5 Questions to Ask Before You Decide to Start a YouTube Channel

You’re starting a YouTube channel? Good! But before you start framing shots with your hands and getting a beret with the word DIRECTOR, there are some points that should be considered.

1. Why? What is your motivation? Not that you shouldn’t do it, but if you can identify why you want to do it, it will change the way you do it. For example, are you using the channel to drive traffic to your personal website? Do you want to make a political or environmental or social statement? Are you pas-sionate about a hobby/profession and want to share your expertise?

If the answer is “making money,” then you’re probably not on the right track. This takes time and effort. Find out what your motivation is and how that will af-fect your channel.

2. What are your videos going to cover? What will they be about? Do you have a clear idea what you want to accomplish? Be sure you’re passionate about the topic; you’re going to spend a lot of time on it.

3. Who are you making this for? Seriously. What’s your target audience? Are you making videos for the same people that love the Terminator movies? If so, they’re probably not the audience that is going to line up for Jane Austin. What will you say to your audience and how will you say it?

The chances are that 14-15-year-old boys are not going to be receptive to an in-depth analysis of Mozart, and 70-year-old intellectuals are not going to want to know how to do a kick on a skateboard.

It’s not just the topic. It’s a different language, a different tone, and a different ap-proach.

4. Who are you competing with? Attention spans are short things. If a viewer lasts 10-15 minutes on your channel, consider that a major victory. There are a lot of channels out there, and they are trying to appeal to the same audience you are. What are they doing? What’s their approach?

Don’t give up, if it’s being done, that only means there’s a market for it. You just need to do it better, deeper or stronger or some way to set yourself apart from the others.

5. How are you going to measure your success? It's easy to say, "I'll know it when it happens," but then you'll never know if you're close. Were you closer before you changed something? After?

If you can measure it, you can change direction to get closer to it. Figure out how you personally measure success.

These are just somethings to keep in mind when designing your YouTube channel. Deciding these will help you figure out how to create, maintain and improve your channel, and keep the viewers coming back for more.

Before You Start Filming, Take These Steps

Starting a YouTube channel is quick and easy and will do wonders for your online presence. It can tie into your Facebook or Twitter or Reddit or other social media and provide ad revenue to boot.

So where to begin?

Well, there are some things to keep in mind before you start.

1. Who are you talking to? If your goal is to talk about investment strategies, you’re probably not going to target 14-year-olds. On the other hand, very few investment bankers really care about skateboards. Decide who your audience is, what they need, what they want to see and how they want it presented. Start with who you think you are in terms of audience, your age group, your in-terests, and your hobbies.

2. Who is your competition? You have competitors. No matter how unique you believe your product might be, there is someone out there with something very similar. Now pay attention to what they are doing, what works, what doesn’t and find a way to set yourself apart. Use that information to do your channel differently, either in content or style, something that sets you apart from the pack.

3. Get some content in the back. Create three or four videos and have them up-loaded. Creating and uploading are pretty straightforward, there are numer-ous instructional videos on how to get it done. Why? You’re going to want first-time viewers to have a few videos to look at in order for them to get a pattern and be enticed to return for more.

4. Be consistent. Most initial channels attract viewers only to lose them again be-cause the videos are being randomly updated or not updated at all. If there is a new video every Friday, viewers will return every Friday. If there’s a new video every other Thursday, they’ll come by twice a month. But if it’s random and skips a week now and then, they’ll be frustrated and give up. Once you’ve made a schedule, stick with it. Make sure it’s there when expected.

5. Have a backlog of videos for people to watch. If viewers like your style, they’ll want more. Give them plenty of options for more content.

6. Check the SEO. Search Engine Optimization. Use the right keywords to be found in a search. Make sure the title of each video clearly explains what the video is about. Make sure the description is clear.

Keep these things in mind, and you’re on your way to a successful YouTube chan-nel.

Got Your Channel Set Up? Now What?

So you’ve got your YouTube channel set up. You’ve even picked out your topic and figured out how to stand out from the crowd. You’re ready to roll. Now what?

Here are a few items to check off the list to keep the momentum going.

Make a commitment. Don’t keep your viewers waiting. With today’s short atten-tion spans, you want new content there rapidly. Upload at a minimum once per week. If your subscribers know you’re going to post every Sunday, they will wait and check in every Sunday. If there’s nothing new there, they’ll forget about your channel. Post multiple times per week if you can but create a schedule and stick to it.

Get a video flow you can live with. You’re not producing a mega-blockbuster-epic movie. On the other hand, you’re not going to create a jerky, cheesy hand-held nightmare either. You know your budget; you know how much time you can put into this. Create a workflow that falls somewhere in between cheap and pomp-ous.

Give ‘em the hook. For example, if you’re going to show someone how to create an ice sculpture with a chainsaw, start with showing them the end result. Let’s see the angel first, then bring out the block of ice and the chainsaw.

If that’s not appropriate, start with a story. People will sit and wait for a good story, and if there’s a story behind the video, it’ll enhance the viewing.

Pay attention to the credits. You’ve seen the credits and opening music. It’s the part that people try to fast forward through. Everyone on the team deserved recognition for their hard work but keep the credits as short and sweet as you can.

And about those end credits, use them to point your viewers to your website, to your product, or to your playlist with other videos in your channel. Use that end time to further your goal.

Ahhhh is distracting. So is “uhmm….” Edit them out. Especially long pauses and forgotten lines. Stay focused, showing your subscribers how to bake a pie doesn’t include a ten-minute session remembering how your mother organized her kitchen. Get the tangents out too.

Get good thumbnails. It increases your rating with YouTube if your thumbnails get chosen a lot. Make them compelling and easy to see.

And always, remember to have fun with what you're doing. If you have fun, your viewers will have fun with you. Keep the effort in it and enjoy what you do.

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5 Productivity Hacks for Home Busi-nesses

Getting things done when you’re trying to work from home is sometimes more challenging than you’d expect. It’s not only easy to get distracted, but it’s easy to forget that you’re there to work. That’s why so much of productivity starts with your own attitude, and how you set yourself up for success throughout the day.
Here are several productivity hacks to get you started.

1. Get dressed- all the way down to your shoes. Nothing sends a negative mes-sage to your brain faster than you trying to work in your pajamas. If you’re dressed for sleep, your brain is going to be thinking its bedtime – regardless of how many hours of sleep you’ve had the night before. While you might not need to wear a suit and tie to get yourself in the mindset of work – don’t discount the possibility. You’re trying to train your mind to think of your home as your work-space. In order to do that you need to wear clothes that will tell you it’s time for work. And why shoes? Shoes tell us we’re ready to go somewhere. Wearing shoes is a subtle psychological shift in thinking that you’re ready to get things done.

2. Turn off your phone. Unless you need it for work, it’s only going to be a distrac-tion. Not only will social media be a constant temptation, but also constant no-tices of new email, new text messages, and status updates will take you out of the moment and make it harder to get started again. Try setting times to check your phone for messages and turn it off in between when you need to get things done. 5 RRW

3. Create your workspace. Make sure you have a place to work that’s conducive for work. If clutter distracts you, then keep your desk clear. If you’re working on the couch, do you have an adjustable laptop stand to keep your keyboard at the optimal height? Do you have a decent desk chair to sit in that is ergonomically friendly to your back? You’ll get a lot more done if you’re comfortable than if you’re fighting with the furniture trying to get comfortable.

4. Don’t forget to eat. Working from home wreaks havoc with your personal schedule. But skipping meals will lead to reduced productivity and poor health. Also, don’t get in the habit of grabbing what’s quick. Going through a box of Pop-Tarts might keep your sugar up all afternoon, but you can be guaranteed a crash later on, not to mention a body that won’t thank you for that treatment later.

5. Keep in touch. Working from home can get really isolating. Maintain friend-ships and work from a coffee shop once in a while. Get out of the house. This helps keep you sharp mentally and more able to get things done when you sit down to work.

Productivity really starts with you. By taking care of yourself and putting some ef-fort into your work environment, you’ll be better able to be more productive in your work day.

