My tips and tricks for finding success, growing an audience and finding your place in the community.
Now let's just start off by clarifying that yes, that title is a bit egotistical. However I'll explain why I think this is appropriate with my first bit of advice.
Firstly, make the content you want to watch or listen to! Make something you think is good. Because the likelihood is that if you don't think that something you made was great, neither did the people who consumed it. It's as simple as that really and a good standard to go by. I've found this has helped me in keeping up my standards whether this is podcasts to Twitter content, wanting to put out content you perceive as good feels far more satisfying. Viewers can see right through you when content is rushed or low quality so keep yourself and your audience happy by keeping the content high quality.
Secondly, find your niche. I can't stress this one enough and it really has become super important when looking to expand as a content creator. The theme park content scene has become super oversaturated with loads of new creators springing up to have a go. Don't just be another theme park vlogger, or another podcast. Find a different way to present your content or change the tried and tested formats to create something that's new and engaging to watch. Perhaps you've got a unique perspective in which you can present from? Perhaps the theme parks aren't the main focus? I'll use theme park vlogging as a prime example. A lot of people are doing the same thing, the standard has become often boringly long vlogs which present the same information in the same format. For bigger creators, this works. But for smaller creators it's become increasingly more difficult to create an audience under this style. I'll refer to the vlogs of Joel (aka Fishul) here as a great example of how to mix things up and create unique content. Joel has really captured a different style that is engaging and keeps the videos quick and entertaining. Most importantly, it actually looks like he's having fun!
Lastly, personality. This is hugely important and an understated factor for success. Think of the king, Shawn Sanbrooke. Theme Park Worldwide has a lot of success due to Shawn as a personality. He's funny, quirky and a little bit cringey. Whatever you think about Shawn you cannot deny that these factors have been a huge part of his success. The reason Shawn has done so well with the long, standard vlogging format is because his personality absolutely carries his videos. Shawn has developed an entire meme culture that surrounds him and follows his every move. Giving him even more exposure than he could generate himself. (you're welcome?) He's endearing, he's relatable and he comes across as genuine. There is nothing less endearing to watch than a cardboard personality seemingly not bothered to be there walking around a theme park showing us the sights we've seen a thousand times before with no shred of a personality. Please folks, be yourselves, be stupid, say the dumb thing. it will come back to you in the end for publicity. I'd like to point out that it is really important however to just be yourself, if you find yourself acting like a wildly different person on camera people will see through it and it can often be considered as a bit irritating but the audience. So, let your personality shine through but keep it real! Luck is a factor to success but a small one. The people who succeed make interesting content that people want to see. People wont come just because you make videos, people will come when those videos are engaging.
Off topic but I'm going to talk about what I like to call "AVL's" or Artificial Video Lengtheners. A prime example of this is having five minutes of offride shots of a coaster that we've all seen before in the middle of a video. It really ruins the pacing of a vlog so keep these sort of segments short and you wont have your viewers reaching for the skip button. The audience would rather watch a vlog five minutes shorter! Another example I personally don't enjoy is flat ride POV's. There's nothing wrong with including short POV's in your videos but six minutes on a KMG freakout with a silent presenter isn't engaging. If you've got a funny reaction to capture then this can work great but otherwise, try and show off the ride in a succinct way to keep the viewers engaged. Flat rides can be summed up by showing a couple of circuits of whatever they do, no need to show it doing so two hundred times.
I'd like to point out all of this is my opinion and you may not agree with what I've said, but that's fine! You have the control of your own creativity and should act as such. That being said, I hope you've found my tips helpful.
If you've got any suggestions for growth as a content creator let me know!
All the best,
Jake
