Long Videos Vs. Shorts on YouTube: what should you do? Featuring Jaclyn Forbes: The YouTube Power Hour Podcast 335
“I knew in my soul that I needed to do it”
Be sure to check out my Free 2022 YouTube Goals Workbook! Inside you’ll find you’ll find an exercise that I do with my clients and in my Bootcamp that will help you stick with and achieve your goals on YouTube. The journaling and reflection exercises in the workbook have three different components that we’re going to focus on: money, lifestyle, and mindset, and will help align your life goals with your YouTube goals to help create the 2022 that YOU want.
Jaclyn Forbes is a Canadian beauty & lifestyle content creator. In under five years, this makeup artist turned influencer has garnered over 100 million+ video views. Through her love for sharing content revolving around makeup, plant-based food, travel, pop culture and celebrity interviews, it’s no doubt her audience has grown to over 550,000+ followers around the globe. From SFX Robot Halloween looks, to ‘Vegan What I Eat In A Day’ videos, to vulnerable vlogs chatting about confidence, Jaclyn has captured a loyal audience. Whether Jaclyn is hosting the MTV Fashion Feed on the MMVA Red Carpet, or creating her ethically made Long Story Long sweatsuits, this Toronto-based influencer shares a peek into her busy world, one vlog at a time.
Jaclyn’s obsession with YouTube started when she was a young teen. She discovered makeup tutorials on YouTube and developed a passion for video editing soon after. At the age of 16 she was finally ready to launch her own channel, and she took it seriously from day 1. Even at such a young age, she had the foresight to maintain a level of professionalism in the event that a brand stumbled across her. She hit 10k subscribers relatively quickly. She was posting every other day for 2-3 months straight. She decided to go to makeup school, which went hand in hand with her channel. Not only was it hands on and artistic and was easy to balance with her growing channel, but it also helped enhance her content.
After she graduated, Jaclyn was able to get a job at an Emmy-award winning television show until she was offered a deal with Much Music’s MCN and she went for it and went all in with her channel.
“If you’ve been thinking about it, don’t put it off. It’s time to do it.”
Short Form vs. Long Form Content
After being on YouTube for nearly 10 years, how do you stay fresh? How do you continue to create relevant, niched content? TikTok has really reinspired and reignited the way she views social media and approaches her YouTube channel. Shorts especially have been able to help her experiment with content without spending all the time to plan, film, and edit a long form video. Are shorts helping Jaclyn grow her channel? Well yes and no. Shorts are better for reaching a new audience and getting a viral video, but it’s not necessarily translating to the long form video stats. It’s almost as if shorts and long form videos have two distinctly different audiences.
So how do you determine what kind of shorts to create on your channel? When it comes to TikTok, for Jaclyn it’s whatever feels fun, interesting, or trendy to her. For YouTube, she curates her shorts a little more, choosing content that was shot with a little bit more intention and polish. She considers her YouTube channel more like a portfolio, whereas TikTok is more fun and silly with far less polish. Even though short-form content is here to stay, there is still a measurable difference between TikTok, Reels, and Shorts, both for creators and consumers.
The Struggle is Real
Jaclyn’s biggest struggle on YouTube is finding a work-life balance. She tries to set boundaries, but it’s hard. Finding the balance between working hard in something that she’s passionate about without letting it run her life 24/7. It’s hard as a creator, especially when you know that in this industry, more input = more output and more output = more revenue. Luckily she’s been able to hire a team to help her, and her only regret is that she didn’t do it sooner. You have to be able to let go of the fear and apprehension, and make the jump to hiring help in order to get to the next level.
Final Thoughts
Her #1 piece of advice for YouTubers? Stop letting the outside noise or the other channels you’re seeing dictate what your channel and content looks like. It’s ok to study and learn from other channels, but don’t try to replicate their content. The internet loves uniqueness and quirkiness, and a lot of people are tired of seeing the same, cookie-cutter thing over and over again. It’s the raw, real, and relatable that will draw viewers to a creator.
“I’ve always let my intuition guide me.”
Mentioned in the Episode:
HALF MACHINE HALF HUMAN – SFX Makeup Tutorial
Connect with Jaclyn:
Resources
Add your name to the Zero to Influence YouTube Bootcamp waitlist so you are notified when space becomes available!
Watch my replay of my FREE Zero to 100k Subscribers Masterclass
FREE GUIDES:
Creating Content During Crisis: How to Create Impactful Content During COVID-19 Pandemic
Getting Started on YouTube: YouTube Niche Workbook
How to get onto PR lists and receive a TON of free product even if you have a small following: PR List
YOUTUBE OPTIMIZATION PLUG-IN I RECOMMEND
TubeBuddy [Use the code ErikasBuddy to get 20% off]
MY FAVORITE BUSINESS TOOLS
Course Creation: Looking to create a course? Kajabi is the BEST platform hands down. I use this for my course after extensive research on all the other platforms.
Live Calls and Interviews: I use Ecamm for my podcast interviews, both audio and for YouTube that you see here on YouTube. It makes it super easy to share my screen and create the split-screen with my guest. I’m not super techie and this software is really easy to use!
Webinars and Live calls: I use Zoom.us for my group coaching calls in my private membership group for female YouTube creators. It’s also the software I use to record my Road to 100k YouTube Subscribers Masterclass!
THE BEST YOUTUBE/PODCASTING EQUIPMENT
After interviewing HUNDREDS of successful YouTube creators, these are the pieces of equipment that hands down get mentioned time and time again. You can’t go wrong with anything on this list!
- 4k Camera: Great for starting out and vlogging
- Lens: This lens is recommended highly by many of my podcast guests, it gives the blurry “YouTuber” background look.
- Audio: If you want to upgrade your set-up, audio should be one of the first investments (after a good camera). This microphone is unanimously the favorite amongst my podcast guests.
- Podcast/Voiceover Microphone: If you are looking for a great microphone for a podcast or video voiceover, this is it! This is the one that you see in all of my videos and the one I’ve recorded my podcast on for years.
- Webcam: For my interviews, that you see in my videos, this is the webcam that I use. Super inexpensive and easy to set up!
- Inexpensive Lighting Kit: Need to pick up some lights but don’t want to spend a ton? This is a great set that will get you started and help improve the look of your videos.
- Ring light: Looking for that beauty look? Invest in a ring light! This is an inexpensive light that does that trick!
FACEBOOK GROUP
Podcast Music Credit: Boop by x50 @x50music
Music provided by Free Music for Vlogs youtu.be/o52xQkQWzyU
*Erika Vieira is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.amazon.com.
**Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledged. Links in the description are typically affiliate links that let you help support the podcast at no extra cost.
