How I Make YouTube Videos: Gear, Software & Behind the Scenes
A behind-the-scenes look at how Dave Swift creates his LTD review videos, the gear and software he uses, and candid answers to the most common viewer questions.
Celebrating 2,000 Subscribers
Six months into running the That LTD Life YouTube channel, Dave hit the 2,000-subscriber mark — a milestone that arrived far faster than he ever expected. To celebrate, he decided to skip the usual software review and instead answer the most common (and occasionally bizarre) questions viewers had been sending in.
While 2,000 subscribers might seem modest in the broader YouTube landscape, it represented real momentum for a niche channel focused entirely on lifetime software deals and productivity tools. The growth validated what Dave had suspected from the start: there was a genuine audience hungry for honest, detailed reviews of the deals popping up on platforms like AppSumo.
Why Create Detailed Walkthrough Reviews?
One of the most frequent questions Dave receives boils down to a simple curiosity: why spend hours producing in-depth reviews, and how does it actually pay the bills? His answer comes in three parts.
First, it's genuine passion. Dave is a self-described technology enthusiast who gets excited about exploring new tools, figuring out how they fit into real business workflows, and sharing those findings. It's the kind of hobby that doesn't make for great party conversation, but it fuels the channel's energy and keeps the reviews feeling authentic rather than transactional.
Second, affiliate links play a role. Nearly every video includes at least one affiliate link, and when viewers click through to purchase — even if it's not the product being reviewed — that generates income that supports the time Dave invests in each video. It's a straightforward value exchange: useful content in return for the occasional affiliate click.
Third, the channel doubles as a lead magnet for Dave's digital marketing agency, ClientAmp. Software companies regularly reach out after watching a review to ask for help with their own marketing or user interface challenges. That consulting work is a direct byproduct of the visibility the channel provides.
Editorial Independence: No Sponsored Reviews
Dave is emphatic on one point: every review on the channel reflects his own unfiltered opinion. He has never published a sponsored video, and no company — including AppSumo — has ever dictated what he says about a product. When founders have sent him complimentary access to encourage a review, he discloses it openly in the video and still scores the product on its merits.
This independence is something he considers non-negotiable. If a sponsored video ever did appear on the channel, Dave says it would be labeled unmistakably as a sponsorship, clearly separated from his editorial reviews. Credibility, in his view, is the one asset a reviewer can't afford to lose — and the moment viewers suspect bias, the entire channel's value collapses.
How the Review Scoring System Works
Viewers regularly ask why most scores land between seven and nine, and whether the narrow range actually means anything. Dave's explanation draws an analogy to Olympic judging: when every competitor is already world-class, the difference between an 8.0 and an 8.5 is enormous. Products that make it onto AppSumo have already been vetted to some degree, so truly terrible tools are rare — but within that curated pool, small score differences carry real weight.
The scoring itself factors in three main criteria. First, does the product deliver on its core promise? If it claims to be an email tool, does it actually send emails reliably, or is it selling a roadmap of features that don't exist yet? Dave has little patience for "buy now, we'll build it later" pitches. Second, how practical is the tool? A Facebook comment moderation app might work perfectly, but if almost nobody actually needs that functionality, the score reflects that limited utility. Third, does the price represent genuine value? A $700 lifetime deal for unlimited website backups might be a steal for an agency managing dozens of client sites, but a poor investment for someone with a single blog.
Inspired by the no-nonsense scoring style of Barstool Sports' pizza reviews, Dave aims for clarity above all. A quick glance at the number should tell you whether the deal is worth your time.
The Starter YouTube Setup: Webcam, Mic, and ScreenFlow
For anyone thinking about starting their own review channel, Dave's advice is to begin with the bare minimum. His own early setup was deliberately simple: a Logitech C920 webcam (around $50), a decent microphone, and ScreenFlow — a Mac application that records your webcam and screen simultaneously and lets you combine the two in a basic editor.
The one area where Dave insists you shouldn't cut corners is audio. Good sound quality makes a disproportionate difference in how professional a video feels. A cheap webcam with clear audio will outperform an expensive camera with tinny, echoey sound every time. If you already have a laptop webcam that produces a passable image, put your budget into a solid USB microphone instead.
The Upgraded Production Workflow
After crossing 1,000 subscribers and committing to the channel long-term, Dave upgraded his setup significantly. The webcam gave way to a Sony A6400 mirrorless camera, connected to his Mac via an Elgato CamLink 4K — a small dongle that turns a HDMI camera feed into a standard webcam input. Audio runs through a Shure SM7B microphone into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio interface, a combination borrowed from his years as a professional musician.
The biggest workflow change was adding a teleprompter. Dave uses a physical teleprompter rig (about $150 on Amazon) paired with an iPad running a prompter app. This lets him script his reviews in advance so he can organize his thoughts more coherently while still maintaining a conversational delivery. The green screen behind him — another addition that came after the channel was already growing — handles the clean background contrast viewers frequently ask about.
Everything comes together in Final Cut Pro with no special plugins. Screen captures are recorded using macOS's built-in QuickTime screen recording, then synced with the camera footage in the edit. It's a streamlined process that prioritizes content quality over production complexity.
Advice for Aspiring YouTube Creators
Dave's parting advice echoes a principle he's heard AppSumo founder Noah Kagan preach: validate first. Don't invest hundreds of dollars in cameras, microphones, and editing software before you've proven to yourself that you'll actually show up and create content consistently. Expensive gear doesn't generate motivation — if anything, it adds pressure that makes it harder to start.
The early days of a channel, when your audience is small, are the best time to experiment, make mistakes, and find your voice. Nobody's watching closely enough to judge, and the skills you develop with basic equipment transfer directly to better gear later. Start with what you have, build an audience, and upgrade only when the growth justifies the investment.
Watch the Full Video
Prefer watching to reading? Check out the full video on YouTube for a complete walkthrough with live demos and commentary.