6 Brilliant Ways to Boost Your Productiv-ity as an Online Entrepreneur

While working from home seems like the ideal place to get things done, some-times it’s really easy to get caught up in the distractions that come with being at home. It’s not always easy to buckle down and get stuff done, especially when it’s a nice day and your dog is just dying to spend some time with you and that old tennis ball he’s found.

What are some quick and easy ways to stay on task?

1. Take two minutes. While two-minutes doesn’t sound like a lot of time to get things done, two-minute tasks come up more often than you think. It usually takes less than two minutes to write an email, for example. Or to text back a re-sponse to a client. When you find you have those two-minute tasks, don’t put them off for later. Just do them now and get them over with. Then you don’t have them hanging over your head, and you can feel super-productive for getting something done.

2. Schedule a meeting. When you started working from home, you might have thought that you'd escaped the corporate meeting mindset. But sometimes a se-ries of emails or texts isn't sufficient to get the idea across. Rather than waste time trying to explain in text, schedule a phone meeting where you can handle questions, and discuss key points that otherwise might be missed. You’ll wind up saving a lot of time in the long run. 7 RRW

3. Find a tool to help. Can’t stay on track? Need something to help you break down a bigger project? There are various apps for that. For anything from task managers to motivation, you can find it in the app store. Everyone is different, so it might take a little experimentation to find the one that works best for you.

4. Keep the distractions. Not everyone can work in an absolutely silent atmos-phere. You might find you need some white noise in the background to be more productive. While using the TV is generally a poor idea (as it gets distracting) you might find you work best with some music playing. Again, experimentation is key.

5. If you’re on the computer a lot – try keyboard shortcuts. While the time saved here might be somewhat minimal, the idea behind keyboard shortcuts is great. You’ll find you’re getting a lot more done, much quicker the less you have to take your hands off the keyboard and go to the mouse.

6. Allow yourself some time. In other words, why not take that ball and throw it for Fido for ten minutes. Working from home is supposed to give you the flexibil-ity to do stuff when you want to – so long as you make up the time later on.

Staying productive is usually a pretty simple matter of just being mindful of where and how you use your time. Using these techniques will help you stay on track, and keep you getting things done throughout your day.

An Intro to the Pomodoro Technique—Save Your Time and Sanity

The Pomodoro Technique was invented by a then-university student, Francesco Cirillo. He named it after the kitchen timer he used to track his times – a timer in the shape of a tomato. (Pomodoro is Italian and means ‘tomato.’)

The idea of the Pomodoro Technique is to take large, time-consuming tasks and block them into time slots, with breaks in between, to improve attention span. Simply by using this method, you can improve your concentration and even lengthen your attention span when you use it consistently.

Pomodoro is very simple:

When you’re ready to work on a task, set your timer for 25 minutes. For these 25 minutes, you will focus solely on your task. You won’t check email, texts or an-swer the phone. Pure attention is to be given to the task you’ve committed these minutes to.

When the timer goes off, take a five-minute break. Get up, walk around, try to clear your head of the project. If you've been looking at a computer screen, try to do something different during breaks. Doing this will give your brain the real break it needs so when you go back to work, it feels refreshed, which means you’ll have better focus on the task. 9 RRW

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5 Steps to Overcoming Shyness

Shyness can be debilitating. It can prevent us from living an adventurous life; it can hold us back from getting a promotion, making the presentation, taking the chance on someone we find attractive and interesting.

In many cases, a mental health professional or hypnotherapist can alter these be-haviors. In the meantime, there are certain things that you can do on your own to take control over your shyness and keep it from interfering with the life you want to lead.

Where should you begin?

1. Ask where the stress is coming from. Note whether it’s because you have to give a speech on Friday, or your crush is sitting too close. What is the core of this feeling? What you’re experiencing is often the symptom of a deeper prob-lem. For instance:

• Often shyness comes from a poor self-image, imagining others are more im-portant than you are. • You’re overly worried about the way others perceive you. • You’ve been labeled “shy” for so long you’ve accepted it as truth.

