How To Make A YouTube Video From Start To Finish (WHAT NO ONE TELLS YOU)

In this video, I'm going to show you the entire process that I go through to make a YouTube video from start to finish. And along the process, I'm going to be sharing with you some of the steps that nobody ever really talks about when it comes to making YouTube videos. I've been creating YouTube videos for over five years now, and our agency, our YouTube production agency, publishes over 50 YouTube videos a month for our clients. So we've really streamlined this process not only for myself, but for my clients. So. So I'm here to show you how you can create a YouTube video from scratch. I will address how long is it going to take me to create a YouTube video from start to finish. And it's probably not the answer that you want because it's going to vary. In fact, I found an article recently in Medium that said the reported range for the time taken to make a YouTube video was from two to 300 hours. The average time reported was around seven hours for one to five minutes of video. Now, before that scares you off, there are definitely some hacks, some tips, some tricks on how to make this process quicker. In fact, another interesting find in that Medium article was the more subscribers the creator had, the longer it took that creator to make a video. This is because the creator felt more compelled to offer better experiences to committed subscribers. The article goes on to say, our guess is that this falls back down or tapers off at some point, some level, once the creators have a streamline process which I'm giving you today. This is a realistic approach to making a YouTube video from start to scratch. So hit that like button if you are ready to see my process. Step one in this process is to plan your video before you even do hair and makeup or get a camera out. I like to do this research process the day before. So yesterday, before filming this video, I sat down, I did some research. I My research process goes as followed. I'm looking at my promotional calendar to see if there's specific videos I need to create to promote something. Black Friday sale, a launch, a challenge. Then I look at my YouTube analytics. I'm looking at are there any videos that are doing significantly well? Are there any terms or topics that are performing well on my YouTube channel right now that I could create videos about. And then if you have enough data in your YouTube channel, I like to look at the current videos that my audience is watching to see if it's content, content that I want to create or something that I also want to talk about. Here's the key. Only make videos that you are excited about. Because if there's a topic that you think is going to do well on your channel but you're not excited to do it, don't do it. I've learned this the hard way. It just when I create the videos, I don't enjoy it. My audience can tell that I don't enjoy it. And I just don't have as much video pizazz when I do videos I don't want to do. Now remember, we're still in this planning phase, this very first step, and that was all the research that I did. Okay? So once I got a good idea of all all of these video topics based on what's going well on YouTube or on my channel, I like to pick a theme for the entire month. I like to plan my content a month at a time. I did an entire video on it. I will link to it right up here. You can watch it after this video. But it really goes into detail on how I plan out all my content. Once I have that theme, then I start figuring out the topics that I want to do and what is the best direction to take those videos. For example, if I'm going to do a video on how I would start a business in 2022, that may be the best way to position that video. Maybe after I do a little bit of research on YouTube, I determine that it would probably be better if I position that video as biggest mistakes I've made in my business that cost me thousands of dollars. That might be a better position or a better take on that video. The content is probably going to be pretty similar, but it's just the way that I'm delivering that content to set it up for Success over on YouTube. Now, the best thing that you can do during this research phase if you tend to go down a rabbit hole, is to set a timer. 30 to 45 minutes per video. Set that timer. Do your research. When that timer dings, you're done researching. Because you can literally get into a research rabbit hole. I have seen many people do it as I'm just set a timer, do your research. That's good enough. Move on. Now, once I've really determined the direction I'm going to take this video, I'm going to pick the title I want this video to have before I've even scripted it. I'm going to pick the creative direction for the thumbnail again before I've even written any content. Then I am going to script my videos.

I have a couple videos on my.

