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Video Playbook: A Practical Guide For Beginners

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Video marketing is one of the most effective ways to market your personal brand or business. However, it’s constantly developing and expanding to suit the preferences of consumers, so we need to meet them where they’re at. That means understanding the latest trends and best practices is essential for your success.

You’ve heard the experts talk about it, your colleagues rave about it, and know you need to record them, but how do you get started? You’re in the right place. I created this guide for you.

As a bonus, I added a short list of my favorite affordable tools at the end.

 

Write Your Video Script 

Collect your thoughts and write them down in advance to ensure a clear and concise message. Once you hit the record button, avoid sounding scripted or reading from your script. If bullet points help to keep you on track, then place them close to the camera lens on your device so it doesn’t look like you’re reading. The more you practice, the more natural and better you’ll sound when it’s time to record.

Personalize your video by speaking as you would to your ideal customer or a friend, reflecting empathy for the problem that you solve.

Setting Up Your Video Camera 

Place your camera on a tripod or steady surface at eye-level. Avoid angles where the camera lens is looking up or down on you. Shoot in landscape mode and position yourself in the center of the screen, allowing a few inches of space above your head and on either side for comfortable cropping to square or vertical versions.

If you’re standing, the bottom of your screen should be around your fourth shirt button or right above your belly button. If you’re seated, the bottom of the camera should end at your third shirt button or base of a half-zip sweater.

Choose a non-distracting background, avoid windows, showing other people, and posters/signs that viewers can read.

Wait 3-seconds before speaking once you hit record and leave 3-seconds at the end. Bonus tip: When you finish recording, pose in a few different ways so we can take screenshots from the video for a cover image.

If you’re having a hard time recording your video in one take, break it up into a few parts to be woven together later. 

Practice 

If you’re using a smartphone, set the phone in your tripod and record in selfie mode so you can position yourself in the frame correctly and get comfortable. Please note: unless you’re using an app like ProMovie or Filmic Pro, shoot the final video with the camera on the back of your phone as it shoots better quality footage than the front camera. 

Practice breathing deeply before you begin and smile at the intro and after certain points.

Remember, you’re providing valuable information that your audience wants to hear. Focus on the message and the people, not your appearance. They don’t care about your appearance as much as you do. Don’t curb your enthusiasm – If you talk with your hands, then do that in the video. Move around be the person they will meet in real life.

Lighting 

Find a location with plenty of natural light or non-fluorescent indoor lighting. Position yourself facing a window or set up your primary light sources facing you, not behind you. Avoid overhead lights unless you have an additional light source shining on your face.

Audio 

Use a lapel mic if you have a headphone jack or lightning port on your device. If you need a lightning port to headphone jack adaptor for iPhone, see the tool list below.

Clothing 

Wear solid colors that contrast with your surroundings. Avoid patterns, stripes, plaids, polka dots, and shiny garments.

Affordable Video Tools

– Vicseed 67” phone tripod

– Royal Voice Lavalier Lapel Mic

– Apple Lightning to Headphone Jack Adaptor

– ProMovie or Filmic Pro Video App

– Limo Light Studio 700W Output, LMS103

 

Why You Need A Social Media Engagement Strategy

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A recent study by real estate website The Close found agents get 44% of their leads from posting on social media surpassing cold calling, buying leads, online advertising, and print advertising by at least 10%-30%. Which proves that posting on social media drives business if you’re consistent.

But If you’re spending most of your valuable time posting and hoping the social media Gods will grow your personal brand for you, you’re missing a critical element of growth, engagement. Your followers make a conscious decision to support your work, and you need to deepen that relationship by engaging them.

Think of posting as the beginning of a conversation.

When you use social media for business, you’re campaigning for trust and credibility with your audience. Your posts grab their attention and once you have it, that’s when the actual work begins. Now you have to keep them. 

Basic engagement heightens brand awareness, but conversations build relationships. A more meaningful connection with your audience means you’ll stay top of their mind. If you’re like me, you want connections you interact with, not a collection of people to beef up your follower count. Less is more here. More followers affect people’s perception when they view your account, but that’s about it.  

The Psychology:

Most conversations happen in the comments and direct messages.