2. Accept that you’re shy. Be comfortable with it. The harder you fight it, the stronger it gets and the more trouble you’ll have interacting with the world. 3. Realize when the shyness kicks in. Are you shy around everyone or only the people who matter to you? What about when talking to someone whose opin-ion doesn’t matter? Shyness is rarely ever a 100% all-encompassing problem; it varies in intensity depending on the situation.

4. Start writing things down. When do the symptoms happen? What are you do-ing? Where are you? Who are you with? Order them by severity. When was the worst attack? When was the least?

5. Now that you have the list start working through the triggers. Capture a dozen or so examples and sort them by severity and start at the bottom, with the least stressful situations. The only way to conquer a fear is by facing it. If the least stressful situation on your list was having to talk to a coworker, then strike up a conversation with them. If the least stressful incident on your list is talking to a stranger, pay someone a compliment on what they’re wearing.

Start with the least stressful things on your list until you’re accustomed to facing these situations. By getting in some practice, you’re going to notice how good it feels to accomplish this task. Once you’re more comfortable with the process, you’ll have a better chance to conquer the larger, more intimidating items.

Facing your fears makes them smaller and less frightening. You can do this. Just give yourself the chance.

10 Techniques to Move from Shy to Self-Confident

Shyness can be debilitating, especially in a work environment. It can also be over-come, but it takes some time and effort. Consulting with a therapist might be indi-cated if the shyness is extreme, as it could be a sign of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD).

There are steps to reducing shyness. Practice these steps every day, and the shy-ness will begin to dwindle and even dissipate.

1. You may think that you radiate shyness, that it’s written all over your face, but you’d be wrong. Most won’t realize you’re shy if you don’t mention it. Not that it’s anything to be ashamed of, just don’t mention it.

2. Keep it light. Yes, shyness can be crippling and severe, but if you’re ques-tioned, laugh it off or treat it as no big deal. Others take their cues from you. If you’re not concerned, they won’t be either.

3. Does shyness have secondary symptoms such as blushing, nervousness, short-ness of breath? Admit to the obvious but separate that from being shy. “I’ve always been a bit nervous in new situations. This is just normal for me.”

4. Let yourself shine through Avoid the well-meaning person who introduces you to others as “shy” or “quiet,” Don’t rely on labels, let yourself be you. You are more than a single trait.

5. Calm the voice in your head that kicks you when you’re down. We all make mistakes, and we all occasionally act the fool. That’s ok to do once in a while, but don’t let that voice in your head hold you back.

6. Write down what’s the best and brightest about you. Get someone to help. In-telligence, creativity, easy-going manner – all of these are positive traits. Write them down and when that voice tries to drag you down again, go over them. Remind yourself how great you are.

7. Take a good look at how you feel around your friends. Are you positive and en-ergized or do you question yourself when you’re with them? Be honest. You cannot grow if you are surrounded by people who constantly tell you how in-adequate you are.

8. Avoid the bullies. There will ever be those who would bully you, would drag you down. These are relatives, coworkers, toxic relationships that convince you how far you are from perfection.

9. Look at others, the ones that seem bold and self-confident. What do they do, how do they react? What can you do differently? Emulate the best of their be-haviors. 10. Forgive yourself. You’ll make mistakes; you’ll fall on your face. That’s how things are. Don’t let one mistake derail your efforts.

These are basic beginning steps to help pull you out of the shyness spiral. Keep in mind; you may want to talk to a behavioral health specialist for the bigger issues. Am I Shy or Just an Introvert?

Some people are shy, while others are described as introverts. Is there a differ-ence?

Yes, there is, and those differences are important if you want to change. Working with shyness is very different than working with someone who’s introverted. But does it matter? Is it a bad thing to be shy or introverted?

If you’re happy with where you are in life, then there’s no motivation or even rea-son to change. But if you want to work on your social and professional relation-ships, if you want to interact and talk to people with confidence, then it’s proba-bly time to do something about it. And to do that, it’s important to know the what it means to be shy vs. what it is to be an introvert. How do you find out? First, ask yourself a couple of questions.

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Keep Your Home Secure While You're Away with a Video Doorbell System

The Internet and World Wide Web have been integrated into many areas of our lives, and this includes home security. There are home security systems and con-sumer electronic devices that can be hooked into your home’s Internet. This pro-vides all-day, all-night, anywhere access wherever you have an Internet connec-tion.

