:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-112299678-929bfe9560664c1b9e7d8a6111e3d3dc.jpg)
"Making Yields with Content The Creator's Money Map"
Making Yields with Content: The Creator’s Money Map
How To Make Money on YouTube
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Not many YouTubers begin making videos with the aim to get rich. For most, it’s a way to scratch a creative itch, to enjoy being in front of an audience and as an outlet for their talents and opinions. However, the potential to make money on YouTube is huge, and eventually any busy channel is going to start asking itself, how do YouTubers make money?
This subject is less about ‘if’ you can make money and more about how to make money on YouTube. It’s been proven time and again that the potential is there, with popular stars like Lily Singh and Roman Atwood generating around $8 million a year. And, of course, everyone’s heard of PewDiePie and his whopping $15 million income.
You don’t need to have a following of millions to earn money on YouTube though; even small channels have a variety of methods available to them to start making their hard work pay. If you’d like to learn how to make money on YouTube, we’re going to look at eight ways of generating an income via your videos. Let’s get started.
How to make money on YouTube
We’ve discovered that making money on YouTube can be split into two main categories; making money through advertising or making money without ads involved. We’ve split our article into these two categories to make it easier for you to see what your options are.
Make money on YouTube with ads
By far the easiest way to start earning money on YouTube is to monetize your channel using ads. Until relatively recently, anyone could enable monetization on their YouTube channel and start earning for every watch of their video. But that all changed in January this year, when Google announced they would be raising the standards required to have ads shown on your channel.
Now, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which means you need to have met certain minimum criteria before you can start benefitting from ads. These include:
- Having 4,000 or more watch hours
- Securing 1,000 or more subscribers in the last 12 months
This means that, before you can even consider being a part of the YPP, you’ll need to knuckle down and grow your subscribers. There’s lots of helpful tips out there on increasing subscriber numbers, but it all boils down to creating excellent content. As they say, ‘if you build it, they will come’, so work on creating new and exciting content for your channel to get where you need to be.
Should you join YouTube partner or not?
Meeting the minimum requirements of the YPP is crucial to starting to host ads, but even when you’ve hit the 1k subscribers and 4k hours viewed, should you be monetizing your channel right away? Put it this way; in order to make any money from ads, you’re going to need a lot of views and loyal subscribers, which means your focus needs to be firmly on creating content rather than complying with advertising rules.
Sometimes it’s actually better to hold off for a while when you’re early on in your YouTube journey. This will mean that, rather than being distracted by the question of how to earn money from YouTube, your energy is targeted at what matters most, which is building up a library of awesome videos instead.
How to Join the YouTube Partner Platform?
1. Go to your Account Settings and, under Channel, select Status and features.
2. Click on Enable next to Monetization.
3. In the next screen, click the blue Enable my Account button.
4. The YouTube Partner Program Terms will pop up. Compared to a lot of the “Terms” you are asked to read and agree to when signing up for things online the Partner Terms are fairly short and readable.
5. After reading the terms there are three boxes you will need to check to proceed. The first is to confirm that you read the Terms. The second box is a promise not to click on the ads in your own videos to try to create profits artificially.
The third box requires you to promise not monetize content that you do not own. The most extreme version of this would be stealing somebody else’s video and trying to monetize it on your channel. However, using a song or sound effect in your video you do not have the rights to also counts. There are a lot of places you can get free music to use in your monetized videos, and YouTube’s own Audio Library is one of them.
6. After you have checked all the boxes and moved on you will see a pop up explaining how to monetize your individual videos.
Your channel is now monetized, but you will not be able to earn money until you have linked your channel to your AdSense account.
7. There will be a reminder to link your channel and your AdSense account in the next screen. Click on the Link my account button. Or, go to Google.com/adsense and click Sign Up Now. Either method will take you to the Welcome to AdSense page.
8. Click Sign In to sign in to your Google account, which is the same as your YouTube account.
9. After you have signed in it will show you your channel url next to My website and give you a chance to change your language. Click Continue.
10. The last step is to fill out all your contact information before you submit your application. Your approval should come within two days.
11. Go to your Video Manager and check the boxes next to all the videos you want to enable ads for.
12. Click on Actions and then select Monetize.
13. In the window that pops up you will be given a chance to choose what kinds of ads you want to allow in your videos. You must also specify here if you have included paid product placement in your video.
14. Wait for the review process to finish and ads to start appearing in your videos. If you are using any licensed, royalty free, content (like a music track) then YouTube may ask you to prove you have the rights to it.
How much you can get from Ads
The ad revenue generated on YouTube is split between Google and you. You’ll get 55 per cent and Google / YouTube will take the remaining 45 per cent. This means that, if an advertiser spends $200 on your channel, you could be earning $110 directly. You’ll earn both for ‘impressions’, which is the number of views the ad received, and ‘click throughs’, which is when someone clicks on the ad for more information.
Be aware that, in order to get paid, your audience will need to have viewed at least 30 seconds of the ad, or to have clicked through to the advertiser. As a rule, around 15 per cent of viewers will convert into ad revenue, so you can start to calculate just how much your video could be worth.
To give you an example, if you enjoy daily video views in the region of 3,000 views per day and achieve click through / view rates of the average 15 per cent, you’d be earning $0.85 - $1.40 per day or $25 - $43 a month for that one video. If you could increase your views to 5,000 per day, your monthly earnings would rise to $41 - $70 per month.
When working out how to make money on YouTube, keep in mind that every single video has the potential to earn you money. Although one video might only make a dollar a day, imagine when you’ve got 10 videos performing to the same standard, or 100. As you build up your library of content, you have the potential to earn exponentially more as time goes on.
Want to know how much you can get from Ads? Check this YouTube Money Calculator
How to optimize your video to attract advertisers
There is, understandably, a good deal of competition for hosting advertisements on YouTube. In order to get more and better brands advertising in your space, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done all that you can to make your channel attractive to them.
- Target a specific demographic
Your advertisers want to place their products in front of a very specific audience, so the more embedded in your niche your videos are, the more likely you are to attract investment. If you try to be all things to all people, advertisers are going to see that you’re a risky prospect and will move on to a channel that’s more targeted.
To check demographics, YouTube has everything already there for you. In the YouTube Studio, you’ll find the exact demographics of your audience profile, including age, country of origin and gender. You can see how appealing your videos are to the people you are targeting by checking the spread of representation here.
- Pay attention to your video metadata
YouTube metadata is an often-overlooked element of content that is actually incredibly important, both for advertising revenue and for views in general. What we mean when we talk about metadata is your tags, title and description of your video, all of which should make use of high traffic keywords that you’ve researched as being relevant.
YouTube’s own keyword suggestion tool can be a great place to start finding those golden keywords that will get you noticed. Advertisers often use your metadata to locate videos that their customers are watching, so SEO is crucial here. Not only that, but when viewers are looking for new videos to watch, the SEO of your metadata will define where in the search results you fall, so putting some time and energy into this can get you more views too.
- Avoid dodgy video content
There are some types of content which are just not a good idea for YouTube. In fact, the platform could exclude you from advertising altogether if your content is found to contain any of the following:
- Sexually suggestive content: This includes making jokes based around sexual topics, as well as partial nudity of anyone in the video.
- Violence: This ranges from topics of extremism to videos of people sustaining serious injuries, as well as threats and suggestions of violence.
- Inappropriate language: Even the most popular YouTubers have started bleeping out their profanities, so avoid vulgar language or anything that could be construed as being threatening.
- Drugs: Promotion of the use, sale or abuse of drugs and other controlled substances is forbidden.
- Sensitive subjects: This includes references to wars, race crimes, natural disasters, political conflicts, even if you don’t show images of the situation itself.
When you’re considering how do YouTubers make money, you should recognize that those who make the most money avoid creating content that breaches any of these rules. YouTube does notify you if it feels your video is in breach of ‘advertiser friendly’ policies, and you’ll have the chance to contest the ban, but if you steer clear of dodgy content in the first place you shouldn’t run into any issues.
Make money on YouTube without ads
Of course, life is not all about ads, and with YouTube continuing to tighten its criteria around advertising it can be a good idea not to have all your eggs in one basket. Add to this the huge viewership you’re going to need in order to make serious money, it’s worth investigating other methods of making money on YouTube. Here are some of the best ideas.
- Work with brands
Influencer marketing is big business right now, and brands all over the world are investing in individuals who have secured the loyalty and trust of their target demographic. Sponsored videos might feature product placement, promoting a product from your sponsor, or you may be asked to produce a particular piece of content to support their campaign. Check out influencer marketplaces like Famebit, Grapevine Logic and Crowdtap to see what’s available to you. If you want to make work with brands, you can check out InflueNex , a powerful influencer marketing platform, which will help you to build good relationship with brands.
- Selling products or merchandise
Selling ‘merch’ is a great way to discover how to earn money from YouTube. T-shirts, tote bags, mugs, hats…whatever fits with you and your brand can become an amazing source of revenue for your business. Not only does this increase your exposure as a brand by putting it out there into the non-YouTube world, it also gives your fans a way to literally buy into what you’re doing.
- Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be hard work or complicated. Registering with big sales platforms such as Amazon is often as simple as filling out a couple of forms. Once registered, you can use your own special links to hook your viewers up with a product that you would recommend, and you’ll get a proportion of the final sale value. It’s not only Amazon who offer affiliate programs; most major brands will offer some kind of sales commission, so if you’re in a niche that calls for specialist products to promote, do contact brands directly to find out what they can offer.
- Crowdfund
If you’ve got an amazingly creative idea but lack of funds is stopping you from putting it into action, crowdfunding could be the way to go. Crowdfunded projects can use the money they make to buy better production equipment, hire people to work on the project, pay for props, anything really. A good way to get started with crowdfunding a particular idea is to create a ‘trailer’ or sneak peek that gives people a better idea of what you want to do. Make sure it gets them so excited that they can’t help but donate to your cause!
- Renting out your video
You have the ability to rent out individual videos for cold, hard cash, just like a pay per view service. The options for this are in the Creator Studio, where you can set the amount you want to rent it out for as well as creating an enticing trailer to encourage people to buy. Choose to either sell your video permanently, letting the person view it whenever they like, or rent for a limited time, usually 24 to 72 hours.
- License your content to the media
If you’re lucky enough to make a video that goes viral, you can make serious bucks by licensing it to the wider media. From online news sites to TV shows, there are loads of other content creators out there willing to pay good money to use your amazing clip, and may will reach out to you directly with offers. You can also proactively offer your content for sale via sites like Juken Media, where others can find it and purchase it directly.
Now you know how to earn money from YouTube, what are you going to try? Let us know how you get on and which ways make money for you!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Not many YouTubers begin making videos with the aim to get rich. For most, it’s a way to scratch a creative itch, to enjoy being in front of an audience and as an outlet for their talents and opinions. However, the potential to make money on YouTube is huge, and eventually any busy channel is going to start asking itself, how do YouTubers make money?
This subject is less about ‘if’ you can make money and more about how to make money on YouTube. It’s been proven time and again that the potential is there, with popular stars like Lily Singh and Roman Atwood generating around $8 million a year. And, of course, everyone’s heard of PewDiePie and his whopping $15 million income.
You don’t need to have a following of millions to earn money on YouTube though; even small channels have a variety of methods available to them to start making their hard work pay. If you’d like to learn how to make money on YouTube, we’re going to look at eight ways of generating an income via your videos. Let’s get started.
How to make money on YouTube
We’ve discovered that making money on YouTube can be split into two main categories; making money through advertising or making money without ads involved. We’ve split our article into these two categories to make it easier for you to see what your options are.
Make money on YouTube with ads
By far the easiest way to start earning money on YouTube is to monetize your channel using ads. Until relatively recently, anyone could enable monetization on their YouTube channel and start earning for every watch of their video. But that all changed in January this year, when Google announced they would be raising the standards required to have ads shown on your channel.
Now, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which means you need to have met certain minimum criteria before you can start benefitting from ads. These include:
- Having 4,000 or more watch hours
- Securing 1,000 or more subscribers in the last 12 months
This means that, before you can even consider being a part of the YPP, you’ll need to knuckle down and grow your subscribers. There’s lots of helpful tips out there on increasing subscriber numbers, but it all boils down to creating excellent content. As they say, ‘if you build it, they will come’, so work on creating new and exciting content for your channel to get where you need to be.
Should you join YouTube partner or not?
Meeting the minimum requirements of the YPP is crucial to starting to host ads, but even when you’ve hit the 1k subscribers and 4k hours viewed, should you be monetizing your channel right away? Put it this way; in order to make any money from ads, you’re going to need a lot of views and loyal subscribers, which means your focus needs to be firmly on creating content rather than complying with advertising rules.
Sometimes it’s actually better to hold off for a while when you’re early on in your YouTube journey. This will mean that, rather than being distracted by the question of how to earn money from YouTube, your energy is targeted at what matters most, which is building up a library of awesome videos instead.
How to Join the YouTube Partner Platform?
1. Go to your Account Settings and, under Channel, select Status and features.
2. Click on Enable next to Monetization.
3. In the next screen, click the blue Enable my Account button.
4. The YouTube Partner Program Terms will pop up. Compared to a lot of the “Terms” you are asked to read and agree to when signing up for things online the Partner Terms are fairly short and readable.
5. After reading the terms there are three boxes you will need to check to proceed. The first is to confirm that you read the Terms. The second box is a promise not to click on the ads in your own videos to try to create profits artificially.
The third box requires you to promise not monetize content that you do not own. The most extreme version of this would be stealing somebody else’s video and trying to monetize it on your channel. However, using a song or sound effect in your video you do not have the rights to also counts. There are a lot of places you can get free music to use in your monetized videos, and YouTube’s own Audio Library is one of them.
6. After you have checked all the boxes and moved on you will see a pop up explaining how to monetize your individual videos.
Your channel is now monetized, but you will not be able to earn money until you have linked your channel to your AdSense account.
7. There will be a reminder to link your channel and your AdSense account in the next screen. Click on the Link my account button. Or, go to Google.com/adsense and click Sign Up Now. Either method will take you to the Welcome to AdSense page.
8. Click Sign In to sign in to your Google account, which is the same as your YouTube account.
9. After you have signed in it will show you your channel url next to My website and give you a chance to change your language. Click Continue.
10. The last step is to fill out all your contact information before you submit your application. Your approval should come within two days.
11. Go to your Video Manager and check the boxes next to all the videos you want to enable ads for.
12. Click on Actions and then select Monetize.
13. In the window that pops up you will be given a chance to choose what kinds of ads you want to allow in your videos. You must also specify here if you have included paid product placement in your video.
14. Wait for the review process to finish and ads to start appearing in your videos. If you are using any licensed, royalty free, content (like a music track) then YouTube may ask you to prove you have the rights to it.
How much you can get from Ads
The ad revenue generated on YouTube is split between Google and you. You’ll get 55 per cent and Google / YouTube will take the remaining 45 per cent. This means that, if an advertiser spends $200 on your channel, you could be earning $110 directly. You’ll earn both for ‘impressions’, which is the number of views the ad received, and ‘click throughs’, which is when someone clicks on the ad for more information.
Be aware that, in order to get paid, your audience will need to have viewed at least 30 seconds of the ad, or to have clicked through to the advertiser. As a rule, around 15 per cent of viewers will convert into ad revenue, so you can start to calculate just how much your video could be worth.
To give you an example, if you enjoy daily video views in the region of 3,000 views per day and achieve click through / view rates of the average 15 per cent, you’d be earning $0.85 - $1.40 per day or $25 - $43 a month for that one video. If you could increase your views to 5,000 per day, your monthly earnings would rise to $41 - $70 per month.
When working out how to make money on YouTube, keep in mind that every single video has the potential to earn you money. Although one video might only make a dollar a day, imagine when you’ve got 10 videos performing to the same standard, or 100. As you build up your library of content, you have the potential to earn exponentially more as time goes on.
Want to know how much you can get from Ads? Check this YouTube Money Calculator
How to optimize your video to attract advertisers
There is, understandably, a good deal of competition for hosting advertisements on YouTube. In order to get more and better brands advertising in your space, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done all that you can to make your channel attractive to them.
- Target a specific demographic
Your advertisers want to place their products in front of a very specific audience, so the more embedded in your niche your videos are, the more likely you are to attract investment. If you try to be all things to all people, advertisers are going to see that you’re a risky prospect and will move on to a channel that’s more targeted.
To check demographics, YouTube has everything already there for you. In the YouTube Studio, you’ll find the exact demographics of your audience profile, including age, country of origin and gender. You can see how appealing your videos are to the people you are targeting by checking the spread of representation here.
- Pay attention to your video metadata
YouTube metadata is an often-overlooked element of content that is actually incredibly important, both for advertising revenue and for views in general. What we mean when we talk about metadata is your tags, title and description of your video, all of which should make use of high traffic keywords that you’ve researched as being relevant.
YouTube’s own keyword suggestion tool can be a great place to start finding those golden keywords that will get you noticed. Advertisers often use your metadata to locate videos that their customers are watching, so SEO is crucial here. Not only that, but when viewers are looking for new videos to watch, the SEO of your metadata will define where in the search results you fall, so putting some time and energy into this can get you more views too.
- Avoid dodgy video content
There are some types of content which are just not a good idea for YouTube. In fact, the platform could exclude you from advertising altogether if your content is found to contain any of the following:
- Sexually suggestive content: This includes making jokes based around sexual topics, as well as partial nudity of anyone in the video.
- Violence: This ranges from topics of extremism to videos of people sustaining serious injuries, as well as threats and suggestions of violence.
- Inappropriate language: Even the most popular YouTubers have started bleeping out their profanities, so avoid vulgar language or anything that could be construed as being threatening.
- Drugs: Promotion of the use, sale or abuse of drugs and other controlled substances is forbidden.
- Sensitive subjects: This includes references to wars, race crimes, natural disasters, political conflicts, even if you don’t show images of the situation itself.
When you’re considering how do YouTubers make money, you should recognize that those who make the most money avoid creating content that breaches any of these rules. YouTube does notify you if it feels your video is in breach of ‘advertiser friendly’ policies, and you’ll have the chance to contest the ban, but if you steer clear of dodgy content in the first place you shouldn’t run into any issues.
Make money on YouTube without ads
Of course, life is not all about ads, and with YouTube continuing to tighten its criteria around advertising it can be a good idea not to have all your eggs in one basket. Add to this the huge viewership you’re going to need in order to make serious money, it’s worth investigating other methods of making money on YouTube. Here are some of the best ideas.
- Work with brands
Influencer marketing is big business right now, and brands all over the world are investing in individuals who have secured the loyalty and trust of their target demographic. Sponsored videos might feature product placement, promoting a product from your sponsor, or you may be asked to produce a particular piece of content to support their campaign. Check out influencer marketplaces like Famebit, Grapevine Logic and Crowdtap to see what’s available to you. If you want to make work with brands, you can check out InflueNex , a powerful influencer marketing platform, which will help you to build good relationship with brands.
- Selling products or merchandise
Selling ‘merch’ is a great way to discover how to earn money from YouTube. T-shirts, tote bags, mugs, hats…whatever fits with you and your brand can become an amazing source of revenue for your business. Not only does this increase your exposure as a brand by putting it out there into the non-YouTube world, it also gives your fans a way to literally buy into what you’re doing.
- Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be hard work or complicated. Registering with big sales platforms such as Amazon is often as simple as filling out a couple of forms. Once registered, you can use your own special links to hook your viewers up with a product that you would recommend, and you’ll get a proportion of the final sale value. It’s not only Amazon who offer affiliate programs; most major brands will offer some kind of sales commission, so if you’re in a niche that calls for specialist products to promote, do contact brands directly to find out what they can offer.
- Crowdfund
If you’ve got an amazingly creative idea but lack of funds is stopping you from putting it into action, crowdfunding could be the way to go. Crowdfunded projects can use the money they make to buy better production equipment, hire people to work on the project, pay for props, anything really. A good way to get started with crowdfunding a particular idea is to create a ‘trailer’ or sneak peek that gives people a better idea of what you want to do. Make sure it gets them so excited that they can’t help but donate to your cause!
- Renting out your video
You have the ability to rent out individual videos for cold, hard cash, just like a pay per view service. The options for this are in the Creator Studio, where you can set the amount you want to rent it out for as well as creating an enticing trailer to encourage people to buy. Choose to either sell your video permanently, letting the person view it whenever they like, or rent for a limited time, usually 24 to 72 hours.
- License your content to the media
If you’re lucky enough to make a video that goes viral, you can make serious bucks by licensing it to the wider media. From online news sites to TV shows, there are loads of other content creators out there willing to pay good money to use your amazing clip, and may will reach out to you directly with offers. You can also proactively offer your content for sale via sites like Juken Media, where others can find it and purchase it directly.
Now you know how to earn money from YouTube, what are you going to try? Let us know how you get on and which ways make money for you!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Not many YouTubers begin making videos with the aim to get rich. For most, it’s a way to scratch a creative itch, to enjoy being in front of an audience and as an outlet for their talents and opinions. However, the potential to make money on YouTube is huge, and eventually any busy channel is going to start asking itself, how do YouTubers make money?
This subject is less about ‘if’ you can make money and more about how to make money on YouTube. It’s been proven time and again that the potential is there, with popular stars like Lily Singh and Roman Atwood generating around $8 million a year. And, of course, everyone’s heard of PewDiePie and his whopping $15 million income.
You don’t need to have a following of millions to earn money on YouTube though; even small channels have a variety of methods available to them to start making their hard work pay. If you’d like to learn how to make money on YouTube, we’re going to look at eight ways of generating an income via your videos. Let’s get started.
How to make money on YouTube
We’ve discovered that making money on YouTube can be split into two main categories; making money through advertising or making money without ads involved. We’ve split our article into these two categories to make it easier for you to see what your options are.
Make money on YouTube with ads
By far the easiest way to start earning money on YouTube is to monetize your channel using ads. Until relatively recently, anyone could enable monetization on their YouTube channel and start earning for every watch of their video. But that all changed in January this year, when Google announced they would be raising the standards required to have ads shown on your channel.
Now, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which means you need to have met certain minimum criteria before you can start benefitting from ads. These include:
- Having 4,000 or more watch hours
- Securing 1,000 or more subscribers in the last 12 months
This means that, before you can even consider being a part of the YPP, you’ll need to knuckle down and grow your subscribers. There’s lots of helpful tips out there on increasing subscriber numbers, but it all boils down to creating excellent content. As they say, ‘if you build it, they will come’, so work on creating new and exciting content for your channel to get where you need to be.
Should you join YouTube partner or not?
Meeting the minimum requirements of the YPP is crucial to starting to host ads, but even when you’ve hit the 1k subscribers and 4k hours viewed, should you be monetizing your channel right away? Put it this way; in order to make any money from ads, you’re going to need a lot of views and loyal subscribers, which means your focus needs to be firmly on creating content rather than complying with advertising rules.
Sometimes it’s actually better to hold off for a while when you’re early on in your YouTube journey. This will mean that, rather than being distracted by the question of how to earn money from YouTube, your energy is targeted at what matters most, which is building up a library of awesome videos instead.
How to Join the YouTube Partner Platform?
1. Go to your Account Settings and, under Channel, select Status and features.
2. Click on Enable next to Monetization.
3. In the next screen, click the blue Enable my Account button.
4. The YouTube Partner Program Terms will pop up. Compared to a lot of the “Terms” you are asked to read and agree to when signing up for things online the Partner Terms are fairly short and readable.
5. After reading the terms there are three boxes you will need to check to proceed. The first is to confirm that you read the Terms. The second box is a promise not to click on the ads in your own videos to try to create profits artificially.
The third box requires you to promise not monetize content that you do not own. The most extreme version of this would be stealing somebody else’s video and trying to monetize it on your channel. However, using a song or sound effect in your video you do not have the rights to also counts. There are a lot of places you can get free music to use in your monetized videos, and YouTube’s own Audio Library is one of them.
6. After you have checked all the boxes and moved on you will see a pop up explaining how to monetize your individual videos.
Your channel is now monetized, but you will not be able to earn money until you have linked your channel to your AdSense account.
7. There will be a reminder to link your channel and your AdSense account in the next screen. Click on the Link my account button. Or, go to Google.com/adsense and click Sign Up Now. Either method will take you to the Welcome to AdSense page.
8. Click Sign In to sign in to your Google account, which is the same as your YouTube account.
9. After you have signed in it will show you your channel url next to My website and give you a chance to change your language. Click Continue.
10. The last step is to fill out all your contact information before you submit your application. Your approval should come within two days.
11. Go to your Video Manager and check the boxes next to all the videos you want to enable ads for.
12. Click on Actions and then select Monetize.
13. In the window that pops up you will be given a chance to choose what kinds of ads you want to allow in your videos. You must also specify here if you have included paid product placement in your video.
14. Wait for the review process to finish and ads to start appearing in your videos. If you are using any licensed, royalty free, content (like a music track) then YouTube may ask you to prove you have the rights to it.
How much you can get from Ads
The ad revenue generated on YouTube is split between Google and you. You’ll get 55 per cent and Google / YouTube will take the remaining 45 per cent. This means that, if an advertiser spends $200 on your channel, you could be earning $110 directly. You’ll earn both for ‘impressions’, which is the number of views the ad received, and ‘click throughs’, which is when someone clicks on the ad for more information.
Be aware that, in order to get paid, your audience will need to have viewed at least 30 seconds of the ad, or to have clicked through to the advertiser. As a rule, around 15 per cent of viewers will convert into ad revenue, so you can start to calculate just how much your video could be worth.
To give you an example, if you enjoy daily video views in the region of 3,000 views per day and achieve click through / view rates of the average 15 per cent, you’d be earning $0.85 - $1.40 per day or $25 - $43 a month for that one video. If you could increase your views to 5,000 per day, your monthly earnings would rise to $41 - $70 per month.
When working out how to make money on YouTube, keep in mind that every single video has the potential to earn you money. Although one video might only make a dollar a day, imagine when you’ve got 10 videos performing to the same standard, or 100. As you build up your library of content, you have the potential to earn exponentially more as time goes on.
Want to know how much you can get from Ads? Check this YouTube Money Calculator
How to optimize your video to attract advertisers
There is, understandably, a good deal of competition for hosting advertisements on YouTube. In order to get more and better brands advertising in your space, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done all that you can to make your channel attractive to them.
- Target a specific demographic
Your advertisers want to place their products in front of a very specific audience, so the more embedded in your niche your videos are, the more likely you are to attract investment. If you try to be all things to all people, advertisers are going to see that you’re a risky prospect and will move on to a channel that’s more targeted.
To check demographics, YouTube has everything already there for you. In the YouTube Studio, you’ll find the exact demographics of your audience profile, including age, country of origin and gender. You can see how appealing your videos are to the people you are targeting by checking the spread of representation here.
- Pay attention to your video metadata
YouTube metadata is an often-overlooked element of content that is actually incredibly important, both for advertising revenue and for views in general. What we mean when we talk about metadata is your tags, title and description of your video, all of which should make use of high traffic keywords that you’ve researched as being relevant.
