Here's What We've Learned So Far

1. DO THE THING. DON’T OVERTHINK IT.

With the COVID-19 putting forcing all of us to stay home, I've been working on YouTube, which has been a social channel I've been wanted to create content on for a longggg time now, but never got around to it.

I think that's familiar to most of us. The brain chatters, runs, and overthinks. Combined with a bit of nerves and self-judgement since it is super weird to speak to a camera - especially by yourself - it really is an acquired skill that takes practice.

Although I've done photography for quite some time, I shied away from video works because it is different enough from videography that it is a separate skill even if it does look like it shares the same qualities on the surface.

It also requires some new gear (lights, stabilizers, monitors, audio) and it takes a lot longer with a different creative process than photography.

I guess I knew myself well enough that I get sucked into acquiring gear quite easily and I knew that video would just eat up more of my $$. haha

But, as I do more, I'm getting quicker. It's also opened up my mind as far as helping me develop storytelling skills and being more creative in how I stitch things together.

You have to consider how you'll get the footage, make sure you get enough of it, find the right music, make sure your audio is good and then piece it all together in a sequence that makes sense and is interesting.

That's intimidating at first, but after I put out my first video, the positive feedback I received and the small community I'm starting to build, provided a ton of encouragement which is so cool because then it makes the idea of creating video content no so daunting.

As I continue this YouTube journey, there have been 2 mantras I came across and have been sharing with friends that want to start a new business or YouTube channel and that is:

DO THE THING. Only by action can we get better at it, learn, build our expertise and get us closer to the result we're hoping for. Whatever your thing is, get to it, my dude.
ITERATION OVER PERFECTION. We're all self-critical and especially those who identify with being a perfectionist. This completely halts the process and creates those Failure-to-Launch scenarios. Much like the first mantra, you just have to do it and get it out the door. I already know that my 10th video will look vastly better than my first. In each iteration of a video, an artwork, a photo, a website build -- I'll see areas I can improve or do differently and that's how it should be!

That's life. That's how one gains experience and becomes a pro in their space. We all started somewhere, but the key difference is if we even started!

So, these thoughts have been the core of my approach mentally to YouTube. And I this mental lesson is something you can apply to starting anything new. It's the most important step because if we stop ourselves from even starting then we will never know what could have been.

2. THE TECHNICAL THINGS WE LEARNED FROM YOUTUBE

I'll be creating a video soon about how to record videos with just your iPhone to help out those who want to start with simple gear.

However, what I've found to be important for videos as you're starting out is:

Your topic/content: Figure out what you want your channel to be about so people can understand it and you can create a community around it. Once you have it, research to see what people are asking/talking about and mind hot topics or new releases in that niche.
- Example: My first video compared the Fujifilm XT4 to the current Fuji cameras I owned. This video was my cash cow. I had no idea it would blow up the way it did and I'll chat more about that below, but it did well because of the timing (XT4 was just being released) and it was specifically speaking to Fujifilm fans and those thinking about switching to the Fuji system.
Equipment: Audio is more important than visuals! I just want you to understand that. People will watch a video longer if the audio is good over a video with great visual and poor audio. This means invest in a good lavalier mic or shotgun mic and learn about placement as well as audio editing to clean up the vocals in post-production. Beyond that, you could use your iPhone or other cameras you have at home. What will make the biggest difference in your visuals is lighting. I recently purchased a Godox SL-60W and it's changed the game for me. It helps my videos look better and really useful for my product photography as well. I’ve linked that along with the gear we use below.
To recap:

Camera or smart phone (we use a Fujifilm XT3 + 16-55mm lens)
Audio gear: Rode Lav Mic, Rode VideoMicro
Tripod: Manfrotto BEFREE
Video light (Godox SL-60W) or large window light
Record in a room that has carpet or doesn't echo
Editing Software: I like Final Cut Pro X, but Davinci Resolve is great if you need something free

I'll be making more videos about the technical side of my setup soon, so sign up for our newsletter (in the footer) or subscribe on YouTube if that kind of content interests you.

3. HITTING THE 1000 SUBSCRIBERS & 4000 HOURS TO GET MONETIZED ON YOUTUBE

Woooooo this one is a doozy!

I'm not sure when, but YouTube made their process to get monetized more difficult. Which, is a good thing if you think about it. It weeds out any creators who are low value and help advertisers get their message in front of real audiences.

What does it mean for us new creators? It's tough. To get 1000 subs and 4000 hours of watch time is a hell of a milestone.

This is where things got exciting for me. As I mentioned, I never thought my first video would take off the way it did, but check this out. Right now, as I write this post, here are our stats on that XT4 video.

Fujifilm XT4 video:

43.2k views
35.3k unique viewers
3.4k hours of watch time
377 subscribers from this video
832.7k impressions

This is SO AMAZING! This video alone is getting us to near the watch time hours we need to get monetized. It's the springboard we needed to help us creating other Fujifilm camera gear and photography related content.

I've been replying to EVERY SINGLE COMMENT that comes through on our videos and people have been noticing. Real, genuine engagements that have helped us build a nice list of content, which helps us with ideas, but also answer real questions people have.

Actually, I want to point out that if I make a video based on someone's questions it internally validates why I'm making the video in the first place, so that's a nice place to start rather than you just making up videos that interest you. Find the balance.

By replying to comments, it helps us play well with YouTube's algorithm which helps us get our videos recommended by YouTube. Plus, we also get our new subscribers connecting with us over on Instagram as well. It's all a web that interlinks.

The reason I get so excited about these numbers is because I was so hesitant to start this YouTube channel in the first place. Even though I always wanted to connect with others to nerd about FujiFilm/camera gear and share what I've learned in this photography and freelancing industry over the years, I never thought my video skills or way I was going to present things would be good enough.

And now that I am doing it, the trajectory things are going is far better than I had imagined. It's still small beans, but it's promising.

From the info I could find, it seems that most creators, on average, achieve the monetization milestone in about 1 to 2 years! So when I read up on that before starting the channel that seemed like a long time, but so be it.

And now, to think that we could potentially hit that milestone in 2-3 months is so wild to me!

It's also part luck and I know that, but it's also encouraging that it can be done. I'm still focused on the small wins and milestones so that I don't get bummed out because I'm not at hundred-of-thousands or millions of subs.

My thought is to get monetized and then see what we need to improve in order to maximize advertising content without sacrificing the viewing experience.

A step at a time!

4. HOW YOUTUBE COMPARES TO INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK

So far, the engagement and organic reach have been miles ahead of Instagram and Facebook for us.

Now, I have 2 thoughts on that.

I think video content gives more information, which allows users to have more questions or thoughts of their own to keep the conversation going and to engage with you. It leaves more up for interpretation and questioning, which is great for building relationships aka an audience.
I've kept the channel pretty Fujifilm centric as it is a community I want to grow, but I will be sprinkling in web design and other topics that make sense to Atomic Pixel. I'll keep it in a separate playlist and test out the topics to see how they perform.

Now to reverse engineer a bit, even though we started with Instagram, our following has been quite stale and as it should be since I don't post a whole lot and the content does jump around since our services span more than one topic.

Therefore, taking from what I've learned from YouTube, I'll be starting to post more helpful or relevant content on our Instagram that speaks to small businesses. I still have to hash out exactly what they are, but perhaps tidbits of information that is useful to the audience we need to connect with rather than using it as a second portfolio if that makes sense. Also consistency. That’s a huge requirement for all social media.

As with any social channel, you test and pivot. So, let's see how things go from here!

5. FINAL THOUGHTS

I think YouTube and video content, in general, are really valuable ways to share what your business does with the world. Much like when we do wedding videos vs photos, a video captures the personality and the nuances of the day/people better than photos can.

For this reason, we're concentrating on our video skills and helping businesses with explainer videos, product videos, and business tour videos. Great photos will always be around, but great videos can help your customers connect with who you are as a business a smidge better.

So start recording what you do and how you do it! :)

If you need any help brainstorming content or keywords that make sense for your brand — be in touch.

Stay healthy,

Tuan

We Hit 500 Subscribers On YouTube!