If your security system is compromised, you receive an immediate notification via email, text or telephone call. In many cases this notification triggers a live video feed where you can see the area of your home which caused the security system response. While these security systems are very effective, they can be costly, and most come with a monthly maintenance fee.

A simpler, less expensive and equally effective way to keep your home safe and secure is with a Wi-Fi enabled video doorbell system.

What Is a Smart Doorbell Camera?

Video doorbells, also called wireless doorbell cameras or smart doorbell cameras, are well described by their names. You are no doubt familiar with a traditional doorbell. This is a button or some other type of pressure activated device gener-ally located by the front door of a residence. A bell sounds inside the home when the doorbell is activated to let the residents know someone is at their door.

A wireless doorbell camera adds live and recorded video features plus Wi-Fi Inter-net access to a traditional doorbell. When the doorbell is pushed a bell still sounds to let the inhabitants know someone is at their door. Additionally, and more importantly for home security, a motion activated sensor triggers video capture when someone gets within a certain distance of the doorbell. Simultaneously, a live video feed begins, and the smartphone or tablet, laptop or desktop computer you have associated with your video doorbell notifies you.

This is a relatively new and very powerful home security feature that is surpris-ingly affordable considering what it allows you to do. Many smart doorbell cam-eras record video as well as broadcasting live. This means that not only can you see who is on your porch, but you also have a recorded video of whatever tran-spires afterward.

"Get Off My Porch!"

In addition to video recording, you can speak to the person who has triggered the motion sensor on your video doorbell. This happens in real time. As you are look-ing at the video of the individual in your front yard or at your front door, you can talk with them.

A potential burglar will not know if you are inside your home or half a world away. Additional features on a smart doorbell camera include the ability to share your video and audio with other people in your neighborhood, in the hopes of prevent-ing break-ins in other homes as well as your own.

Some video doorbell security systems can be integrated with Google, and Amazon voice activated consumer electronics, and prices began around just $60. A video doorbell can help you beef up your home security system without spending a lot of money, and you get 24/7 video and audio recording and interactivity whether you are at home or away.

Protecting Your Home from Cyber Crimi-nals

The smart home was supposed to revolutionize the way we live. By connecting consumer electronics, appliances, heating and cooling systems, doors, windows, and home security systems to the internet, smart homes allow global wi-fi access to your home. You can adjust your thermostat, turn lights and appliances on and off, and control your home's lighting when you are away.

Unfortunately, smart homes have not delivered on the nirvana of residential living they promised. There are compatibility issues which arise constantly depending on what type of smart home appliances and electronics you purchase, and Wi-Fi access means cyber vulnerability accompanies global accessibility.

Even if you don't live in what could be classified as a smart home, there are still ways that cybercriminals can breach your home's security without crashing through your front door or breaking in through a window. Here are a few tips and proven practices that can keep your home and family safe from Internet criminals.

Use Passphrases Instead of Passwords

People often use passwords which are personal in nature when encrypting their smartphones and computers. Passphrases are almost always harder to crack, and you can make them even more difficult for a thief to decipher by including special characters, numbers, and both upper and lowercase letters.

Use Different Passcodes for Different Sites And Devices

You may think that using a single passcode everywhere you go online makes sense because it is easy for you to remember. Just remember that this gives a cyber thief access to every website and device you use once they discover that passcode.

Set All Social Media Networking Profiles to Private

This practice just makes sense. If everything you post online can be seen by any-one anywhere in the world, how safe is your information?

Change the Default Password on Your Router

Did you know most wireless routers have their passcodes written on them? There is usually a small white label on the bottom or back of your router that has your default passcode written on it. This means anyone that is ever in your home has access to this password. Always change the default router passcode to a unique and difficult passphrase, so only you and your family members have access.

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How Does My Credit Affect Mortgage Rates?

It’s no secret that your credit rating can prevent you from getting a mortgage, but it’s not the case that you will be automatically turned down if your credit score isn’t at least 700. In fact, mortgages are possible even if your credit rating isn’t stellar.