Channel here about scripting and I will link to them right up here. They'll be in the description box for you to watch as well. But the key to remember here in scripting is you've got to find what's best for you. I know I cannot script my videos word for word and do well. When I turn the camera on, I get too wrapped up. I get too perfection minded to say everything I wrote in that script word for word. It takes out my personality, it stresses me out, and it takes me a heck of a lot longer to film a video when I have everything written word for word. So just like with this video, I will literally show the script that I have on my screen right now for you to see. I have bullet points that I know that I want to hit and talk about so that my video has a direction. That's why I like to call this my video game plan instead of a script, because it gives me a game plan for this video so that I know I can sit down, bang out the content that I need to stay on task and not miss anything that I wanted to talk about the two things that I will script. But word for word is the hook of this video because I really want to grab you in. I've got two to five seconds for you to decide whether you're going to keep watching or not. So I do spend time really scripting word for word, the hook of my content and then the call to action. Because that part is just as important as the hook. Because after you've watched this video, I need you to do something. Whether that's watch more YouTube videos or get on my email list, sign up for my lead magnet, apply to work with me. Right? So those are the two pieces that I really, really switch script word for word. And then the rest of this is just bullet points. I'm also not memorizing this as well. I will look over at my script, be like, okay, Trina, you're getting a little bit long here. I know that I need to talk about this next thing yet. And so we got to wrap this up because we're getting a little wordy. So I'm literally looking over there. I will pause, come back here, deliver a couple lines, pause, look at my script again. And so again, this just gives me more freedom to be me and show my personality instead of getting wrapped up reading things word for word. I will tell you there are times where I'm repeating the script over and over again until I get it right. Then my wonderful video editor Annabelle is going to edit those out. She's probably going to pick the last take that I did because usually the last take is the best one and we're going to cut out all those other things. So don't think that I'm just sitting down here recording this. Bam perfectly. One take wonder not happening. It takes me about 20 to 30 minutes to film a 10 minute YouTube video. The last thing that I want to share about your script is also thinking about angles or shots for your video. Talking heads are super easy to do and I do them a lot. But one thing that I am challenging myself moving forward in the year to come is in my process, my making a YouTube video process is changing up the scene a little bit. Kind of like this video. You're going to see in the next scene how I do my hair and makeup. And you're also going to see a couple other scenes throughout this video as well as I try to change the viewing experience you have here on my channel. In fact, I literally just turned, turn my camera just slightly at the beginning of this step. So again, you got a different angle to keep you more engaged. So as you are planning out your script, you do want to think about maybe if it's not too much to do different angles or get different scenes to make your videos a little bit more engaging. Not needed in the beginning when you're making a YouTube video though. The more I've been doing YouTube videos, the less I actually put makeup on. When I first started out, I would literally put a full face of makeup on cake on there. And for the past year, I've really just been doing really minimal makeup. And so I'm gonna take the time now to do that. Probably takes me. I'll check the time, about 15 to 20 minutes and then I'm ready to roll. I've also in the past year got control of my rosacea. So I had really bad rosacea on my cheeks. Just the past year we've taken care of it. Gone the dermatologist. And I do feel a lot more confident with less makeup. So that probably has also helped. My thoughts towards makeup is that I feel like I look good enough. I'm not trying to, you know, come out here as a movie star or whatever. I'm just trying to look me and look half decent on camera. And now that rosacea issue resolved, I'm feeling like I don't have to put as much makeup on. In fact, when I first got started doing videos, my very first batch day, I took all of my makeup off for every single video and started fresh. You do not have to do that, do not think like, I gotta do a new look for every single video. No, just do your makeup once here in the morning or whenever you're on a film and batch them back to back with the makeup that you have. Seriously, nobody's going to notice if you have the same eyeshadow on or whatever you're doing differently, the same hairstyle. It's fine, just do it. Does anybody else make like total messes under their eyes with mascara or is that just me? But honestly, once I'm done cleaning up this mascara mess, that is it. That's all I do for makeup. It took me about 10 minutes. I started around 8:30. I think it's 8, 8:42. So 12 minutes. The next step is hair. And generally I would just go with my hair straight, but we're working on three day hair here. I haven't washed it in three days, so I'm going to use a curling wand to just, you know, give it a little bit of life, clean up this eye mess, and then we're going to go set up the equipment. Okay, so we're all done. Now. The hair does take probably just as much as the makeup. So all in all, it's 8:50 right now, about 20 minutes to do all of this. And ideally I would shoot anywhere between two to four videos with this hair and makeup. Today's a little bit different of a situation. I'm just trying to get one done to my video editor. But 20 minutes once a month, not too bad, Possibly doable. So the next step is to get my room ready. And ideally I like to have my equipment put away. I have a closet right here, but that normally doesn't happen. So I'm gonna run through all the equipment that I use and then how I set this up. But the first thing that I want to do before we continue this video is lay some blankets and pillows down. If you noticed in the last scene when I was in my bathroom, it was very echoey. And that's because we have tile floors in that bathroom. And in here we have something similar. There is a carpet, a rug back there. But by just throwing blankets and pillows is really going to help the audio in your video. So let me do that real quick so you can hear the difference. Also, you're getting a sneak peek into my life. I am not as organized here at home as I am in my business. And with my YouTube workflow. Okay, maybe you can tell the difference, but the audio sounds much better. I can even hear myself how better the audio is just by taking a extra comforter that we have, a fleece blanket and two pillows laying it on the floor. So that's something super easy that you can do when you're going to film just to make your audio quality sound better. Let's first start with the camera. What's really cool for this video? I'm shooting the entire thing on my cell phone to show you that it's totally possible. But my typical YouTube videos I shoot using this. This is my Canon M50 I believe. I'm terrible at remembering all this tech stuff, but I got this at the beginning of this year, so the beginning of 2021. And I did buy a lens. And this is the Sigma 16 millimeter lens. It's the lens that gives that background just a little bit of a blur. So this is what you see. Typical youtubers using this did come with a kit lens that is 2 totally usable. I just had some money to invest into equipment and I decided to go with this camera. Prior to that camera, other than using my cell phone like I am right now, I also use my Canon G7X. I love this guy. I still use him when I am in a pinch. This is a great camera. It has a flip up screen. The audio isn't the best so you would need an external mic to get the best audio. Same with the other white bigger camera. You do need an external mic to get better audio quality. But this, like I said, is a great camera. It's less money than the camera, but it's still a couple hundred dollars. Now let's talk about mics because audio is really going to allow the viewer to have a more pleasant experience on your video. So right now I am using a mic plugged into my phone from Lume Cube. So I'll link the kit that I'm actually using right now for Lume Cube. It comes with a tripod, it comes with a little light up top and also a microphone. That's the mic I'm using right now. I don't love it, but it's totally doable. For all my other YouTube videos I've used this blue Yeti microphone for years. I love this guy because not only is it great for YouTube videos, it's great for podcast episodes. Whether you have a podcast or you're being interviewed on a podcast. And it's great for voiceovers, it's great for course creation if you're creating courses. This has been through thick and thin. Unfortunately my child has decided to play with this little knob right here and it doesn't work as well. So we do have a new one on the way to the house being delivered. There is another mic that you will see right back here. Let me grab it. You'll see this guy, this microphone. I got that for podcasting. My podcast editor said to try this one out. I do like it. The problem is when I'm moving around with my YouTube videos like this, I don't really like the microphone in my frame, like in this box right here. Like, you can't see the microphone I'm using right now. So I don't love this guy with this arm because to get the best audio, it has to be really close to your mouth. So that's why I also bought another blue yeti so that I could make.

