The official blog of Ryan Lamont
February 19, 2012 Leave a comment
The other day a crazy sight could be seen in Auckland City. A giant waterspout formed in the Harbour, and could be seen from miles away in the moody grey sky. This tornado-like sight caused many Aucklanders to stand in awe or fear, and many videos were soon filmed and uploaded onto Youtube. The one I’ve embedded below has to be one of the most entertaining, for the Dutch guy’s commentary (although explicit) is hilarious.
February 11, 2012 Leave a comment
Many people who start to upload videos on YouTube have desires of becoming rich and famous, like legendary YouTube Partners such as NigaHiga and Fred. But this desire will not get you far in the world of YouTube. You have to be prepared to go unpaid for years, build a loyal audience, network with your peers and love video making. The successful YouTube Partners are the ones who do it because they love what they do.
I think I had been on YouTube a year or so before the YouTube Partnership Program was born. But of course, being in New Zealand, the Partnership Program had not been extended to our side of the world yet. It was another year or so before New Zealand was included in this new venture, and by then there were thousands of people starting to make videos with the aim of making money.
The number one rule of ‘How To Become a YouTube Partner’ is do it because you enjoy it, not because of the money! If you’re just desperate to make a quick buck, you will not be successful. I joined YouTube before the Partners Program was introduced, and purely made videos for the enjoyment and social interaction, and am now a happy YouTube Partner making videos because I enjoy it. The money is just a nice aside thing. If anything, I’m more happy about the branding options you gain from being in the Partnership Program.
To become a YouTube Partner networking is essential! Collaborations are a great way to build your audience, and you’ll only get those by collaborating with people. Also, some people you meet via networking may like your content so much that they’ll give your channel a ‘shout out’ in a video of their’s, promoting your channel and again building your audience. You can’t expect to build an audience without making some friends.
To tie-in with networking, using social networks is a must when aiming to become a YouTube Partner. To become a YouTube Partner you need to gain a lot of views and have a decent subscriber base, so Google would want to invest in your channel. So to build an audience and gain video views, social networking is essential. Tweet your latest video with relevant hashtags, share it on Facebook so your friends can see, post it to your Tumblr with relevant tags and write a blog and embed the video. All of these activities is like setting up little nets to catch people to watch your video. Maybe that’s not the best analogy… Makes the whole thing sound a little sinister. but basically what you’re doing is putting little signs pointing to your video all over the inter webs, allowing more people to find it.
And the final most important piece of advice I can give to you all is to be patient. It took me three years before Google offered me YouTube Partnership. It took years to build my audience, experiment with my style, improve my skills and make the content that attracts viewers, and I’m still only at the beginning of my YouTube journey. I still have so much to learn and improve upon. You must always be willing to learn I think. Also, don’t stick rigidly to advice given to you on various blogs about ‘How to Get Views’ and ‘How To Make Popular Videos’. Experiment with your own style, enjoy the process, stay optimistic and be patient. Good luck with your endeavors!
-Ryan Lamont
