How to sell videos online for free
How to sell videos online for free
Video has become essential for every brand as it is the most trustworthy medium to share their message. Hubspot found that in 2017 video held the first position amongst the content types people would like to see more of in the future. After YouTube, the demand for video content has skyrocketed and more people are investing in it for their businesses and personal branding.
Currently, YouTube has 1,9 billion users per month, while more than 1 billion hours of content is being consumed through the platform daily. And these numbers are increasing year by year. This shows that video content is here to stay!
For this reason, new opportunities regarding video monetization have risen. Nowadays every video content creator can get paid from their vlogs through various platforms. The most famous one is of course YouTube. However, YouTube is not for everyone. And every successful vlogger has different needs. For this reason, different platforms might be a better fit for your content and niche.
For those of you who want to vlog after college or for those YouTube vloggers who are searching for different ways to get paid for their videos, let’s find the best way to sell your videos online.
1. Find your niche
Determining your niche is probably the most important step in starting your career as a vlogger. First, find something you are passionate and knowledgeable about. That shouldn’t be just a hobby, but something you will keep investing in the next 5 years. Because vlogging requires a lot of time and energy and many video creators can feel drained, uninspired or burnout. So your niche has to be something you can keep generating content for and won’t lose interest in.
After choosing your expertise, maybe it would be a good idea to narrow it down a little bit. For instance, if you have chosen traveling, this is a fairly broad term. You can visit sites like Redditlist to find out more specific categories for your vlogging. Instead of traveling, there are categories like Shoestring, vandwellers or SoCalR4R for example.
While trying to determine your niche, competition plays an important role. Type those keywords on YouTube and see how many vloggers are already associating with your niche and what they vlog about. Finding some competition is good because it shows that people are willing to watch someone vlog about this topic. However, if this topic is highly saturated, then it will be really difficult to create a follower base. In this case, you should try and alter your content somewhat so that you provide something new to this field or go for a different subcategory.
Besides YouTube, you should search on Google. Because YouTube is not the only platform you can find vloggers. With Google, you can search for keywords. Some tools that can help you with that are Google Keyword Planner or Wordtracker. Again your goal should be to find a sizeable search volume of in-between 1–10k per month. In this way, you will find that a good amount of people is interested in your topic but also it will be possible for you to rank on the top places for those keywords.
2. Video content
Now it is time for you to create your video. Your video content is very important. It should be engaging, consistent, authentic and tailor-made for your niche. But let’s dive into this a bit more.
So how to make good video content?
○ Think of your niche
You should always have your niche in mind. Determine their problems and needs. Your content should add some value to that audience. That value could be to explain a situation, to provide a solution or maybe share similar stories. Ultimately it depends on the type of niche. But one thing is for sure. If you don’t have your niche at the center of your content, it won’t make an impact.
○ Be authentic and consistent
Your video should reflect your personality. Do not try to pretend something that you are not. Your viewers will see it. Be yourself and your followers will appreciate you for that. For this reason, avoid using many scripts on your video. Talk to your audience directly and improvize. Also, be consistent with your uploading frequency. In this way, you will connect longterm with them and share your message more efficiently.
3. Video content hosting
Lastly, it is important to find a video platform that will best serve your vlogging needs. There are many opportunities to sell your videos online. Below you can find the most important ones and their differences:
○YouTube
YouTube is the most famous video hosting platform. It offers many monetization options for the videos in exchange for ads. This means that YouTubers get paid by allowing ads from big brands and promoters to appear on their videos. Alongside this, the platform offers channel sponsorships, opportunities for paid partnerships and to get paid for comments during a Livestream.
○Vimeo
Vimeo became known as the first video platform that supported high-quality footage. Its users deprive mostly from filmmakers, musicians animators, and other artists. Vimeo doesn’t run ads so the monetization options the platform offers include becoming a Pro Member and get paid every time a user wants to watch your video or becoming an Affiliate for Vimeo.
○Wistia
Wistia is a platform for businesses. The platform provides SEO optimized videos and integrations with email, call to action, heatmaps, and video analytics to help you convert viewers into loyal fans.
○Social Media
There are many social media you can use to sell your videos. Some like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat hold video and Livestreaming in prominent positions. However, making video content for social media is different. You need to adhere to the platform’s rules and suggestions, while every platform has different opportunities for you to get known and grow your influence.
○Shabingo
Shabingo is a free online video selling platform. It provides content creators with a new way to sell pay per view videos online without ads. On platforms like YouTube, you need a big fanbase to start making money from your videos. And it’s sometimes difficult to grow a small YouTube channel. With Shabingo you get paid by your viewers. The more engaging and informative your video content is, the more chances you have to sell your videos.
When you have chosen your video platform, you will be ready to start your vlogging career. Remember to always create for your niche and you will see your follower base gradually increase.
Author: Evi Tsokanaki
Originally published at https://shabingo.com.
