Hello everyone, So here I am your friend 'Yogita aka Tanya' with one of the most interesting interviews and it is going to be a resourceful guide for people who are very much interested in vlogging. Today I am with a friend and a well known tech vlogger from Yourtube channel Cronos Tech. Let's hear more from him.
1) Hey Sahil, Please share a brief about you and your work with our readers.
Hey Guys I'm Sahil From Cronos Tech and i make Youtube videos about the Latest Trends in Tech focusing mainly on Consumer Electronics like Smartphones, Wearables and i show some love for Android Development every now and then, helping people get the best out of their devices. I've almost been doing this for an year and a half now and have really enjoyed the support and feedback from people around me.
2) You are into vlogging from a long time now, what made you to start a video channel and why not a blog?
I'm into Vlogging for almost an Year and half now and what drove me to do it was the will to share my happiness when i got a Keyboard almost two years ago and i made a video of it with no aims or goals whatsoever. In just 2 months i had 14000 views which was an overwhelming response for me. I had no idea anyone would ever watch something that i did out of sheer happiness, so i continued making videos on more and more things i could buy at that time and share my experience with People.
And the Question, why not a blog is asked upon a lot of times whenever i tell anyone my work and the answer is pretty simple Audio Visual Content is more interactive and people love watching videos more than they do, reading blogs and articles. When people watch videos they can connect with the presenter or with the scenario in a more profound way. I love reading blogs too but i sometimes feel they lack the interaction users get while they are watching videos an it's really fun to do it too. Audio-Visual Content is the King!
3) What problems you faced in the very initial days of vlogging ?
The availability of Resources and Information was the biggest problem i faced in my initial days. I had no idea on how to get the right information about some particular products let's say a brand new phone that launches in the market, on the Right time, you try your best to extract content out of your creative ideas and turn it into reality which in my case was videos but you're bound by a lot of factors like the resources to accomplish the task at the level you want it to be executed at.
And because of that you either can't work upto your full potential or sometimes even the full Potential doesn't have that Potential. Knowing more and more people doing the same thing helps too as you can share the Difficulties you face and they always come to the rescue ( mostly 😛 ).
4) What is the story behind your first 1000 Youtube subscribers?
So i casually made videos with views around 10-15k and then one day there was something new in town. And that was 'Whatsapp calling'. ( Video link) It was not officially available so i made a video on it for people to see how they could enable it before the official release. It was something everyone wanted to get their hands on and the whole thing was on fire.
In under a month the Channel hit 2 lakh views (200,000) on that video and it got me to the 1000 subscribers mark. Today that video has 2.5 lakh (250,000) views and is the most watched Video on my channel till date.
Thanks to the Guys at Whatsapp and everyone's Support!
5) So what softwares, gadgets & other tools you would like recommend to vlogging beginners? Please share most essential vlogging tools.
People care more about content than quality. I started with a digicam with no idea of what i was doing. I made my first video off my digicam and directly uploaded it without Editing or any Post Processing and All. It was shaky as hell, The sound was really poor and People still watched that video!
Also Check - How to Create the Perfect YouTube Channel: Dos and Don'ts
Because they wanted to know more about the product and there was nothing on it in the Market (Thanks to the Timing)! Since then Times have changed. I work with better gear now but still get nagged ( 😛 ) by some people for the quality of the content (Check it Out and Tell Me if those Folks are Right).
Now for Tips : Shoot with whatever you have, a phone, camera or a pumpkin whatever works. Wait, not pumpkin.
Editing Videos : Camtasia should be your tool of choice if you really don't want to bang your head around learning technical things. (And to not get intimidated by the interface of complex video editing softwares)
Adobe Premiere if you want to get your hands dirty and explore the farthest possibilities of Video Production and yeah Final Cut Pro or iMovie for Mac.
If you want to invest in good audio, Go for the Blue Snowball and if you want to get the best sound, go for the Blue Yeti !