Sure that I have it out of.

My frame and still get good audio. And this guy is the Shure SM58. And then I got a microphone arm so I could literally move it back and around whenever I needed to. Okay, now let's talk about lights. Like I said, right now I'm just using this little square light. It's probably not the best lighting. In fact, if I turned a little bit this way, the lighting gets a lot better. Because guess what, there is a window on that side of this room. And so natural lighting is going to be the best lighting that you can have when you are deciding, deciding to film your YouTube videos. Now, the one thing is, we're doing this whole process of how to make a YouTube video. If it's cloudy out and you're depending on natural light, you can't really turn the clouds off. And so that's why it's important to have some type of artificial light to help you out during that time. So I would say the first investment that a lot of my clients in the agency use are umbrella lights. I've used umbrella lights. I don't have them anymore. They've been through a war zone moving from three, three houses. They just weren't that great of a quality when I bought them. So now what I have is a soft box light. You see that it is on a tripod as well. And there are. I can take this off and I can move you a little bit closer here. Inside of these softbox lights, this one particularly, I have four light bulbs. There is space for another light bulb.

So it can be very, very bright.

But the good thing about this, if I turn this around, there are switches right here. And so you can turn just one light bulb on, two light bulbs, all five light bulbs, if you want to give you that right amount of light so that you're not too bright, but you're not too dark. So I use this guy to shine behind me when I'm sitting at my desk to take away the shadows that fall on my wall. Okay. So for a typical YouTube video, I sit here at my desk. I'm touching my chair. You can't see. And so I will have my ring light directly on the other side of my computer. In fact, I will probably move my computer off to the side so that I have some more space on my desk. I'd like to have my desk space, but I also need to be able to see my script, which I have up on my computer right now. I'm going to put that ring light right in front of the desk, and I am going to make sure this is all set up so I can sit down and actually film the intro to this video. Okay. So we are still filming on my cell phone. You see the camera still back there, And I got my equipment set up, so I'm going to show you how I do this. I made sure my background was set up. I pulled out those cameras and the microphones. I wanted that to look good. I also have just some twinkle lights to give a little bit more dimension back there. That's going to bother me. I got to clean my plant food bottle out of the screen. This is all part of my process. When I'm getting ready to film, I'm looking in this little square to make sure everything looks all right. I don't have, like, a kid toy back there. I don't have that plant bottle down there. Back here, there's a little bit of shadow behind the plants. I have my softbox light pointed back towards an angle over these plants. And then I have my ring light right at me. And then I moved my computer. You can see back, but I've zoomed in on my script so that I can see it as I'm speaking right into my camera. So let me get back set up. All right, I've pulled the YouTube sign out a little bit. I've taken the plant food out of my frame. Now I am going to just sit down and start filming. Like I said, I generally like to shoot more than one video, but today we're just going to shoot one. So I sit down, I look at my script, and I'm literally going to shoot the hook in the intro for this video right now. In this video, I'm going to show you the entire process that I go through to make a YouTube video from start to finish.