YouTube’s own keyword suggestion tool can be a great place to start finding those golden keywords that will get you noticed. Advertisers often use your metadata to locate videos that their customers are watching, so SEO is crucial here. Not only that, but when viewers are looking for new videos to watch, the SEO of your metadata will define where in the search results you fall, so putting some time and energy into this can get you more views too.
- Avoid dodgy video content
There are some types of content which are just not a good idea for YouTube. In fact, the platform could exclude you from advertising altogether if your content is found to contain any of the following:
- Sexually suggestive content: This includes making jokes based around sexual topics, as well as partial nudity of anyone in the video.
- Violence: This ranges from topics of extremism to videos of people sustaining serious injuries, as well as threats and suggestions of violence.
- Inappropriate language: Even the most popular YouTubers have started bleeping out their profanities, so avoid vulgar language or anything that could be construed as being threatening.
- Drugs: Promotion of the use, sale or abuse of drugs and other controlled substances is forbidden.
- Sensitive subjects: This includes references to wars, race crimes, natural disasters, political conflicts, even if you don’t show images of the situation itself.
When you’re considering how do YouTubers make money, you should recognize that those who make the most money avoid creating content that breaches any of these rules. YouTube does notify you if it feels your video is in breach of ‘advertiser friendly’ policies, and you’ll have the chance to contest the ban, but if you steer clear of dodgy content in the first place you shouldn’t run into any issues.
Make money on YouTube without ads
Of course, life is not all about ads, and with YouTube continuing to tighten its criteria around advertising it can be a good idea not to have all your eggs in one basket. Add to this the huge viewership you’re going to need in order to make serious money, it’s worth investigating other methods of making money on YouTube. Here are some of the best ideas.
- Work with brands
Influencer marketing is big business right now, and brands all over the world are investing in individuals who have secured the loyalty and trust of their target demographic. Sponsored videos might feature product placement, promoting a product from your sponsor, or you may be asked to produce a particular piece of content to support their campaign. Check out influencer marketplaces like Famebit, Grapevine Logic and Crowdtap to see what’s available to you. If you want to make work with brands, you can check out InflueNex , a powerful influencer marketing platform, which will help you to build good relationship with brands.
- Selling products or merchandise
Selling ‘merch’ is a great way to discover how to earn money from YouTube. T-shirts, tote bags, mugs, hats…whatever fits with you and your brand can become an amazing source of revenue for your business. Not only does this increase your exposure as a brand by putting it out there into the non-YouTube world, it also gives your fans a way to literally buy into what you’re doing.
- Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be hard work or complicated. Registering with big sales platforms such as Amazon is often as simple as filling out a couple of forms. Once registered, you can use your own special links to hook your viewers up with a product that you would recommend, and you’ll get a proportion of the final sale value. It’s not only Amazon who offer affiliate programs; most major brands will offer some kind of sales commission, so if you’re in a niche that calls for specialist products to promote, do contact brands directly to find out what they can offer.
- Crowdfund
If you’ve got an amazingly creative idea but lack of funds is stopping you from putting it into action, crowdfunding could be the way to go. Crowdfunded projects can use the money they make to buy better production equipment, hire people to work on the project, pay for props, anything really. A good way to get started with crowdfunding a particular idea is to create a ‘trailer’ or sneak peek that gives people a better idea of what you want to do. Make sure it gets them so excited that they can’t help but donate to your cause!
- Renting out your video
You have the ability to rent out individual videos for cold, hard cash, just like a pay per view service. The options for this are in the Creator Studio, where you can set the amount you want to rent it out for as well as creating an enticing trailer to encourage people to buy. Choose to either sell your video permanently, letting the person view it whenever they like, or rent for a limited time, usually 24 to 72 hours.
- License your content to the media
If you’re lucky enough to make a video that goes viral, you can make serious bucks by licensing it to the wider media. From online news sites to TV shows, there are loads of other content creators out there willing to pay good money to use your amazing clip, and may will reach out to you directly with offers. You can also proactively offer your content for sale via sites like Juken Media, where others can find it and purchase it directly.
Now you know how to earn money from YouTube, what are you going to try? Let us know how you get on and which ways make money for you!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions
Not many YouTubers begin making videos with the aim to get rich. For most, it’s a way to scratch a creative itch, to enjoy being in front of an audience and as an outlet for their talents and opinions. However, the potential to make money on YouTube is huge, and eventually any busy channel is going to start asking itself, how do YouTubers make money?
This subject is less about ‘if’ you can make money and more about how to make money on YouTube. It’s been proven time and again that the potential is there, with popular stars like Lily Singh and Roman Atwood generating around $8 million a year. And, of course, everyone’s heard of PewDiePie and his whopping $15 million income.
You don’t need to have a following of millions to earn money on YouTube though; even small channels have a variety of methods available to them to start making their hard work pay. If you’d like to learn how to make money on YouTube, we’re going to look at eight ways of generating an income via your videos. Let’s get started.
How to make money on YouTube
We’ve discovered that making money on YouTube can be split into two main categories; making money through advertising or making money without ads involved. We’ve split our article into these two categories to make it easier for you to see what your options are.
Make money on YouTube with ads
By far the easiest way to start earning money on YouTube is to monetize your channel using ads. Until relatively recently, anyone could enable monetization on their YouTube channel and start earning for every watch of their video. But that all changed in January this year, when Google announced they would be raising the standards required to have ads shown on your channel.
Now, you need to be part of the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), which means you need to have met certain minimum criteria before you can start benefitting from ads. These include:
- Having 4,000 or more watch hours
- Securing 1,000 or more subscribers in the last 12 months
This means that, before you can even consider being a part of the YPP, you’ll need to knuckle down and grow your subscribers. There’s lots of helpful tips out there on increasing subscriber numbers, but it all boils down to creating excellent content. As they say, ‘if you build it, they will come’, so work on creating new and exciting content for your channel to get where you need to be.
Should you join YouTube partner or not?
Meeting the minimum requirements of the YPP is crucial to starting to host ads, but even when you’ve hit the 1k subscribers and 4k hours viewed, should you be monetizing your channel right away? Put it this way; in order to make any money from ads, you’re going to need a lot of views and loyal subscribers, which means your focus needs to be firmly on creating content rather than complying with advertising rules.
Sometimes it’s actually better to hold off for a while when you’re early on in your YouTube journey. This will mean that, rather than being distracted by the question of how to earn money from YouTube, your energy is targeted at what matters most, which is building up a library of awesome videos instead.
How to Join the YouTube Partner Platform?
1. Go to your Account Settings and, under Channel, select Status and features.
2. Click on Enable next to Monetization.
3. In the next screen, click the blue Enable my Account button.
4. The YouTube Partner Program Terms will pop up. Compared to a lot of the “Terms” you are asked to read and agree to when signing up for things online the Partner Terms are fairly short and readable.
5. After reading the terms there are three boxes you will need to check to proceed. The first is to confirm that you read the Terms. The second box is a promise not to click on the ads in your own videos to try to create profits artificially.
The third box requires you to promise not monetize content that you do not own. The most extreme version of this would be stealing somebody else’s video and trying to monetize it on your channel. However, using a song or sound effect in your video you do not have the rights to also counts. There are a lot of places you can get free music to use in your monetized videos, and YouTube’s own Audio Library is one of them.
6. After you have checked all the boxes and moved on you will see a pop up explaining how to monetize your individual videos.
Your channel is now monetized, but you will not be able to earn money until you have linked your channel to your AdSense account.
7. There will be a reminder to link your channel and your AdSense account in the next screen. Click on the Link my account button. Or, go to Google.com/adsense and click Sign Up Now. Either method will take you to the Welcome to AdSense page.
8. Click Sign In to sign in to your Google account, which is the same as your YouTube account.
9. After you have signed in it will show you your channel url next to My website and give you a chance to change your language. Click Continue.
10. The last step is to fill out all your contact information before you submit your application. Your approval should come within two days.
11. Go to your Video Manager and check the boxes next to all the videos you want to enable ads for.
12. Click on Actions and then select Monetize.
13. In the window that pops up you will be given a chance to choose what kinds of ads you want to allow in your videos. You must also specify here if you have included paid product placement in your video.
14. Wait for the review process to finish and ads to start appearing in your videos. If you are using any licensed, royalty free, content (like a music track) then YouTube may ask you to prove you have the rights to it.
How much you can get from Ads
The ad revenue generated on YouTube is split between Google and you. You’ll get 55 per cent and Google / YouTube will take the remaining 45 per cent. This means that, if an advertiser spends $200 on your channel, you could be earning $110 directly. You’ll earn both for ‘impressions’, which is the number of views the ad received, and ‘click throughs’, which is when someone clicks on the ad for more information.
Be aware that, in order to get paid, your audience will need to have viewed at least 30 seconds of the ad, or to have clicked through to the advertiser. As a rule, around 15 per cent of viewers will convert into ad revenue, so you can start to calculate just how much your video could be worth.
To give you an example, if you enjoy daily video views in the region of 3,000 views per day and achieve click through / view rates of the average 15 per cent, you’d be earning $0.85 - $1.40 per day or $25 - $43 a month for that one video. If you could increase your views to 5,000 per day, your monthly earnings would rise to $41 - $70 per month.
When working out how to make money on YouTube, keep in mind that every single video has the potential to earn you money. Although one video might only make a dollar a day, imagine when you’ve got 10 videos performing to the same standard, or 100. As you build up your library of content, you have the potential to earn exponentially more as time goes on.
Want to know how much you can get from Ads? Check this YouTube Money Calculator
How to optimize your video to attract advertisers
There is, understandably, a good deal of competition for hosting advertisements on YouTube. In order to get more and better brands advertising in your space, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done all that you can to make your channel attractive to them.
- Target a specific demographic
Your advertisers want to place their products in front of a very specific audience, so the more embedded in your niche your videos are, the more likely you are to attract investment. If you try to be all things to all people, advertisers are going to see that you’re a risky prospect and will move on to a channel that’s more targeted.
To check demographics, YouTube has everything already there for you. In the YouTube Studio, you’ll find the exact demographics of your audience profile, including age, country of origin and gender. You can see how appealing your videos are to the people you are targeting by checking the spread of representation here.
- Pay attention to your video metadata
YouTube metadata is an often-overlooked element of content that is actually incredibly important, both for advertising revenue and for views in general. What we mean when we talk about metadata is your tags, title and description of your video, all of which should make use of high traffic keywords that you’ve researched as being relevant.
YouTube’s own keyword suggestion tool can be a great place to start finding those golden keywords that will get you noticed. Advertisers often use your metadata to locate videos that their customers are watching, so SEO is crucial here. Not only that, but when viewers are looking for new videos to watch, the SEO of your metadata will define where in the search results you fall, so putting some time and energy into this can get you more views too.
- Avoid dodgy video content
There are some types of content which are just not a good idea for YouTube. In fact, the platform could exclude you from advertising altogether if your content is found to contain any of the following:
- Sexually suggestive content: This includes making jokes based around sexual topics, as well as partial nudity of anyone in the video.
- Violence: This ranges from topics of extremism to videos of people sustaining serious injuries, as well as threats and suggestions of violence.
- Inappropriate language: Even the most popular YouTubers have started bleeping out their profanities, so avoid vulgar language or anything that could be construed as being threatening.
- Drugs: Promotion of the use, sale or abuse of drugs and other controlled substances is forbidden.
- Sensitive subjects: This includes references to wars, race crimes, natural disasters, political conflicts, even if you don’t show images of the situation itself.
When you’re considering how do YouTubers make money, you should recognize that those who make the most money avoid creating content that breaches any of these rules. YouTube does notify you if it feels your video is in breach of ‘advertiser friendly’ policies, and you’ll have the chance to contest the ban, but if you steer clear of dodgy content in the first place you shouldn’t run into any issues.
Make money on YouTube without ads
Of course, life is not all about ads, and with YouTube continuing to tighten its criteria around advertising it can be a good idea not to have all your eggs in one basket. Add to this the huge viewership you’re going to need in order to make serious money, it’s worth investigating other methods of making money on YouTube. Here are some of the best ideas.
- Work with brands
Influencer marketing is big business right now, and brands all over the world are investing in individuals who have secured the loyalty and trust of their target demographic. Sponsored videos might feature product placement, promoting a product from your sponsor, or you may be asked to produce a particular piece of content to support their campaign. Check out influencer marketplaces like Famebit, Grapevine Logic and Crowdtap to see what’s available to you. If you want to make work with brands, you can check out InflueNex , a powerful influencer marketing platform, which will help you to build good relationship with brands.
- Selling products or merchandise
Selling ‘merch’ is a great way to discover how to earn money from YouTube. T-shirts, tote bags, mugs, hats…whatever fits with you and your brand can become an amazing source of revenue for your business. Not only does this increase your exposure as a brand by putting it out there into the non-YouTube world, it also gives your fans a way to literally buy into what you’re doing.
- Affiliate marketing
Affiliate marketing doesn’t have to be hard work or complicated. Registering with big sales platforms such as Amazon is often as simple as filling out a couple of forms. Once registered, you can use your own special links to hook your viewers up with a product that you would recommend, and you’ll get a proportion of the final sale value. It’s not only Amazon who offer affiliate programs; most major brands will offer some kind of sales commission, so if you’re in a niche that calls for specialist products to promote, do contact brands directly to find out what they can offer.
