Get Rich Blogging. Zoe Griffin

      The dictionary definition of a vlog is ‘a video journal that is uploaded to the Internet, or a blog in which the postings are primarily videos’. With this general definition, many people mistakenly rush into vlogging thinking all they need to get started is a video camera and access to the Internet.

      If it were that simple, why is it that some vloggers receive hundreds of thousands or millions of views, while others struggle to reach over a hundred? The answer is that the well-known vloggers have a constant theme that runs throughout their videos, and this is often lacking in amateur vloggers’ work. Let’s take two professional vloggers – Tanya Burr and Marcus Butler. Tanya’s YouTube channel contains a high proportion of beauty videos. She regularly posts make-up tutorials, and talks about grooming products she has bought and she recommends. Viewers have reason to watch the videos because they are being educated: they are learning how to apply make-up better. Marcus, on the other hand, is more of a comedian, regularly uploading videos of pranks he’s carried out. Viewers are entertained; they are having a break from the humdrum of their daily lives and laughing out loud at something silly.

      Successful vloggers either educate or entertain – or both – by picking a theme that runs throughout their videos. They often post about their daily life in addition to this educational or entertaining content, but these daily uploads usually reference the subject they cover in their other vlogs. When you visit your favourite vlogger’s YouTube channel, you know exactly what types of videos you will see, unlike when you visit the channel of a vlogger who is just starting out and hasn’t paid adequate attention to why they’re vlogging or what their long-term goals are. Themes keep viewers coming back to a vlogger’s channel, as people like to watch the development of a storyline, laugh at the prank that has been talked about in a previous video or see the next instalment of a complicated make-up tutorial.

      Themes that work well on vlog channels include computer gaming, agony aunt advice, fashion and style talk, make-up tutorials, cookery demonstrations, comedy, top-ten lists and random short features. However, before you make a decision on what direction you’d like to go in, it’s vital to answer the following questions:

      WHAT INTERESTS YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE?

      It’s very tempting to model yourself on the most famous vloggers. Zoe ‘Zoella’ Sugg has 10 million subscribers, so if you copy what she does exactly will you get 10 million subscribers too? It wouldn’t be hard to follow a similar model. You could make vlogs about baking, shopping and mental health, and you could talk in a super-positive tone of voice. You could go further and buy some pets so you can copy her relationship with her guinea pigs Percy and Pippin. But you wouldn’t get 10 million subscribers that way. You’d struggle to get ten. It would be obvious to anyone who watches Zoe’s videos that you were trying to copy her, and nobody wants to tune into a copycat when they can watch the real thing.

      Ignore other vloggers, and give some thought to the topics you enjoy talking and learning about. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, you’ll struggle to come across as educational or entertaining if you’re not interested in the subject yourself. If you’re simply trying to copy another vlogger, it will be reflected in the quality of your content. Successful vloggers have a special ability to connect with their audience and to give of themselves without holding back, and that only happens if you believe what you’re talking about in your videos. Vloggers who fake an interest will appear untrustworthy and unlikeable, and viewers will switch off midway through their