Become a Sex Toy Reviewer – Part 6 – Vlogging Tips & Suggestions

Become A Reviewer, Features, Uncategorized

To finish up my 3 part series on vlogging and blogging, as brought on by a bunch of twitter DM’s from Pantophile Panic, I offer you this; a shit tonne of my vlogging tips and suggestions. May they serve you well.

Here’s the first part in the vlogging vs blogging series composed of 9 Q&A’s.
The second part, filled with another 9 Q&A’s, can be found here.

As for the question that got it all started…

Oh, geez. I have so many… too many probably. I could blurt them all out in my usual fashion, but I think breaking things down to cover the internet, all the cons, and filming tips, would probably serve you best. With that said and done, let’s wrap this baby up!

On The Internets:

First and foremost, don’t entrust all of your content to a site, whether it be YouTube, WordPress, Vimeo or otherwise. I’d suggest using YouTube to host your videos online (specifically YouTube, the reach is invaluable), and using another that’s far more sex friendly to embed the videos on your website. That way if some dipshit decides to flag and remove them it wont affect your websites content.

On that note, buy a USB flash drive and use it often. When I started 6 years ago I was naive and didn’t think I’d need one, suffice to say many of my original videos weren’t saved anywhere other than YouTube… so when they shut me down (we’ll get into that later) I had no copies of my own. If I could go back in time I’d pelt myself with Belladonnas Bitch Fist for that. HARD. I’ve learned a lot since then.

It can’t be denied, YouTube is the one of the best sites when trying to extend your reach. Use it to its full advantage; include links to your blog, social media profiles, and other related material in the description box. And don’t forget to add tags and annotations. These are by far the most under used and easiest to employ elements of the site.

With over 100 hrs of video uploaded to YouTube every minute it’s harder than ever to build a loyal following and get noticed, as such don’t let low video views be a determining or demotivating factor in your worth as a content creator or reviewer, and don’t expect overnight ‘success’ with the first video you put up. Make videos because you have a passion for it and want to change things for the better, not to get rich or be famous. Sure, Bieber did it. You likely wont. #pessimist #truth

The more videos you make the more likely your stuff will show up in YouTube searches and be seen, remember that if you’re trying to build a following. On that note, create playlists and set up your account so videos link to the playlist. It not only ensures your content stays visible, it makes sourcing it easy and automatic.

Try to post videos regularly, i.e. once a week or bi-weekly. It’ll help keep your content fresh, give everyone a chance to catch up on anything they’ve missed, and give your a viewers a schedule to follow. If they know you post often, they’ll keep checking back.

If you opt to make videos weekly, do your best not to burn out. There was a point where I was doing 3 videos a week. I think it broke my brain… and vagina.

Share your video across social bookmarking sites like Delicious and StumbleUpon, work your social networks like Twitter and Facebook to the best of their ability, and do your best to find that happy medium between ‘spamming’ people and sharing content. Because twitter streams tend to update quickly you can probably get away with posting a video a couple times a day, however on Facebook that shit just wont fly.

After about a week, embed the video on your site and go through the process of sharing it again. It’ll help draw more traffic to both your video and website.

If you choose to use YouTube, and I think you should, you can easily employ a ‘subscribe’ widget to your blog that allows people to subscribe to your channel without having to leave your website. The peeps at YouTube are some clever little s.o.b’s.

On the Negatives:

Keep in mind that once you put yourself out there, what you do can be found by anyone. at anytime. anywhere. Family can find out what you do. Friends can find out what you do. Partners can find out what you do. Your arch nemesis can find out what you do. Potential employers can find out what you do. Even if it was something you did, but don’t do any longer, it doesn’t matter. There is no total delete button for the internet. Be sure before you make the decision to go ‘public’.

You will likely be inundated w/ more questions than you have time to answer (specific to YouTube). People might even get shitty with you simply because you didn’t answer quickly enough. My suggestion; craft up a reply that can be cut and pasted to let them know you’ll get back when you can. If that’s not enough, state in your videos that you wont be taking questions unless it’s through your websites contact form. If all else fails, avoid your inbox like the plague. Crappy I know, but your sanity is important.

Depending on the content your creating, you may get shut down. I’m far too well versed with this one. Learn to take it personally and be proud. Obviously something you’re doing is pushing boundaries. That’s not a bad thing. Ducky DooLittle taught me that. She is a legend.

If you don’t already have one, develop a thick skin. People can be very mean when they don’t have to be held accountable for their words.

Just remember, your safety and well being are important. If at any time you feel threatened or targeted you have every right to report it… or you could always call on your many online supporters to act like sex positive warriors and fight for you (I’m only half kidding on that one, not really. #bringonthetroops).

Since I’m on the topic of trolls, you might want to set your account so comments can only be posted with your approval. To do this select from within your YouTube account Video Manager> Edit (the video you’re selecting)>Advance Settings>Check ‘Allow Comments’>From the Drop Down Menu ‘Approved’>Save. Done and done.

Make very good friends with the concept of blocking and deleting. It will serve you well.

On Filming:

Write point form notes or simple cue cards of everything you want to cover, they’ll come in handy when you lose your train of thought. And you will lose your train of thought eventually. If you can manage it, take the time to write yourself a script, just make sure that if you do this it doesn’t sound like you’re reading one when you’re filming. That shit’s just tacky.

If you think you can film an entire review in one shot, do it. Otherwise try to film it in segments, it’ll make editing much easier.

Instead of spending a lot of money on a new camera try playing with the lighting in the room or settings on the camera. Sometimes being in a brighter or darker environment can make a world of difference when it comes to the quality of your output. You can also go the route of learning these 5 tips for beginner vlogging with a DSLR camera, but in most cases you’ll likely have a simple digital camera, so that’s just unnecessary until you’re ready to graduate up.

I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve gone to film only to have my camera battery die half way through. Make sure everything is ready before you film i.e. camera and product are both fully charged (if it’s a vibe etc), with back up batteries near by just in case.

If you don’t have a camera with a swiveling flip screen (so you can watch as you film) prop a mirror behind the camera so you can test angles, see if you’re centered, and check what works best. If a mirror doesn’t work for you, try hooking your camera up to a monitor or tv so you can view the live feed. Here’s how to do that (scroll down to “Composite”).

Do yourself a favor and learn to work with a timer. Maybe for you it will be different, but since I talk a lot I tend to go way past a 10 minute mark without trying. This leads to more editing. More cutting. More deleting. More work. If you can keep your content between 8 – 10 mins, you’re good. Otherwise plan for a lot of unnecessary wasted time.

Remember that each video you make is likely going to take much longer than you think; between scripting or crafting notes, filming, editing, uploading to a site, embedding to your blog, and linking through social media outlets, each 5 minute video will likely take many hours to from start to finish. That’s a lot time spent on something that sometimes nets no payout. Again, do it because you love it, not because you want to get rich.

Be patient with yourself and know that you’re going to fuck up. Seriously. Once you make peace with that and learn to laugh at your mistakes you’ll be fine. They do make for some pretty hilar blooper videos.

Most importantly be real, be honest, and be yourself. That will carry a lot of weight in whether or not people choose to follow or subscribe to your videos.

And done.

So that wraps up this lil 3 parter covering Vlogging vs Blogging! A big thanks goes out to Pantophile Panic for reaching out and asking a shit tonne of great questions, here’s her website here. If you still haven’t read it, hit up her post on the dangers of toxic jelly sex toys. It’s a doozy.

Want to follow the entire series? Find it here: