Over the last few years, YouTube has become a very important channel for me to market myself online, deliver value to my audience and get new consulting leads for my business.
I often get asked about the equipment and process I use to create videos for YouTube. Below, I’ve detailed how I plan and create my videos, from start to finish. Enjoy!
Don't want to read this post, listen to the podcast or watch the video instead:
1. Planning the content in Asana
I plan my video schedule and content in Asana. This allows me to stick to a consistent posting schedule which is really important if you want to grow subscribers and viewership on YouTube (their algorithm really likes consistency). I also think it’s just good to be consistent with the content you produce so that your subscribers know to look for new videos.
When recording, I often batch record a bunch of videos at once. I’ll come up with ideas for about a months worth of videos and I’ll spend an afternoon recording everything. I try to pick topics that people need help with. So with Asana or Pipedrive, I’ll think about the common questions I get or features that I can explain. I aim for the videos to be about 5-10 minutes in length as I know the attention span of most people browsing YouTube is quite short. Recently I created a new online course about how to use Asana (and I’m doing the same for Pipedrive at the moment). These videos are a lot more detailed and follow a step by step process. But with YouTube, my goal is to deliver, short and actionable advice that helps people get a few quick-wins.
So in Asana, I have a task for each video and I’ll add my ideas and notes to the description. I have a template of subtasks that I use to make sure I don’t forget a step when creating and uploading the video.
2. Recording set up and software
I currently use Screenflow on the Mac for my recording and editing. I love Screenflow as it lets you record you webcam and screen simultaneously so I can create a little picture-in-picture in the final video. Screenflow also has some nice editing tools that let you zoom in on the mouse or sections of the screen to highlight smaller buttons and areas which is great for the type of tutorial videos I create.
When I was just getting started, I simply used Quicktime on the Mac, which is free. In the past, I’ve also used Capto which comes as part of a Setapp (affiliate link) subscription.
I record the audio with a Neewer NW-700 podcast mic plugged into a Behringer Xenyx 302USB Mixer which provides phantom power to the mic. The mixer gives you a little more control over the audio levels and supports multiple audio tracks if you need to record audio from the computer. It’s also required if you use a mic which requires phantom power like I do.
I use Logitech HD webcam to record video of myself. It supports 1080p at 30fps which is fine for the type of videos I’m working on. Logitech also have a 4k webcam which I’m very tempted by…
I’ve positioned my desk in front of a window which means I get plenty of natural light to illuminate my face. I also purchased a small LED ring light from Amazon that gives me some additional light and I can toggle it between warm and cooler tones which is great.
When I record, I generally do just one take. I don’t really have a script. I just have some bullet points prepared that remind me of the key points to cover and keeps me on track. I like to pretend that I’m just talking to a client who’s asked me a question. So if the occasional ‘um’ or ‘ah’ slips in, that’s fine. I like the videos to come across nice and natural without feeling too scripted. I will pause or redo a sentence if I need to and then I’ll edit this in post-production.
3. Post-production process
Once I’ve edited the video in Screenflow, I upload it to YouTube.
I assign subtasks in Asana to my virtual assistant, Angeline, who will take care of the video description, tags, cards and thumbnail, which she creates in Canva. She’ll also create a WordPress post and embeds the video there, then leaves everything in a draft state so that I can review and publish when ready. I used to do all this myself but since hiring a VA, it’s been great to be able to offload this to Angeline.
I’ve chosen to monetise my videos with ads. The income I generate helps to offset some of my costs and means I can justify spending more time on video.
—
And that’s it. That’s my recording process, there’s not a lot to it.
If you’re just getting started I know it can be intimidating to get in front of the camera and put yourself out there. Don’t worry about making the videos perfect. If you look back at some of my early stuff you’ll see I don’t have any lighting or a webcam so I’m looking down on my laptops built-in camera. When I look back now, I really cringe. But it’s the content that’s most important and if you deliver a valuable message, that’s all that matters.