8 Helpful Tips for Animal Jam YouTubers

Hello Jammers! ^.^ I recently received a request from my good friend Violet to make a post on how to make a successful Animal Jam channel. While I'm not some expert YouTuber, I do know a few good tips and tricks that will hopefully help you beginning YouTubers out there. :) Enjoy!

1. Use a high-quality screen recorder and editor.

If you want to create high-quality videos, you need a high-quality screen recorder and editor. Here are some screen recording programs that I've heard work great:

QuickTime Player

Screencast-O-Matic

Bandicam

Hypercam 2

Camtasia Recorder (I use this recorder!)

And here are some editors:

Final Cut Pro X

iMovie

Windows Movie Maker

Camtasia (I use this program!)

 Sony Vegas Pro

Adobe Premier Pro X

Adobe After Effects CC

Keep in mind that not all screen recorders and editing programs are free, but there is indeed a hack where you can download Camtasia as an infinite free trial. I've tried this hack and it works! I've been using Camtasia since July 2015 and I love it! <3

2. Have good audio.

No one likes listening to videos where the audio is all fuzzy and you can hear your computer heating up in the background! >.< If you plan to create videos using your voice, a microphone is recommended.

Another thing - everyone likes background music in a video! If you do use background music in your videos, make sure it is non-copyrighted and at a decent volume. I recommend using Kevin Macleod's music for background audio. You can view his website here.

3. Keep your videos a decent length.

I hate watching videos that are more than 20-30 minutes long. Good videos should be kept at a reasonable length, but not too short that you don't get the point across during your video. Unless you're doing a live stream, 2-10 minute long videos are highly recommended (by me XD).

4. Create catchy thumbnails.

Believe it or not, thumbnails are one of the most important factors in YouTubing. A catchy thumbnail will attract the human eye much more than a sloppy thumbnail that you will probably just scroll past. A YouTube thumbnail is basically a miniature movie poster than helps the viewer understand what your video is about.

Keep your thumbnails clean, not cluttered and crowded, and don't use a ton of text. Pick out the key words in your video title and put them in your thumbnail. For example, if your video is titled "ANIMAL JAM: DIY MAGENTA FURRY HAT", some good key words to put into your thumbnail would be "DIY" and "FURRY HAT".

To create a thumbnail, simply search for a thumbnail template. Save the image to your computer. Then go into a photo editing program (Pixlr, PicMonkey, Photoshop, etc.) and start designing! If you're still stuck, here is a good tutorial on creating thumbnails by WisteriaMoon:

Notice how the Animal Jam Whip is featured in this video!? :D It is such an honor!

5. Take advantages of tags.

Tags are little keywords that can help people find your videos. Tags like "Animal Jam" or any other keywords related to your video will definitely be of assistance to you!

6. Have an inviting, professional channel art.

You can create channel art to help brand your channel's identity and give you page a unique look and feel that is completely, well, YOU! By combining graphics, text, and more, you can create a beautiful channel art that will help invite newcomers and get them to subscribe. :) If you're not up to creating channel art on your own from scratch, you can always call up my buddy awesomepanda868 and she'll make the art for you for a good price! ^-^

7. Have a good intro/outro.

Intros are miniature video clips that basically say, "(YOUR USERNAME), ENJOY THE VIDEO!", and outros are the same thing, except they say "LIKE, COMMENT, AND SUBSCRIBE!" If you watch other Animal Jam YouTubers (or any other regular YouTuber, really), you'll notice their intros/outros. Most peoples' intros/outros consist of their animal doing an action with music blasting in the background. Again, if you're not up for the job, you can always get a hold of someone who does intro/outro commissions!

8. BE ORIGINAL!

In my opinion, this is the most important tip of all! I absolutely HATE, no, LOATHE it when YouTubers copy other YouTubers. IT MAKES ME SO MAD! No one likes to see the same video over and over again! At least I don't! >:U

It's hard to come up with original video ideas these days, and I get that. It's totally okay to be inspired by other YouTubers and their ideas! But as long as you don't completely copy their video, it's fine!

Just... BE ORIGINAL! 'Nuff said!

So there you go! 8 tips! Whew, that was a LOT of typing. XP I hope these tips will help you grow your channel, and maybe one day, just maybe, you'll become FAMOUS because of these lil' hints! .o.

Bye!