My friend Davinder had been after me for a while to start a podcast. He even had me on his podcast. In the past couple of years, I frequented a handful and discovered I didn’t mind talking about things I like and know something about.
A couple of those podcasts actually recorded a video. I’m a handsome man, so they worked out pretty well ;).
When it came time for me to create a podcast, I decided just to do a video show. After all, I wanted to populate my Youtube channel, and I thought this would be a great way to do so.
In the past year, I started doing a few Facebook Lives, which allowed me to get more comfortable being on video.
I hope to repurpose them into podcasts later, but I wanted to wait until I had 10-12 uploaded.
Today, I am going to discuss six things I learned from starting and running a Youtube Show.
1. Get comfortable first.
My first advice is to be on a few podcasts or video shows to get more comfortable. Be willing to run your own Facebook Live.
There are so many things you have to get comfortable doing, and the tech is just one part of the equation. You have to be comfortable talking, organizing your show format, setting up your mic, adding your webcam, and much more.
Being on someone else’s show will help you do this.
2. Don’t wait until everything is perfect
It’s easy to do. You spend time gathering all of the right tools. You spend time taking multiple takes so that you look like an accomplished Youtuber.
You find every little problem with your recording, and you scrap it to start again.
There is a problem with this.
You will never get started.
No one who starts is perfect. It just doesn’t happen.
If you have watched reporters working from home, in the early days, they weren’t perfect. Over time, they have gotten better.
Better setup, better lighting, better microphone, better at everything.
The same is true for us.
Start and get better as you go.
Other content creators have told me that you start to improve around your tenth episode.
Give yourself grace.
3. All you need is a webcam and video recording software
Remember that part about just getting started. Don’t worry about having the highest end camera or fancy video software. All you need to get going is a decent webcam and recording software.
I often use Zoom. Zoom records really well, it’s easy to use, your guests are likely familiar with it, and you can get started using Zoom for free.
Further, you can shoot a solo episode using Zoom.
Other types of software I have used include Streamyard. One of the episodes I did was simply a StreamYard Live right into Youtube.
With the free episode of Streamyard, you get a nice little Streamyard logo. Either you need to pay to remove it or just be okay with it being there.
Of course, you can use a DSLR video camera to shoot solo episodes as well.
Nevertheless, you can get started reasonably inexpensive.
So why wait?
4. Have fun, it’s your show
There is absolutely no reason to put too much pressure on yourself. I want to have fun and talk about the things I like, namely, content marketing and copywriting.
However, I am fine talking about related topics. I have one guest scheduled to talk about podcasting and another to talk about branding. I also have booked a guest to talk about privacy policies.
These are interesting for me, and I think good for my audience.
Another thing I am fine doing is having a mix of solo and interviews.
Solo shows let me talk for a shorter amount of time about something that I want to address that I think is important.
Also, in the early stages of my show, I do not want to feel pressure from getting guests to keep a calendar filled. Thus far, my guests have come fairy organic. I have asked the people I wanted on the show, and they agreed.
I haven’t put out some kind of public call for guests and will keep it that way for a while.
Recently, I just launched a place for potential guests to book their spot. It helps with the workflow.
5. Expect the unexpected
Expect the unexpected.
It’s like anything else in life, right? You can make plans, create scripts, and account for everything, then something unexpected happens.
Just a week ago, I was going to do a live stream with my friend Rob to talk about some email success he was having. However, the Universe wasn’t having any of it.
So we just recorded the conversation via Zoom.
Since then, I’ve had trouble getting the video out for an episode of the Copychat Show.
It’s just like that sometimes.
You may have a glitch in the recording, or your internet may not cooperate.
I had that happen with an episode I had with copywriter Eman Zabi, and I had to edit the video. Editing a video like that was a first for me.
I had to learn to add an overlay slideshow to account for a time when her screen froze.
I learned something new.
Be flexible. Chances are you will learn something new.
6. Learning experiences
You remember when I said to “expect the unexpected?” Well, it’s an excellent opportunity to learn something new.
When Eman’s screen froze, I had to adjust to learning to add a slide show to account. That same episode, I added an intro to the show.
Adding the intro was a first for me. I wanted to be more like some friends who had Youtube shows. I would give myself a C+ grade for adding my intro.
I was able to find a template intro on Placeit, make the necessary adjustments, and choose a jazzy musical intro. The introduction turned out pretty nice.
I have yet to add an outro, but that is something I am considering for future episodes.
I am just trying to get better, but for some episodes, I will settle for getting them up.
Youtube has lots of features as well that you can add to your show.
Final Thoughts
There are many other things to consider when launching and running your Youtube show. The ones I mention above are just a few of those things that I learned.
I would add to repurpose the videos on social media. There are various ways to do this. I like to create a social media post by teasing something we talk about with a link to the Youtube Show.
Other creators will take a snippet of the episode that is funny, entertaining, or poignant and post it on social media. It acts like a movie trailer. Of course, you link to the episode.
After I posted a few episodes, I started to add them to my website using the Youtube embed code. Above the video, I add a summary, and below I add the show notes and links below the video.
Do you have a Youtube Show? Let us know in the MainWP Users Facebook Users Group.