- Crowdfund
If you’ve got an amazingly creative idea but lack of funds is stopping you from putting it into action, crowdfunding could be the way to go. Crowdfunded projects can use the money they make to buy better production equipment, hire people to work on the project, pay for props, anything really. A good way to get started with crowdfunding a particular idea is to create a ‘trailer’ or sneak peek that gives people a better idea of what you want to do. Make sure it gets them so excited that they can’t help but donate to your cause!
- Renting out your video
You have the ability to rent out individual videos for cold, hard cash, just like a pay per view service. The options for this are in the Creator Studio, where you can set the amount you want to rent it out for as well as creating an enticing trailer to encourage people to buy. Choose to either sell your video permanently, letting the person view it whenever they like, or rent for a limited time, usually 24 to 72 hours.
- License your content to the media
If you’re lucky enough to make a video that goes viral, you can make serious bucks by licensing it to the wider media. From online news sites to TV shows, there are loads of other content creators out there willing to pay good money to use your amazing clip, and may will reach out to you directly with offers. You can also proactively offer your content for sale via sites like Juken Media, where others can find it and purchase it directly.
Now you know how to earn money from YouTube, what are you going to try? Let us know how you get on and which ways make money for you!
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
The Road Less Filmed: Journeying Into the Heart of Travel Vlogging
How To Become A Travel Vlogger | The Ultimate Guide of Travel Vlogging
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Want to become a travel vlogger?
Traveling around the world is one of life’s most exciting experiences – just ask anyone who has caught the travel bug. It is no wonder that travel videos are a big hit on YouTube. Any viewer can be instantly transported to another part of the world, all from the comfort of their seat.
With all the high-quality cameras and video editing software that are much more accessible to the general public now than even a few years ago, it has never been a better time to make a travel vlog.
Below, I have prepared a comprehensive guide on how to become a travel vlogger.
Create Your Travel Vlog with Wondershare FilmoraX
Wondershare FilmoraX is a video editing application that offers a lot of editing features that can be used both by a beginner and professionals alike. You can easily cut, split and trim your video, and apply transitions, filters, and texts, etc. to your travel vlog. What’s more, its advanced color grading settings and audio keyframing will add a unique flavor to your travel vlog. Just get started and make your video go viral!
PART 1: TRAVEL VLOGGING EQUIPMENT
In order to make travel videos, you’re going to need camera equipment. Below, I’ve prepared a comprehensive list of cameras and accessories that would be good for travel vlogging.
Filmstock Stock Media Library ](https://filmstock.wondershare.com/creative-theme-tourism?spm=rs.filmora%5Fweb&source%5Fchannel=seo%5Farticle )
1.1 Travel Vlogging Cameras
How To Choose A Vlogging Camera
When it comes to travel vlogging, you should look for a camera that ideally has the following eleven qualities:
- It has a fully articulated screen (flip screen)
- It has good continual autofocus while recording video
- It has good focus priority through face recognition
- It has touched to focus
- It has good low-light performance
- It has an external mic jack and a hot/cold shoe bracket
- It has optical image stabilization
- It is lightweight and portable
- It has a good battery life
- It is durable and weather-sealed
- It has hyper-lapse/timelapse/slow-motion shooting modes
For more information on why a lot of these features are ideal to have in a vlogging camera, check out my post on the Top 15 Best Cameras for Vlogging 2020 .
Cameras That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Considering my list on what to look for in a travel vlogging camera, I’ve prepared a table below of thirteen cameras I’d recommend for travel vlogging:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 |  |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumixDC-GH5S |  |
January2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$$ |
| GoProHero6 Black |  |
September2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 |  |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS6D Mark II |  |
June2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 |  |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i |  |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM6 |  |
February2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | Yes | $ |
| SonyCyber-Shot DSCRX 100 V |  |
October2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCG85 |  |
September2016 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCLX10 |  |
September2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS80D |  |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonPowerShotG7 X Mark II |  |
February2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
Lenses That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Every travel vlogger should have a wide-angle lens. Wide-angle lenses fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, making it ideal for capturing establishing shots. You’ll also need a wide-angle lens if you plan on holding your camera out in front of yourself with an extended arm to get selfie footage.
As a travel vlogger, you’ll also want to show some close-up shots of the various subjects in your scene. If you don’t mind walking up to these subjects, the lens I recommend for this is a standard lens.
If, however, you want to be able to shoot these close-up shots from a farther distance, you’ll need a telephoto lens.
But you probably don’t want to carry and switch so many lenses as you travel, right? A convenient solution is to get a zoom lens that covers a wide range of focal lengths. For example, travel vlogger Sam Kolder shoots with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens – that’s a wide-angle lens, standard lens, and telephoto lens all in one lens!
If most of your travel video shooting will be done handheld, you should also definitely look for a lens equipped with optical image stabilization.
Check out my Best Camera Lens for YouTube to gain a more in-depth understanding of lenses and how they work.
1.2 Travel Vlogging Accessories
Camera Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
 |
1. Tripod Record stabilized shots and timelapse footage with a tripod. |
|---|---|
 |
2. GorillaPod SLR-Zoom with Ballhead Wrap your camera around structures that your regular tripod can’t stay on. You can also hold out your camera further away from you using the GorillaPod as a selfie stick to fit in more of your background into your selfie shot. |
 |
3. Stabilizing Gimbal Get super-smooth shots with a stabilizing gimbal. |
 |
4. On-Camera LED Light Is there not enough light? Add an LED light to your camera’s hot/cold shoe. |
 |
5. Neutral Density (ND) Filters Is it too bright outside to have your aperture wide open but you still want to get that cinematic look ? You can add ND filters to your lenses so that you can do just that in very bright conditions. |
 |
6. Camera Cleaning Kit While traveling, you can get all kinds of unwanted substances on your lens and in your camera like dust, dirt, fingerprints, raindrops, snow, and sand, to name a few. If you bring along a portable camera cleaning kit with you on your travels, you can remove those things immediately so that your shots won’t be affected. |
 |
7. Drone When it comes to travel vlogging, wide shots that establish the scene and setting are important. Drones are great for taking these kinds of wide shots from high places that you would not be able to get to by foot. |
Smartphone Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Using your smartphone as a travel vlogging device is a great idea! Your smartphone is a light and portable piece of equipment that you likely have with you at all times. Upgrade your smartphone travel vlogging setup with any of these 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers:
- RAVPower Portable Charger
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- Mega Tiny Anti-Gravity Case
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- Rode VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
- Zhiyun Smooth-Q 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphones
Read more about each one of these items in my post The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphones for Travel Vlogging
 |
 |
 |
 |
|---|
These four shotgun microphones can mount directly onto your camera’s hot/cold shoe:
- Rode VideoMic Go
- Shure VP83
- Rode VideoMic Pro+
- Sennheiser MKE 440
Read more about each one of them in our post about The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2020 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Other Useful Travel Vlogging Accessories
- Camera backpack
- Extra batteries
- Memory cards
- External hard drive
- Power plugs and cables
- USB card reader
- Universal plug
- D-ring clips (to prevent your equipment from slipping out of your grasp)
- Smartphone SD card tray key (if you’re storing your recorded footage in your SD card)
PART 2: TRAVEL VLOGGING IDEAS
If you’re needing some travel video ideas either to get you started or to bring some fresh content into your channel, here are ten travel video ideas that you can try.
1. Travel Vlog
Travel vlogging, the kind where you film yourself just going about your day in a different part of the world, is a great way to not only document your travel moments and memories for yourself, but also a great way to share your experience with others.
Rather than being too picky with your video shots and possibly ending up with a lack of footage to work with, shoot as much as you can.
Try to capture your thoughts and feelings around the things you taste, smell, see and hear. Sharing these details can help your viewers feel more like they’re with you on your travels.
2. Tips or Tricks for Traveling
Although learning from mistakes during your travels can be a rewarding experience, most people want to avoid them and, rather, enjoy their trip as much as they possibly can. After all, travel, for most people, happens in intervals that seem too short. You can help this sizable group by offering travel tips and tricks.
Prepare a list of tips and tricks, a shot list of all the footage you’ll need to go along with those tips, and then capture all your footage. As you go through your list, you can then cut away to your associated travel shots.
3. Video Tour of a Location
Many people are curious about different parts of the world and would love to join a tour without the high cost of flights, hotels, meals, and admission tickets. Give them that experience by making a video tour.
4. Review An Attraction or Experience
A lot of travelers having a limited amount of time and money to enjoy their chosen travel destinations want to know which attractions and experiences to prioritize and which ones to skip. Help them make their decision by making a video review.
5. Timelapse Videos
All you need in addition to your camera is a tripod to get started with making timelapse videos. Your tripod stabilizes your shot as your camera captures all the changes that take place in a given location.
When your footage is sped up, your viewers can appreciate all the changes that take place that they may not have had the patience to sit through in real-time. It’s also interesting to observe the passage of time in a different way.
6. Average Daily Cost
Before going on a trip, many people try to make a budget and figure out how much money to exchange into foreign currency. Making a good budget and getting just enough foreign cash, though, requires you to know how much, on average, things cost.
Make a helpful video on the average cost of daily expenses including meals and transportation like Paolo did in the above video “Average Daily Cost in Tokyo Japan | Is it Expensive?.” His video actually helped me a lot when I was trying to come up with a budget for my recent trip to Japan.
7. Interview Locals
People don’t travel only to see popular attractions. A lot of people travel to connect with and understand people from different parts of the world.
Interviewing locals and sharing their thoughts can help to provide that kind of connection.
8. What’s in My Backpack?
Packing for a trip can say a lot about who you are as a person because it involves prioritizing items based on your personal values.
For your next trip, share a little part of yourself with your audience through a video about the things you’ve packed in your bag.
9. Talk About Your Own Home City
When you’ve lived in your own home city for so long, you might forget that people all over the world may marvel at the things you take for granted because all those things just happen to be at your doorstep.
Take advantage of the expert that you already are in your own home city and make an informative video for others who are taking a trip there.
10. How To Become a Travel Vlogger
After you’ve done a lot of travel vlogging and learned so much along the way, you can make a video about how to be a travel vlogger.
In the above video, Andrew Santos teaches how to make a travel video, all while hilariously poking fun at many of the cliché trends in the travel genre.
PART 3: TRAVEL VIDEO EDITING
Video Editing Software
When it comes to editing your travel video together, there are different kinds of software you can do that with.
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each software in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube – Top 8 Reviews . | Wondershare Filmora X (Windows, Mac) - start at $49.99 for one year license and Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
Travel-Themed Video Effects
If you use Filmora Video Editor, you can also take advantage of a variety of travel-themed video effects packs, like the one shown in the above video, filled with titles, transitions, filters, overlays, and other visual elements.
For my recent trip to Japan, I actually used Filmora Effects’ Japanese set.
At the 2:10 mark of the above video, I used an overlay of falling cherry blossom leaves. At the 3:03 mark of the same video, I used an anime-themed overlay.
At the 2:48 mark of the above video, I used a shoji door transition.
Music Libraries
Music is an important component of a lot of travel videos. Here’s where you can get them:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
PART 4: TRAVEL VLOGGING TIPS
Vlog/Life Balance
- Give yourself more time at each location if you want to have a good balance between getting the shots you need and enjoying your present moment.
Theft Prevention
- Carry a backpack that doesn’t have zippers on the outside that thieves can easily get to.
- If you’re shooting with a flashy smartphone, make it look less appealing to thieves with a grotesque smartphone case, like an Otterbox.
- In locations with high crime, pre-plan the shots you want to capture and take your SLR camera out of your bag only to take those shots. Otherwise, keep your SLR camera concealed.
- Never leave your equipment unattended in a visible area, not even in a locked car.
Pre-Production and Planning
- Before shooting, make a shot list of all the footage you need.
- Have all your filming equipment that needs to be calibrated all calibrated and ready to use.
Onscreen Performance
- Look into your lens, not the projected image of yourself on your camera’s flip screen.
- Show a lot of energy as you film yourself.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, keep your talking head clips short and gradually build your way up to longer clips. You can break up longer sentences by saying a few words from one scene, saying a few more in another, and finishing off your last words, again, in another scene. Later, in editing, you can stitch all of those clips together to make one fluid sentence.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, you can capture your talking headshots later when you find a more secluded space.
Audio Recording
- Silence everything you don’t want your mic to record.
- Put your mobile phone in airplane mode.
- Block wind from reaching your mic with windscreens and dead cats.
- Upgrade your mic.
- Adjust your levels.
- Get close to the sound you are wanting to record.
Check out 10 Recording Tips to Get The Best Sound From Your Microphone for more audio recording tips.
Filming
- To avoid crowds, wake up early and grab your footage early while everyone else is still sleeping or getting ready.
- Capture wide shots, medium shots, and close-up shots for better coverage.
- Use the Sun Seeker app to set up your sunrise/sunset shots better.
- If your camera can record 4K footage, record in 4K all the scenes that you want to zoom in closer later in editing without losing quality (your video project in editing has to be at 1920p x 1080p for this to work).
Stabilization
- If you’re trying to get shots with movement by walking, rather than walking as you normally would walk with your knees bent for steadier shots.
- If you’re shooting something in front of your handheld, lean your arm against your own body for steadier shots.
- Use a stabilizing gimbal with your camera.
Timelapse/Hyperlapse
- Select scenes where you can see a lot of change over time (not a still building in front of a cloudless smoggy sky).
- Set longer intervals for scenes that change very slowly over time.
- Pre-set your focus. Turn autofocus off.
- Shoot time-lapses/hyper-lapses in manual mode to prevent the flickering that occurs with changing light conditions in automatic settings.
- If your camera is set on a tripod in a fixed position, turn your optical image stabilization off.
- If you aren’t holding onto your camera as it’s in the middle of making a timelapse video, at least keep your camera and tripod attached by some kind of leash mechanism.
