How to Streamline Your Workflow as a YouTuber

It might be easy to start your YouTube channel but keeping it running smoothly can be a challenge.

You need to keep your audience engaged and growing through quality and flawless content.

Maintaining a thriving channel requires you to follow an effective and efficient process. 

Without a proper YouTube workflow, your channel might never meet your desired goals.

You need to follow a strategy and ensure you have every important tool in place.

Use productivity tools wherever applicable but also outsource when the need arises.

Here are tricks and ideas for streamlining your YouTube channel workflow.

Make sure you have all the essential equipment 

You may use almost any tool to record, edit, and add effects to your videos.

However, getting the right tools will make your videos better and attract more views.

You should focus on creating quality videos instead of quantity.

A report by ThriveHive shows poor quality videos receive poor engagement. 

Figure 1-source-techsmith

The report says when video quality falls, viewership drops by 77%.

The solution is to have all the necessary tools with you. Have items such as:

• Good quality camera
• Excellent lighting
• Right audio gadgets
• Powerful PC/laptop
• Quality editing and design software
• Plenty of storage 

A MacBook is among the top devices you might think about using for your YouTube workflow.

It is light to carry and gives you great speed.

Use the most recent version of macOS. It enhances the performance of your MacBook.

This article will assist you in resolving any issues you may be having with your most recent OS.

If you’re using your mobile phone to shoot your videos, it is worth your while to invest in a good quality camera.

Investing in a mirrorless camera will help you to improve your video quality.

It shoots like a DSLR but it has a small body and is lighter.

DSLRs are a good choice if you want excellent results.

They are pricey but they adapt well in low-light situations and offer great video recording quality.

Lighting equipment can make all the difference if you shoot indoors, in dim light, or even just want to set the right mood.

Softboxes can decrease the intensity of direct, hard light.

Ring lights are a good choice for beauty vloggers as they light up a face and eliminate shadows.

On-camera lights help for recording certain types of videos, such as people in dimly-lit locations. 

Microphones built into laptops or cameras tend to offer poor audio quality.

USB microphones are a much better option.

They are versatile, affordable, easy to use, and offer good sound quality. 

Video editing software can help you to produce professional quality videos.

It is important to choose software that’s easy to use and offers a wide range of editing features.

Make sure to check out our article on the best video editing software before picking one.

Keep effects to a minimum

Your YouTube videos’ aesthetic appeal and impact are enhanced with effects and modifications. You could wish to add the following effects:

• Grading
• Color 
• Balance 
• Saturation 
• Video graphics

Effects help you to create a theme, style, or mood for your videos.

When selecting effects you need to consider factors like tone, mood, balance, and purpose.

You should apply the appropriate effects to each individual video you make in order to wow your viewers.

For example, a sepia filter evokes a nostalgic mood whereas a black and white filter has a dramatic impact.

Some of the effects that you add can be detrimental to the content you produce and when it is excessive, it lowers the caliber and effectiveness of your work.

They will make your videos look confusing and cluttered.

They might overwhelm your audience and make them stop viewing your content. Use them sparingly to avoid distracting your audience.  

Saturation refers to the richness or intensity of the colors.

Different scenes in a video may require different levels of saturation.

You can experiment to improve how you use color saturation to convey emotions.  

It’s important to think about the relevance of the video graphics you use and their style and placement.

Using graphics can help to clarify your message if you use them appropriately.

Animating graphics and using too many of them can be a distraction. 

Use productivity apps 

Every YouTuber desires to stay productive.

Unfortunately, you could be losing 40 hours weekly due to distractions, lack of focus, and procrastination.

Statistics by Apollo Technical show you can take up to 23 minutes to get back on track once you get distracted.

The report further says an average person is productive for 60% of their time daily. 

Productivity apps such as automatic time tracking apps can help you keep track of your time.

Productivity apps help improve work quality and enhance collaboration and communication.

They help you to track your performance with ease and improve your data security.

Apps like Evernote, Notion, Trello, and Habitica hold great importance in helping you meet your plans.

They streamline your YouTube creator journey by making things organized and goal-focused.

When your workspace is digitally organized it has the following benefits:

• Workflow efficiency
• More productivity
• Better teamwork 
• Simpler asset management
• Consistent brand image and style 

Using productivity apps will help you to stay organized.

You can keep track of all your assets such as photos, video footage, graphics, and audio files.

This will enable you to do more work in less time because it’s easy to find what you need.  

If you collaborate with others, you can easily exchange files, work together on scripts, etc. when using productivity apps. 

Using productivity apps will also help you to make sure your brand image and style are consistent across all your videos.

You can keep brand guidelines in a central location that’s easy to access.

Your audience is more likely to remember your logo and brand colors if they see them consistently in all your videos.   

Figure 2-source-Statista

Create a document for your tags, links, and descriptions

You will often have repetitive elements you use in your videos, such as tags, affiliate links, and descriptions.

It can waste time if you have to type these out over and over.

Creating a document for elements you use regularly, means you can easily copy and paste them.

This will save you time and you can spend more productively. 

The way your audience perceives your content determines whether they will view it or not.

You need to help them create a positive perception.

There are many ways to attract them such as to add tags and descriptions to your YouTube content.

When posting on other channels, links help your viewers connect to your channel with ease. 

Tags are most important when you are posting your content on social media for site traffic.

As you upload more videos, you could lose track especially when you want to measure success.

On your computer, prepare a folder where you can store your tags, links, and descriptions.

It helps you to keep track of your videos and the texts you added to each.

Video chapter is another new thing that YouTubers use effectively to boost their audience retention.

Easily scannable content to help viewers reach a certain part of the video that they are actually looking for engages them more.

