There are Bloggers and there are Vloggers. A blogger can also be a vlogger and vice versa, however, you can choose to be either a Vlogger or a Blogger. Most people are familiar with the term ‘Bloggers’, “Blogging” and what they do. While Vlogging is not as popular to the common man but can also make you good money if you do it right.

A video blog or video log, usually shortened to vlog, is a form of blog for which the medium is video, and is a form of web television.

On the first episode of Crux of the Matter Tweetchat in this new year – 2018, our guest was Eric Okafor (@KneWKeeD), the owner of one of the fastest growing tech channels in Nigeria, a tech Vlogger and cofounder of HowToTechNaija.com.

Eric Okafor started vlogging in 2015 – a venture which he said started out by having a friend film him with a phone camera at his place of work, published and got over 1000 views in one day.

On what people do on vlogs, Eric said, “People do lots of things that range from showing how to do random things like cooking, make-up and other crafts to showing a person’s reactions to new/old video content. So all of this make up the content of a Vlog. People say it’s similar to blogging.”

You can easily understand that Eric is not a blogger. The content he puts on his youtube channel is all about tech which ranges from smartphone reviews to comparison videos and gaming Tests. He does a little bit of ‘tech meets travel’ vlogs too.

Eric feels vlogging is much more tasking, interactive and interesting than blogging (and I will say, just try starting a blog *wink*).

Basic requirements to start or own a vlog

“For starters, A good camera (a good smartphone camera would suffice), a well-lit background or the natural outdoors, a tripod or table to support the camera (your hand would suffice), A smartphone for editing if need be and internet connection.”

Editing Skills?

“You don’t have to have expert editing skills. However, I figured out along the way that I needed to have basic editing skills so my videos could be short and sweet. The basic ‘cut and join’ skills could go a long way. If you don’t want all your mistakes and interruptions while making a video to be published, you would need those basic skills. Nobody is perfect so doing a perfectly worded vlog from start to finish is no easy task”

Ideal Vlog Length

I have always worried about Nigerian youtubers who put out vlogs of more than 10miniutes. Personally, it has to be really interesting for me to watch your content with such duration. Eric confirmed my worries when he said “5-9mins seems to be the sweet spot for me but it really depends on what your vlog is about coz it’s possible to keep your audience’s attention for a longer time”

How much money can be made on vlogging?

“Quite a lot, some vloggers have made millions of dollars on YouTube AdSense alone. You know how people say “money shouldn’t be your motive” but never mean it? Well on YouTube, money can motivate you to spending money to make your videos A1, not making money.”

YouTube allows other brands to place adverts before, during or around your video (if your video is good). You get a percentage from the money advertisers spend on ads.

 

What are the various ways of making money from vlogging?

“One way is to integrate it fully with your social media platforms by making sure that you are recognized as a brand. Clout is everything and that could possibly lead to you coming into advertisers’ radar.

Brands also slide in your DMs too and lots of great opportunities start from there. Your subscribers are also able to relate better with you on social media so you would want their feedback anyhow and anywhere you can get it.

Monetization is truly the last thing any new comer should be concerned about. Even YouTube made sure of it.”

Choosing the best name for a vlog channel

“To be Honest, I struggled between naming my channel something cool vs my name. I researched other tech vloggers who put out similar content and then I saw they were using their names so I did the same. The name of my channel is actually Eric Okafor, not Knewkeed.

Now you can use a cool name too and it’s even ideal but knewkeed didn’t exactly say anything about the tech channel. I didn’t want it to just be about my social media handle or something generic.”

Driving traffic to a youtube page

“YouTube is not like social media where nobody sees what you put out when you don’t have followers/friends/subscribers. Hundreds of thousands of people could see your first YouTube video with the right name, thumbnail and meta tags”

“You would need to learn to use SEO on YouTube, have a great thumbnail that is nice, catchy or controversial but not misleading and use meta tags. There’s a lengthy video that explains all of this on YouTube. It’s worth noting that your definition of good video may not be YouTube’s definition of a good video. Social media is one way to drive traffic but conversion rates are not that high. Traffic gets better with consistency.”

Join us every Friday by 7pm on twitter with the hashtag #CruxoftheMatter for interesting and insightful conversations. Also watch Crux of the Matter on R2TV (GOTV 112) every Wednesday/Thursday at 9:30pm. Do follow me on twitter – @elsieisy