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Every hour of every day, more than six years’ worth of content is uploaded to YouTube. No one can watch it all, so how do you create content that stands out among the zillions of uploads on the world’s second largest search engine?
Danilo Acquisto (26), the CEO of Special Effects Media SA – the first commercial multichannel network in the country – can help you with that.
“The million-dollar question is how to get noticed on YouTube. Because there’s so much stuff on the channel, creators of content have to think strategically about what they upload,” he says.
To get started, you have to create a Google account that is linked to YouTube, then decorate your page with a header, an avatar (the icon or figure representing you) and a thumbnail description.
“The most important thing to remember when you create content for YouTube is that it has to be authentic,” says Acquisto.
- Your video must contain good quality content;
- It has to be different and stand out;
- It has to be something true to you;
- Don’t forget your metadata – think about what people will search for. If you do a roast chicken cooking video, make sure your title says something like “the best roast chicken recipe”; and
- Your content must be consistent.
Content is king
If your content is good, unique and interesting, people will share it and you will build a fan base.
Acquisto says there are three steps to take to get your work noticed on YouTube:
1. Gain an audience. Use other social-media sites to direct viewers to your content.
2. Keep your audience. Post regularly and always have good quality work.
3. Turn your viewers into fans – they will share your content.
What works best on YouTube?
- Authenticity; don’t try to be something you’re not;
- How-to content such as make-up tutorials, cooking and DIY;
- Unique content such as vloggers and their lifestyles;
- Trendy, fun topics such as the recent cinnamon challenge;
- Games;
- Exclusive news stories from around the world; and
- Music – even unknown artists can get a foothold and be noticed if their music is authentic. Acoustic performances work really well.
Videos
Acquisto says many of the best YouTubers started out with content filmed on their cellphones.
“It’s the best way to start your YouTube career. There is no need to spend money on expensive equipment – all you need is a mini tripod, or simply prop up your camera against some books.
“Check your framing and start filming. Using a cellphone is a very good way to start – some of the most successful clients started off with their cellphones and an idea,” he says.
Can I make money on YouTube?
YouTube is the only video platform that allows you to monetise your work. However, in South Africa, there are about 8 million viewers, so you need a really large audience here to turn it into a sustainable business.
If you produce content with a global appeal, YouTube will take notice and start placing advertisements with your content.
“One viewer on YouTube is worth 1 000 on television because they have actively chosen to watch that particular content, so it’s a good idea to partner with brands. Resonate with your audience in terms of your content, and the brands will come to you. It’s the way to make the most money,” Acquisto says.
For more, email info@daniloacquisto.com
The limitless influence of social media
Selfies
It was the selfie that broke the internet – Ellen DeGeneres and a host of Hollywood celebrities made history at the 2014 Academy Awards.
As Bradley Cooper held the phone, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o and others pressed their faces together and mugged. But it was what DeGeneres did next that turned a bit of Hollywood levity into a transformational image.
After Cooper took the picture, DeGeneres immediately posted it on Twitter, where it was retweeted more than 3 million times.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term ‘selfie’ – taking a self-portrait with a cellphone and posting it online – was first used in 2002.
The SMS of the internet
Twitter was created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams. In 2012, more than 100 million users posted 340 million tweets a day, and the service handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries a day. In 2013, it was one of the 10 most visited websites. By last year, Twitter had more than 319 million monthly active users. On the day of the US presidential election last year, Twitter proved to be the largest source of breaking news, with 40 million election-related tweets sent by 10pm on November 8.
Of course, celebrities rule the Twitterverse, and four of the top five most followed Twitter users are musicians.
Katy Perry (@katyperry) is number one with 106 million followers. Next up is Justin Bieber (@justinbieber) with 103 million followers. Former US president Barack Obama (@BarackObama) has 97 million followers, and he is followed by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) with 85 million followers.
YouTube
Who hasn’t spent 10 wasted minutes watching a make-up tutorial, cat videos or an epic fail compilation on YouTube, the video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California?
By February, more than 400 hours of content was uploaded to YouTube each minute, and 1 billion hours of content was watched on YouTube every day. By August, the website was ranked as the second most popular site in the world by Alexa Internet, a web traffic analysis company.
South African Caspar Lee started his self-titled YouTube channel in 2011, and it has more than 7 million subscribers and more than 800 million video views. With different games, challenges and celebrity guests, Lee’s channels and content set him up as Africa’s king of YouTube.
Another local, Sibu Mpanza, uses YouTube to talk about the issues affecting his generation. He speaks boldly on topics including rape culture and black representation without mincing his words, though he maintains an open-minded approach. He was named the runner up for the top YouTube channel in Africa by the African Blogger Awards last year.
If you have a huawei cellphone, here are some top tips to get the best out of your phone:
How to protect and prolong your battery
Huawei’s custom user interface has many useful tricks to optimise battery performance, and one of these is the power-saving mode, which will extend battery life without any dramatic effect to usage. To activate, simply slide down from the top of the screen, select settings, select battery and activate power-saving mode.
In extreme cases when you really need to preserve that last bit of juice to get you through the night, you can enable ultra power-saving, which is activated by selecting the option below power-saving mode. This setting will keep only the most basic functions active, such as dialer, messaging and contacts, which should make your battery life last three to four times longer.
The Huawei Supercharge is a fast-charging system designed to ensure you get the most power in the shortest space of time.
This low-voltage (4.5v) high current (5A) system will give you quick boosts or a full day’s usage in just 30 minutes of charge.
Optimising your data
As part of battery optimisation, the Huawei devices allow you to turn off background apps, which includes apps that are consuming data when you’re not using them.
The Mate 10 series takes this a step further by processing generally cloud-based applications and artificial intelligence functions on the device by eliminating the need for a data connection for those specific scenarios, thereby reducing data usage.
How to save the stuff on your phone
Many Huawei mid- and high-end devices support USB on the go. This means it’s a simple process of plugging in a compatible flash drive and copying the data across.
Backups can also be saved to a cloud drive such as Google drive or dropbox, and Huawei also has its own cloud service. Under settings, simply set up an account on Huawei ID and set your device to synchronise with Huawei cloud, which will keep your content backed up at all times.
Protect your phone
Huawei engineers its phones with premium materials of the highest quality, such as Gorilla glass and metal bodies for durability.
However, as with any electronic device, especially those with glass components, special care should be taken to protect them. Screen protectors and protective covers are highly recommended.
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