They are bound to look through the chapters and find more content to view instead of just forwarding the video to what they initially intended to watch.

Write the chapters carefully and make them attractive for the viewers to click.

People generally think that YouTube is only about video content.

That’s a wrong notion as written content plays a big role on YouTube, as is evident from this part of content creation.

Strong writing and creating well-organized documents a key aspects of YouTube success.

If you are not good at writing – either chapters or the script – outsource it.

Write a script for your video before recording it

A great YouTube video starts with an idea which is then turned into a script.

Your script is more than the words it contains. It bears the personality of your brand and attracts the attention of your target audience.

A script helps you develop the theme or many concepts of your video. 

It gives you a clear idea of what you will say when shooting your video.

It offers you direction and the roles your characters will play. Have your scripts ready before shooting and you shall get benefits such as:

• Save your video shooting time
• Have a visual idea on paper before actual filming
• Attract audience attention on the spot
• Save money
• Tell your story effortlessly

You don’t have to write an extensive script or follow it too closely as this can make your video feel robotic and unnatural.

Your script should be loose enough so that it allows you to ad-lib.  It should rather be more of an outline with a beginning, middle, and ending. 

The beginning should contain a brief, engaging ‘hook’ to make viewers want to keep watching.

The middle will contain useful information. At the end, you should add a clear call to action.

This may be in the form of asking for comments, shares, or even asking viewers to sign up for your newsletter.

Your script basically gives you a structure rather than just filming without having any idea about what you are going to say. 

When you write your script, it helps to keep your audience front and center.

If you research their daily challenges, interests, etc. you can craft a video that offers them value.

Knowing your ‘voice’ and using it when writing a script is what viewers will respond to and identify with.    

How can you make a script more engaging? You don’t want to bore your viewers.

Short sentences, using an active voice, and writing in a conversational style are essential.

Keeping it simple and easy to understand is best.

Outsource video editing

You need a lot of time and resources to manage your video editing software and hardware.

When you outsource an editing team, it makes the process cost-effective.

It is also costly to have a full-time editor working with you. 

Outsourcing video editing allows you to hire someone only when you need them.

It saves you the challenges of having a full-time worker.

Trying to do everything on your own is not the smartest thing you would want to do.

There are a lot of platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and People Per Hour where you connect with highly skilled YouTube editors.

You must also focus on using the best editing tools for videos. Adobe Creative Cloud, Filmora, Blender, and Lightworks are some of the well-known that YouTubers use to take their editing to the next level.

Since quality is paramount when making videos, you should go for the premium versions where you get a host of features to make your videos engaging.

If you decide to outsource your video editing you will enjoy these benefits.

• Save time
• Increase output
• Get a professional result 
• Reduce costs
• Easier to scale

It often takes more time to edit a video than it does to shoot one.

Outsourcing your video editing gives you more time to focus on planning and shooting content.

You can keep up with industry trends and shoot videos you know your audience will appreciate.  

Outsourcing also means that the editing process is likely to go much quicker than when you do it yourself.

This means you can step up video production and increase your output. 

Video editing pros usually have plenty of knowledge and experience in their chosen field.

This means the results of their efforts are usually impressive.

They can quickly choose the right transitions, add the right effects, trim clips, etc. 

When you do the video editing yourself, you need high-end software, hardware, storage space, and screen space.

This can cost plenty of money.

When you outsource video editing you have to pay for this but it is likely to be more cost-effective over the long term. 

When you outsource you don’t pay for what you don’t need.

You can outsource the number of videos you need for the size of your channel or to fit your productivity levels.

Outsource other aspects of your business which you do not enjoy and which take a lot of time

There are many other services that you can outsource in your YouTube workflow.

For instance, you may outsource work to a  social media manager for your social media posts and marketing.

It allows you to tap skills within your workflow and use them for your benefit.

Like editors, there are many other functions from script writing to cross-posting YouTube content on other platforms like Instagram and TikTok for which you need helping hands. 

Trying to do everything on your own will exhaust you and will slowly dilute the content quality.

So wherever possible, hire specialists who know YouTube jobs at a pro level.

In the long run, it will save you more time and money. And of course, the results will be superior to what they would be when you work alone. 

Figure 3-source-lagrasigns

Consider sourcing some of the important services such as:

• Marketing
• Customer service
• Sales
• Accounting
• Technical support

Succeeding on YouTube requires more than just creating and posting videos.

Marketing is essential to promote your video content.

YouTube makes it simple to promote videos across other social networks or on a website.

Email marketing and content marketing can help with promoting your videos. 

Customer service is another important aspect of running a YouTube channel that can take up time.

It will help to know that if you outsource this your customers won’t have to wait for answers to questions, replies to comments, etc. 

You may have no problem creating videos but sales may not be in your wheelhouse.

Outsourcing sales means you can rely on the expertise of others to help you make a profit.

For example, a sales team may run competitions to increase sales. 

To run a financially successful YouTube channel, accounting is something you are likely to have to outsource.

It can be difficult to keep track of your income and expenses but it’s an accountant’s job. 

You may not be tech-savvy enough to sort out the technical issues you come across when running a YouTube channel.

There are many individuals with the technical expertise you need who can assist you.

It can lift a weight off your mind to know you don’t have to be an expert in this area. 

Conclusion

A smooth YouTube video workflow prevents burnout and increases productivity.

Plan your content well and buy the right equipment for video shooting, editing, and enhancement.

Always create your scripts before filming starts.

Practice using productivity tools to boost your workflow and video goal success.

Another way to increase your productivity is to outsource your video editing and other areas such as marketing or sales.

This not only helps to save time but you can benefit from the expertise of others in areas where you may lack.

Outsourcing your video editing is probably likely to offer you the most time and energy savings.