How to Vlog Like A Boss: Book Review

Vlog Like A Boss:

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

The quote above is one of the infamous quotes that is found in Vlog Like A Boss by Amy Schmittauer. Amy is one of the leading authorities on how to kill it making videos online.

I heard about her in Gary Vaynerchuks newsletter. I had never heard of her before. The recommendation from Gary was a big push for me to check out this woman whom I had never heard of before.

I immediately dove into her content on YouTube. The videos that I saw were really what I was looking for. I had always wanted to start a YouTube channel but I had the same insecurities with it as I did when starting the blog, if not more.

The fear of showing my face and talking to a camera. Fear of putting something out into the universe and wondering what people would think.

Needless to say since starting to write daily and put multiple works out every week, my confidence level in myself is slowly on the rise. I know that I will make mistakes and I know I will never have the perfect article or video. The only thing that matters is to just do it.

Amy’s book is one that I enjoy. I like it because its an easy, fun, and quick read. She pulls no punches and gets directly into the meat of the book. Amy does give some background on why she got into vlogging, but its a story she needs to tell in order to show you that anyone can do it.

Authenticity:

Let me ask you this right now (because it might be the most important turning point for you to take a chance on video): do you feel like you can and do represent an authentic version of who you are? It might sound like a big philosophical question, but it’s a critical one if you are going to vlog like a boss. Your personality is the only one you get, but it’s also the only one you need. You don’t have to be like someone else, sound like a successful person, or try to find ways to change yourself to fall in line. You gotta be you, or this is never going to work.

Authenticity is one of the biggest factors in order to Vlog Like A Boss. I was afraid to get in front of the camera in the beginning. The butterflies would rise in my stomach. I would feel like I was messing up all my words, replacing them with uhh’s and likes. 

The thing with authenticity is that if you are putting the best version of yourself out there then who gives a fuck what people think.

Nobody is out there that is like you. We are the only version of ourselves and YouTube needs that. It needs all walks of life in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

Amy teaches us that as long as we get in front of the camera and be ourselves then we are on our way to making content someone else can relate to.

Market Like A Boss:

Amy goes into every single tactic and strategy you could want for starting up a YouTube channel. Besides the normal tutorials of get in front of a camera, press record, publish; she dives deep into every single step along the way.

One of the biggest takeaways I got from the book was her Authority Video Formula. The formula is a step-by-step method to making sure your videos are optimized for peak performance. It is a checklist of sorts that guides you through each key point in your video. The formula will make sure that every video is structured correctly according to YouTube.

I use the PDF provided within the book for all my videos now. My first thoughts were to make them as long as possible. Her formula tells you to cut the fat and get to the good stuff immediately.

The chapter going through this formula in extensive detail is worth the price of the book alone.

Gear:

Gear doesn’t mean shit. Now Amy doesn’t use those exact words but the point is made in the book.

Having a nice expensive camera and all the best editing software is great. But this deters new vloggers from their story. Amy teaches us that it does not matter what you use to get your content out there. What we need to be focusing on is telling our audience something compelling and thought provoking. Make a video that relates to your specific audience and then engage that audience in the comments.

I purchased a beginner vlogging camera and started to learn how to edit on Windows Movie Maker. The camera wasn’t expensive and the editing software was free. I want to make sure that I learn the basics and that it is something I will be doing weekly. The content is what matters and I can not create good content without first learning a lot about what makes said content good.

Conclusion:

The book is really the definitive guide for beginners to get out there and start recording video. My first project is coming up the first weekend in March and because of Amy I am more than excited to film, edit, and publish for all to see.

Vlog Like A Boss opened my eyes to another outlet of creativity. If you are a frequent reader of this blog then you know that is my big goal this year. The book gave me all the tools I will need in my arsenal to produce great YouTube content.

Vlog Like A Boss has TONS of more content related to vlogging but these few takeaways are things that I found helpful. This review has just scratched the surface for the value the book provides. I feel that any YouTuber at any level can learn something from Amy and I am happy I found out about her.

If you get to read the book and begin to make video content, make sure to leave a comment with a link to your videos. I would be more than happy to become a subscriber.

Until then, look for all my current YouTube content at the Seftimor Live YouTube Channel!

 

Links And Resources:

• Vlog Like A Boss On Amazon
• Amys YouTube Channel
• Savvy Sexy Social Blog
• Seftimor Live YouTube Channel