- For moving time-lapses or hyper-lapses, try to keep one point of reference in the same position within your camera frame.
Slow Motion
- Shoot slow-motion videos when there is plenty of light.
- For actions that are as slow as walking, slowing down your footage to 50% of the original speed looks good enough. If your video editing project is in 30 fps, shooting your video in 60 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. If your video editing project is in 60 fps, shooting your video in 120 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. Any slower is overkill for slowing down the speed of walking.
- For actions that are as fast as water splashing, slowing down your footage as little as 15% of the original speed can look good. For a video editing project in 30 fps, you would need a camera that can shoot at up to 240 fps to slow your footage down this much.
Storage and Back-Up
- If you’re using a phone that can store images and videos on a separate SD card, take advantage of that and record your travel footage onto your SD card. Later, you can easily get to your travel media as it will all be in one place.
- If you have your laptop on you, regularly transfer your media files from your cameras to your external hard drives.
- If you don’t want to bring your laptop on your trip and plan to video edit once you’re back home, use a USB memory card reader that connects with an app on your phone to transfer your files into your external hard drive.
- If you have access to a reliable internet connection and you leave your laptop at your place of accommodation, have your computer upload your files onto cloud storage while you are out to travel vlogging.
- Take advantage of Google Photos’ free, unlimited cloud storage for video files up to 1080p.
Video Editing
- If you’re editing a video project with videos from multiple different cameras, make sure to set the correct time and date on all of them before you start filming. Later, in editing, you can import all your image and video files and sort them in the exact order that they were taken.
- If your video editing software can work with proxies, transcode all your video files into proxy files for much faster editing.
Posting On YouTube
- Choose a title that people will search for. Keep your target keywords at the beginning of your title. “S01E01: My Summer Backpacking Trip” is not an effective title. Instead, a title like “Going Up The Eiffel Tower… Beautiful View of Paris!” would be better.
Ready to Become a Travel Vlogger?
Here in this article, I shared travel vlogging cameras &accessories, travel video ideas& resources, and travel vlogging tips. Did you get more hints to become a travel vlogger? Stay tuned and start your own travel vlog! Leave your comments below if you have any suggestions about this travel vlogger guide.
This past year has been a challenge, so if you want to make a #travelanywhere video without traveling, you can try Wondershare Filmora X video editor.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Want to become a travel vlogger?
Traveling around the world is one of life’s most exciting experiences – just ask anyone who has caught the travel bug. It is no wonder that travel videos are a big hit on YouTube. Any viewer can be instantly transported to another part of the world, all from the comfort of their seat.
With all the high-quality cameras and video editing software that are much more accessible to the general public now than even a few years ago, it has never been a better time to make a travel vlog.
Below, I have prepared a comprehensive guide on how to become a travel vlogger.
Create Your Travel Vlog with Wondershare FilmoraX
Wondershare FilmoraX is a video editing application that offers a lot of editing features that can be used both by a beginner and professionals alike. You can easily cut, split and trim your video, and apply transitions, filters, and texts, etc. to your travel vlog. What’s more, its advanced color grading settings and audio keyframing will add a unique flavor to your travel vlog. Just get started and make your video go viral!
PART 1: TRAVEL VLOGGING EQUIPMENT
In order to make travel videos, you’re going to need camera equipment. Below, I’ve prepared a comprehensive list of cameras and accessories that would be good for travel vlogging.
Filmstock Stock Media Library ](https://filmstock.wondershare.com/creative-theme-tourism?spm=rs.filmora%5Fweb&source%5Fchannel=seo%5Farticle )
1.1 Travel Vlogging Cameras
How To Choose A Vlogging Camera
When it comes to travel vlogging, you should look for a camera that ideally has the following eleven qualities:
- It has a fully articulated screen (flip screen)
- It has good continual autofocus while recording video
- It has good focus priority through face recognition
- It has touched to focus
- It has good low-light performance
- It has an external mic jack and a hot/cold shoe bracket
- It has optical image stabilization
- It is lightweight and portable
- It has a good battery life
- It is durable and weather-sealed
- It has hyper-lapse/timelapse/slow-motion shooting modes
For more information on why a lot of these features are ideal to have in a vlogging camera, check out my post on the Top 15 Best Cameras for Vlogging 2020 .
Cameras That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Considering my list on what to look for in a travel vlogging camera, I’ve prepared a table below of thirteen cameras I’d recommend for travel vlogging:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 | |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumixDC-GH5S | |
January2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$$ |
| GoProHero6 Black | |
September2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 | |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS6D Mark II | |
June2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 | |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i | |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM6 | |
February2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | Yes | $ |
| SonyCyber-Shot DSCRX 100 V | |
October2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCG85 | |
September2016 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCLX10 | |
September2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS80D | |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonPowerShotG7 X Mark II | |
February2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
Lenses That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Every travel vlogger should have a wide-angle lens. Wide-angle lenses fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, making it ideal for capturing establishing shots. You’ll also need a wide-angle lens if you plan on holding your camera out in front of yourself with an extended arm to get selfie footage.
As a travel vlogger, you’ll also want to show some close-up shots of the various subjects in your scene. If you don’t mind walking up to these subjects, the lens I recommend for this is a standard lens.
If, however, you want to be able to shoot these close-up shots from a farther distance, you’ll need a telephoto lens.
But you probably don’t want to carry and switch so many lenses as you travel, right? A convenient solution is to get a zoom lens that covers a wide range of focal lengths. For example, travel vlogger Sam Kolder shoots with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens – that’s a wide-angle lens, standard lens, and telephoto lens all in one lens!
If most of your travel video shooting will be done handheld, you should also definitely look for a lens equipped with optical image stabilization.
Check out my Best Camera Lens for YouTube to gain a more in-depth understanding of lenses and how they work.
1.2 Travel Vlogging Accessories
Camera Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
|
1. Tripod Record stabilized shots and timelapse footage with a tripod. |
|---|---|
|
2. GorillaPod SLR-Zoom with Ballhead Wrap your camera around structures that your regular tripod can’t stay on. You can also hold out your camera further away from you using the GorillaPod as a selfie stick to fit in more of your background into your selfie shot. |
|
3. Stabilizing Gimbal Get super-smooth shots with a stabilizing gimbal. |
|
4. On-Camera LED Light Is there not enough light? Add an LED light to your camera’s hot/cold shoe. |
|
5. Neutral Density (ND) Filters Is it too bright outside to have your aperture wide open but you still want to get that cinematic look ? You can add ND filters to your lenses so that you can do just that in very bright conditions. |
|
6. Camera Cleaning Kit While traveling, you can get all kinds of unwanted substances on your lens and in your camera like dust, dirt, fingerprints, raindrops, snow, and sand, to name a few. If you bring along a portable camera cleaning kit with you on your travels, you can remove those things immediately so that your shots won’t be affected. |
|
7. Drone When it comes to travel vlogging, wide shots that establish the scene and setting are important. Drones are great for taking these kinds of wide shots from high places that you would not be able to get to by foot. |
Smartphone Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Using your smartphone as a travel vlogging device is a great idea! Your smartphone is a light and portable piece of equipment that you likely have with you at all times. Upgrade your smartphone travel vlogging setup with any of these 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers:
- RAVPower Portable Charger
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- Mega Tiny Anti-Gravity Case
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- Rode VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
- Zhiyun Smooth-Q 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphones
Read more about each one of these items in my post The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphones for Travel Vlogging
|
|
|
|
|---|
These four shotgun microphones can mount directly onto your camera’s hot/cold shoe:
- Rode VideoMic Go
- Shure VP83
- Rode VideoMic Pro+
- Sennheiser MKE 440
Read more about each one of them in our post about The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2020 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Other Useful Travel Vlogging Accessories
- Camera backpack
- Extra batteries
- Memory cards
- External hard drive
- Power plugs and cables
- USB card reader
- Universal plug
- D-ring clips (to prevent your equipment from slipping out of your grasp)
- Smartphone SD card tray key (if you’re storing your recorded footage in your SD card)
PART 2: TRAVEL VLOGGING IDEAS
If you’re needing some travel video ideas either to get you started or to bring some fresh content into your channel, here are ten travel video ideas that you can try.
1. Travel Vlog
Travel vlogging, the kind where you film yourself just going about your day in a different part of the world, is a great way to not only document your travel moments and memories for yourself, but also a great way to share your experience with others.
Rather than being too picky with your video shots and possibly ending up with a lack of footage to work with, shoot as much as you can.
Try to capture your thoughts and feelings around the things you taste, smell, see and hear. Sharing these details can help your viewers feel more like they’re with you on your travels.
2. Tips or Tricks for Traveling
Although learning from mistakes during your travels can be a rewarding experience, most people want to avoid them and, rather, enjoy their trip as much as they possibly can. After all, travel, for most people, happens in intervals that seem too short. You can help this sizable group by offering travel tips and tricks.
Prepare a list of tips and tricks, a shot list of all the footage you’ll need to go along with those tips, and then capture all your footage. As you go through your list, you can then cut away to your associated travel shots.
3. Video Tour of a Location
Many people are curious about different parts of the world and would love to join a tour without the high cost of flights, hotels, meals, and admission tickets. Give them that experience by making a video tour.
4. Review An Attraction or Experience
A lot of travelers having a limited amount of time and money to enjoy their chosen travel destinations want to know which attractions and experiences to prioritize and which ones to skip. Help them make their decision by making a video review.
5. Timelapse Videos
All you need in addition to your camera is a tripod to get started with making timelapse videos. Your tripod stabilizes your shot as your camera captures all the changes that take place in a given location.
When your footage is sped up, your viewers can appreciate all the changes that take place that they may not have had the patience to sit through in real-time. It’s also interesting to observe the passage of time in a different way.
6. Average Daily Cost
Before going on a trip, many people try to make a budget and figure out how much money to exchange into foreign currency. Making a good budget and getting just enough foreign cash, though, requires you to know how much, on average, things cost.
Make a helpful video on the average cost of daily expenses including meals and transportation like Paolo did in the above video “Average Daily Cost in Tokyo Japan | Is it Expensive?.” His video actually helped me a lot when I was trying to come up with a budget for my recent trip to Japan.
7. Interview Locals
People don’t travel only to see popular attractions. A lot of people travel to connect with and understand people from different parts of the world.
Interviewing locals and sharing their thoughts can help to provide that kind of connection.
8. What’s in My Backpack?
Packing for a trip can say a lot about who you are as a person because it involves prioritizing items based on your personal values.
For your next trip, share a little part of yourself with your audience through a video about the things you’ve packed in your bag.
9. Talk About Your Own Home City
When you’ve lived in your own home city for so long, you might forget that people all over the world may marvel at the things you take for granted because all those things just happen to be at your doorstep.
Take advantage of the expert that you already are in your own home city and make an informative video for others who are taking a trip there.
10. How To Become a Travel Vlogger
After you’ve done a lot of travel vlogging and learned so much along the way, you can make a video about how to be a travel vlogger.
In the above video, Andrew Santos teaches how to make a travel video, all while hilariously poking fun at many of the cliché trends in the travel genre.
PART 3: TRAVEL VIDEO EDITING
Video Editing Software
When it comes to editing your travel video together, there are different kinds of software you can do that with.
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each software in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube – Top 8 Reviews . | Wondershare Filmora X (Windows, Mac) - start at $49.99 for one year license and Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
Travel-Themed Video Effects
If you use Filmora Video Editor, you can also take advantage of a variety of travel-themed video effects packs, like the one shown in the above video, filled with titles, transitions, filters, overlays, and other visual elements.
For my recent trip to Japan, I actually used Filmora Effects’ Japanese set.
At the 2:10 mark of the above video, I used an overlay of falling cherry blossom leaves. At the 3:03 mark of the same video, I used an anime-themed overlay.
At the 2:48 mark of the above video, I used a shoji door transition.
Music Libraries
Music is an important component of a lot of travel videos. Here’s where you can get them:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
PART 4: TRAVEL VLOGGING TIPS
Vlog/Life Balance
- Give yourself more time at each location if you want to have a good balance between getting the shots you need and enjoying your present moment.
Theft Prevention
- Carry a backpack that doesn’t have zippers on the outside that thieves can easily get to.
- If you’re shooting with a flashy smartphone, make it look less appealing to thieves with a grotesque smartphone case, like an Otterbox.
- In locations with high crime, pre-plan the shots you want to capture and take your SLR camera out of your bag only to take those shots. Otherwise, keep your SLR camera concealed.
- Never leave your equipment unattended in a visible area, not even in a locked car.
Pre-Production and Planning
- Before shooting, make a shot list of all the footage you need.
- Have all your filming equipment that needs to be calibrated all calibrated and ready to use.
Onscreen Performance
- Look into your lens, not the projected image of yourself on your camera’s flip screen.
- Show a lot of energy as you film yourself.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, keep your talking head clips short and gradually build your way up to longer clips. You can break up longer sentences by saying a few words from one scene, saying a few more in another, and finishing off your last words, again, in another scene. Later, in editing, you can stitch all of those clips together to make one fluid sentence.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, you can capture your talking headshots later when you find a more secluded space.
Audio Recording
- Silence everything you don’t want your mic to record.
- Put your mobile phone in airplane mode.
- Block wind from reaching your mic with windscreens and dead cats.
- Upgrade your mic.
- Adjust your levels.
- Get close to the sound you are wanting to record.
Check out 10 Recording Tips to Get The Best Sound From Your Microphone for more audio recording tips.
Filming
- To avoid crowds, wake up early and grab your footage early while everyone else is still sleeping or getting ready.
- Capture wide shots, medium shots, and close-up shots for better coverage.
- Use the Sun Seeker app to set up your sunrise/sunset shots better.
- If your camera can record 4K footage, record in 4K all the scenes that you want to zoom in closer later in editing without losing quality (your video project in editing has to be at 1920p x 1080p for this to work).
Stabilization
- If you’re trying to get shots with movement by walking, rather than walking as you normally would walk with your knees bent for steadier shots.
- If you’re shooting something in front of your handheld, lean your arm against your own body for steadier shots.
- Use a stabilizing gimbal with your camera.
Timelapse/Hyperlapse
- Select scenes where you can see a lot of change over time (not a still building in front of a cloudless smoggy sky).
- Set longer intervals for scenes that change very slowly over time.
- Pre-set your focus. Turn autofocus off.
- Shoot time-lapses/hyper-lapses in manual mode to prevent the flickering that occurs with changing light conditions in automatic settings.
- If your camera is set on a tripod in a fixed position, turn your optical image stabilization off.
- If you aren’t holding onto your camera as it’s in the middle of making a timelapse video, at least keep your camera and tripod attached by some kind of leash mechanism.
- For moving time-lapses or hyper-lapses, try to keep one point of reference in the same position within your camera frame.
Slow Motion
- Shoot slow-motion videos when there is plenty of light.
- For actions that are as slow as walking, slowing down your footage to 50% of the original speed looks good enough. If your video editing project is in 30 fps, shooting your video in 60 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. If your video editing project is in 60 fps, shooting your video in 120 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. Any slower is overkill for slowing down the speed of walking.
- For actions that are as fast as water splashing, slowing down your footage as little as 15% of the original speed can look good. For a video editing project in 30 fps, you would need a camera that can shoot at up to 240 fps to slow your footage down this much.
Storage and Back-Up
- If you’re using a phone that can store images and videos on a separate SD card, take advantage of that and record your travel footage onto your SD card. Later, you can easily get to your travel media as it will all be in one place.
- If you have your laptop on you, regularly transfer your media files from your cameras to your external hard drives.
- If you don’t want to bring your laptop on your trip and plan to video edit once you’re back home, use a USB memory card reader that connects with an app on your phone to transfer your files into your external hard drive.
- If you have access to a reliable internet connection and you leave your laptop at your place of accommodation, have your computer upload your files onto cloud storage while you are out to travel vlogging.
- Take advantage of Google Photos’ free, unlimited cloud storage for video files up to 1080p.
Video Editing
- If you’re editing a video project with videos from multiple different cameras, make sure to set the correct time and date on all of them before you start filming. Later, in editing, you can import all your image and video files and sort them in the exact order that they were taken.
- If your video editing software can work with proxies, transcode all your video files into proxy files for much faster editing.
Posting On YouTube
- Choose a title that people will search for. Keep your target keywords at the beginning of your title. “S01E01: My Summer Backpacking Trip” is not an effective title. Instead, a title like “Going Up The Eiffel Tower… Beautiful View of Paris!” would be better.
Ready to Become a Travel Vlogger?
Here in this article, I shared travel vlogging cameras &accessories, travel video ideas& resources, and travel vlogging tips. Did you get more hints to become a travel vlogger? Stay tuned and start your own travel vlog! Leave your comments below if you have any suggestions about this travel vlogger guide.
This past year has been a challenge, so if you want to make a #travelanywhere video without traveling, you can try Wondershare Filmora X video editor.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Want to become a travel vlogger?
Traveling around the world is one of life’s most exciting experiences – just ask anyone who has caught the travel bug. It is no wonder that travel videos are a big hit on YouTube. Any viewer can be instantly transported to another part of the world, all from the comfort of their seat.
With all the high-quality cameras and video editing software that are much more accessible to the general public now than even a few years ago, it has never been a better time to make a travel vlog.
Below, I have prepared a comprehensive guide on how to become a travel vlogger.
Create Your Travel Vlog with Wondershare FilmoraX
Wondershare FilmoraX is a video editing application that offers a lot of editing features that can be used both by a beginner and professionals alike. You can easily cut, split and trim your video, and apply transitions, filters, and texts, etc. to your travel vlog. What’s more, its advanced color grading settings and audio keyframing will add a unique flavor to your travel vlog. Just get started and make your video go viral!
PART 1: TRAVEL VLOGGING EQUIPMENT
In order to make travel videos, you’re going to need camera equipment. Below, I’ve prepared a comprehensive list of cameras and accessories that would be good for travel vlogging.
Filmstock Stock Media Library ](https://filmstock.wondershare.com/creative-theme-tourism?spm=rs.filmora%5Fweb&source%5Fchannel=seo%5Farticle )
1.1 Travel Vlogging Cameras
How To Choose A Vlogging Camera
When it comes to travel vlogging, you should look for a camera that ideally has the following eleven qualities:
- It has a fully articulated screen (flip screen)
- It has good continual autofocus while recording video
- It has good focus priority through face recognition
- It has touched to focus
- It has good low-light performance
- It has an external mic jack and a hot/cold shoe bracket
- It has optical image stabilization
- It is lightweight and portable
- It has a good battery life
- It is durable and weather-sealed
- It has hyper-lapse/timelapse/slow-motion shooting modes
For more information on why a lot of these features are ideal to have in a vlogging camera, check out my post on the Top 15 Best Cameras for Vlogging 2020 .
Cameras That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Considering my list on what to look for in a travel vlogging camera, I’ve prepared a table below of thirteen cameras I’d recommend for travel vlogging:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 | |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumixDC-GH5S | |
January2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$$ |
| GoProHero6 Black | |
September2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 | |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS6D Mark II | |
June2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 | |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i | |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM6 | |
February2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | Yes | $ |
| SonyCyber-Shot DSCRX 100 V | |
October2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCG85 | |
September2016 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCLX10 | |
September2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS80D | |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonPowerShotG7 X Mark II | |
February2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
Lenses That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Every travel vlogger should have a wide-angle lens. Wide-angle lenses fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, making it ideal for capturing establishing shots. You’ll also need a wide-angle lens if you plan on holding your camera out in front of yourself with an extended arm to get selfie footage.
As a travel vlogger, you’ll also want to show some close-up shots of the various subjects in your scene. If you don’t mind walking up to these subjects, the lens I recommend for this is a standard lens.
If, however, you want to be able to shoot these close-up shots from a farther distance, you’ll need a telephoto lens.
But you probably don’t want to carry and switch so many lenses as you travel, right? A convenient solution is to get a zoom lens that covers a wide range of focal lengths. For example, travel vlogger Sam Kolder shoots with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens – that’s a wide-angle lens, standard lens, and telephoto lens all in one lens!
If most of your travel video shooting will be done handheld, you should also definitely look for a lens equipped with optical image stabilization.
Check out my Best Camera Lens for YouTube to gain a more in-depth understanding of lenses and how they work.
1.2 Travel Vlogging Accessories
Camera Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
|
1. Tripod Record stabilized shots and timelapse footage with a tripod. |
|---|---|
|
2. GorillaPod SLR-Zoom with Ballhead Wrap your camera around structures that your regular tripod can’t stay on. You can also hold out your camera further away from you using the GorillaPod as a selfie stick to fit in more of your background into your selfie shot. |
|
3. Stabilizing Gimbal Get super-smooth shots with a stabilizing gimbal. |
|
4. On-Camera LED Light Is there not enough light? Add an LED light to your camera’s hot/cold shoe. |
|
5. Neutral Density (ND) Filters Is it too bright outside to have your aperture wide open but you still want to get that cinematic look ? You can add ND filters to your lenses so that you can do just that in very bright conditions. |
|
6. Camera Cleaning Kit While traveling, you can get all kinds of unwanted substances on your lens and in your camera like dust, dirt, fingerprints, raindrops, snow, and sand, to name a few. If you bring along a portable camera cleaning kit with you on your travels, you can remove those things immediately so that your shots won’t be affected. |
|
7. Drone When it comes to travel vlogging, wide shots that establish the scene and setting are important. Drones are great for taking these kinds of wide shots from high places that you would not be able to get to by foot. |
Smartphone Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Using your smartphone as a travel vlogging device is a great idea! Your smartphone is a light and portable piece of equipment that you likely have with you at all times. Upgrade your smartphone travel vlogging setup with any of these 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers:
- RAVPower Portable Charger
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- Mega Tiny Anti-Gravity Case
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- Rode VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
- Zhiyun Smooth-Q 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphones
Read more about each one of these items in my post The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphones for Travel Vlogging
|
|
|
|
|---|
These four shotgun microphones can mount directly onto your camera’s hot/cold shoe:
- Rode VideoMic Go
- Shure VP83
- Rode VideoMic Pro+
- Sennheiser MKE 440
Read more about each one of them in our post about The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2020 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Other Useful Travel Vlogging Accessories
- Camera backpack
- Extra batteries
- Memory cards
- External hard drive
- Power plugs and cables
- USB card reader
- Universal plug
- D-ring clips (to prevent your equipment from slipping out of your grasp)
- Smartphone SD card tray key (if you’re storing your recorded footage in your SD card)
PART 2: TRAVEL VLOGGING IDEAS
If you’re needing some travel video ideas either to get you started or to bring some fresh content into your channel, here are ten travel video ideas that you can try.
1. Travel Vlog
Travel vlogging, the kind where you film yourself just going about your day in a different part of the world, is a great way to not only document your travel moments and memories for yourself, but also a great way to share your experience with others.
Rather than being too picky with your video shots and possibly ending up with a lack of footage to work with, shoot as much as you can.
Try to capture your thoughts and feelings around the things you taste, smell, see and hear. Sharing these details can help your viewers feel more like they’re with you on your travels.
2. Tips or Tricks for Traveling
Although learning from mistakes during your travels can be a rewarding experience, most people want to avoid them and, rather, enjoy their trip as much as they possibly can. After all, travel, for most people, happens in intervals that seem too short. You can help this sizable group by offering travel tips and tricks.
Prepare a list of tips and tricks, a shot list of all the footage you’ll need to go along with those tips, and then capture all your footage. As you go through your list, you can then cut away to your associated travel shots.
3. Video Tour of a Location
Many people are curious about different parts of the world and would love to join a tour without the high cost of flights, hotels, meals, and admission tickets. Give them that experience by making a video tour.
4. Review An Attraction or Experience
A lot of travelers having a limited amount of time and money to enjoy their chosen travel destinations want to know which attractions and experiences to prioritize and which ones to skip. Help them make their decision by making a video review.
5. Timelapse Videos
All you need in addition to your camera is a tripod to get started with making timelapse videos. Your tripod stabilizes your shot as your camera captures all the changes that take place in a given location.
When your footage is sped up, your viewers can appreciate all the changes that take place that they may not have had the patience to sit through in real-time. It’s also interesting to observe the passage of time in a different way.
6. Average Daily Cost
Before going on a trip, many people try to make a budget and figure out how much money to exchange into foreign currency. Making a good budget and getting just enough foreign cash, though, requires you to know how much, on average, things cost.
Make a helpful video on the average cost of daily expenses including meals and transportation like Paolo did in the above video “Average Daily Cost in Tokyo Japan | Is it Expensive?.” His video actually helped me a lot when I was trying to come up with a budget for my recent trip to Japan.
7. Interview Locals
People don’t travel only to see popular attractions. A lot of people travel to connect with and understand people from different parts of the world.
Interviewing locals and sharing their thoughts can help to provide that kind of connection.
8. What’s in My Backpack?
Packing for a trip can say a lot about who you are as a person because it involves prioritizing items based on your personal values.
For your next trip, share a little part of yourself with your audience through a video about the things you’ve packed in your bag.
9. Talk About Your Own Home City
When you’ve lived in your own home city for so long, you might forget that people all over the world may marvel at the things you take for granted because all those things just happen to be at your doorstep.
Take advantage of the expert that you already are in your own home city and make an informative video for others who are taking a trip there.
10. How To Become a Travel Vlogger
After you’ve done a lot of travel vlogging and learned so much along the way, you can make a video about how to be a travel vlogger.
In the above video, Andrew Santos teaches how to make a travel video, all while hilariously poking fun at many of the cliché trends in the travel genre.
PART 3: TRAVEL VIDEO EDITING
Video Editing Software
When it comes to editing your travel video together, there are different kinds of software you can do that with.
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each software in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube – Top 8 Reviews . | Wondershare Filmora X (Windows, Mac) - start at $49.99 for one year license and Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
Travel-Themed Video Effects
If you use Filmora Video Editor, you can also take advantage of a variety of travel-themed video effects packs, like the one shown in the above video, filled with titles, transitions, filters, overlays, and other visual elements.
For my recent trip to Japan, I actually used Filmora Effects’ Japanese set.
At the 2:10 mark of the above video, I used an overlay of falling cherry blossom leaves. At the 3:03 mark of the same video, I used an anime-themed overlay.
At the 2:48 mark of the above video, I used a shoji door transition.
Music Libraries
Music is an important component of a lot of travel videos. Here’s where you can get them:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
PART 4: TRAVEL VLOGGING TIPS
Vlog/Life Balance
- Give yourself more time at each location if you want to have a good balance between getting the shots you need and enjoying your present moment.
Theft Prevention
- Carry a backpack that doesn’t have zippers on the outside that thieves can easily get to.
- If you’re shooting with a flashy smartphone, make it look less appealing to thieves with a grotesque smartphone case, like an Otterbox.
- In locations with high crime, pre-plan the shots you want to capture and take your SLR camera out of your bag only to take those shots. Otherwise, keep your SLR camera concealed.
- Never leave your equipment unattended in a visible area, not even in a locked car.
