Now Youtube, Now Youdon’t

It’s hard to travel through the extensive land of Youtube without running across 2.5 tons of DIY projects that the average schlub films in his backyard. The viewer gets to watch the maker goof a few times here and there before finally turning out a project that almost looks decent. Rarely are there videos for the DIYourselfer that show how to build a new deck correctly or replace a toilet without having to reset the wax ring fifty times.

For you, the professional, this is an opportunity for advertisement. By creating a collection of DIY videos, you can make your brand a common name for anyone looking to research home improvement as well as creating additional side income for yourself. If this foray into film making interests you, here are a few Do’s and Don’ts that will make your videos stand out.

Do’s-

• Intro and Outro- Make sure that your company name is clear at the beginning and end of the video. Whether you introduce yourself and your company verbally or in graphics, be certain that it your viewer knows who they are watching. It needs to be clean and professional.
• Keep It Short- Studies are increasingly proving that people want to watch short, sweet videos. 3-5 minutes tends to be the most popular average time. Anything over 10-15 minutes will get clicked away from unless it’s really interesting.
• Break Up the Project- Due to necessarily short video times, you will need to break the project up into several videos. Fortunately, this means that your video library will be larger and lead to more clicks for your channel.
• Provide Professional Tips- One of the biggest reasons that people will come back to your videos is that you are a professional. They want to know tips that will make the job easier for them and give the final product a professional look. You can provide these little tricks and let them look better in front of their friends when they show it off.
• Show the Finished Project First- At the beginning of each video, as you are introducing yourself, show a picture or three of the final project so that your viewer can be motivated to keep going.

Don’ts-

• Ditch the Jokes- Average Joe is watching your videos because you are a professional. Keep it that way. There are already jokesters out there intentionally bungling the project for the giggle factor. Be informative and straightforward so Joe can learn the right way to do this.
• Over-demonstrating- The DIYourselfer wants to know the steps quickly so that he can get to work. By demonstrating each step 3-4 times and then moving on to the next step, you’ll keep his attention. Nothing bores a video viewer faster than ten minutes of watching someone smoothing concrete for ten minutes.
• Over-complicate the Concept- When describing a tip or technique, keep the reason for it simple. Don’t spend the entire video explaining why you are doing something a certain way unless you are sure that the project will be ruined otherwise.
• Forgetting to Advertise- Don’t forget to advertise your business at the end of each video. A short 5-10 second plug that describes what your company specializes in and where you are located along with contact information. Remember to also ask the viewer to “Like” the video and subscribe to your channel. The more subscribers you have, the more likely advertisers are to want to help you make more videos. This usually means cash.

Making Youtube videos isn’t for everyone. Some people don’t want to get in front of the camera, others have larger demands on their time. However, Youtube has provided many companies with free side advertising when clips of their videos show up in others. By making professional DIY videos, you provide a service for someone who is going to build it anyway and when they have finished, they will tell their friends where to get the info for themselves which makes you look even better and gets your name out worldwide.