Okay, we planned the video, we scripted out the content, we got the title, we got the thumbnail idea, we did hair and makeup, we set up all the equipment, we even shot the video. What's next after you film the video in this YouTube creation process? Real quick though, I want to share something with you. Yes, this process, there's a lot involved with it, right? But what happens is YouTube videos are basically like an investment into content.

So as opposed to like podcasts or.

Instagram or Facebook, YouTube videos actually live pretty long. I have videos from four years ago that still get views that still drive me leads that still grow my email list. Whereas podcasts and Instagram stories posts, reels, they don't have that kind of lifespan. So while you are putting more time into these videos, you're actually getting more bang for your buck because they live longer, they're searchable content.

You're going to show up in search.

When your audience needs you the most. We've gone over a lot, and there's still one last piece of this process that I want to share with you when it comes to making YouTube videos. But I want you to understand that I get this process is long, but it's worth it in the end, and I promise it gets easier. There's ways to systemize things, there's way to template things.

These are all things that I talk.

About in my program video strategy academy. But just, just hear me out on this. YouTube is worth it. Okay, so videos filmed, these are the extras that you need to think about before you wipe off all this makeup. You want to make sure you're getting thumbnail photos. It is very hard to grab a.

Screenshot from your video if you're not.

Actually posing for a thumbnail photo. So that's why I say it's really important to have that photo idea or that thumbnail idea before you turn the camera on so that you know you get it. And then make yourself a checklist or a reminder to get that thumbnail at the end of your video. Because I've forgotten quite a few times before. And all I literally do is turn my camera on self timer and do a couple of poses.

You could also do this while your.

Camera is running and then get screenshots.

So my camera can run and I.

Can can do this pose and then we would take a screenshot, or maybe I would do this pose and then we would take a screenshot. But you need to remember to get these thumbnails because thumbnails are so critical in getting your people to watch your videos. Totally Another video we can talk about on another day. You may also want to think about batching Instagram stories this day too. So something that I do is once I shoot the video, I get my thumbnail is I'll grab my phone and I will shoot about four to five Instagram stories promoting the content that I'm talking about. I will then just bank them in my back pocket so when this video goes live, I can just share them on Instagram so I don't need to worry if my hair and makeup is done or to put a filter on on Instagram. I have this already batched record recorded to use as promotional material when my YouTube video goes live. I'm thinking about doing an entire video on how to promote your YouTube videos or the YouTube video promotion process. If you would like to see that video, put promo video please in the comments so that I know to add that to my content calendar. Okay, now let's move into post production. We've cleaned our makeup off. We are in our jammies, you know, not camera ready. What else needs to be done? When I finish these videos, I upload.

Them to a Google Drive folder.

I have a video editor, so I.

Send them over to her in a Google Drive folder.

While those are uploading, I will then edit the thumbnail photo that I took. I have a Lightroom preset that I put on all my thumbnail photos so they all look consistent.

Now once we have those photos, we.

Also use an agency called Custom Thumbnails to help us create our thumbnail. So I will link to them below. But we've been using them for about a month now. We use them with our agency clients as well. And we've been working loving the thumbnails that we get from them. Also improves production, maybe the next step, and that's editing.

And listen, I don't edit anymore.

And this could be something that you look at. Outsourcing video editing can be expensive, but it can be worth your time. So if you think about if you're taking seven hours to edit a YouTube video, or even five hours, how much of that time is worth it?

Like if you were to charge yourself.

An hourly rate, how much would that cost you? And then look at what a video editor would cost, because it may be worth it for you to just outsource that. Otherwise, there are some ways to speed things up.

You can create templates like title screen.

Templates, name callout templates. These will allow you to speed up the editing process as well. And then I also recommend picking one editing app and just sticking with it, learning everything you can about it. If you're on a Mac, the two that I would recommend is Imovie, totally free, a great place to start and Final Cut Pro which will cost you I think US$300 if you are on a PC. Camtasia is great. Adobe Premiere Pro is a great option. It is a little bit harder to use and has a bigger learning curve. My video editor uses Premiere Pro, so just look at an editing software and then learn everything about it. All right, your video is edited. It's ready to go up to YouTube. There is an entire process for uploading YouTube videos. In fact, this is where I start.

My description box is already filled out. Not specifically for this video, but I do have description box defaults. So in these defaults I already have my lead magnet. I have some videos for them to watch. Next I have links to additional assets that I have available. If you have not done this, I'm going to blow your mind and show.

You how to add upload defaults.