It has been a minute and I have soooooo much to catch you all up on! I feel it is important to APOLOGIZE for suddenly going MIA for the summer basically. I went to Washington for spring break (I have that story in drafts) and then went on a 40-day water fast (I have started that story… also in drafts) when I got back that ended right near the end of the school year, literally days before school ended. Once school ended, the real work began for me. I have a senior this year and in Hawaii, there is a mandatory senior project that must be completed or the student won’t graduate so my senior began working on her project over the summer while also taking a class at the local college.  I literally spent the summer driving kids to and fro.  Now that summer has ended and school has begun again, I am back at work and apparently, back to sitting down having moments to blog.

So, why then is this blog post called 5 tips for successful vlogging? Yes, friends, I have FINALLY delved deep into the YouTube creators world and wait… what am I saying? I have had a YouTube channel since 2014. I have literally, (favorite word of the day apparently) posted one video a year. I didn’t realize it until my girlfriend, the one I went to visit in WA, called me out for not having uploaded a video in a year. I felt it. The shame, the conviction, the fear and so I… started watching a bunch of videos again.

I met a wonderful Hawaii vlogger named Marissa Rodriguez.

Hawaii vlogger & marathon runner

I say met, but what I mean is, I discovered her YouTube channel, marathoned it like it was a Netflix series and basically fell in love. NO, not romantic love, remember I am married with 8 kids… I mean I just love her personality and character and I love most, her authenticity. I mean she makes me laugh out loud and say “THAT IS SOOOOO ME!” and because of THAT, I decided to retake the 100 daily vlogging challenge.  This time I am not doing it to promote some business, I am doing it for myself. To build my brand. JDs Organic Productions.  The J is for my husband Jason and the D is me (of course) and we have organically produced 8 children among other things.

This channel challenge is to help me build my accountability in action towards my goals. I have to admit that already it is such a big help.  As a result of my vlogging, I remembered how important it is for me to write.  I have a small subscriber base who I truly appreciate and am so humbled by.  I want to give you content and show you that I am worth the few minutes of your day that you spend with me.  I have to admit, the channel has helped me remember that. All the little things that are important to me come back to the surface when I try to plan how to achieve my goals.  It really is wonderful. So what are the basics of vlogging as I am discovering them?

1. Just start.  Seriously one of the hardest things to do in life is to start something. Life has ways of making it easier but it is still hard and stressful in its own right. For example parenting.  One day you are not pregnant then you are a parent.  So if life trusts us with such great responsibility out of the blue, we can certainly handle moving towards our dreams.
2. Perfect is NOT the goal. One thing that kept me hung up the first few days of editing my first video was trying to make things perfect, based on all the hours of videos I’ve seen on YouTube through the years.  Then one day I realized that I really had a limited knowledge of what I was doing so I should work with that. Next thing I knew I was pumping out videos and each had a new element I’d discovered.
3. Enjoy the journey. I was embarrassed at first to make videos because I was so hung up on perfection and entertainment that I wasn’t having any fun and I really wondered if this whole thing was even for me. I pressed on (thanks Marissa) because I remembered that there is growth happening.  Now when I watch the videos I see my own growth in such a short amount of time and it’s wonderful. I am so glad I didn’t quit.
4. Don’t quit. Of course, this was next, don’t ever quit.  There is no way to tell if something is for me if I quit when it gets hard, boring or inconvenient.  I am learning that those very adjectives are what makes the journey a growing experience and the best memories. I am thinking what really happens is during the first 90 days of something, every emotional and mental barrier pops up and challenges us to see if we are serious about whatever we are pursuing. The next 90 days is the settling in of the spirit to this change and after that, it’s the normal stresses learning how to stretch us and keep us growing. If we quit, there is no growth and no memories.  The memories matter guys.  When I am feeling low, it’s the memories that keep me pressing on.
5. Don’t be afraid to promote! Okay, so this one is a little bit funky for me to write about because I can be the queen of not promoting myself while going crazy promoting others. I mean seriously. I am often the loudest cheerleader for a good or service that I think has value but I get a lil shy when it comes to what I have to offer.  I have learned that there is ALWAYS someone, somewhere who wants to hear or see or connect with me and I with someone and so forth and so on. We are not alone in this wild and crazy world and the only way to know where your tribe is, is to get out there!

So while I am only on day 18 of this 100-day vlogging challenge, I have already really learned so much about myself, vlogging, editing, and personal growth. I highly recommend anyone wanting to dig a little deeper into their own self-awareness try a short daily vlogging challenge and see how much you learn and please share the videos with the rest of us so we can be inspired.

If you would like to see more about my personal journey building JDs Organic Productions online brand, please head over to my channel at: JDs Organic Channel