Have you ever seen posts turn into a chat room? Those conversations are marketing gold for these reasons:

  • Inspiration for your content. 
  • Meet and learn from new people.
  • People feel more connected to you and your business.
  • Discover questions you can answer and share your expertise.

When you build your reputation for frequent participation and enriching the community, people will take note and visit your profile. From there, it’s on to your other social platforms and website. The best part is you don’t have to sell yourself. Your thoughtful engagement will lead the way.

The Methodology:

Time block 30-60 minutes per day to respond and leave thoughtful comments on yours and other people’s posts. Approach this concept with a “how can I help” rather than “what can I get” mindset.

When you gain a new follower, check out their profile. Look for commonalities and conversation starters and send a message thanking them for following. This small touch shows you care and sets the tone for the relationship in the future.

Use social media to network, meet new people, and deepen relationships with your audience. Your goal is eventually moving that relationship offline and into coffee shops and other personal settings.

Create Better Videos For Your Business With This 7 Part Framework and Productivity Tip

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If you’re a business owner you probably already know by now that video is the essential tool for marketing your business but you might also be intimidated by the thought of putting yourself out for public display. You’re not alone.

 

When I began working with video a few years ago I had a fear of public speaking and I didn’t like the way I look at certain angles. The way I worked through my fear was pushing myself to record videos. 

 

I forfeited a chance to go on a family vacation and locked myself in the house for three days. I recorded about 20 videos but it took about 350 takes to get to the finished product.  I had poor lighting I didn’t have a microphone but I had a good message.

 

What I learned from this experience is the more I do this the more I push myself, the easier it becomes. I began to realize that it’s not about me it’s about you, the people who I’m trying to deliver a message to. What’s your take away?  The more I was able to put you first the easier it got for me. 

 

The top 3 reasons people tell me they don’t record videos are: 

#1 They don’t know what to say.  

#2 They hate their voice or the way that they look, and

#3 I’m not interesting.

We all just start somewhere but start we must!

The trick is to organize your thoughts before you hit record. Writing out a script will help you deliver a clear message but when you do hit record don’t sound scripted. 

Remember, take a deep breath and make it about your viewer the more you take yourself out of the equation the quicker your critical self will disappear. 

Here’s a 7-part framework that you can use to create better videos for your business.  

Part 1 –  The Opener, dive right into your topic from the beginning, in

the first five to ten seconds your viewer is going to decide whether they

want to keep watching your video or not. Plus it shows that you value and respect their time. 

Part 2 –  A branded bumper – this is a 5-15 second animation of your logo that you place after your opener. If you don’t have any creative skills or know any graphic designers you can go to fiverr.com and get one made for about 5 or 10 bucks.

Part 3 – Welcome your viewers. This helps build loyalty and everybody likes to feel special (Clapping)

Part 4 – Jump into your content. Let’s get into why we’re all here. 

Part 5 – Add a micro call-to-action (optional). A call-to-action is what you want your viewers to do and how you want them to do it. The reason we add one here is that we want viewers to make it to the end of the video. If they don’t get there they won’t be able to hear your final call-to-action. An example might be, at the end of the video I’m going to offer you a promo code or something special. 

Part 6 – The Closing. Wrap up and recap some of the important points from your video, and

Part 7 – Your final call-to-action. Remember, this is what you want your viewers to do and how you want them to take action. This could be subscribing to your channel, connecting with you on social media, or visiting your website.

If you’re struggling to find the time to record videos I get it. First, you have to record, then make edits and distribute your video across all your various social and other online channels. It’s a lot of work but the payoff is

well worth it if you’re consistent. I like to take a day of the week where I can commit 4-6 hours and batch record videos. If I can get 3 or 4 videos in that one session and I do that once a week, or even every other week, I will have anywhere from 8 to 16 videos in the bank for future use. You can also batch produce thumbnail images for your videos in that session as well.

 

Create a schedule and stick to it. Consistency is key. Your viewers are going to want to know when to expect your next video. By doing so you’re training them to come back to your content and that is what builds loyalty. If you have questions about video or you need some help with coaching you can send me an email at [email protected].  I respond to everyone.

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