How to Become a Youtube DJ

Youtube DJing has caught on over the last few years because it’s an easy place to share and promote your mixing skills without the trouble of going through traditional channels like sending out CD’s or trying to get people to find your mixes through your own website.

So, how does one become a Youtube DJ? This article will share a few tips on how to get started from recording your mixes to getting your Youtube videos promoted to the point that they help land you DJ gigs – sound good? Let’s get started …

Part 1: Get the video gear

There are two good options for you when making Youtube DJ videos and that is:

• Recording yourself mixing using a video camera

• Recording your mix using a piece of software and then editing a video

I’d recommend you go with the first because you’d be able to show your mixing skills off and people will be able to recognize who you are rather than just your name but I know there are many of you that are a little camera shy so recording your mix, editing it and uploading it works too.

For cameras, I’d recommend the Flip Mino or Kodak ZI-8 because each of these is high definition cameras that will certainly get the job done. They let you easily hook up the camera to the computer and some of them, like the Flip, come with editing software. You can pick up either of these for under $150 which is a good investment when you consider you can make your Youtube DJ videos AND take it to parties and festivals later on.

Once you’ve got these, you just need some video editing software which is generally installed on computers like Windows Movie Make or iMovie on Mac; otherwise, check out Adobe Audition or Sony Vegas which will easily handle your video editing.

Part 2: Get to mixing

What’s a Youtube video on DJing if you’re not actually mixing, duh. The next part of doing Youtube DJing is to … make a mix. Since you only have about 10 minutes (until you get more time from Youtube), you’re kind of limited which means that each song and effect you put into your mix needs to be really mind blowing to catch people’s attention.

Do what you would normally do when creating a DJ mix. Choose a great selection of songs or even theme your Youtube DJ videos by playing certain genres of music, music based on released dates (such as the new song mix format) or some classic tune mixes.

Bring the best that you can so the Youtube video helps with promotion. If you need additional help, check out this other post on how to build a better DJ mix to bring out the best in your abilities.

Remember, you only have a limited amount of time so bring the ruckus.

Part 3: Get the video on Youtube

Once the video is created, edited and looking good, you’ll need to get it onto Youtube. If you don’t have a Youtube account than you can sign up at http://www.youtube.com/create_account; fill in the information that matters and setup your account, easy enough.

Quick note: When you’re editing your videos, be sure to add your Youtube channel name and contact information so if people embed the video on other websites, people still have a way to easily figure out who’s mixing and how to get in touch.

Okay, get your video up on Youtube and do a bit of work to make sure that it’s looking good such as adding a title that perfectly describes the video, choose something like “10 Minute Dubstep Youtube Mix” or something akin to that. Fill in the description with the tracks that you’ve used because people always ask for the songs. Add in your website link or Twitter name or some kind of contact method so people can get a hold of you which is perfect in the event that someone wants to book you for a show if they really liked the video.

Also, get people to subscribe to your channel and build up a Youtube following by just flat out telling people in the description.

Part 4: Promoting your Youtube mixes

Alriiiiight, now you need to get your DJ video found on Youtube. Well, that’s easy because if you optimized the video it will show up in search engines but besides doing that, you can begin sharing it on Facebook, forums, Twitter and other social networks you’re on.

If you have a website, you can embed your video onto your website. You could also send your video out to people on your email newsletter if you have one. Do what you would normally do when sharing video. Submit it to sites that you’re always on (maybe Reddit?) and just be conscious that you have a video (or a dozen) out there that people could be interested in.

Check out other people’s channels and leave a link to your video if they’re also doing mixes in your type of music – network yo!

Part 5: Getting gigs and earning a few bucks

Finally, sit back and keep pushing you video out wherever you can go; build up that view count and subscribers to your channel. It might be completely random but you may land a few gigs based on your videos. If you have a website offering DJ services, you could have your video to show off your skills for when people are thinking about hiring you – think of it like a sales video of some sort.

If your video starts to take off than Youtube will let you monetize it through Adsense and video ads. Depending on what you want, you can agree to the terms and have it there to make a bit of money if people click on your ads. You could make a nice bit of money off to the side for your mixes, cool enough.

Don’t rely on your Youtube DJ videos to land you gigs though; you still need to be actively promoting your DJing by going to parties, handing out DJ business cards, setting up a website and more.

Bonus: Youtube Video Resources

In case you’re still a little bit confused about online video and Youtube in general, for DJing, here are a few resources that will help you get started and up to speed:

• ReelSEO – This is a website that talks a lot about video production and how to promote Youtube videos online; there’s a lot of good tutorials but you have to dig around a bit because there’s a lot of news on there too.

• Youtube and Video Marketing: One Hour a Day – A book on how to get started with video marketing; don’t let the name scare you, it’s just the practice of creating videos to promote yourself which is basically what you’re doing with your Youtube DJ videos.

• Video Sharing Websites – A list of other video sharing websites that you could list your videos on if you want to extend your reach besides Youtube.

Those should get you started with promoting your Youtube DJ videos and understanding it a bit more.

Conclusion

So, hopefully you’ve found this guide helpful. Youtube is huge, you know that and you’ve probably seen quite a few DJ’s showing off their skills on the video site – get started too! You can really make a name or yourself if you do mixes on Youtube so why not tap into it for your promotion – it’s smart, that’s what.