Audio is one of the Things you want to ensure, that always stays Crispy! And for Editing audio if you've recorded from an External Mic, AUDACITY is the way to go. It's free and everyone uses it.
When it comes to vlogging about latest trends, try to be the early bird for maximum exposure of the videos.5) Is there any one whom you admire? Share few names who are your supporting hands & who motivate you a lot for good work?
The Person i truly admire and probably the name you'll hear around the most would be Marques K Brownlee aka "MKBHD". He is someone whom i've looked upto for long. We're the same age (plus a million people following him). He's been doing all this for a lot of time now and is considered the benchmark in Video Quality and content when it comes to tech.
Apart from that i've had some really needed support from folks belonging to the same line namely Jay, Shantanu and Prajyot who helped me in the very beginning. There are a couple more people from the Corporate Industry also who've been really nice to me throughout and helped me in the best way they could.
6) What all category of gadgets you cover at your YouTube channel?
I generally cover Smartphones and Wearables on the Channel along with Tutorials. Smartphone accessories are something that the section is incomplete with so yes; you can see videos on them too.
7) Being a tech vlogger, you must be recovering many tech gadgets on daily basis, so what is an average number of devices you review in a month?
Well, that's a Fun Part !
On a Monthly basis there are atleast 10 Products coming up on the door to be reviewed. Sometimes it gets more than that and those are the Times it becomes really hard to keep up. But this is one of the parts i Love. You get to try technology even before it becomes hot!
8) How unbiased are your paid reviews? And what you charge for a review?
My Reviews or to say, all my video are as Unbiased as they can be, because of the factor that i don't charge for reviews, so i am free to say whatever i like and the Tech Industry is very welcoming to unbiased reviews these days and hear what's bad about their devices so that they can also improve with time and make Better Products.
9) Can we have an idea about your income reports from your vlogging work ?
Well, initially i would say vlogging isn't really going to help you around much. In the beginning, It won't be helpful in paying your Bills for a Long time. So, i don't depend on my Income from Blogging. And Recently the Adsense Revenue, Youtubers used to get, went down by 70% so that was a steep point in the run too but it was temporary.
I would advise you to keep blogging/vlogging your secondary work as long as it's not running good or if you're not under the pressure to earn. Because it takes time to build up a reputation and a user base that consume your content on a daily basis and help you generate revenue to make a living off blogging/vlogging.
10) How unbiased are your paid reviews? and what you charge for a review?
Being honest here.
I haven't done even a single paid review till date.The problem with that is that the companies try to make you say only positive about a product with their money if you agree for a paid Review.
Although the Idea of getting Money for doing what you love is obviously great but I prefer to keep my Videos free of hidden issues a product might cause after you buy it. But Yeah, Now Companies are becoming pretty helpful too as they like to hear honest opinions about their products so they can improve it and make it even better next time.
11) So what is your earning module?
Currently I would say 40% Youtube Adsense and 60% freelance Graphic Design Work i do for various Clients. Sometimes there are problems maintaining the balance between both but at the end of the day it just works out and when it doesn't. You have to make it work! That's pretty much how it goes.
12) What is your intake on Giveaways and Stuff? Do you Love to host giveaways?
Giveaways are the great way to connect directly with your viewers. And everyone loves to get them, Is not it ?
Well i do plan giveaways once a month. I have planned some giveaways that i am going to do before the end of the month that have been longing out for some time now and there's a lot of stuff piling up that i'll be giving out soon.
Time is the Only Constraint here.
13) What is your marketing strategy and what are your future plans?
Well, the only strategy to market my Channel as of now is making my content better and better with Time. People help by doing Critiques and if you're good enough then you learn from it. I've learnt a lot from it. Apart from that I plan on rolling out a Website to support the channel too so i can help startups publish their stories which is one more thing that really interests me. So i hope to do that sometime soon to really make a Dent.
Do whatever you need to Do. But Make a Dent!
hey friends, Thanks for reading this amazing interview. Do share your questions through comment section if you have some regarding video blogging, Sahil will love to answer them and even I
