1) WHY USE VIDEO
I could give you all of the statistics about why you should use video but you already know how important it is.
I’ll mention just a few of the reasons why video is so incredibly valuable for you as a business owner.
- Video is the next best thing to being in person. People who watch your videos get to know you and build trust with you.
- Video is a great way to let people experience who you are, what you stand for and how you can help them.
- And video is a one-to-many strategy so you will be able to reach and connect to way more people than you can with one-to-one strategies.
Video has been all the rage for years and continues to get more important.
It is never too late. Start now!
2) HOW TO GET STARTED
There is a reason you haven’t started or aren’t using video as much as you want to.
Fear. Of what, specifically? Once you identify exactly what it is you are afraid of, you can take steps to overcome it.
One tool for working through this is The Work by Byron Katie. You can get everything you need for free to do this at thework.com.|
At the end of the day, whether or not to use video is a decision. Make the decision that you’re going to it.
What I’ve seen from people is that once they finally make their first video, they realize that it wasn’t as hard or scary as they thought it would be. Try it and find out. The more you do the easier it gets.
- You can record on your phone or laptop/desktop (Zoom). And you can record or go live.
- Be sure to clean your camera lens before you start.
- Look AT THE CAMERA. You need to make the connection.
- Talk like you’re talking to a friend. You can tape a photo of a friend behind the camera if that helps.
- Show your personality, share your passion for what you’re talking about.
- Three components of a good video are light, sound and stability. You can use a ring light or natural light in front of a window. Sit no further than an arm’s length away from your phone or use a microphone. And prop your phone up or use a selfie stick to create a stable view.
- You don’t have to edit. I don’t, except to cut off the start and end and add text. MAC has iMovie and on Windows it’s Movie Editor. You can also use a tool such as CapCut on your desktop or as an app on your phone.
- Two other helpful tools for editing are Descript and InShot.
- Record vertically on your phone, this fits to the majority of platforms.
- Don’t make it harder than it has to be. Short videos are hot now, and they’re much easier to record quickly.
- You can use notes (bullet points) for longer videos and just glance down or tape them next to your camera.
- Batching your videos makes it easier to create a bunch of videos. Block off an hour or two so you can get into the flow.
- You can be more spontaneous with videos for Instagram Stories and TikTok.
3) VIDEO STRATEGY
What are your videos going to be about? Think about your content pillars. What are the top 3-5 areas you are an expert in?
Here is an example for my business: How You Make Money (your Business Model), Your Marketing Messages and Your Marketing Strategies. And for each of these three pillars there are a bunch of subtopics.
If you haven’t already tried it, you can also use Chat GPT to help you develop your content and create titles for your videos.
What action do you want people to take? What is your ONE Call to Action at the end of your video? To get your free offer, to schedule a call? You’re going to say this at the end of every video.
You can also reuse content you already have. Do you have a blog? Use blog posts and break them down. Have a workshop, course, or training? Use nuggets from that for topics. Have a podcast? Reuse that content.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Repetition is good and people appreciate content in different forms.
4) WHAT KIND OF VIDEOS TO MAKE
Types of videos
- Interview someone (IG Live, Zoom recording)
- Book or product review of someone else’s work
- Document a trip or project, BTS (behind the scenes)
- Show how to do something (with you as part of the screen, or not) (Loom)
- Talking head of you giving tips (start with the topic using a question or a statement, short introduction – your name and what you do, content, end with your Call To Action)
- Promotion of your product or service
- Video book trailer (your book)
- Answer questions
- Client testimonials
- Send a personal video message via email (Bonjoro)
- Video of you at your speaking gigs
- Video of you introducing yourself at an event
- Client business case (with permission)
- Video on your LinkedIn profile photo
5) WHERE TO SHARE YOUR VIDEOS
Your videos have to live somewhere. You always want a copy of your videos on your computer or in your Cloud.
You can post the same video on different platforms. You want to leverage your videos.
Platforms
- YouTube Channel: YouTube Shorts (up to 60 seconds) or longer format. Easy to set up. YouTube is the biggest search engine after Google (Google owns YouTube). I suggest you setup a YouTube Channel. It is fast and easy.
- Instagram: Stories, Reels (Reels can be shared to Stories), Lives
- Facebook: Stories, Reels, Lives
- TikTok: Videos (15 seconds, 60 seconds, 3 minutes)
- Your Website (home page, videoask
- Video Email – Bonjoro
- LinkedIn – Go Live or upload recorded videos
Now you’ve got everything you need to make video for your business, have fun with it.
By Stephanie Ward
Business & Marketing Mentor
Firefly Coaching