So what effect does your credit score have on a home loan?

If your credit history doesn’t indicate a habit of paying on time and dependable, you’re a higher risk to pay off a loan. The higher the risk, the greater the interest rate.

A higher interest rate means higher monthly payments and a greater amount of payment overall. For example, on a $200,000 loan at 4.17%, you might expect to pay $975 per month and $150,833 on interest over the lifetime of a 30-year loan. If your credit does not qualify for a 4.17% interest rate, say more along the line of 5.213%, the monthly payment is closer to $1,100 each month which doesn’t seem much different until you figure out that you’re paying nearly double the initial price of the home in the long run.

There are several loans available for people with low credit scores. FHA, for exam-ple, will offer mortgages to people with a score of 500 and 10% or more down payment. USDA will offer loans to people with a score of 640 for rural housing purchases. For lose who qualify, the VA also offers loans to people with a score of 620 or better.

If your credit isn’t high, there are options. Instead of settling for the best rate you can get now, consider these alternatives.

1. Check your credit report. Look for errors. Clean them up, contact the credi-tor and ask them to retract misinformation.
2. If you’re in credit card debt, pay your credit cards down to 30% of the maxi-mum limit. Don’t pay them off, just get them down and keep up with the payments.
3. Pay your bills on time. This includes credit cards, loans, and rent.
4. If you’ve paid off old credit lines, don’t close them. Leave them open.
5. Don’t open more lines of credit, or at least not yet. Keep the credit/debit ra-tio as low as you can.
6. b before applying for a mortgage.
7. Regardless of where your credit is, when shopping for a lender (and by all means, shop for a lender), do all your searching in a 30-day window. All in-quiries made within 30 days on the same loan are considered one hit on your credit rating and will not continue to affect your credit score overall.

Improving your credit score isn’t fast, but it can save your thousands of dollars in the meantime. Do the work now, to save yourself money later.

How to Get a Mortgage with Poor or No Credit

Nearly a quarter of Americans have a credit score under 600. The national aver-age of 675 is still too low to qualify for the best rates in conventional mortgages.

The good news is that there are programs aimed at getting people with low credit scores into home ownership. These programs include government programs such as FHA and VA loans but also online lenders such as Quicken and Carrington. How does this work?

1. Simply bypass a low credit score with a higher down payment. A higher down payment establishes instant equity and means that you have to borrow less money for a larger secured value.

2. Check into government-sponsored programs. The FHA loan, for example, does not require 20% down, but does require 3.5%, and has liberal qualification re-quirements. The downside is that FHA has a certain maximum, meaning you may need to buy less of a house than you’d hoped. FHA also requires Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), a costly form of insurance to pay the lender if you default on the loan.

3. Understand your credit and what it means. Most lenders have been known to help people with poor credit get a loan. They look at other factors than just the number like cash flow, earnings, and your history of paying off loans. Understand though that the lower the score, the higher the interest rate. That means higher monthly payments and a much higher payoff amount by the end of the loan.

4. Fixing your credit is possible and may be easier than you think. Check your credit report. There are free services online that you can use to investigate your credit score. Find the black marks, work with the creditors to remove those marks against you.

5. Check for errors on your reports. Often, a mistake or error will show up on your report. If you’re buying a house, a higher score has large ramifications, so don’t let the mistakes stand. Get a letter of clearance from the lender who re-ported against your credit saying the situation was an error or that the amount has been covered.

6. Start these processes early, before ever making an offer, before shopping around from place to place. At least 90 days prior to making an offer, let the credit changes have a chance to change. A short delay now will save you a large sum of money over the next two or three decades as you continue to make pay-ments on your home.

Buying a home doesn’t have to be impossible on poor or no credit, but there are things you can do to increase your odds of getting a home loan. Do the work now, to save yourself big money later. And never give up hope. Homeownership might still be on your radar, even with little or no credit.

Pros and Cons of Using an Online Mort-gage Lender

With the advent of the internet, many traditional "brick and mortar" businesses are going online. Today not only are books, tools, and movies available for down-load, but even mortgages are available online.