human interaction.
So, live streaming is something that you can also
experiment of on your channel right now.
When it comes to live streaming.
In terms of the advantages,
the community aspect of live streaming
is kind of where it's at with live streaming.
So because of that,
being able to take advantage of this situation
with a lot of people being home,
a lot of people being online
and looking for things to do,
is a fantastic way to introduce yourself to live streaming
so that you can connect with your community.
Another thing you can do as a YouTuber,
is you can start making a daily vlog.
Now, hold on.
I'm not saying that you have to publish the daily vlog.
All I'm saying is that you start vlogging what's happening
and what it is that you're going through at home
and start sharing your thoughts with the camera.
It's kind of like a therapy
and of course shooting things that are happening
around your house
and things like that.
I just watched a video recently from Cody Warner
and he actually put out a challenge of B-roll
to where it's like,
hey, get B-roll of all of this stuff
that you're going through right now
because this is a moment in time
that we're all gonna be able to look back on
and we're all gonna be able to share this story
and when we share the story
of what it is that we're going through right now,
having footage that will support what it is
that we're saying that you can add your videos
is a huge win.
I actually put a link to Cody's video
down in the description as well.
Next on the list,
is to work on your social media presence in general.
So of course we have YouTube,
but in terms of social media you also have TikTok
and LinkedIn and Twitter and Facebook
and anything else that's out there right now.
And because of that you have this opportunity
to where you can study some of those platforms as well.
Try to figure out where your content would be the best fit
and then start making some content for that as well.
As a matter of fact, one of the things that Matt
from Little Monster Media company mentioned in his post,
which again, I'm gonna put a link to him in the description,
but one of the things that he mentioned
was to actually use this opportunity to take some of the
old content that's on your channel
and cut it up into social media clips
and then start distributing it through social media,
so that you can use this moment in time
to start building up your other social media assets as well.
And I think that's great advice because your audience,
the people that are watching your videos,
there's a really good chance that they are
on some of these other platforms as well.
And because of that,
if you at least have a minor presence there,
that gives them one other place
where they can interact with you
on what it is that you're doing.
Now, this next one is something that is helping me a lot
in this situation that we're going through
right now because,
let's just call it what it is,
we're in a difficult time right now.
We're all in a situation to where it's new to us.
We've never went through something like this
in our lifetimes before.
So for me, meditation has been something
that has really been helping me just to kinda
keep a handle on my brain
and keep myself from stressing out
over everything that's happening right now.
I mean, I'm looking on Reddit,
I'm looking on Twitter,
I'm looking on Facebook
and we're all stressed out,
we're all overwhelmed,
we're all just going through all these
emotional things right now.
And meditation is something that can help you with that
in a major way.
And one of the best parts about meditation is it's free.
You don't have to put out any money for it.
You don't have to be in any special environment.
Nothing has to be any certain way
for you to learn to meditate.
All you have to do when it comes to meditation,
is find a comfortable place to sit down.
Once you find that comfortable place to sit down,
all you have to do at that point is close your eyes
and then you focus on the breath
going in and out of your body, okay?
Now when you're doing this,
your mind is going to start wondering.
Your mind's gonna start thinking about
what's going on in your house.
Your mind is gonna start thinking about
your YouTube channel.
Your mind is gonna start thinking about
the things that are happening in the world right now.
Your mind's gonna just do what your brain does,
which is just randomly think about things.
It's important to know that that is perfectly normal
when your brain is doing that.
When you're sitting there trying to chill out
and your brain is thinking of all these things.
It's perfectly normal.
It doesn't mean that you're doing anything wrong
or incorrect.
All it means is that your brain is doing
what your brain does.
But what you do in this situation,
is when you notice that your brain is wondering
and focusing on all these things,
is you take that attention that is spread out
on all the things that you're thinking about
and you bring it back to the breath
that you're taking with each breath that you take.
You do this over and over and over again
for 10 to 20 minutes,
unless you get really into it,
then in that situation,
of course, you can go for as long as you would like.
But the idea is to simply focus on your breath
and the air going in and out of your body
and when you notice that your mind is wondering,
just saying, "Okay, there goes my mind.
"My mind is wondering.
"So now I'm going to bring it back in,
"and I'm gonna focus on my breath again."
And you just do that over and over again.
Not only is this gonna help you in terms of stress reduction
and anxiety reduction
and just dealing with what we're going through right now,
but this is also going to train your brain to focus
because what you're doing,
is you're catching your mind wandering
and pulling it back to what it is that you're focusing on
over and over and over again,
which is a skill
or a muscle I should say,
that ends up getting developed
when it comes to being able to focus.
Now, if you want to explore the idea of meditation
and let's say you don't wanna do it yourself,
or you don't really know what to do
or you just wanna have that accountability
of actually sitting down
and doing it every day.
I'm actually going to start live streaming
during this situation that we're going through right now.
I'm going to start live streaming a daily meditation session
and I would like to invite you to join me
and I'm gonna put a link to that right here
so you can check it out
and go over there and subscribe to that channel
and join me for daily meditation,
if it's something that you would like to try.
Another thing that I wanna say,
just on a personal note from me to you,
is that this is definitely a difficult time
right now that we're going through.
It's scary.
It's something that is causing a lot of anxiety
and stress for everybody.
And I just want to just say my peace in terms of,
I believe that we're gonna get through this.
I believe that there will be a solution to it.
I don't know how long it's gonna take.
But this is definitely something...
It's an interesting period of time
that we're going through right now
and we're gonna get through it.
Also, as part of the things that you can do
while you're chilling at home,
I put together a download pack for you,
and this is also inspired by Film Riot.
You can find that at BestCreatorTools.com/CV
and basically, it's some stuff in there
that you can just use in your videos
and that you can add to your YouTube channel,
things like that.
Hopefully this give you something to do
for a little period of time.
And some assets that you can use for your content.
It's all royalty free.
You can use it for whatever it is that you want.
The only thing that I ask is that
you don't try to resell it
or anything like that.
Now again, if you wanna subscribe to that other channel,
you can do so right here
and if you wanna learn more about YouTube
and online video,
then make sure you click into this playlist right here.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'll see you next time.