Pre-Production and Planning
- Before shooting, make a shot list of all the footage you need.
- Have all your filming equipment that needs to be calibrated all calibrated and ready to use.
Onscreen Performance
- Look into your lens, not the projected image of yourself on your camera’s flip screen.
- Show a lot of energy as you film yourself.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, keep your talking head clips short and gradually build your way up to longer clips. You can break up longer sentences by saying a few words from one scene, saying a few more in another, and finishing off your last words, again, in another scene. Later, in editing, you can stitch all of those clips together to make one fluid sentence.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, you can capture your talking headshots later when you find a more secluded space.
Audio Recording
- Silence everything you don’t want your mic to record.
- Put your mobile phone in airplane mode.
- Block wind from reaching your mic with windscreens and dead cats.
- Upgrade your mic.
- Adjust your levels.
- Get close to the sound you are wanting to record.
Check out 10 Recording Tips to Get The Best Sound From Your Microphone for more audio recording tips.
Filming
- To avoid crowds, wake up early and grab your footage early while everyone else is still sleeping or getting ready.
- Capture wide shots, medium shots, and close-up shots for better coverage.
- Use the Sun Seeker app to set up your sunrise/sunset shots better.
- If your camera can record 4K footage, record in 4K all the scenes that you want to zoom in closer later in editing without losing quality (your video project in editing has to be at 1920p x 1080p for this to work).
Stabilization
- If you’re trying to get shots with movement by walking, rather than walking as you normally would walk with your knees bent for steadier shots.
- If you’re shooting something in front of your handheld, lean your arm against your own body for steadier shots.
- Use a stabilizing gimbal with your camera.
Timelapse/Hyperlapse
- Select scenes where you can see a lot of change over time (not a still building in front of a cloudless smoggy sky).
- Set longer intervals for scenes that change very slowly over time.
- Pre-set your focus. Turn autofocus off.
- Shoot time-lapses/hyper-lapses in manual mode to prevent the flickering that occurs with changing light conditions in automatic settings.
- If your camera is set on a tripod in a fixed position, turn your optical image stabilization off.
- If you aren’t holding onto your camera as it’s in the middle of making a timelapse video, at least keep your camera and tripod attached by some kind of leash mechanism.
- For moving time-lapses or hyper-lapses, try to keep one point of reference in the same position within your camera frame.
Slow Motion
- Shoot slow-motion videos when there is plenty of light.
- For actions that are as slow as walking, slowing down your footage to 50% of the original speed looks good enough. If your video editing project is in 30 fps, shooting your video in 60 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. If your video editing project is in 60 fps, shooting your video in 120 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. Any slower is overkill for slowing down the speed of walking.
- For actions that are as fast as water splashing, slowing down your footage as little as 15% of the original speed can look good. For a video editing project in 30 fps, you would need a camera that can shoot at up to 240 fps to slow your footage down this much.
Storage and Back-Up
- If you’re using a phone that can store images and videos on a separate SD card, take advantage of that and record your travel footage onto your SD card. Later, you can easily get to your travel media as it will all be in one place.
- If you have your laptop on you, regularly transfer your media files from your cameras to your external hard drives.
- If you don’t want to bring your laptop on your trip and plan to video edit once you’re back home, use a USB memory card reader that connects with an app on your phone to transfer your files into your external hard drive.
- If you have access to a reliable internet connection and you leave your laptop at your place of accommodation, have your computer upload your files onto cloud storage while you are out to travel vlogging.
- Take advantage of Google Photos’ free, unlimited cloud storage for video files up to 1080p.
Video Editing
- If you’re editing a video project with videos from multiple different cameras, make sure to set the correct time and date on all of them before you start filming. Later, in editing, you can import all your image and video files and sort them in the exact order that they were taken.
- If your video editing software can work with proxies, transcode all your video files into proxy files for much faster editing.
Posting On YouTube
- Choose a title that people will search for. Keep your target keywords at the beginning of your title. “S01E01: My Summer Backpacking Trip” is not an effective title. Instead, a title like “Going Up The Eiffel Tower… Beautiful View of Paris!” would be better.
Ready to Become a Travel Vlogger?
Here in this article, I shared travel vlogging cameras &accessories, travel video ideas& resources, and travel vlogging tips. Did you get more hints to become a travel vlogger? Stay tuned and start your own travel vlog! Leave your comments below if you have any suggestions about this travel vlogger guide.
This past year has been a challenge, so if you want to make a #travelanywhere video without traveling, you can try Wondershare Filmora X video editor.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett
Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions
Want to become a travel vlogger?
Traveling around the world is one of life’s most exciting experiences – just ask anyone who has caught the travel bug. It is no wonder that travel videos are a big hit on YouTube. Any viewer can be instantly transported to another part of the world, all from the comfort of their seat.
With all the high-quality cameras and video editing software that are much more accessible to the general public now than even a few years ago, it has never been a better time to make a travel vlog.
Below, I have prepared a comprehensive guide on how to become a travel vlogger.
Create Your Travel Vlog with Wondershare FilmoraX
Wondershare FilmoraX is a video editing application that offers a lot of editing features that can be used both by a beginner and professionals alike. You can easily cut, split and trim your video, and apply transitions, filters, and texts, etc. to your travel vlog. What’s more, its advanced color grading settings and audio keyframing will add a unique flavor to your travel vlog. Just get started and make your video go viral!
PART 1: TRAVEL VLOGGING EQUIPMENT
In order to make travel videos, you’re going to need camera equipment. Below, I’ve prepared a comprehensive list of cameras and accessories that would be good for travel vlogging.
Filmstock Stock Media Library ](https://filmstock.wondershare.com/creative-theme-tourism?spm=rs.filmora%5Fweb&source%5Fchannel=seo%5Farticle )
1.1 Travel Vlogging Cameras
How To Choose A Vlogging Camera
When it comes to travel vlogging, you should look for a camera that ideally has the following eleven qualities:
- It has a fully articulated screen (flip screen)
- It has good continual autofocus while recording video
- It has good focus priority through face recognition
- It has touched to focus
- It has good low-light performance
- It has an external mic jack and a hot/cold shoe bracket
- It has optical image stabilization
- It is lightweight and portable
- It has a good battery life
- It is durable and weather-sealed
- It has hyper-lapse/timelapse/slow-motion shooting modes
For more information on why a lot of these features are ideal to have in a vlogging camera, check out my post on the Top 15 Best Cameras for Vlogging 2020 .
Cameras That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Considering my list on what to look for in a travel vlogging camera, I’ve prepared a table below of thirteen cameras I’d recommend for travel vlogging:
| Camera | Release Date | Camera Type | Flip Screen | Mic Port | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CanonEOSM50 | |
February2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumixDC-GH5S | |
January2018 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$$ |
| GoProHero6 Black | |
September2017 | Action Camera | No | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM100 | |
August2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS6D Mark II | |
June2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonEOS RebelSL2 | |
June2017 | Compact SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $ |
| CanonEOS RebelT7i | |
February2017 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| CanonEOSM6 | |
February2017 | Mirrorless | Flip-Up | Yes | $ |
| SonyCyber-Shot DSCRX 100 V | |
October2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCG85 | |
September2016 | Mirrorless | Fully Articulated | Yes | $- |
| PanasonicLumix DMCLX10 | |
September2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
| CanonEOS80D | |
February2016 | Mid-size SLR | Fully Articulated | Yes | $$ |
| CanonPowerShotG7 X Mark II | |
February2016 | Compact | Flip-Up | No | $ |
Lenses That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Every travel vlogger should have a wide-angle lens. Wide-angle lenses fit much more of a scene into your camera frame, making it ideal for capturing establishing shots. You’ll also need a wide-angle lens if you plan on holding your camera out in front of yourself with an extended arm to get selfie footage.
As a travel vlogger, you’ll also want to show some close-up shots of the various subjects in your scene. If you don’t mind walking up to these subjects, the lens I recommend for this is a standard lens.
If, however, you want to be able to shoot these close-up shots from a farther distance, you’ll need a telephoto lens.
But you probably don’t want to carry and switch so many lenses as you travel, right? A convenient solution is to get a zoom lens that covers a wide range of focal lengths. For example, travel vlogger Sam Kolder shoots with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 lens – that’s a wide-angle lens, standard lens, and telephoto lens all in one lens!
If most of your travel video shooting will be done handheld, you should also definitely look for a lens equipped with optical image stabilization.
Check out my Best Camera Lens for YouTube to gain a more in-depth understanding of lenses and how they work.
1.2 Travel Vlogging Accessories
Camera Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
|
1. Tripod Record stabilized shots and timelapse footage with a tripod. |
|---|---|
|
2. GorillaPod SLR-Zoom with Ballhead Wrap your camera around structures that your regular tripod can’t stay on. You can also hold out your camera further away from you using the GorillaPod as a selfie stick to fit in more of your background into your selfie shot. |
|
3. Stabilizing Gimbal Get super-smooth shots with a stabilizing gimbal. |
|
4. On-Camera LED Light Is there not enough light? Add an LED light to your camera’s hot/cold shoe. |
|
5. Neutral Density (ND) Filters Is it too bright outside to have your aperture wide open but you still want to get that cinematic look ? You can add ND filters to your lenses so that you can do just that in very bright conditions. |
|
6. Camera Cleaning Kit While traveling, you can get all kinds of unwanted substances on your lens and in your camera like dust, dirt, fingerprints, raindrops, snow, and sand, to name a few. If you bring along a portable camera cleaning kit with you on your travels, you can remove those things immediately so that your shots won’t be affected. |
|
7. Drone When it comes to travel vlogging, wide shots that establish the scene and setting are important. Drones are great for taking these kinds of wide shots from high places that you would not be able to get to by foot. |
Smartphone Accessories That Are Good For Travel Vlogging
Using your smartphone as a travel vlogging device is a great idea! Your smartphone is a light and portable piece of equipment that you likely have with you at all times. Upgrade your smartphone travel vlogging setup with any of these 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers:
- RAVPower Portable Charger
- Arkon Tripod Mount
- Mega Tiny Anti-Gravity Case
- FLII Selfie Ring Light
- Rode VideoMic Me
- Aukey Optic 3-in-1 Smartphone Lens Set
- iOgrapher Go for Android and iPhone
- Manfrotto TwistGrip System
- Zhiyun Smooth-Q 3-Axis Handheld Gimbal Stabilizer for Smartphones
Read more about each one of these items in my post The 9 Best Smartphone Camera Accessories For Vloggers .
Camera Mounted Shotgun Microphones for Travel Vlogging
|
|
|
|
|---|
These four shotgun microphones can mount directly onto your camera’s hot/cold shoe:
- Rode VideoMic Go
- Shure VP83
- Rode VideoMic Pro+
- Sennheiser MKE 440
Read more about each one of them in our post about The 19 Best YouTube Microphones 2020 – Options for Music, Voiceovers, Vlogging, and more!
Other Useful Travel Vlogging Accessories
- Camera backpack
- Extra batteries
- Memory cards
- External hard drive
- Power plugs and cables
- USB card reader
- Universal plug
- D-ring clips (to prevent your equipment from slipping out of your grasp)
- Smartphone SD card tray key (if you’re storing your recorded footage in your SD card)
PART 2: TRAVEL VLOGGING IDEAS
If you’re needing some travel video ideas either to get you started or to bring some fresh content into your channel, here are ten travel video ideas that you can try.
1. Travel Vlog
Travel vlogging, the kind where you film yourself just going about your day in a different part of the world, is a great way to not only document your travel moments and memories for yourself, but also a great way to share your experience with others.
Rather than being too picky with your video shots and possibly ending up with a lack of footage to work with, shoot as much as you can.
Try to capture your thoughts and feelings around the things you taste, smell, see and hear. Sharing these details can help your viewers feel more like they’re with you on your travels.
2. Tips or Tricks for Traveling
Although learning from mistakes during your travels can be a rewarding experience, most people want to avoid them and, rather, enjoy their trip as much as they possibly can. After all, travel, for most people, happens in intervals that seem too short. You can help this sizable group by offering travel tips and tricks.
Prepare a list of tips and tricks, a shot list of all the footage you’ll need to go along with those tips, and then capture all your footage. As you go through your list, you can then cut away to your associated travel shots.
3. Video Tour of a Location
Many people are curious about different parts of the world and would love to join a tour without the high cost of flights, hotels, meals, and admission tickets. Give them that experience by making a video tour.
4. Review An Attraction or Experience
A lot of travelers having a limited amount of time and money to enjoy their chosen travel destinations want to know which attractions and experiences to prioritize and which ones to skip. Help them make their decision by making a video review.
5. Timelapse Videos
All you need in addition to your camera is a tripod to get started with making timelapse videos. Your tripod stabilizes your shot as your camera captures all the changes that take place in a given location.
When your footage is sped up, your viewers can appreciate all the changes that take place that they may not have had the patience to sit through in real-time. It’s also interesting to observe the passage of time in a different way.
6. Average Daily Cost
Before going on a trip, many people try to make a budget and figure out how much money to exchange into foreign currency. Making a good budget and getting just enough foreign cash, though, requires you to know how much, on average, things cost.
Make a helpful video on the average cost of daily expenses including meals and transportation like Paolo did in the above video “Average Daily Cost in Tokyo Japan | Is it Expensive?.” His video actually helped me a lot when I was trying to come up with a budget for my recent trip to Japan.
7. Interview Locals
People don’t travel only to see popular attractions. A lot of people travel to connect with and understand people from different parts of the world.
Interviewing locals and sharing their thoughts can help to provide that kind of connection.
