Video blogging can be used for a wealth of different things. They can be used to set up interviews, get customer recommendations, discuss topics, present news… well the list goes on. However, from what I have noticed video and sound quality is quite horrific and often times many vblogs instead of coming off as laid back and easy going end up taking a one way trip to Amateurville (which is right next to IHaveNoIdeaWhatIAmDoing City located in the State of Denial).

1. Stay focused and advance the topic. You only have so much time to make you point and be memorable. Don’t waste it.

2. Make it interesting. The last thing anyone wants to see is a video that is boring and the last thing you want to see is comments saying this wasted the viewer’s time. Keep it interesting. If you don’t know if its interesting enough have outsiders view before you publish.

3. Prepare Talking Points or a Script. In order to keep things focused an interesting preparing talking points and questions for interviews ahead of time is essential. If the vlog is a tutorial of some sort, do several walk-throughs of what you want to do before the camera rolls. If you are doing something such as a mini movie then have a script.

4. Quality Ingredients produce a Quality product. Camcorder, external microphone, lighting, get them.

5. Keep it Short, 5 mins or less. Keep it short and simple and to the point. 5 mins or less. If it is going to be longer break it up into segments.

6. Brand your vlogs. If you want professional then you should brand every one of your vlogs. Use a logo or maybe a small text block.

7. Use editing software. Editing software is essential to make sure the colors, contrast, brightness, and resolutions are solid. Also you should be editing you work, cutting out bad points, or errors, and splicing in corrections you might have filmed later.

8. Lighting lighting lighting. Lighting makes or break video. More lighting is better, you want to reduce the amount of shadows in your production. There are a lot of resources online and off on the use of production quality lighting. If you are serious about vlogging you should study them.

9. Don’t be afraid to cut stuff out. When it comes to video no one keeps all of the film to final production. For a five minute video you are looking at ten minutes of film, at the least.

Follow these rules and you too shall enjoy professional vlogs. Until next time, happy hosting!

A few good resources:

Life Hacker: 8 Ways to Shoot Video Like a Pro

BlogBloke: How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog

MetaCafe: Production School