Creating Your Videos

We’ve gathered great input from dozens of interviews with
YouTube pioneers, and by the time you reach Chapter 5, you’ll be
leagues ahead of newcomers starting out on their own. If you feel
intimidated by the task, we’re here to tell you to take a deep breath
and relax. Yes, many of the people we’ve spoken with came to
YouTube with video production backgrounds, but most did not.
You don’t have to be a Hollywood producer to create a compelling
YouTube video. As a matter of fact, many experts feel the “amateur”
approach is actually more appealing to the YouTube audience than
the fully polished and professional look. You’ll have to decide for
yourself which of these makes sense in your case, but whether you
want to do it yourself or enlist a professional, you’ll make that decision
based on a solid background and knowledge about both
approaches.

Video editing software has grown to be simpler and less expensive.
Many fully functional programs are actually free. So, once
you’ve captured your video images, you’ll be able to edit the final
product yourself. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t yet know how
to do that. Instead, remember our homemakers-turned-YouTubechefs.
They didn’t know anything about editing video when they
first began either. But, that didn’t stop them from figuring it out.
You have the added advantage of the expertise they—and many
others—have been willing to share with us. So, you are actually
starting out near the front of the line.
Perhaps the easiest part of this whole process is uploading your
videos to YouTube—the actual transfer of your video file to the site.