8. What’s in My Backpack?
Packing for a trip can say a lot about who you are as a person because it involves prioritizing items based on your personal values.
For your next trip, share a little part of yourself with your audience through a video about the things you’ve packed in your bag.
9. Talk About Your Own Home City
When you’ve lived in your own home city for so long, you might forget that people all over the world may marvel at the things you take for granted because all those things just happen to be at your doorstep.
Take advantage of the expert that you already are in your own home city and make an informative video for others who are taking a trip there.
10. How To Become a Travel Vlogger
After you’ve done a lot of travel vlogging and learned so much along the way, you can make a video about how to be a travel vlogger.
In the above video, Andrew Santos teaches how to make a travel video, all while hilariously poking fun at many of the cliché trends in the travel genre.
PART 3: TRAVEL VIDEO EDITING
Video Editing Software
When it comes to editing your travel video together, there are different kinds of software you can do that with.
| FREE VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE | PAID VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE |
|---|---|
| OpenShot Video Editor (Windows, Mac, Linux) ShotCut (Windows, Mac, Linux) Hitfilm Express (Windows, Mac) VideoPad Video Editor (Windows) Lightworks (Windows, Mac, Linux) VSDC Video Editor (Windows) Machete Video Editor Lite (Windows) Avidemux (Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD) Read more about each software in our post about The Best Free Video Editing Software for YouTube – Top 8 Reviews . | Wondershare Filmora X (Windows, Mac) - start at $49.99 for one year license and Free trial Final Cut Pro (Mac) - $299.99, Free trial Vegas Movie Studio (Windows) - $49.99 |
Travel-Themed Video Effects
If you use Filmora Video Editor, you can also take advantage of a variety of travel-themed video effects packs, like the one shown in the above video, filled with titles, transitions, filters, overlays, and other visual elements.
For my recent trip to Japan, I actually used Filmora Effects’ Japanese set.
At the 2:10 mark of the above video, I used an overlay of falling cherry blossom leaves. At the 3:03 mark of the same video, I used an anime-themed overlay.
At the 2:48 mark of the above video, I used a shoji door transition.
Music Libraries
Music is an important component of a lot of travel videos. Here’s where you can get them:
| ROYALTY-FREE MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID MUSIC LIBRARIES | PAID SUBSCRIPTION MUSIC LIBRARIES |
|---|---|---|
| Audionautix Bensound dig.ccMixter Free Music Archive Free Stock Music Incompetech Josh Woodward Moby Gratis Musopen Purple Planet Music TeknoAXE YouTube Audio Library | Premium Beat Audio Jungle | Audio Network Audio Blocks Epidemic Sound |
Sound Effects
Free Sound Effect Sites
PART 4: TRAVEL VLOGGING TIPS
Vlog/Life Balance
- Give yourself more time at each location if you want to have a good balance between getting the shots you need and enjoying your present moment.
Theft Prevention
- Carry a backpack that doesn’t have zippers on the outside that thieves can easily get to.
- If you’re shooting with a flashy smartphone, make it look less appealing to thieves with a grotesque smartphone case, like an Otterbox.
- In locations with high crime, pre-plan the shots you want to capture and take your SLR camera out of your bag only to take those shots. Otherwise, keep your SLR camera concealed.
- Never leave your equipment unattended in a visible area, not even in a locked car.
Pre-Production and Planning
- Before shooting, make a shot list of all the footage you need.
- Have all your filming equipment that needs to be calibrated all calibrated and ready to use.
Onscreen Performance
- Look into your lens, not the projected image of yourself on your camera’s flip screen.
- Show a lot of energy as you film yourself.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, keep your talking head clips short and gradually build your way up to longer clips. You can break up longer sentences by saying a few words from one scene, saying a few more in another, and finishing off your last words, again, in another scene. Later, in editing, you can stitch all of those clips together to make one fluid sentence.
- If you’re nervous about talking to the camera in public, you can capture your talking headshots later when you find a more secluded space.
Audio Recording
- Silence everything you don’t want your mic to record.
- Put your mobile phone in airplane mode.
- Block wind from reaching your mic with windscreens and dead cats.
- Upgrade your mic.
- Adjust your levels.
- Get close to the sound you are wanting to record.
Check out 10 Recording Tips to Get The Best Sound From Your Microphone for more audio recording tips.
Filming
- To avoid crowds, wake up early and grab your footage early while everyone else is still sleeping or getting ready.
- Capture wide shots, medium shots, and close-up shots for better coverage.
- Use the Sun Seeker app to set up your sunrise/sunset shots better.
- If your camera can record 4K footage, record in 4K all the scenes that you want to zoom in closer later in editing without losing quality (your video project in editing has to be at 1920p x 1080p for this to work).
Stabilization
- If you’re trying to get shots with movement by walking, rather than walking as you normally would walk with your knees bent for steadier shots.
- If you’re shooting something in front of your handheld, lean your arm against your own body for steadier shots.
- Use a stabilizing gimbal with your camera.
Timelapse/Hyperlapse
- Select scenes where you can see a lot of change over time (not a still building in front of a cloudless smoggy sky).
- Set longer intervals for scenes that change very slowly over time.
- Pre-set your focus. Turn autofocus off.
- Shoot time-lapses/hyper-lapses in manual mode to prevent the flickering that occurs with changing light conditions in automatic settings.
- If your camera is set on a tripod in a fixed position, turn your optical image stabilization off.
- If you aren’t holding onto your camera as it’s in the middle of making a timelapse video, at least keep your camera and tripod attached by some kind of leash mechanism.
- For moving time-lapses or hyper-lapses, try to keep one point of reference in the same position within your camera frame.
Slow Motion
- Shoot slow-motion videos when there is plenty of light.
- For actions that are as slow as walking, slowing down your footage to 50% of the original speed looks good enough. If your video editing project is in 30 fps, shooting your video in 60 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. If your video editing project is in 60 fps, shooting your video in 120 fps will give you a 50% slow-motion video. Any slower is overkill for slowing down the speed of walking.
- For actions that are as fast as water splashing, slowing down your footage as little as 15% of the original speed can look good. For a video editing project in 30 fps, you would need a camera that can shoot at up to 240 fps to slow your footage down this much.
Storage and Back-Up
- If you’re using a phone that can store images and videos on a separate SD card, take advantage of that and record your travel footage onto your SD card. Later, you can easily get to your travel media as it will all be in one place.
- If you have your laptop on you, regularly transfer your media files from your cameras to your external hard drives.
- If you don’t want to bring your laptop on your trip and plan to video edit once you’re back home, use a USB memory card reader that connects with an app on your phone to transfer your files into your external hard drive.
- If you have access to a reliable internet connection and you leave your laptop at your place of accommodation, have your computer upload your files onto cloud storage while you are out to travel vlogging.
- Take advantage of Google Photos’ free, unlimited cloud storage for video files up to 1080p.
Video Editing
- If you’re editing a video project with videos from multiple different cameras, make sure to set the correct time and date on all of them before you start filming. Later, in editing, you can import all your image and video files and sort them in the exact order that they were taken.
- If your video editing software can work with proxies, transcode all your video files into proxy files for much faster editing.
Posting On YouTube
- Choose a title that people will search for. Keep your target keywords at the beginning of your title. “S01E01: My Summer Backpacking Trip” is not an effective title. Instead, a title like “Going Up The Eiffel Tower… Beautiful View of Paris!” would be better.
Ready to Become a Travel Vlogger?
Here in this article, I shared travel vlogging cameras &accessories, travel video ideas& resources, and travel vlogging tips. Did you get more hints to become a travel vlogger? Stay tuned and start your own travel vlog! Leave your comments below if you have any suggestions about this travel vlogger guide.
This past year has been a challenge, so if you want to make a #travelanywhere video without traveling, you can try Wondershare Filmora X video editor.
Richard Bennett
Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.
Follow @Richard Bennett
Also read:
- [New] Downloading Audio Made Simple with These 19 Top-Quality Free Rippers From YouTube
- Android, iOS & PC-Friendly YouTube Downloader Apps Reviewed for 2024
- In 2024, Engaging Scriptwriting Techniques for Higher Video Rankings
- 6 YouTuber Quizzes to Know Which YouTuber You Are for 2024
- Global Viewership Kings YouTube's Viral Royalty
- Launching Into Content Creation Account Setup on YouTube
- Easy Guide Unearthing Your YouTube Compliments & Critiques
- 2024 Approved Crafting Captivating Openings Top Free Intra Makers List
- 2024 Approved Defeat Bot Intruders, Elevate Video Engagement
- Rapidly Crafting Valorant Image Highlights for Gamers
- In 2024, Crafting the Next Big Thing Your Guide to YouTube's Best Video Types
- In 2024, Breaking Down the System Behind Highlighted Video Comments
- Engage and Inspire Viewers - Animated Subscribers in Filmora Explained for 2024
- 2024 Approved Ensuring Visibility Fixing Missing Shorts Thumbnails
- Engaging Audienranz with Solo Visual Content for 2024
- Critical Components Affecting YouTube Video Scores for 2024
- Effortless Watching Pleasures Your Ultimate YouTube Movie List
- [New] Buzzing Beats Essential Background Scores for Viral Video Shorts
- Edit Like a Pro with Any of These Top 7 Free Options
- Effortless Income Estimations for YouTubers
- Unleash YouTube Dominance A Comprehensive Guide to Studio Success
- Perfect Your Strategy Top-Rated Techniques for Video Marketing
- Mastering Time 10 Outstanding YouTube Channels on History
- Download All YouTube Images for Free!
- 2024 Approved Essential Tips for Editing Your Videos in YouTube Studio
- The Definitive List YouTube's Premier Making-Up Masters
- 2024 Approved Deciphering YouTube's Subscriber Code
- [Updated] A Filmmaker's Essential Guide to Free Royalty-Free Audiosites
- [Updated] Audio Ambition Selecting Top 6 Free Downloader Apps From YouTube Vaults
- [New] BiteVideo Innovator
- Your Gateway to Success with a Bundle of 50 FREE Adornments
- The Visual Dynamics of ASPECT RATIOS in Online Video Content
- [New] Conquering Green Hue Fixing It On Mac For Video Editors
- Elevating Engagement Finding Your YouTube Segment for 2024
- Direct Streaming From Apple Devices to YouTube for 2024
- Navigating the Short-Form Space YouTube's Bite Vs. TikTok' Written by a Marketing Analyst with Expertise in Social Media Trends and Platforms.
- [New] Boosting Channel Success Scaling for a Million Viewers
- Leap From YouTube to Dailymotion with Ease
- Create Compelling Animation Subscribe Bars for Your YouTube Channel (Filmora)
- Elevate Your Aspects A Beginner' Cookbook for ASMR Filmmaking for 2024
- [Updated] Beginner's Blueprint to YouTube Streaming Games
- [New] Maximizing Game Capture with Bandicam - Essentials for the Year 2023 for 2024
- In 2024, Complete Assessment Hero4 Black Potential
- New In 2024, 12 Excellent Animation Software Options That Wont Break the Bank
- [Updated] TwitterTunesCutter MP4 & MP3 Extractor for 2024
- Creating Captivating Vimeo Video Content
- In 2024, Auditory Enhancement Strategies for Video Creators
- 2024 Approved Best Online Video Editors with Music Free and Paid
- Updated How to Cut Audio in iMovie on Mac & iPhone?
- Transforming Virtual Worlds Enhancing Spark AR with Custom LUTs
- Reasons for Poco M6 Pro 4G Stuck on Boot Screen and Ways To Fix Them | Dr.fone
- New In 2024, Create Stunning Stop Motion Clips for Instagram A Step-by-Step Guide
- In 2024, How to Change Google Play Location On Huawei Nova Y71 | Dr.fone
- In 2024, Simple and Effective Ways to Change Your Country on YouTube App Of your Oppo F25 Pro 5G | Dr.fone
- [New] Expertly Engineered 10 TikTok Creators' Essentials (W/PC)
- How to Use Life360 on Windows PC For Realme Narzo N53? | Dr.fone
- Best of Breed Pages for Sparkling 3D Text for 2024
- 2024 Approved Top 10 Glitch Art Video Editing Apps
- In 2024, Designing Captivating Instagram Feed Summaries
- Capture Every Detail Advanced Skype Calls Recording Methods
- YouTubers’ Picks on Anti-Shake Gear for Professional Videos
- 3 Ways for Android Pokemon Go Spoofing On Honor V Purse | Dr.fone
- In 2024, How Can I Use a Fake GPS Without Mock Location On Infinix Smart 8 Plus? | Dr.fone
- [New] In 2024, Maximizing IGTV Impact Effective Tips for Vertical Video Conversion
- 5 Ways to Track Nokia C12 Plus without App | Dr.fone
- 2024 Approved Spotlight on App Interfaces Triller Vs. TikTok Deep Dive (Max 156 Chars)
- New The Easter Basket of Deals Wondershare Filmora Promo Code Inside
- [Updated] In 2024, Become a Pro at Setting Up VRecorder Fast
- [New] 2024 Approved Ultimate Guide to Best Windows 11 Screen-Capturing Apps (Top 15)
- [Updated] Unveiling the Best TikTok to GIF Converter Software
- Why is iPogo not working On Oppo F25 Pro 5G? Fixed | Dr.fone
- In 2024, Everything You Need to Know about Lock Screen Settings on your Realme GT 5
- Title: "Making Yields with Content The Creator's Money Map"
- Author: Steven
- Created at : 2024-05-25 19:51:28
- Updated at : 2024-05-26 19:51:28
- Link: https://youtube-clips.techidaily.com/making-yields-with-content-the-creators-money-map/
- License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
